Teaching Computational Thinking with Digital Devices

The initial situation

The development of digital competencies is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Clearly recognizable by the digital changes in workplaces, our living environment and increasing problems in connection with digitization, such as addiction problems in the context of the Internet and social media. This development can only be counteracted by developing competences in the field of digital media.

Projectides

The project TACTIDE "Teaching Computational Thinking with Digital Devices" deals with the support and empowerment of teachers to integrate problem-solving strategies with the help of digital devices within regular and project teaching. The project does not limit itself to a specific subject, but explicitly includes different subjects in order to accompany digitisation in schools and to bring problem-solving skills closer to all pupils* with the help of digital tools. In this way, students who do not already deal with this topic through their choice of subjects are also taken into account.

Computational Thinking

The need for 21st Century Skills and the associated skills such as Computational Thinking are urgently needed. This requires a digital shift in our schooling to prepare tomorrow's workers for the new demands of the future. Therefore, the teaching and integration of 21st Century skills in school must be urgently strengthened. To this end, it makes sense to start by promoting skills that are necessary in the automated world. The project partners approach this from the aspect of promoting problem-solving skills with the help of digital devices (microcontrollers) such as Microbit, Calliope mini or Arduino.

Procedures

First, similarities and differences in the curricula and approaches of the participating countries are compared. Pilot projects will then be developed, implemented and evaluated within the countries. In a next step, the pilot projects will be spread out and teachers will be enabled to develop their own projects and teaching scenarios. Subsequently, all projects will be offered on an open platform for further use. On the basis of the materials and further training, teaching staff from different subjects will be trained and enabled to integrate digital content into their teaching and to teach problem-solving strategies with the help of digital tools.

Project partners