What knowledge and skills do teachers need to facilitate the learning of new technologies in pre-school and primary school? How to apply computational thinking to different areas of teaching while keeping the focus on personal development, creative thinking and emotional intelligence?

The project TeaEdu4CT - Future Teachers Education: Computational Thinking and STEAM aims to develop a training curriculum for teachers and future teachers on the use of computational thinking in all areas of teaching.

Computational Thinking (CT) is a transversal skill focused on problem solving and initiative. It is not based on technology, but on the mental process of solving problems of various kinds and finding solutions: thinking at different levels of abstraction, dealing with situations in an analytical way, and developing solving procedures. Its main characteristic is that the formulation of the problem and the solution must be expressed in such a way that an executor (human being or machine) is able to understand and execute them. Computational thinking accustoms to rigour and makes creativity possible; it is a fundamental competence in any field of learning.

The project will develop 10 training modules for teachers and future teachers focusing on specific features, approaches and practical solutions applicable to Computational Thinking (CT):

• Framework for the development of the curriculum modules: CT & STEAM for education of prospective teachers;
• General Introduction of Computational Thinking: a basic module suitable for all teachers;
• CT for pre-school (kindergarten) prospective teachers;
• CT for primary education prospective teachers;
• CT for STEM prospective teachers;
• CT for informatics (computing) prospective teachers;
• CT for languages, arts and humanities prospective teachers;
• Educational environments for CT: design and aspects of integration;
• Using Constructivism, and Project and Challenge Driven Pedagogy for learning Computational Thinking;
• Technological, pedagogical and instructional design aspects of teaching CT for STEAM.

The Kick-off meeting of the Project was held in Vilnius on 15 and 16 October 2019. In the first phase of the project partners will develop the training materials for each one of the foreseen 10 modules. Specific training will be carried out in the partner countries involving teachers in lifelong training and future teachers.

Are you a student of  teaching degree program, a university student thinking of becoming a teacher of STEM or humanities subjects or a teacher looking for new training opportunities? Contact us to be informed about the TeaEdu4CT project and the free training provided.

TeaEdu4CT is a project funded under Key Action 2 - Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education. The objective of Strategic Partnerships is a structured and long-term cooperation between Higher Education Institutions and other organizations to foster higher quality education and teaching, stimulate greater synergies between sectors and with the world of work and promote strategic use of new technologies, in line with the Higher Education Modernisation Agenda.

For more information, contact Alessia Valenti, alessia.valenti@cesie.org