IT education experts bring computational thinking into the classroom

Posted on: 16 January 2017

Experts in IT education are launching a new cross-border initiative between Ireland and Northern Ireland to boost the frequency and quality of computing taught at secondary level. The project, CTwins, addresses an unmet need in education amid calls from the government for schools to teach their students the computing and computational thinking skills that are increasingly important in modern society.

'Computational Thinking' is the name given to the ability to combine knowledge, skills and dispositions to solve problems and design solutions based on an understanding of the way computing can help.

Despite increasing calls around the need to teach these skills, progress has not been immediate — largely because many teachers are not confident in using computational thinking in their subject teaching, or because they lack these skills themselves. The CTwins project thus focuses on empowering teachers’ personal relationships and competence with computing, aiming to increase their confidence to continue professional development in this area.

CTwins is organised by experts at Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast, and is supported by Google’s Computer Science for High School initiative. More information is available at: http://ct4life.scss.tcd.ie/ctwins/

Assistant Professor in IT in Education at Trinity, Richard Millwood, is leading the project. He said: “Computational thinking is now an essential competence in a world where computers are applied to every workplace, profession, and subject discipline. But in Ireland we currently have little in the way of qualifications to aim for at second level, and few teachers with the confidence to include computational thinking in their lessons. As a result, we are short-changing our young people.”

“If we only consider jobs, then we should heed the European Commission’s estimate that there are over 450,000 unfilled vacancies for ICT professionals in Europe and that the number will grow to 750,000 by 2020. But computational thinking is also of value in any job, at home, and in leisure pursuits in the modern age.”

Schools are invited to propose two teachers who can participate in the project. These teachers may be from any subject area, and be hesitant about using computers in their subject; they merely need to be willing to “give it a go” and to commit their own time. Teachers are asked to participate in two face-to-face Saturdays and commit about two hours per week of their own time over the nine-week duration period of the project.

Using the popular and easy programming language Scratch, participants are asked to make something that is interesting to them. It may be a work of art or a simple lesson with a related quiz. The aim is to break the confidence barrier so they will continue to build competence in further courses.

About CTwins

The name CTwins is derived from the phrase ‘Computational Thinking wins’, referring to the fact that computing has continually provided new ways to solve societal problems in all disciplines and walks of life. It can also be read as ‘Coding Twins’, as each paired teacher will work with a cross-border ‘twin’ to carry out a project through online collaboration.

A project launch event will take place in Belfast on Saturday, February 4th, when a face-to-face workshop will pair cross-border ‘twins’. It will also serve as an introductory session and form the foundations of an online community of practice to help participants develop their skills over the course of the project. ‘Twins’ will develop their project over the following nine weeks before sharing their results at an exhibition event on Saturday, April 1st in Dublin.

Further information regarding the project and the support available (teaching and financial) can be found at: http://ct4life.scss.tcd.ie/ctwins/

Teachers who wish to participate must complete the short online application at: https://goo.gl/forms/8AOHzStkX6aIUbec2