Thank you to everyone who joined this webinar on 20 September 2023 and for the interesting discussions that the topic inspired. The recording is available above.

In this webinar, our global panel of educators will look at specific international approaches to computer coding in schools, sharing how they have made it happen, including the challenges and successes. We will consider:

  • Positioning: how can coding be part of the curriculum or should it be an extra curricular or club activity?
  • The value of coding: the impact on critical thinking, computational skills, creativity and wider curriculum performance
  • Addressing inclusivity and other potential barriers: including gender, accessibility and adapting to urban and rural settings 
  • Scaling up: how to sustainably embed and go beyond small-scale local pilot clubs towards enabling access for all

We will compare experiences in various countries to encourage mutual learning and sharing, highlighting free online resources and examples. Our speakers will talk about outcomes from the British Council’s partnership with the Micro:bit Educational Foundation which has enabled extensive programme activity around the world including in the Western Balkans, Colombia, South Africa and India.  

The webinar will focus on ‘Coding’ as opposed to broader uses of IT or computing in schools. Coding can be defined as ‘the process of transforming ideas, solutions, and instructions into the language that the computer can understand’. 

Our panel

This is a panel event, with speakers from around the world sharing their experiences, followed by questions and comment from the audience. The webinar is hosted by Adrian Fenton, Senior Consultant in the British Council Schools team.

Ana Lorena Molina Castro, Sergio Arboleda University, Colombia

Lorena Molina is a Colombian Computer Engineer with a master’s degree in Digital Didactics and an ICELT certificate from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Computational Thinking and Unity 2D Videogame Development Professor at Sergio Arboleda University's Masters' Degree in Digital Didactics, Lorena has been an English and technology teacher for 26 years and has worked for several Colombian universities.

 

For the past 17 years, she has also worked as an academic consultant, a workshop facilitator, an instructional designer, and an in-service teacher educator for large-scale projects in her country. Since 2020, Lorena has been operating as a technical leader on computational thinking projects led by the British Council and its stakeholders.

Dalibor Todorovic, University of Niš, Serbia

Dalibor Todorovic graduated from the Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Computer Engineering and Informatics at the University of Niš, Serbia. He works as a teacher of computer subjects in the IT department with students gifted in Computer Science. He has been advocating the modernisation and digitisation of the teaching process from the very beginning of his work in education. In his teaching practice, he strives to develop students' digital competencies by fostering critical thinking and analytical problem-solving skills through project-oriented teaching using information and communication technologies.

Laura Di Pasquale, Glasgow City Council, Scotland

Laura is a primary class teacher and digital leader of learning for Glasgow City Council. She is an Apple Learning Coach and Microbit Champion. Laura leads training for staff across the council and has presented nationally and internationally on how coding can be embedded into classroom practice. She has created code-along videos for staff and classroom resources to help technology to be an innovative tool to develop creative learning and higher order thinking skills.

Suman Chawla, British Council training consultant, India

Suman Chawla is an educator with almost three decades of experience in teaching and training.  She is a Training Consultant with British Council and a UK validated Core Skills Trainer. She was awarded the Aptis Action Research Mentorship for the year 2017-18 and mentored teachers conducting classroom-based research. 

Suman is a master trainer for Project Citizen and has trained teachers from rural and urban areas in the field of citizenship in various parts of the world. As a Microsoft Learning Consultant, Suman has conducted more than two hundred trainings based on Microsoft tools and technologies since 2015 in schools and higher education institutes.

Adrian Fenton, Senior Consultant, British Council Schools team

Adrian is leading on the international Coding programme with the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, having previously focused on public engagement and STEM Education, . With over 20 years’ experience in science education project management, he started as a Physics teacher in the UK, has worked in Tanzania with VSO, and has delivered teacher training activities in countries including the UK, Portugal, Slovenia and Bangladesh. His former role as Head of Education with the British Science Association had a strong focus on science as a part of culture, and whilst at the Association for Science Education he led on inclusive science approaches and was involved in curriculum development.

National Coding Week 2023

The webinar will take place during National Coding Week and shortly after the UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week.

About Education Exchange

Education Exchanges are free panel webinar events that bring together education practitioners from around the world to develop ideas, share great practice and inspire each other to find solutions to shared challenges.

The British Council has a range of classroom resources that can support your work with students. Visit our Classroom Resources webpage to find out more.
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