Belgium/Workshops introduce students and teachers to robotics
Training pupils in digital skills, coding and robotics is part of the curriculum right from the end of primary school. But some teachers are at a loss when it comes to these subjects. An association provides support for these teachers. Report from Saint-Martin school in Roeulx.
What is a flow chart? What's the difference between an algorithm and a program? From the end of primary school onwards, pupils are taught about digital technology, coding and robotics. But some teachers feel overwhelmed or powerless in these areas.
The CodeNPlay association can help. This non-profit organization offers workshops to introduce children to computer science in a very practical way. On this particular day, the Saint-Martin school in Le Roeulx, Hainaut, was transformed into a programming center.
Block coding
Small robots controlled by the pupils circulate on a large carpet. "We have little blocks to move forward, backward and around. You can stack them, and they'll form your project", explains Eva, one of the students. Block coding, which she learns in the form of a game, is ideal for getting started and understanding computer logic.
Schoolteacher Hélène is delighted with this helping hand in her class: "We realize that the children don't need us to go there. We're there to accompany them, to guide them. And we learn with them."
Over a thousand teachers
The association has provided free training to over a thousand teachers in 80 French-speaking schools this year. Eventually, it hopes to reach all schools in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Source: www.rtbf.be/
