ProFuturo was present at the #enlightED 2021 event on the first day, which was dedicated to “Bridging the innovation gap to transform education systems” and on the last day dedicated to “Addressing the digital skills gap to reconnect with young people and promote positive change”.
Interview between Magdalena Brier and Wendy Kopp
On the opening day of #enlightED 2021 and after the presentation ceremony of the event, with figures such as José María Álvarez-Pallete, Pilar Alegría or Rafel Nadal, the interview “Empowering, training and supporting teachers for the Digital Age” took place between Magdalena Brier, Managing Director of ProFuturo, and Wendy Kopp, CEO and co-founder of Teach for All.
The conversation revolved around the importance of teacher training in digital skills and new technologies to obtain the benefits of digital education. In addition, Magdalena and Wendy reviewed educational changes and the evolution of the role of the teacher in recent years.
Magdalena Brier emphasised the need to continue working to bring education closer to any part of the world, since “an educational crisis already existed before COVID-19 and access to quality education is unequal”. However, she was hopeful as to the role of teachers since, as she pointed out, they are “the engine of change”.
On her part, Wendy Kopp spoke about the possibilities of technology in education and the role it undoubtedly plays in the wake of the pandemic: There’s potential to harness the technology to enable the students and parents to become more involved in the construction of learning and to focus appropriately on the students’ well-being and socio-emotional development. She concluded with the importance of working together on a global problem: “Together we can improve the whole system”.
Conversation: “How can we achieve excellence and equity in education in a world which is already driven by data?”
After the interview between Magdalena Brier and Wendy Kopp, ProFuturo organised a panel discussion on how to achieve excellence and equity in education in a data-driven world. The event featured Robert Hawkins, Global Director of Education Technology and Innovation, World Bank, and Wayne Holmes, Research Consultant and Professor at University College London.
Speakers discussed educational excellence, offered advice on the use of technology in education and reflected on the future of education in the face of pandemic exhaustion and the new educational landscape.
“For me, educational excellence is not about learning facts and formulas or taking exams. For me, it’s about helping young people to fully develop their individual potential,” said Wayne Holmes. On his part, Robert Hawkins confirmed that “there is no substitute for face-to-face relationships, but we can explore a hybrid model that emphasises human links and human interaction in the system”.
Computational thinking workshop
On the last day of #enlightED 2021, ProFuturo organised a workshop for teachers on how to incorporate Computational Thinking in the classroom. In this workshop, our methodological proposal for working on Computational Thinking in Primary Education was explored in depth. It is based on the Kotsopoulos model, which progressively incorporates (unplugged, tinkering, making and remixing) the application of Computational Thinking in the classroom. Based on the examples addressed in this workshop, participants faced the proposed challenges and were able to see clear examples of how to incorporate Computational Thinking in their classrooms, taking into account the knowledge of the students, the skills to be worked on and the resources available to them.
