Within the program “School for 21st Century”, during May and June, British Council will organize several webinars intended to parents and teachers, as well as all other interested individuals in order to get to acquaint them with experiences and knowledge regarding online teaching. The focus will be on the concepts of critical thinking, problem resolving, and coding, the process of assessing students when distance learning, as well as the safety of children on the Internet.
The program “School for 21st Century” is the largest educational program implemented in this area in partnership with relevant educational institutions, worth 10 million pounds, funded by the British government. The goal of the program is that one million students aged 10 to 15 from 6 Western Balkan countries acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as practical programming skills using a micro: bit pocket device.
A microbit is a pocket computer that contains several sensors that can be used to create new devices and control other devices. Thanks to the British Council, it was recently introduced in Montenegrin schools and has come to life through microbit school clubs, which are becoming more numerous, as well as through their projects. The microbit is an excellent way for the youngest to be instructed in programming, but also to learn to connect school materials and think. In cooperation with the Ministry, it is planned that the Council distributes a total of 4.000 such computers, with a tendency that by 2021, every Montenegrin primary school will have a certain number of microbits. So far, almost 2.500 microbits have been distributed in 76 Montenegrin schools.
“This is the largest financial investment of the British government for this area in an educational project, worth 10 million pounds. It is a regional project that will involve all primary schools in the region, more precisely about 5.000 schools and 1 million students. When we talk about Montenegro, we will involve all primary schools. The essence of this project is whether critical thinking skills have been consistently integrated into teaching, but also extracurricular activities. Microbite programming is simple and gives extreme creativity in operation. Programming is important, particularly if taken into account that in the future more than half of the occupations will require certain program skills, create a basis for the development of the economy of the 21st century “, said Vanja Madžgalj, the director of the British Council in Montenegro.
Webinars intended for teachers are about “Assessment of students with the help of digital tools”, “Use of micro: bit devices in teaching Montenegrin-Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian language and literature”, “How to organize the work of Micro: bit clubs online”, “From idea to the realization: How to design a micro: bit project applicable in teaching”, “The role of the “School for the 21st century” program in creating an inclusive learning environment” and “Safe on the Internet”, a webinar for parents.
As they point out in the British Council, they are very proud of this initiative, which is the result of the joint work of their team and other activists who have contributed through volunteer work. Montenegro is the first of all countries in the region involved in this project, to continue the initiative in September and October with several more webinars.
Detailed information on all webinars can be found on the British Council website https://www.britishcouncil.me/programi/obrazovanje/skole-za-21-vijek/vebinari, and you can register for them immediately.
Tags: British Council, micro: bit, teaching, teachers, online teaching, parents, webinar
