CHANGING THE FUTURE OF LEARNING ONE CODE AT A TIME
In a world where the Fourth Industrial Revolution is rapidly progressing, it can be said that various industries must adapt and cultivate the skills required to advance and stay abreast of the technological change. In keeping with this, four of The IIE’s IIE Varsity College Westville IIE Bachelor of Education in Foundation and Intermediate Phase Teaching students and four of The IIE’s Varsity College Westville staff completed the recent “Becoming a coding teacher” course in partnership with iStore Education. The course is designed for first-time coding teachers to learn how to bring coding into the classroom. The course allows future teachers and lectures to use technology to promote fundamental skills of problem solving, collaboration, critical and creative thinking skills. The 8 week course included online sessions with a facilitator and practical sessions at The IIE’s Varsity College Westville for The IIE’s Varsity College Westville, Durban North and Pietermaritzburg campuses. Samantha Hubbard (IIE Bachelor of Education in Foundation Phase Teaching Lecturer The IIE’s Varsity College Westville) said: “The career roadmap of a teacher has unfolded from what we once thought about teaching. Part of the journey, now, is the ability to learn and then teach coding and robotics. These skills are essential in developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in young learners, and, when thinking of their roadmap, careers of the future”.
Students were taught coding concepts such as “debugging”, issuing commands and functions and introduction to algorithms. Students also engaged in robotics by programming a Spherobot to perform various cross curricular activities on campus. The IIE’s Varsity College Westville student and lecturers found it interesting to learn coding concepts using swift playgrounds on the Apple iPad. Furthermore, students were able to use other Apple iPad features to design cross curricular activities to promote teaching and learning of coding and robotics in the DBE curriculum for the intermediate and foundation phase in 2023 onwards. Exploring coding and robotics and the approaches to scaffolding that a teacher can take when teaching young learners these skills was insightful for the students and lecturers. Erwyn Govender (3rd year IIE Bachelor of Education in Intermediate Phase Teaching The IIE’s Varsity College Westville) said: “My passion for teaching and the iStore Education Coding and Robotics programme has allowed me to become excited to be a part of the digital shift where I will be able to help learners become digitally literate and help them acquire the necessary skills. I look forward to increase motivation and excitement around learning in the New World”.
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iStore Education is enthusiastic about thinking ahead and finding solutions that are accessible for all learners. By being a part of the iStore Education programme students and lecturers will be equipped to adapt, lead and succeed.
