Tag: News

Computing Science Scotland 2023: Review and Resources

If you missed Computing Science Scotland Week, we have (most!) sessions available for you to view again!  (Unfortunately the tech gremlins appeared in a few recordings!)

These videos, and many others are available to watch on our youtube channel playlist

All links and descriptions of our recorded sessions are below, but first we’d like to say thank you to all of you that participated in #CSscot23 and made it the success it was!

For You and Your Learners

Inspiring Sustainable Behaviour with micro:bit #CSscot23

Making a difference in the world around us can seem a little daunting but there are lots of easy, individual and local things we can do to help. Using the accelerometer on the BBC micro:bit, we will code a random sustainability activity picker to inspire us all to make a difference and to have fun doing it.

This session is suitable for learners first – 4th level.

This session is based on the activity picker project – https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/activity-picker/

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Monitor and Encourage Sustainable Behaviour, micro:bit #CSscot23

This session for you to watch with your class at your own leisure. The video will be made available from 17th May at 11am within the Curriculum Live Channel.

Encouraging those around you to make better choices in their sustainable behaviour is hard. One important thing to encourage change is to convince them with data. Using the data logging feature on the BBC micro:bit, we will build a manual data logger to allow you to gather data for your local area. You could look at transport on the way to school or the types of litter in your local environment. The choice is yours but remember collecting the data is only the first step. Then you need to think about how you will present and share that data in order to make a difference.

This session is suitable for 2nd – 4th Level learners.

This session is based on the traffic survey project – https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/traffic-survey-data-logger/

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Watch with your learners

MITCH RESNICK creator of Scratch, Live Assembly & Sustainability Challenge #CSscot23

Join Mitch Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, as he explores and shares how he develops new technologies to engage educators and learners in creative experiences.

His Lifelong Kindergarten research group developed the Scratch programming software and online community , used by millions of young people around the world. The group has also collaborated with the LEGO Company on the development of new educational ideas and products, including the LEGO robotics kits.

There will be an opportunity to ask Mitch questions at the end of his talk and learners across Scotland will be invited to take part in a national Scratch sustainability challenge. Projects developed will be showcased globally on the Scratch website!

This live assembly will be relevant for learners in the upper first level – senior phase.

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Here is the sustainability challenge!

 

 

Technology to Protect our Planet – Live Assembly, Tech She Can #CSscot23

Are your students interested in technology and how it can help us protect our planet? Could they see themselves working in a green career in the future? Join us on Tuesday 16th March at 2pm, when Tech She Can Learning Design and Development Officer (and experienced primary school teacher), Poppy Patel, will deliver a live virtual 30-minute Tech We Can assembly for children aged 8 – 11. Poppy will highlight the role technology plays in helping us to protect our planet and fight climate change – and also show some of the green careers within tech that students could pursue in the future.

 

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CLPL Sessions for Educators

ELC Practitioner Code Along, with Scratch Jnr #CSscot23

Celebrate #CSscot23 with the Education Scotland Digital Team, by joining a short 30 minute evening ‘Code Along’ session to explore the free online block-based coding app Scratch Jnr.

Scratch Jnr provides an introduction for early level learners to experiment with programming their own interactive stories and games through block-based coding, with endless opportunity to problem solve and express themselves creatively.

This session is suitable for all practitioners working with early level learners across a variety of settings.

Please download the app prior to the session and ‘Code Along’ with us.

The app be downloaded here. For more information about Scratch Jnr, please click here.

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ELC Practitioner Play Along, with Barefoot Computing #CSscot23

Celebrate #CSscot23 with the Education Scotland Digital Team, by joining a short 30 minute evening ‘Play Along’ session to explore the free resources from Barefoot Computing

Barefoot Computing allows you and your learners to explore computational thinking using simple practical activities.

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Esports Scotland: The Journey into Education

Join Esports Scotland to hear about their journey into education and their future plans.

Over the past 18 months Esports Scotland have been working within education in Scotland. Today’s session will talk about our journey into education and our future plans. -Overview of partnership and Esports projects

-Project wins and hurdles partnerships helped overcome

-Esports Scotland and education

-D&A college and Esports progression

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Artificial Intelligence – Exploring Opportunities for Scottish Educators #CSscot23

  • What is artificial intelligence
  • What is generative AI and some examples
  • Prompt-craft
  • How might you use generative AI tools to support your work
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digital xtra fund now open

Digital Xtra Fund NOW OPEN

Digital Xtra Fund launches eighth funding round to drive digital skills for young people across Scotland

Digital Xtra Fund has launched this year’s Round VIII (2023/24) Grant Awards, with the aim to help drive digital skills among young people. To date, the Fund has secured almost £1 million to deliver coding and tech clubs and initiatives nationwide. Over the years, the Fund has awarded 137 high-quality, exciting extracurricular computing and digital technologies initiatives across Scotland, that has helped engage nearly 45,000 young people in tech. In 2022/23, Digital Xtra Fund has supported 35 initiatives covering 24 local authorities and are on target to engage over 7,400 young people by the end of June, of which approximately 50 per cent will be girls and young women. 

Supported activities must be delivered between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024 and delivered entirely in Scotland. Activities must also focus on engaging young people aged 16 and under. Applications are welcome from UK-registered companies, charities, chartered bodies, local authorities, schools, colleges, or universities actively involved in the provision of computing education or digital technology related activities, especially for audiences from excluded groups or backgrounds (such as pupils from areas of high deprivation and/or rural isolation, girls and young women and/or minority groups). Eligible organisations can apply for grants from a minimum of £500 to a maximum of £5,000. Similar to last year, applicants will be required to submit their applications via online form found on the Digital Xtra Fund website.

To help applicants with the grant application, Digital Xtra Fund will also be delivering two webinars and also while the funding is open. New this year, Digital Xtra Fund will also be delivering four in-person sessions in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, and Edinburgh giving prospective applicants an opportunity to ask questions to the Digital Xtra Fund team about the grant application. The team will also bring some popular educational devices (e.g., Sphero indis and BOLTs, micro:bits, Marty the Robot, and LEGO Education SPIKE sets) to these sessions for applicants to try before deciding if they would like to include them in their application.

The deadline for submissions of the grant application is Thursday 6 April 2023 at 15:00. To find out more about eligibility criteria, online application and details about the webinars, please visit: https://www.digitalxtrafund.scot/apply/.

Cyber Scotland Week 2023 #CSW2023

This session’s Cyber Scotland Week will take place 27th February – 5th March 2023.
Let us know what you’re up to on twitter @digilearnscot with #CSW2023

Education Scotland will be delivering and supporting live sessions all over the country and online, as well as making asynchronous opportunities and resources available too.

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About CSW23

The Three Aims of Cyber Scotland Week are:

Protection – improving cyber resilience knowledge, behaviours, awareness and practice

Innovation – showcasing innovative work happening across Scotland’s cyber sector

Skills and Careers – promoting skills development and a career in cyber security and to discover the importance of cyber security

Full events schedule

These are events already confirmed with more to be added:

Monday 27th February

All day – CyberFirst development day: Falkirk (CyberFirstGirls_DevelopmentDays_flyer)

1100 – 1145, Barefoot Live Lesson (First Level) 

Tuesday 28th February 

All day – CyberFirst development day: Inverness (CyberFirstGirls_DevelopmentDays_flyer)

Thursday 2nd March 

All day – CyberFirst development day: West College Scotland Glasgow campus (CyberFirstGirls_DevelopmentDays_flyer)

0930 – 1015, Tech She Can LIVE assembly: Tech Safety and Security

AM, PM & twilight (3 sessions)NCSC childminder session and read and play along for children (Early Level)  

Friday 3rd March  

All day – CyberFirst development day in Microsoft HQ Edinburgh (CyberFirstGirls_DevelopmentDays_flyer)

Monday 6th March

All day – CyberFirst development day: Maybole  (CyberFirstGirls_DevelopmentDays_flyer)

Sign up for these LIVE sessions

- Join Barefoot for this live lesson on Cyber Resilience, for first level learners. In this live lesson we will explore the idea of how and why we can keep our things secure using locks and…