Code Week Podcast: Recent Episodes
EU Code Week
Welcome to the EU Code Week Podcast Series. We bring coding, computational thinking, robotics and innovation closer to you, your community and your school. Join Eugenia Casariego and Arjana Blazic as they explore a range of topics, from media literacy to robotics, with the help of expert guests – to empower you to equip your students with the skills to confront the challenges and opportunities posed by a digital future.
Today’s episode will focus on the 2022 study announced by the European Commission: “Reviewing Computational Thinking in Compulsory Education: State of Play and Practices from the Field”. The topics of discussion will follow the study outline, starting with a general introduction and comparison to the 2016 study, touching on study methodology, sources, and key terms, going through the main findings of the study, and finishing with key implementations and best practices.
In this episode, Povilas will be talking about his coding journey that led him to his current career, while touching on why coding is important as start in science, how a programming career in science actually looks like as opposed to big tech, as well as details about data analytics and its uses.
In this episode, the focus will be on cyber security, while also touching on the importance of coding, what is its relationship with cyber security, how to keep pupils safe, why there is a need to talk about cyber security in schools, as well as how to raise awareness about this topic with the general public.
This episode will focus on kood/Jõhvi, also known as the Jõhvi Coding School project. From general presentation of kood and its impact it aims to have on education in Estonia while filling a need in the job sector, the discussion will also touch on the start of the project and future perspective, with a part of the episode being dedicated to the application process.
Maria and our hosts will talk about how social innovators can use coding to develop solutions for every-day challenges, and focus on several main points: - Digital changes and current solutions: where the changes needed in the educational system are discussed, but also the current solutions that are at hand to set things into motion - Access to technology for all pupils: where the Covid-19 challenges are emphasized - Connecting industry professionals with schools: from why is important to how to approach them
In this episode, we will discuss the advantages of self-learning vs. being taught to program, why coding is as useful and necessary as grammar or math, programming is writing, code phonology and the usefulness of learning to read code.
Hendrik will join us to talk about what is like to work in one of the most attractive industries, how to get started, the applications of gaming in the classroom, how the knowledge of coding games can be applied to other industries, his own perspective on the future of education, and his experiences as a young man trying to develop his first game.
In this episode, Petra and our hosts will talk about how coding can drive creativity and innovation, what obstacles are in the way of teaching coding and how to overcome them, how and when to introduce digital skills to young students. The conversation will also touch on the how to make the lessons impactful and reach a larger audience.
The episode will reflect on the role and purpose of schools and the need for more flexibility in the learning process, as well as the importance of supporting schools in the process of adjusting to the new normality. It will also dive into how necessary AI and tech skills are, as well as a brief warm-up question on how to start teaching coding without any prior programming experience.
The episode will reflect on the role and purpose of schools and the need for more flexibility in the learning process, as well as the importance of supporting schools in the process of adjusting to the new normality. It will also dive into how necessary AI and tech skills are, as well as a brief warm-up question on how to start teaching coding without any prior programming experience.
Eugenia and Arjana talk to Evangelia Balatsou, a Greek scientist and founder of Greek Girls Code, which is a social enterprise that supports Greek women in pursuing careers in STEM. They explore ways to increase the presence of women in the STEM field, and how to close the gender gap in science and technology.
There are benefits to the uses and applications of AI in our daily lives, as well risks. To better understand what these are, Eugenia and Arjana have invited Marjana Prifti Skenduli – an assistant professor in Computer Science at the University of New York, Tirana and a Code Week Ambassador – to discuss this in more detail.
This episode’s expert guest is Marco Neves, a computer science teacher and CEO of the Internet Ideas Company, joins Eugenia and Arjana as they discuss the importance of artificial intelligence and its potential applications. He provides insight on best practices for bringing AI to classrooms, and examples of activities to do so with.
Join Arjana and Eugenia as they discuss ways to introduce coding and digital skills to pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in ways that build their confidence and other skills. They are joined by Niamh Brady, a teacher from Ireland who teaches coding and specialises in teaching SEN.
For this episode, Eugenia and Maha partnered a US-based organisation and spoke with Ken Akiha, Curriculum Development Manager at Code.org, to discover how best coding can be integrated into school curricula. They also discuss obstacles to bringing coding to schools and how these can be overcome, and use Ken’s expertise in curriculum development to provide some concrete examples of activities that are approachable and engaging for all.
In this episode, Eugenia and Arjana discusses starting to code at a young age with Avanti Sharma, Pre-Teen Technology Specialist at Workshop4Me. They talk about Avanti’s story of how she was inspired by her mother, Madhumalti Sharma, who is also a Code Week Ambassador for Luxembourg, and about her work in inspiring young people, particularly girls, to start their coding journey.
Coding can be introduced in schools in a number of ways, and one of the most accessible tools to do so is Scratch. Eugenia and Tommaso are joined by Jacy Edelman, the Scratch Foundation’s Experience and Engagement Manager, to explore the ways which Scratch can be used to teach coding across a number of subjects, with a diverse range of students.
Arjana and Eugenia explore computational thinking in this episode, and address key questions such as: how can it be brought into school curricula and what is its relevance, now and in the future? To be able to answer these questions, and others, they have invited Miles Berry, a professor at the University of Roehampton in England.
Arjana and Eugenia are joined by two special guests – Janne Elvelid, the Head of Public Policy for Sweden and Finland at Meta and Alja Isaković, co-founder of Artesia.si. They are both part of the group of Young Advisors who launched EU Code Week in 2013. They discuss how Code Week got started, their motivations for doing so, and share ideas for the future.
Join Eugenia and Arjana as they learn the basics of open-source programming from Horst Jens, an Austrian programming teacher. He sheds light on the best practices for introducing open-source programming to your classroom.
In this episode, Eugenia and Maha have invited Isabel Blanco, a teacher from Spain, to join them on a podcast episode focusing on robotics, and how it can be taught. They explore teaching methods and best practices, but also the ways in which robotics can enhance the teaching of various different subjects.
Eugenia and Arjana are joined by Kyriakos Koursaris from Cyprus, who is Technology Director at the United Lisbon International School in Portugal. He offers valuable insight into the role of coding in music, and the various ways which they can be combined to create fascinating and enjoyable activities in the classroom to foster the simultaneous learning of music and digital skills.
In this episode, we shed light on EU Code Week’s local teacher training sessions. Eugenia is joined by Maria Tsapara, a teacher from Greece, and James Callus, Head of Department for Digital Literacy at the Ministry of Education in Malta. They are both leading teachers, which means they are responsible for developing their local communities of teachers to bring innovation to classrooms.
To learn more about Code Week, Maha and Eugenia are joined by Annika Ostergren Pofantis, from the European Commission, and Tommaso Dalla Vecchia, from the European Schoolnet. They are both instrumental to the current and past successes of Code Week, so are able to offer a unique insight into the role, and future, of EU Code Week.
In this episode, Teá Horvatic and Marijana Smolcec, both teachers from Croatia, explain the basics of media literacy and why its importance is growing. Together with Eugenia and Arjana, they describe methods of teaching media literacy to students in ways that are engaging and exciting.
This episode sees Arjana and Eugenia discuss digital poetry and Internet art with Jaka Železnikar, an author and artist from Slovenia. They learn about the connection between literature and digital technology and provide tips on how to teach this to your students in an engaging way.
In this episode, Eugenia and Arjana are joined by Artur Coelho, a Portuguese ICT teacher. They explore the ways through which coding can be used for artistic creation, like through robotics and 3D printing.
In order to learn more about game design and gamification and their potential uses in the classroom, Arjana and Eugenia invite Ollie Bray, the Strategic Director of Education Scotland, to join them on the EU Code Week podcast series. They explore the uses of gamification in school, and why its use in education is more relevant than ever.
Arjana and Eugenia learn about digital skills in this episode, with guests Angela Jafarova and Elchin Jafarov from Latvia who are the founders of Datorium, a coding school in Riga. They answer questions such as: what are digital skills; how can you prepare your students for the future; and what will be the most important digital skill in the future?
Our guest in this episode is Alessandro Bogliolo, a computer science professor at the University of Urbino and an ambassador for Code Week in Italy. He has been involved in Code Week from the start, and with Eugenia and Arjana, he discusses the importance of Code Week’s initiatives and their impact on education in Europe.