Microsoft, Google and IBM to help train computing teachers

4 Jun 2014 10:40 AM

Government announces 7 new programmes to train more than 45,000 computing teachers. 

Top computing firms including Microsoft, Google and IBM are joining forces with the government to train more than 45,000 teachers ahead of the introduction of the rigorous new computing curriculum in September - equivalent to around 2 teachers for every school in England.

It is the latest scheme to complement more than £3 million worth of support from the Department for Education (DfE) to schools. So far nearly 7,000 teachers have already received training from the network of 400 ‘master teachers’ established by the British Computer Society (BCS), while Computing at School (CAS) is running workshops to help train primary teachers. There are currently more than 15,000 IT teachers in secondary schools.

This latest project sees DfE and leading tech firms, alongside organisations including the BCS, University of Hertfordshire, Code Club and Oxford University, funding 7 new training projects.

These initiatives will provide a mix of national conferences, 1-day events, individual training sessions, and resources including 2 computing curriculum guidance books for every secondary school in England.

The projects are the result of a £500,000 match fund launched by DfE in February. Industry groups and computing organisations were invited to submit proposals for training projects that would be match-funded by the government.

Microsoft provided £284,000 for a joint project with the BCS and CAS to expand a network of computing hubs and schools to provide training for 30,000 primary teachers and 12,000 secondary teachers.

Another project is backed by £52,500 from Oxford University’s philosophy and computer science faculties, the university’s Van Houten Fund and a private philanthropist. This scheme will provide resources and offer training to secondary school teachers in how to use 2 popular software systems, developed at Oxford, that will help them run coding and computer science lessons for students.

The match fund programme is the latest initiative by the government working with the computer industry to ensure teachers at primary and secondary level have the right support and are equipped with the skills they need to teach the new curriculum.

Education Minister Elizabeth Truss said:

Our new computing curriculum will excite children about the endless potential of technology and give them the skills they need to make that technology work for them. That’s vital in the 21st century and could help them go on to create the next big app.

But great teachers are a key part of this and that’s why we are continuing to work with the industry and computer experts to invest in our teachers and make sure they are ready to open up this exciting world to our children.

The new, more demanding computing curriculum was drawn up in conjunction with teachers and experts including the BCS and the Royal Academy of Engineering, with input from Microsoft, Google and leaders in the computer games industry.

The new forward-thinking curriculum, which is already being taught in some schools, will teach children the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century and make computers work for them.

Starting in primary school, children will be taught how to code, create programmes and understand how a computer works. In secondary school, they will learn even more complex skills such as how to use at least 2 programming languages to solve computational problems.

Michel Van der Bel, Managing Director of Microsoft UK, said:

Young people have grown up with technology at their fingertips and they have a natural enthusiasm for it. But if we want the next technology success story to be based in Britain, then we need teachers who have the right skills and the confidence to encourage, support and enable them to do so.

Industry support is vital to help bring the curriculum to life, which is why Microsoft has partnered with the Computing At School group to deliver a series of personal training sessions and to develop a suite of online training materials as teachers get ready for those first lessons.

Mike Warriner, UK Engineering Director at Google, said:

The UK has a proud computing history, but with more and more industries wanting computer scientists, coding has never been in more demand. It’s great that teachers will be trained with the skills they need to teach children from a young age and hopefully inspire the next generation of developers and programmers.

We’re passionate about this area too and we have already donated £120,000 to Code Club as well as around £1,000,000 over the last year to support other organisations like Teach First and the Raspberry Pi Foundation to help education experts bring computer science skills to more children in the UK.

The first 7 projects range from major national projects helping thousands of teachers around the country to programmes which will provide bespoke, personalised training to teachers across London.

The projects are:

• the BCS, CAS and Microsoft will create another 100 CAS hubs, where teachers and lecturers meet to share ideas for developing the teaching of computing in schools, and another 250 lead schools for their Network of Excellence to train teachers across England. This brings the total of hubs and lead schools to 200 and 500 respectively, allowing them to help up to 30,000 primary teachers and 12,000 secondary teachers understand how they can go about designing, developing and delivering their own teaching and learning resources for the new computing curriculum. DfE has provided £150,000 for this project with a further £284,000 provided by Microsoft

• Edge Hill University will use its funding to develop teacher training resources and deliver 4 national conferences as well as 80 full-day training events for a network of at least 400 teachers across 4,000 primary and secondary schools. DfE has provided £49,316 with £10,000 provided by Rising Stars and £39,316 from Promethean

• the project funded by Oxford University, will help teachers and pupils in bridging the gap between block-based programming languages and code-based languages such as Java or Python, which are used by industry. It will offer training to 170 Computing At School master teachers in 2 complementary software systems - the Turtle System and GeomLab. Those master teachers will then share that training with more than 750 secondary school teachers. Resources including an online web community will also be provided. Oxford University’s faculties of computer science and philosophy, the university’s Van Houten Fund and a private philanthropist have provided a total of £52,500, which has been matched by £52,500 from DfE

• Code Club Pro will train nearly 3,000 primary teachers through a national programme of computing teacher training. Volunteer expert trainers and teachers who have received an additional 16 hours of training will be recruited to run it. Google has provided £10,000 for the project alongside £25,000 from ARM, £10,000 from Postcode Anywhere, and £41,314 fromDfE

• the University of Hertfordshire will provide every secondary school in England with at least 2 hard copies of a comprehensive secondary computing curriculum guidance document, as well as access to an online version of the guidance provided as an eBook. This will be the first time free resources of this type will have been delivered to all secondary schools. The project is funded by £15,000 from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and £15,000 from DfE

• the London Connected Learning Centre (CLC) will provide tailored computing teacher training to 10 primary and secondary schools. Computer scientists and other technologists will also lead seminars at the schools to help teachers better understand how computing is used so they can put the subject into a real-world context for students. Resources will then be shared with more than 60 schools in the CLC’s London network. The project has been backed with £15,000 from IBM and £15,000 fromDfE funding

• Beautiful Education will provide personalised training programmes for 30 teachers at 10 secondary schools in Hackney to help build up the skills they need to deliver the new curriculum. The Hackney Learning Trust has provided £15,000 for the programme which has been matched by the DfE

In total, the organisations have provided £426,500, alongside £338,000 from DfE.

Introducing children to computing and coding from an early age is all part of the government’s long-term plan to ensure young people have the first-class education they need to succeed, and make sure Britain leads the global race in innovation.

These latest projects will complement ongoing work by government to train teachers in how to deliver the new curriculum.

These include:

• providing the BCS with more than £2 million to set up a network of 400 ‘master teachers’ to train teachers in other schools and provide resources for use in the classroom
• providing £1.1 million to Computing at School to help train primary teachers already working in the classroom through online resources and school workshops
• increasing bursaries for those wanting to become computing teachers. Scholarships of £25,000 - backed by Microsoft, Google, IBM and Facebook - are being offered to computer science teachers

A second round of bidding has now opened for organisations to bid for further grants from the programme. Bidders must have sponsors willing to provide at least 50% of funding for projects. This will be matched by DfE.

Successful bids must demonstrate how their support will have a positive impact on the quality of teaching of computing in schools. Innovative and creative solutions are encouraged. For details of how to bid go to theContracts Finder or Funding Central websites.

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