Digital technologies are part of the new curriculum – but how does digitisation work in practice? How can we use it? How does it change jobs and business? A new teaching aid for primary and secondary schools, tailored for Switzerland, and now available free online, addresses these issues.
Consisting of four lessons, the teaching aid called #digitalistüberall (the teaching material is currently only available in German) is now available for free to all schools in two versions – for the intermediary level (3rd - 6th class) and secondary level (7th - 9th class). It looks at digitisation in practice in Switzerland. Teaching staff are provided with varied classroom material. In the first two lessons, pupils learn the basics – and see how digitisation is changing the world of work and daily life. How can a hospital assess risks with the help of digitisation? How can we detect full waste bins automatically? How does digitisation help farmers to better target their use of fertiliser? Two further lessons focus on the transfer into the pupils’ own world of experience: the pupils think up implementation ideas of their own and present them to the class. At the end, they discuss any unanswered questions with digitisation experts via live video chat. As Michael In Albon, Head of “Internet for Schools” at Swisscom, explains: "That’s what makes this teaching aid so special. It not only addresses the subject of digitisation – it is an example of digitisation by its very nature."
The new teaching aid closes a gap in the new curriculum, Lehrplan 21. Already in force in several cantons, the curriculum includes computer science and digital media – without a single reference to digitisation. Michael In Albon: "Precisely because everything in this field changes so quickly, Lehrplan 21’s “Media and Computer Science” module will always be fated to lag behind. The radical extent of the changes wrought by digitisation has only emerged in recent years. As this is a generational project, it is up to the current generation of school pupils to continue steering digitisation in the right direction.” In the light of this, it is important to think about developments from an early stage and actively engage with new opportunities and risks.
The new teaching aid is designed to engage future digitization specialists with the subject. According to Michael In Albon, specialists will soon be needed in every company from middle-sized upwards. “At the moment, Switzerland couldn’t even begin to cover demand in this area.” Defining the broader context of the teaching aid, he says: "Pupils gain a profound insight into the changing world of work, which will help them in their personal development and choosing a career.”
The new teaching aid is available now for free to all schools in several versions for all levels. Use of the teaching aid does not require the schools to go completely digital, explains Michael In Albon. “It can be used flexibly, depending on the school’s facilities. After all, the focus is not on digital technology as such, but on what it can actually achieve in practical terms."
