NewTechKids hosted a teacher training workshop on June 6th, 2017 as part of the ‘Learning Fair’ event organised by Projectenbureau Primair Onderwijs Zuidoost (PPOZO).
Projectenbureau Primair Onderwijs Zuidoost (PPOZO) is the organization which coordinates after-school activities for primary schLearnool students in Amsterdam Southeast, one of the city’s most economically-disadvantaged communities. It works with 10 school boards representing 29 schools in the area and 7017 students.
Scrum: an important teaching tool to help students develop 21st century skills
Scrum processes are often used by teams of technologists to undertake and complete projects and are steadily gaining in popularity.
During this hands-on workshop, teachers learned about scrum as a structured process which encourages students to take responsibility for managing their projects and learning experiences in the classroom. During scrum processes, students are in charge of their learning, from assigning roles to setting deadlines and milestones, providing work updates and assigning homework.
NewTechKids showed teachers how a scrum process works by applying it during one of our own lessons focused on design, prototyping and iteration. Teachers learned how to become ‘scrum masters’ who assist, rather than manage, students.
NewTechKids is pleased to be extending its collaboration with PPOZO. In Fall 2016, our organizations cooperated on a pilot program to introduce computer science and technological literacy into PPOZO’s line up of technology-related, after school activities. From January – July 2017, Stichting NewTechKids, the non-profit arm of NewTechKids, is organising a series of 21st Century Skills Clubs which focus on bringing computer science and technological literacy to primary school children in Amsterdam Southeast, in partnership with PPOZO and Google.