CENTRAL BOHEMIA TO PILOT A DIGITIZATION PROJECT IN EDUCATION WITH INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS
As of November 2019, Emil Kolben Secondary School in the town of Rakovník is to pilot an CBIC DigiEduLab educational project. A two-week workshop led by renowned international experts is intended for the school’s teachers and students and is delivered by the Central Bohemian Innovation Centre. The program will introduce a unique teaching methodology in a digital fablab, a fabrication laboratory equipped with digital technologies for coding, augmented reality, 3D printing and other activities.
“The technology equipment is secondary to the methodology which adds value to working with technologies in classes. The project combines two approaches – one teaches students to work with different types of reality, the other breeds business thinking,” says Martina Vycudilíková, project manager for research and education, CBIC. She adds: “Long-term exposure of students to digital fablabs demonstrably raises their interest in natural sciences and engineering and fosters creativity, logical thinking, problem-solving capabilities, and entrepreneurship.“
“Technological advancements in the 21st century bring about a fast-paced, spontaneous evolution that will transform most aspects of human life. The emerging “Society 4.0”, as we call this phenomenon, presents the region with both challenges and opportunities that need to be tapped to the benefit of our citizens,” says Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová, Governor of Central Bohemia. “I am happy that we have joined an international club of advanced regions that effectively leverage digital technologies to support education and to breed digital literacy in students to prepare them for their roles in the society and on the labor market.”
Central Bohemia will welcome 4 foreign experts, including Ben Douek, a Canadian lecturer focusing on coding and STEAM and the founder of Robot in a Can; Ruy Cervantes, an innovation strategy and ecosystem building expert; Gustavo Calderón, computer engineer and education innovator; and Jorge Sanabria, a neuroscience professor at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, and the author of one of two methodologies leveraged in the project.
The unique methodology that the experts are going to introduce in Central Bohemia has been tested at Stanford University which regularly ranks among the top three universities globally. The methodology is being introduced as a compulsory subject in some regions and cities, such as Guadalajara (Mexico), Montreal, Nice and soon also China.
The CBIC DigiEduLab pilot project based on the Digital Fabrication Lab international program is part of Central Bohemian three-year Smart Accelerator II project with financial support from the Operational Program Research, Development, Education.
