As a breeding ground, where seeds are sown and plants grow to grow and bear fruit, the Vodafone Spain Foundation is spreading the seeds of digitization in schools with its DigiCraft education program. The initiative aims to train girls and boys in the age group of 6 to 12 years in digital skills
The project was born four years ago, “when we discovered that there was an important gap in Spanish society,” says Remedios Orrandia, president of the Vodafone Spain Foundation, “which helped to reform the education model and bring technology closer to education.” , is a key lever for breaking down social gaps, and I firmly believe that technology can now further open the gap between different social strata in society,” he assures. President of the Vodafone Spain Foundation.
The project aims to create an educational model in three dimensions. First, equipping classrooms with technology. “It’s very easy, and that’s what European funds and budget items are all about,” says Orrandia. “It is necessary, but not sufficient,” he says.
Second, with this technology, “ensure that we can adapt curriculum content by introducing content that is close to new technologies so that boys and girls learn naturally.” As the head of the foundation confirms, at the age of 16 or 17, when they have to choose a university degree, it is too late, and then we regret that some STEM careers and thousands of jobs are not filled. Youth unemployment is at 40%.
Third, “change the way of learning,” Orrantia insists, “because we continue an ethical system where our youth leave knowledge, but we know teamwork skills, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, competence. Public speaking… can also be developed through forms of learning. .and that’s where the Digicraft initiative came from.
DigiCraft was developed in different contexts: in schools; In the Classroom of the Future (a project of the Ministry of Education coordinated by the National Institute of Educational Technologies and Teacher Training in collaboration with autonomous communities); Educational reinforcement in classrooms; With open workshops and an online platform for families and children, there are more than 150 activities.
The initiative is currently in eight autonomous communities. These are the schools that choose among the requests because the demand is greater than the ability to reach them all. Digicraft is offered during school hours. Each classroom receives a DigiCraft kit, which includes various technological components such as robots or panels to create chroma. But first, teachers are trained because “they’re the key to all of this,” Orrantia points out. “Through this training they implicitly develop this knowledge, which they can apply to other subjects. They take a learning approach to change the way they teach.
Digicraft method
This is how children learn to plan educational itineraries for each age group through the DigiCraft system, a collaboration between academic and technical experts from the university. Salamanca. It is designed to work on five competency areas defined in the DigComp framework: information and information literacy; communication and collaboration; digital content creation; Security, and problem solving. It is based on collaborative learning and seeks the active participation of students through play and experimentation in an environment that stimulates students’ curiosity, creativity and positive emotional development.
DigiCraft Red Cross and Save the Children are also in strengthening classrooms in the most vulnerable areas, where children can do their homework, snack and play after school and extend the day until they return home. The program has been exported to seven other European countries.
“Our mission as a foundation is to do amazing projects that prove we can make an impact, and then transfer that knowledge so the organization can continue to grow on its own. Then move on to the next crazy idea that comes to mind. That’s how our sands contribute to society, and that’s our responsibility in the context of our operations.” Orrantia reflects that.
Super Network Digicraft
Competition. Vodafone Foundation conducts the annual SuperReto DigiCraft competition, inviting teachers and students from all DigiCraft Centers to respond to a challenge linked to the SDGs, using the knowledge gained across the course and digital tools. The challenge of the year was how to improve the planet from a sustainability perspective. Therefore, each participating classroom must develop an invention to develop a prototype of a space probe or develop a sustainable and environmentally friendly interplanetary means of transportation. In the first phase, together with the general administration, schools organized local events to showcase work and share experiences and select regional finalists. They had the opportunity to showcase their plans at a key event on June 14 at Vodafone Plaza (the company’s headquarters in Madrid). “The children present their projects in the competition. You are impressed by the communication skills and abilities they develop and how they respond to the jury’s questions,” stresses Remedios Orrantia.
Plates. Schools that have been developing the program for three years are awarded the DigiCraft School Badge. “What we want is to work with them so they can help other schools, with their experience, sign up for the initiative.”
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