Wise and technology’s next generation

By Tanel Saarmann

Interest in IT has exploded, already in kindergarten. Both children and parents want technology to be taught and implemented.

Estonia has the reputation of a world-class IT-country. That is undoubtedly true. However, Wise, the flagship of Estonian IT, is concerned because IT studies at schools may not be enough to encourage kids to understand what IT really is. Too much of it is just fiddling around with Word and Excel. Alvar Lumberg, Development Manager at Wise, invited experts, teachers, university professors and school kids for to discuss the challenges of IT studies at schools. The assumption was that all is not good.

Only 7% of the 300 kids who responded to Kantar Emor’s mini survey commissioned by Wise said that they definitely want to choose IT as their future career. 16% of the respondents would consider it. However, over half of the kids were convinced that IT is not for them. In cooperation with Tartu University, Wise will carry out another research to find out what are the bottlenecks in our education system. Figuratively speaking, why is it that in one school you can build robots and write code whereas in another school, they prefer ink and a feather even for writing.

The sector concerns everyone

”We feel that more people could choose IT as their future career,” said Lumberg. However, we definitely do not want to have fewer doctors, teachers or other professionals as a result of it. IT is used in every single sector. Doctors as well teachers should know what technology has to offer. According to Lumberg and other experts, there is still a widespread belief in Estonia that IT-people stare at screens all day. It's actually a very diverse group of people developing companies like Skype, Wise and Taxify. Digital skills are becoming more and more valued in private business. ”Let's take public sector digital services or SMEs innovation challenges. We go on and on about efficiency and added value. Part of it is tied to technical literacy,” says Lumberg. It's not about hoards of graduates flocking to IT-studies and then to start-ups. Instead, everyone should know what information technology has to offer and dare to use it.

Is the situation really that bad? It depends on what you're looking at. Some schools offer very good in-depth IT-courses; some have introduced IT into other subjects. It is really difficult to compare schools because digital topics could be integrated into an art classes, for example. Currently, hard-core information technology, like robotics and programming, are not a compulsory part of the curriculum. It's up to the school to choose what and how much they offer. For example, some schools do integrate mathematics and robotics or combine technology with physics, however, other schools have separate courses for them. Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Information Technology Foundation for Education (HITSA) say that the systems and opportunities have already been created. Now the ball is in the school administrator's i.e. local municipality's court and the school itself. And finally, the teachers who have to be ready to adopt the new ways of teaching.

Moving towards harmonisation

Kristel Rillo, Deputy Manager of E-Services at the Ministry of Education and Research, says the Ministry has a clear intention to harmonise provision of technical literacy across Estonia. This is how children should be able to decide whether IT-studies are for them. Rillo also introduces a plan to make some things obligatory. Students have to get their first taste of IT. Currently, a curriculum is being developed which includes compulsory teaching of information technology basic skills. These will be elective courses prescribed by the state. Schools are allowed to create their own versions. This academic year, University of Tartu and Tallinn University opened admission to Computer Science Teachers. They did so because of the curriculum development mentioned earlier. ”It is very popular and since it is a part of IT Academy, a computer science teacher is equal to an IT-professional,” explains Rillo. IT Academy is a programme to help increase the number of IT-experts in higher education. Universities are a very important piece of the puzzle. Experts say that IT subjects are popular, but the dropout rate is high. The first year, the problem is that it seems too difficult to students. Alvar Lumberg says that universities should probably also review what they offer students during the first year.

How do robots develop our children?

Programming devices develop logical thinking and teach them to find solutions to problems. The devices don't really need to be introduced to children that much anymore, the key is what you can do with them. ”You can attach pencils to them and make them draw,” Kristi Salum gives an example. ”If a child says two plus two is three, then it is simply the wrong answer, but if the bot goes to the wrong place, then the child has to start solving the problem,” says Kristel Rillo.

The original article was published in Ärileht on 12th November 2018.