CAPI, a model for the implementation of the MEES digital action plan

At the same date last year, the teaching staff of the Fernand-Seguin school of the Commission scolaire de Montréal took the digital turn announced by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education by setting up a community of computer programming training (CAPI).

By Guillaume Bilodeau
IT resource teacher at the Fernand-Seguin school of the CSDM

As shown in the diagram below, all the players in the school environment have mobilized in order to respond to the three main orientations of the MEES digital action plan:

1. Support the development of the digital skills of young people;
2. Use digital technology as a vector of added value in teaching and learning practices;
3. Create an environment conducive to the deployment of digital throughout the system.

Benefits of a first year of experimentation

During the first year of CAPI's existence, kindergarten and first cycle teachers attended training sessions offered by the IT resource teacher in connection with the use of applications. Logic Turtle, Run Marco, Scratch Jr and programming software to use the robots Blue-bot and Dash. Following these training workshops, the teachers were able to help the students complete the programming activities with the IT resource teacher. The learning community will have made it possible, among other things, to give these teachers confidence and better equip them to take up this new challenge. The latter are now more aware of the positive impact that these programming activities have on their students and are now actively participating in them. In addition, they were able to develop several skills from the digital skills reference framework tabled last April by Minister Roberge, such as: developing and mobilizing their information literacy; develop and mobilize their technological skills and exploit the potential of digital technology for learning.

Exciting outlook

CAPI is in its second year of establishment. The objective is now to allow second cycle teachers to be trained in the use of the applications. Scratch and Tinkercad and that used to program the robot Mbot Ranger and this, with a view to bringing programming activities to their students. In addition, the two resource teachers, accompanied by the volunteer expert parent, will continue their meetings with the aim of setting up new technopedagogical activities in order to finalize a programming curriculum that will run from kindergarten to sixth grade. Finally, the IT brigade, made up of fifth year students, will be invited to develop a 3D virtual platform using software. Unity and Tinkercad. This unique project will be the subject of our next article in École branchée.

A year that promises to be very busy, but very exciting!

Want to get started with classroom programming? Carrefour education offers you its thematic guide: Programming and computer thinking at the rendezvous.