In response to the Covid-19 health crisis, our partner Colectic has launched some STEAM initiatives to help generate collective awareness against the coronavirus and also to directly support the communities, in which they operate.

Colectic is located in Barcelona, in the neighbourhood of Raval. Schools and other educational centres throughout the city closed their doors on 13 March, due to the health crisis. Knowing the difficulty for many families in Raval ​​to have all the necessary material resources and being aware of how the digital divide can make many students unable to follow the instructions of the schools normally, Colectic staff have joined to help the neighborhood to respond to this situation.

In this way, Colectic staff have decided to act as facilitators in collaboration with other organizations and entities in the neighborhood so that families, adults, young people and the elderly have access to computers, either to carry out school tasks, communicate with the family or take self-training courses online.

Another initiative has been helping and contributing to manufacturing different parts and protection material for healthcare workers with ‘Makers for inclusion’ project. Colectic has four 3D printers taking smoke out day and night in the houses of their revitalizers creating incessantly at full capacity.

Through the Coronavirusmakers.org Network, Colectic is in coordination with other groups of makers to share designs, availability of materials, advice and deliveries of the pieces they are building.

Colectic was born as a cooperative in 2017, but its history goes back more than 25 years ago, since it is the result of the transformation of the Teb Youth Association into a cooperative. We manage one of the first telecentres in Spain and led to the birth of the first telecentre network in Catalonia, in 1999. We currently work for the Catalan Government in the coordination and advice of 750 telecentres that are part of the Punt TIC Network.

Colectic plays a very active role in the STEAMonEdu project, with implementing all the work packages and leading the creation of the International Community of STE(A)M educators. Colectic brings to the project its 25 years of implementing various social and digital inclusion activities taking advantage of the experience acquired in previous projects, that we’d like to share with you:

Makers per la inclusió (Makers for inclusion) – in Raval district (Barcelona)

Makers for Inclusion carries out an awareness-raising task, based on outreach activities that arouse interest and encourage the learning of techniques related to digital manufacturing. It is also essential the involvement of educational agents in the territory and the development of complementary activities to the educational curriculum, extracurricular activities, open workshops, etc. In which areas? Scratch programming, electronics with Arduino and free hardware, sound technologies, digital manufacturing and 3D printing, video game creation, internet of things, etc.

In Raval district, Colectic neighborhood, the project ‘Makers in the classroom’ invite the students of the INS Milà i Fontanals institute to collaborate with groups and organizations in the area.

It is an active learning, a reflection on practice, which aims to strengthen the feeling of belonging and rooting in the territory. It focuses on students, promoting responsible and active participation through real situations of daily life, within the concept of global citizenship, seeking the good of society as a whole.

After visiting some primary schools, participants design and create their own proposal for toys/games with digital manufacturing technologies, in order to return to primary school and invigorate a game session with the little ones, in addition to giving the toys created thinking about them.

mSchools Toolbox

The mSchools Toolbox is an online repository of validated and tested mobile educational content for schools, teachers, parents and students. The content is curated by teachers and educational experts to ensure it fits the current educational curriculum.

It is a multi-faceted mEducation programme of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, in partnership with Ministry for Digital Policy and Public Administration of Generalitat of Catalonia, Barcelona City Hall, and GSMA.

mSchools empowers students and teachers to integrate mobile technologies into the classroom, opening up new ways of teaching and learning that improve achievement and employability.

Technovation Girls

Technovation Girls is a global initiative created in 2009 with the aim of increasing female participation in the technological field, in which women represent only 30% of workers. Every year, Technovation Girls Catalonia invites teams of girls (10-18 years old) to learn and apply the skills that are necessary to solve real problems by creating a mobile application.

Through a mentoring process that takes place within the classroom or as an after-school activity, the participants work on solving a problem. They work individually or in groups (from 1 to 5 participants) with the assistance of a teacher and/or an external mentor. The process begins with the detection of a specific and local problem to which the participants want to contribute a solution; the participants are inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. Different possible solutions are designed and selected for the market study or survey.

Later, the solution is programmed with MIT’s App Inventor and, in parallel, graphic images, sales elements and a business plan is designed (written by participants over 14 years of age).

By Colectic

Núria Salán Ballesteros (Barcelona, b.1963) is a Catalan chemist, professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and current president of the Catalan Society of Technology (SCT). Last year, she won a Special Mention from the DonaTic Awards, which accredit the excellence of talent and female digital entrepreneurship in Catalonia.

We spoke with her about the STE(A)M community in Catalonia.

• In your opinion, which is the situation of the maker and STE(A)M movement education in Catalonia? Incipient or initial, in development or in consolidation?

The maker movement, during this first period of confinement by COVID-19, has revealed itself as a collaborative movement with immediate and highly effective solutions, in such a way that the image that a part of society could have of the maker movement is «a group of geeks». But more than ever, the solutions provided by this movement in all its forms (3D printing, sewing, mechanical assembly groups, etc.), have been essential to improve the quality of life for many and many people. An applause!

• Do you think we have significant groups of expertise in STE(A)M education in Catalonia ?

Yes, definitely! Personally, I have rediscovered a group of technology teachers from all over Catalonia, who have turned to offer their tools, their material, their time and their know-how to help organize a project like Telecomunicat.cat. Through this project, mobile devices are supplied to people affected by COVID-19 in public hospitals in Catalonia, to support health personnel and that there are no missing vents, supports for masks, safety screens or other items. And I say «rediscovered» because I already knew a good part of the things they did, but I have verified their ability to make immediate, creative proposals, redesign elements, etc. This teaching team are the best STE(A)M references that we have right now. We have a lot of talent and many expert people among our technology teachers!

• Has the demand and interest of the teaching community on these topics been growing?

Inevitably yes. There has been a lot of curiosity to know how robots that can make 2,400 PCR tests a day or ASSUM devices that sterilize sanitary spaces have been designed and manufactured, with the collaboration of people from all over the world to take them to the hospitals of Catalonia. This curiosity has led to the emergence of groups like Covidwarriors.org. It was time!

• Do you think that the teaching teams have enough resources?

With what we have done so far, we have enough to do initial training in technology at schools. Now, after which we have seen and lived, ICTs have been the undeniable protagonists to guarantee communication and to avoid the isolation of society in this situation of confinement, therefore, ICT terminology that was not common to society now is. In any case, what we have lacked more is resources rather than knowledge… We have adapted to virtual classes, to guarantee virtual learning scenarios, to convert practical content into digital, but it is not very useful if our students can not access.  The digital gap has revealed that not everyone has the same opportunities. This has been the main inconvenience for teachers.

• How do you value the training of teachers on the subject? And the quality of the projects that are presented from the different centres?

There are teachers who have a lot of and very good training because they have been organizing activities for years like Robolot, Roboresme, Robotseny, Tramuntec, technology fairs, Mercatec, etc. and have offered to do «not expert» teacher training. What we have also detected is that a part of the teachers have not felt like adapting. Those who wanted to train, have found training scenarios, created by colleagues, like CESIRE network. We can say that we will start 2020-21 course with a «renewed» teacher team in technological skills (who wanted to renew them, naturally). But I am afraid that the scope of activities carried out by public school teachers has had a very diverse reception by students, because it has been subject to the abilities and resources of the students (availability of PCs or tablets, WIFI availability …). Again I refer to the fact that the digital gap has been very marked.

• What strategies do you think can best serve to extend and broaden the reach of this movement and resources within the educational community?

That teachers know that what they propose can be done and that their students can enjoy it. And let them know that they can count on the support of their centres. I think teachers who have spent more time and hours preparing material, training, supporting, etc., should be recognized for that.

• Do you think that this type of activities, projects and experiences can serve to democratize access to technology, or is there a risk of generating elitist spaces of exclusivity?

On the one hand, the situation has let clear that there is a (large) part of the technology that is much more accessible than it might seem, and we can enjoy impressive ICT offers. This has allowed us to stay connected, in a fairly globalized way, and the appearance of devices that require little to function (open software, free software, open platforms) have contributed to democratizing part of this technology. But, of course, there is still a perception that technology, and studies related to technology and engineering, are elitist. And it should be emphasized that this perception is totally wrong and out of place. In the past, engineers were important gentlemen, with ties, who made a lot of money (or much more than factory workers), but there were also many people who did «magic» without wearing a tie (and without collecting the salaries of the gentlemen). I mean by this that engineering and technology is present in many jobs and tasks from our day to day. We need TECH talent in all these areas, with diversity, with parity, with all kinds of points of view.

• Did you think that this theme helps or hinders gender work (and the gap) within technical-scientific vocations?

Yes, inevitably an important gender gap is generated. Girls are more attracted to vocations more linked to «saving the world», and do not perceive that technology means too to «save the world». On the other hand, boys (and I speak in general, no one takes it badly) are attracted by initiatives more related to leisure, competitiveness, etc. If a girl says she likes cars, there are still people who don’t see it as something normalized. This, in the middle of the XXI century, causes female vocations to be lost from the beginning of the formative stage. On the other hand, if any examples of technology will be applied to quality of life (health, medicine, etc.), many girls (and boys) would receive the message and incorporate it. Early childhood and primary education is key in this «recruitment of talent».

• Comparing with experiences and realities of the countries of our environment at an international level, what do you think is the role of Catalonia within the international maker movement? Do you think that the projects carried out here have recognition and sufficient visibility abroad?

Personally, I believe that we can talk «from you to you» with international makers of recognized prestige. I have visited FABLABs in Berkeley and Cambridge, and we have nothing to envy from our FABLABs. I think we have the capacity, skills and talent perfectly comparable to that of others maker communities that have recognition because they have visibility. We still need a recognition of talent in our country. Catalonia can become a pioneer in this impulse of the talented community, with recognition and giving it the value it deserves. We can do it!

• Any project, resource or experience that you want to highlight?

I have said that the experience of Telecomunicat.cat has been very enriching for me during this first confinement by COVID-19. We saw that we could organize more than 80 people from all areas and TECH-ICT profiles that they didn’t know each other who knew each other and we accepted a fairly horizontal organization chart of people to move forward all together. It has been exciting! We have worked a lot, we have spent many hours, but it was worth it to see some image like a mother who could see her baby through a mobile phone. Technology has helped a lot in this terrible situation.

By Colectic

Francesc Rambla is a technical engineer in telecommunications. He has worked for more than twenty years as a consultant in the field of information and communication technologies, both in the public and private sectors, an activity that he has combined with teaching. Since 2005 he has been working for the Generalitat of Catalonia as a Technician in charge of technological vocation projects to promote technological vocations, educational technologies and free software. Our partner Colectic spoke with him about the situation of the maker movement and STE(A)M education in Catalonia.

•  What is the situation of maker movement and STE(A)M education in Catalonia, in your opinion – initial, incipient, in development, or in consolidation?

There is always a room for improvement but I think that in Catalonia there is a very wide consolidated offer of extracurricular and leisure STE(A)M activities. This offer is often particularly focused on the field of educational robotics, which, in many cases, incorporates a maker component. This means that other STE(A)M disciplines, such as biology, chemistry, mathematics or certain branches of physics, are under-represented in this offer and, as a consequence, although these activities have a very convinced audience, it is difficult to expand it.

On the other hand, the reality is that Catalonia is very diverse and that this offer is not uniform everywhere. There are still many regions where the only possibility to access this offer is through online proposals or specific activities that are offered, very often, to the orbit of educational centers. So I think we are not bad, but could be much better.

• Which strategies do you think can best serve to extend the scope of this movement in Catalonia?

In my opinion, the different specialties are essential to extend these proposals to a wider audience. Announcing a workshop or an activity with the word «robotics» immediately generates the rejection from a part of the target audience. All the experts tell us that STE(A)M activities have to be introduced through contextualized proposals in aspects that interest or concern young people and children.

For example, if we propose an «Underwater Robotics» workshop, we will attract a very convinced audience, but if we contextualize this workshop and call it «Let’s save the sea! We build robots to eliminate plastics», surely we can attract a part of the public that otherwise wouldn’t come close.

In any case, this means that the conceptualization and design of the proposals is more complex and, therefore, more expensive. It is not enough to have a beautiful idea, you have to work on it, adapt it to different ages, social contexts, have trained personnel specialized in social stimulation, but also in STE(A)M subjects. Wow, all this is not easy!

• Do we have leading initiatives in Catalonia on STE(A)M? Any project, resource or experience that you want to highlight in this respect?

 We do have expert groups that offer relevant activities and proposals, but, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to make them grow and reach a wider audience. I will cite two initiatives from different disciplines, which, despite being successful, we cannot consider them to be benchmarks because the impact they achieve is small.

The first is the Museum of Mathematics of Catalonia (MMACA). It is an infrastructure managed by a teachers’ association that is economically viable, that has an offer for teachers, for families and for compulsory education school groups.

However, it has collapsed. Every year it receives about 40,000 students and cannot accept more! This represents only 4% of the students in public education. It would be ideal for students to be able to work on mathematics with the strategies presented to the MMACA, not one day in the course, but at least one day a week throughout the course. Surely, in a few years, such an action would show results.

The other initiative that I would like to show in value is the Technovation Challenge. This proposal is important, because it is for girls. The idea is that girls develop an entrepreneurship project around a mobile application that responds to a social concern that they have detected themselves.

The activity includes all the ingredients to lead it to success: interdisciplinarity (it is fundamentally technological in nature, but has communicative, aesthetic, social components, etc,), the ideas of the participants themselves when looking for a problem, lack or need to solve or cover, and, finally, the possibility that this initiative materialized in real applications.

All of this makes this initiative a success, but it reaches a not very significant part of the school-age population and has a low impact.

• The Government of Catalonia is leading through initiatives such as Bitbot.cat. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of this initiative? Creus that is exportable to other countries, especially considering those of the European Union? Do you use any platform or channel to share and dialogue with other outside communities?

Bitbot is an initiative that we launched four years ago to promote the extracurricular offer of programming activities and educational robotics. The name of the initiative plays with the terms ‘bit’ (basic unit of information and basis of binary computing) and ‘bot’ (contraction of the term robot). We chose this name because, in addition to the meaning we can give it, we thought it conveyed something fun and attractive for children.

Bitbot consists of three lines of work: the catalog of extracurricular programming and educational robotics activities in Catalonia, the training programme for monitors of this type of activities and, finally, a set of dissemination actions. The objectives of Bitbot are to improve children’s digital competence and, through an approach to the world of technology, to seek new technological vocations.

It is evident that participation in educational robotics and programming workshops opens a window, that of computational thinking, which otherwise very often remains closed. In this sense, the program may not improve digital competence, but it certainly complements it.

Regarding vocations, given that the public of the programme is between 8 and 14 years old, it is still too early to see the fruits, but we are convinced that the people who have participated continuously in these activities topics, they will have a sensitivity towards technology in the future.

Bitbot is easily exportable in other countries or contexts, despite the fact that in each case it would have to be evaluated which are the most appropriate lines of work and what the best way to carry them out.

The Generalitat of Catalonia, through the Departments of Digital Policies and Public Administration, and of Education, is part of the EU STEM Coalition, which is a meeting space in which public administrations, platforms and universities from various member states of the EU.

• Do you think that STE(A)M helps or hinders the work (and the gender gap) in technical-scientific vocations?

Before answering this question, I try to explain what I understand by ‘STEM’ and ‘STE(A)M’, because this will help me later to develop the answer.

In my view, when we talk about STE(A)M we refer to the set of strategies or methodologies to work within the educational field (formal or non-formal) of mathematics, scientific and technological subjects, in an integrated way – that is, STEM subjects. There is no unanimity in the meaning of ‘A’ in STE(A)M, it is often attributed to «Arts», but I like a more holistic conception and I attribute the concept «all» to it, in the sense that any other subject is good for STEM work.

Following this view, which does not have to be shared, there is a set of studies and professions that we could fit within the STEM concept, while any study or profession would be within STE(A)M field.

This is the reason why it is very difficult for me to pose, from the point of view of the gender gap, all STEM studies or professions, because the data tell us that the casuistry is very heterogeneous. In Catalonia, for example, while in ICT studies the percentage of girls is around 10%, in biological sciences studies it is above 65%.

In any case, as I have already said when referring to extracurricular activities, a good STE(A)M strategy is essential to promote vocations and, because it is a good strategy, learning all subjects has to be done. It should be done in an integrated way and in an understandable context. Otherwise, we will end up repeating the same errors and obtaining the same results.

• Do you think that this type of activities, projects and experiences can serve to democratize access to technology or, on the other hand, is there a risk of generating elitist exclusivity spaces?

I think that the most effective way to guarantee universal access to technology is through compulsory education and, at least in our case, free education. Any other strategy, project or initiative can also help reach the public, but carries a high risk of worsening the social and economic gap.

• What is the role that the culture of the commons can play in these initiatives? Do you know the Catalan initiatives related to STE(A)M and the commons?

Throughout this interview I have been thinking about the importance of contextualizing learning to reach a wider audience. I am convinced that this is the key.

Developing interdisciplinary pedagogical proposals, for different levels and rhythms of learning, designing the evaluation and establishing the links with the basic competences that all citizens should have, is very difficult and, therefore, very expensive. It is an iterative, trial and error process that, from my point of view, is available to very few people.

The world of the commons and free knowledge has shown that co-creation works. Projects such as GNU / Linux or Viquipèdia are examples, therefore, my opinion is that we must work in this line in the construction of educational proposals.

Later, if necessary, publishers will come to package them and offer them in print or embedded in digital platforms, but the collective effort to build them has to remain accessible and public. The best guarantee to achieve this are open and free licenses.

There are some initiatives that promote the publication of proposals with free licenses, generally creative-commons, but I think this is not enough. You have to offer support so that other people can contribute and help improve them.

In this sense, I would highlight a proposal that is developed within the framework of mSchools, a programme to bring mobile technologies closer to education of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation that is developed in collaboration with the Generalitat of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council and the GSMA.

EduHack is being developed within mSchools, an initiative that proposes a co-creation process based on the Design-Thinking methodology to build educational proposals. These proposals are documented and published under free and open licenses. From my point of view, the only downside to this proposal is that it is not yet critical enough and this makes it difficult for there to be a large community to iterate and refine the proposals.

By Colectic

As a result of research and creative techniques that will be instrumental among the members of the community, the STE(A)M education framework will include competences, policies, methodologies, and educational objects.

In line with the STEAMonEdu project, this first version of the guide is also intended to fuel discussion among our community members, providing them with examples, ideas and a baseline for benchmarking their own practices and projects.

The aim is to summarize and evaluate good and not so good STE(A)M education practices, based on local and regional initiatives that support STEM and STE(A)M education.

The online platform

From the beginning of the project, the STEAMonEdu community members could join an online platform where good practices have been collected. Any person interested in joining the community can check it out and register.

The online community will be open during and after the project. It is a very useful tool to share and learn about other’s educational experiences.

25 evaluation criteria and principles that characterize a STE(A)M practice

The STEAMonEdu project refers to a “Good practice” such training and education initiatives that are built and implemented by schools, NGOs, and any education provider, incorporating some principles, including inclusive STEAM education, problem-based learning or integrated learning system.

Also, at the beginning of the project, partners agreed on 25 evaluation criteria based upon the principles listed in the previous section. Each criterium has been scored from 0 (not valuable) to 3 (good), the maximum score attainable by a  practice being then 75. Practices scoring over 65 are considered best practices.

Moreover, to be considered a STE(A)M practice, the practice should include Arts among the disciplines involved.

A list of educational and policies practices

Up to this moment, the platform has collected around 65 educational practices and 18 policies and any kind of implementations in the context of STE(A)M education.

The educational practice was split in five parts, to facilitate information input:

1. General Info, which includes the basic data of the practice, namely, title, language, abstract, STE(A)M area/topic of use in the practice, key terms, license information and any related source.
2. Author, presenting the leading author’s name, capacity and affiliation, together with names of any co-authors.
3. Audience and Educational Framework, where the characteristics of the targeting audience are provided (capacity, age range, competence) as well as the educational framework where this practice was designed and/or used for.
4. Educational Details, where the specific data of the practice are provided, i.e. the teaching topic where the practice was applied, its duration, difficulty, learning outcomes and specific use, the orientation/focus, the delivery mode, the pedagogical theory/mode/strategy followed, the necessary resources to be applied, and a full textual description that can be accompanied by any resources (documents or URLs).
5. Implementation, that is used to record data regarding the application of the practice, such as the country and organization, the type of education and audience size as well as details about the evaluation (if any) and the lessons learned by the application.

Similarly, educational policies are uploaded by the project partners that we can can organized in three parts:

1. General Info, which includes all the primary fields of interest that provide the identity of the practice, namely, the title, language, purpose, the key terms, the country and authority that issued the policy and a source (text or URL) that points to the original policy.
2. Applicability and audience, which includes specific information of the target audience, the coverage (applicability area) and the educational framework that the policy was created for.
3. Details, which allows a brief or extensive description of the policy (reason, implementation procedures, implementation structures, definitions) as well as monitoring and evaluation that is applied, related policies and the help desk (cognizant office) that can provide further details, if necessary.

We invite you to view it and delve into the contents of the guide, to participate in the forums discussion and to upload your contents! Let’s make the community!

By Colectic

The ByLinedu Association is a Valencian organization that works to help reduce the digital divide  with STE(A)M activities and projects for digital literacy and educational innovation. We explain some of their projects.

Learning and having fun using technology is the main motto of ByLinedu, which has been working for eight years on educational NGO projects that use technology as a tool for social transformation.

One of such projects is the CodeDojo Valencia, an international initiative that promotes the learning of programming for children and young people between 7 and 17 years old. With the motto «Be cool!«, this network is made up of more than 1,000 CodeDojos in 65 countries. It is an open and free initiative, where they seek to promote the training of minors (whom they call ninjas) with the participation of adults, whether they are parents or volunteer mentors.

In this dojo, the ninjas learn how to program, develop websites, mobile applications or video games using applications adapted to different ages: Scratch, AppInventor, Arduino, HTML, Javascript, etc, as well as different electronic elements. They also have a CoderDojo Girls group for the participation of STE(A)M girls. The children work through observation, quizzes, various worksheets and interest groups with different sessions where challenges arise. The participants are advised by the different mentors, who collaborate by transmitting their knowledge and experience.

Another of its projects is the European Erasmus+ Make In Class project, which aims to help STE(A)M teachers and educators to promote activities in the classroom based on maker culture to prevent school dropouts.

Related to this project, there is also an Erasmus+ STEAM-H, a programme improving STE(A)M learning in primary schools to support teachers and educators to improve student learning.

And since technology has to be fun, they have created the game Oca STEM, a game of the goose board in which men and women experts in different fields of STE(A)M knowledge are represented. The game aims to be inclusive so that people with functional disabilities can participate fully, integrating audio-video phrases, textured dice and / or Braille, as well as texts and multimedia elements.

In 2018 they finished the Parcheesi board for the Escornarbot robot,and this year it has received the 1st Spiral Award Trends in Perspective.

By Colectic

El 2n Congrés de Competències Digitals va ser el marc perfecte, el passat 18 de febrer, per al taller dirigit a persones educadores amb l’objectiu de reflexionar sobre l’educació STEAM. Es va presentar el projecte STEAMonEdu i el marc de competències digitals STEAM, que es va sometre a discusió en aquest context proporcionat, tot aprofitant la convocatòria facilitada per l’ACTIC i el Departament de Polítiques Digitals i de l’Administració Pública.

El taller “Les competències digitals STEAM per a persones educadores i formadores”  va aplegar trenta-quatre persones educadores del territori català per aprofundir sobre el concepte de l’educació STEAM.

Esther Subias, mànager del projecte, i Pep Oliveras, educador en STEAM i coordinador de Colectic, van dinamitzar un taller centrat en el marc de competències per als professionals que implementen STEAM a les aules i establir, entre les persones assistents, les prioritats en la formació d’aquests professionals de manera col·laborativa, especialment en temps de pandèmia de la Covid-19.

Aquesta trobada va servir per a comprovar de manera directa el valor del projecte STEAMonEdu i la seva comunitat de pràctica que incorpora persones educadores interessades en l’enfocament de les STEAM en la docència i facilita que aquestes puguin reflexionar i contribuir activament al desenvolupament del marc.

Colectic

El CEB (Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona) és un instrument de cogestió i descentralització, en un marc de col·laboració institucional, que representa la voluntat de la Generalitat de Catalunya i l’Ajuntament de Barcelona de treballar plegats per a la millora dels serveis als centres educatius i a la ciutadania a través d’una única xarxa educativa. Parlem amb Susana Navarro Jiménez, referent de programes d’innovació educativa, en els àmbits STEAM i sostenibilitat del CEB i Rosanna Fernandez, directora de l’àrea d’innovació, programes i formació sobre les línies estratègiques i i les iniciatives STEAM que s’impulsen a la ciutat de Barcelona.

Quins projectes feu a STEAMCat dins el camp de les tecnologies per a l’aprenentatge i el coneixement?

El programa d’innovació pedagògia STEAMcat és un programa educatiu, promogut pel departament d’Eduació, que té una durada de tres anys. Aquest programa es desplega per tot el territorio català i, des des Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona hi participen 8 centres, que acaben aquest curs després d’haver participat els 3 anys.

A banda, a la ciutat de Barcelona hi ha altres programes i propostes educatives emmarcades en l’àmbit STEAM. Aquests són de diferent durada i intensitat, adreçades a diferents etapes educatives i impulsades per diferents entitats. L’oferta ha augmentat considerablement durant els últims 3 anys, així com la demanda dels centres educatius.

L’enfocament STEAM ha de ser transversal o una especialització específica?

Des del CEB, considerem  que l’ideal és que es treballi de forma transversal i global, aprofitant situacions contextualitzades i reals per treballar les Ciències, la Tecnologia, l’Enginyeria, les Arts i les Matemàtiques.

L’aprenentatge competencial persegueix que la alumant sigui capaç d’aplicar els seus coneixement per resoldre problemes i reptes en contextos diferents de la seva vida. Les situacions mai estan tancades a un únic àmbit del coneixement, sinó que les solucions a les mateixes són el resultat de l’emulsió de diferents àmbits del coneixement. Ajudar al nostre alumnat a utilitzar el seu coneixement de forma holística, sota el benentès que aquest és global i multifactorial, és un dels objectius de l’aprenentatge competencial.

En aquesta línia, un dels principals avantatges de treballar les STEAM de forma transversal és que l’alumnat pot experimentar com es treballa a la vida real per donar resposta als reptes que ens planteja la ciència i la tecnologia: tots els projectes d’aquesta naturalesa es desenvolupen a partir del treball d’un equip mutidisciplinar que es complementa. La base de la seva tasca és la cooperació i la compartició de coneixements amb l’ànim d’assolir el mateix objectiu.

Quins són els èxits de la comunitat STEAM a Barcelona? Podeu comentar alguns indicadors i reptes?

Fa uns anys les matèries es treballaven de forma separada i no es plantejava treballar de forma col·laborativa entre les diferents disciplines. Moltes institucions, entitats, administracions i universitats van començar a oferir noves formes d’aprenentatge a través de les STEAM, però aquestes arribaven de forma desendreçada i sense massa coherència. Des del CEB vam veure la necessitat d’endreçar i canalitzar l’oferta, d’analitzar les necessitats, d’aprofitar recursos i de compartir llenguatge i significats amb les diferents institucions i administracions implicades. Per això, es van organitzar unes trobades mensuals amb els diferents agents, per construir un mapa d’oferta de la ciutat i crear un pla STEAM d’acció global.

La demanda dels centres educatius ha augmentat exponencialment i és per això que el nostre objectiu és oferir propostes basades en les necessitats reals, com per exemple, treballar les vocacions científiques en etapes més primerenques, que es quan es defineixen les vocacions.

Es fan accions formatives adreçades al professorat que vol treballar les STEAM?

Sí. Des del Departament d’Educació hi ha una línia de formació STEAM que es va iniciar fa més de 10 anys. A destacar la formació CTM (Ciències, Tecnologia i Matemàtiques) que va nèixer amb la mirada de treballar les STEAM de manera transversal i per projectes. Els i les docents del Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona, com a part del Departament d’Educació, també tenien l’opció de cursar aquesta formació de 3 anys. Es podria dir que la formació CTM va ser el tret de sortida per al disseny i la implementació de moltes altres formacions d’aquest àmbit del coneixement.

Al CEB hi ha dues línies d’oferta de formació STEAM destacades: una que té a veure amb el fet que la majoria dels programes educatius de la convocatòria unificada de programes del Consorci ofereixen formació als docents responsables d’implementar-los a les aules. Un dels àmbits de la convocatòria unificada de programes és l’àmbit STEAM, que a dia d’avui compta amb una oferta de 10 programes educatius per centres de primària i secundària. Paral·lelament, des dels centres de recursos de la ciutat de Barcelona s’oferten formacions de centre englobades en l’àmbit STEAM i dissenyades a mida segons les necessitats i el PEC del centre educatiu.

Com funcionen els Centres de recursos pedagògics i com es treballen competències STEAM com la robòtica, la fabricació digital, les xarxes socials o la sobirania tecnològica?

El principal objectiu dels centres de recursos pedagògics és acompanyar als centres educatius en el seu procés de millora cap a la transformació educativa dels centres. Des de fa anys es realitzen seminaris de cultura digital en els que s’ha treballat sobre tot la robòtica, el treball col·laboratiu  i l’ús de dispositius mòbils. També des dels CRPs s’han dinamitzat programes com el Congrés de Ciència, adreçat a la primària i en el que es posa el focus en la metodologia científica i en l’alumnat com a protagonista. La clau d’aquest programa és l’acompanyament al professorat per part dels tècnics dels CRPs, així com el vincle amb la comunitat científica.

En que consisteix el programa pedagògic dels Ateneus de Fabricació adreçats a l’alumnat i al professorat?

L’objectiu del Programa Educatiu dels Ateneus de Fabricació és aproximar la fabricació digital a l’alumnat i professorat a través de la utilització d’aquesta per resoldre necessitats reals del seu entorn tot posant el focus en el procés d’aprenentatge, disseny i fabricació més que en el producte final.

Es desenvolupen projectes que posen en pràctica la creativitat, la recerca, l’experimentació i l’aprenentatge significatiu tant de l’alumnat com del professorat. S’aposta perquè siguin interdisciplinaris, que ofereixin a l’alumnat l’oportunitat d’anar de la idea a l’objecte tot aplicant continguts curriculars de les diferents àrees i competències personals i d’aprenentatge que promoguin l’èxit escolar, la innovació educativa, la competència tecnològica i l’orientació professional.

Com us imagineu que es treballaran les STEAM als centres educatius en el futur?

Ens imaginem que els centres treballen de forma holística i real tots els aprenentatges, per tant ja no es parlaria d’STEAM probablement. La tendència és el treball per competències, i no per matèries.

Colectic