There’s general agreement that young people should be ready for the workplace of tomorrow. It’s also clear that the role of digital technology in the workplace, and in education, continues to grow – irreversibly, one might assume. What should young people know, and be able to do, to thrive with digital technology now, and later? What is the role of their teachers? Does the curriculum prepare young people suitably for a rich digital life? To answer these questions, it is important to understand what digital skills actually are.
With computer science subject knowledge at its core, the primary computing curriculum in England aims to equip pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world. To realise this admirable ambition, young people apply this knowledge to create programs, systems, and a range of digital content. They learn, too, how to use technology to express themselves and their ideas, and to be active digital participants. To borrow Ofsted parlance, the links between declarative knowledge (“knowing what”) and procedural knowledge (“knowing how”) are clear. The intention that young people actually make digital artefacts is large, and there are many opportunities to link this digital creativity right across the curriculum. With more than 80% of all jobs already requiring digital skills of some sort, primary school is vital in building ‘baseline’ digital skills of value to anyone - such as audio and video editing; creating effective graphics, documents and presentations; searching for accurate and trustworthy information safely; introductory programming or safely using a range of electronic communications tools.
If a secure foundation of baseline digital skills, expanded and consolidated through lower secondary, can be established then young people are well equipped to follow any study route. As young people make choices and focus their studies, their digital skills development must follow suit. Specific digital skills build on the baseline essentials in areas such as computer-aided design and manufacture; data science; cyber security and computer networking, pointing towards the future workplace via further academic and technical study across STEM subjects.
For young people to thrive digitally, it is vital their teachers are digitally confident and competent. STEM Learning is dedicated to supporting teachers to build their own digital skills, supporting priorities such as assessment, collaboration, differentiation and finding or creating digital resources for the classroom. Teachers will be supported through CPD across all STEM subjects, where they will discover evidence-based and effective digital practice. Our advanced digital skills courses, and our more fundamental primary teacher CPD, help teachers to meet the demands of specific qualifications and to better utilise digital tools day-to-day. ENTHUSE Partnerships, supported by the biggest names in tech and digital, support groups of schools to work intensively on their own improvement priorities.
The need for digital skills is growing, and our support for schools is growing too. Watch this space and take full advantage of everything on offer.
Digital skills CPD
- Developing understanding of computing in EYFS
- Data logging using the micro:bit: developing a primary STEM approach
- Digital skills – cyber security
- Digital skills: computer-aided design (CAD) and modelling
- Developing Augmented Reality (AR) products
Resources