Teachers2IT: what digital skills have been mastered by teachers under the guidance of experts from leading IT companies – semester results
IT ClusterTeachers2IT is a project implemented by Kharkiv IT Cluster in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Department of Kharkiv City Council. As part of the project, mathematics and computer science teachers improve their digital skills and upgrade their qualifications through practical webinars from experts from leading IT companies.
Last semester, as part of the Teachers2IT project, teachers had many opportunities to learn how to use technology for teaching: they took a Python course and attended webinars on learning tools to improve teaching. It’s time to sum up the results of this fruitful work.
Immersion in Python
In October, a two-month course ‘Python: Basic OOP Principles’ was launched, with Volodymyr Mzokov, Lead Software Engineer, author of courses and webinars on the IT_education_HUB and CodeUA YouTube channels, as the speaker.
In 20 lessons, teachers learned the basic concepts, principles, and structure of object-oriented programming and had the opportunity to present their own projects and receive feedback from an expert. The result of the training was the creation of a console application and a game.
The course certificate was awarded to 16 participants who attended more than 80% of the classes and completed all the tasks. In total, more than 160 people registered for the course.
Teaching to the fullest: new tools
We are often looking for ways to make our lessons more interesting and our work less routine. We are often looking for ways to make our lessons more interesting and our work less routine.
- How to engage students from the first slide?
Do you want your presentations to become a visual magnet for students? At the webinar ‘Master Canva Now’ by Oksana Sevriukova, L&D specialist at Global Logic, 290+ teachers learned how to create stylish infographics, interactive slides, and even videos using this tool. It’s a great way to make material more vivid and accessible, even for the most complex topics. It used to take hours to create a design, but now it takes minutes.
- Saves time: Excel at the service of the teacher
Did you know that Excel can not only calculate grades but also automate reporting? During the webinar ‘Digital Gradebook: Tips from a Data Analyst’, delivered by ITRdev data analyst Yevheniia Paplinska, 50+ teachers discovered features that allow them to quickly create pivot tables, analyse results, and even visualise student progress. This means less time for paperwork and more time for preparing interesting lessons.
- Artificial intelligence at school is a reality
The idea that AI is complicated and not for education was debunked in a webinar on artificial intelligence by Alexander Knyga, CTO and Head of AI at WebLab Technology. Imagine that a program can help you create personalised tasks for each student, offer new creative approaches to a topic, or even organise discussions using chatbots. Does it sound like a fantasy? But in reality, these are already available tools that teachers are learning right now.
What does this mean for you?
This information will be useful to anyone who wants to
- simplify routine work;
- make lessons interesting and modern;
- keep up with technology and even be one step ahead.
Now you know that visualisation, automation and artificial intelligence are your allies in creating an unforgettable learning experience. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Expanding Skills: Summer and Partnership Activities
During the summer, the project also held:
- A webinar on C# programming fundamentals by Oleksandr Khaliiev, .Net Developer at EzPartsWeb Team.
- A Git and GitHub webinar by Kostiantyn Zvierev, Senior Programmer at Veramed.
- A website creation webinar by Vladyslav Domanskyi, Global Digital Marketing Specialist at Intellias.
- A “Basics of Visual Design for Educators” course by Kateryna Kazachkova, Product and UX Designer.
On November 9, a partnership webinar, “Grammarly for Education,” was conducted in collaboration with Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics. Delivered by Viktor Kauk, PhD, Associate Professor at the Department of Software Engineering, the session gathered 85 participants, with some receiving free Grammarly for Education licenses.
Teachers2IT: A Value-Driven Initiative
The activities of Teachers2IT unite dozens and hundreds of teachers striving to enhance their professional skills and make learning more effective and engaging for students. This semester, participants acquired technical knowledge, mastered design, learned how to use tools to streamline their work processes, and earned valuable certifications.
This success would not have been possible without the course and webinar speakers — specialists from participating companies and partners of Kharkiv IT Cluster — who generously share their expertise to advance education in Ukraine.
We are grateful for the initiative and efforts of both participants and instructors. Teachers2IT is a collaboration aimed at strengthening education to foster the next generation of professionals.
Join us in advancing Ukrainian education with Teachers2IT — learn as part of our teacher community or share your expertise as an expert!