Digital Economy Case Study
SmartSTEMS
Digital inclusion workshops for school children in Glasgow
Over the past two years SmartSTEMs, in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life, has delivered a range of STEM-focused digital learning initiatives to young people throughout Glasgow, with the aim to inspire the next generation towards a future in science, technology, engineering and maths.
The project began by delivering workshops to 25 primary schools across five Glasgow City Council learning communities, with phase two of the project expanding the programme into libraries and secondary schools with the aim to engage more young people in STEM learning.
Using an adaptive approach, developed through teacher and pupil feedback the project is a example of the inclusive agenda, designed to address issues of digital inclusion and the gender gap in STEM education and subsequent careers: reaching young learners as early as possible in their education ensures every child, no matter their background, has equal and fair access to STEM education and career opportunity.
Lessons in Robotics, Coding and Data Science give pupils hands-on experience of the relevance of skills to the careers of today and tomorrow. These sessions also highlight the digital skills taught to career paths by inviting professionals to share their work experience, giving young people real time insights into how their lessons in STEM lead to future career opportunities.
"I think one of the really great things that SmartSTEMs introduced the children to was someone who was working in a STEM job they got to speak to that person on the day and learn about their experiences and their skills and how they got to be where they are today and I just think that really inspired the children to kind of see oh this is what I can do with this kind of isolated subject and what it can become if I work hard."
"The ease of access that the children have is definitely something that's inspiring. They have a go at something in class so maybe having a go at a little bit of coding or a little bit of garage band or creating some sort of digital art and they get a kind of flavour for it and then they realise ‘oh actually this is something that I would like to kind of practice and hone my skills at’. It does inspire them to kind of take those STEM skills forward and then have an access through the Glasgow Council, iPads means that they can develop those skills.
I think so many of them will have jobs that don't exist yet so us giving them the skills that they might need in the future is something that you hope to do."
