What the curricula require

In French-speaking Switzerland, the CIIP presented the Digital Education domain of the Plan d’études romand in April 2021. It covers the three cycles of compulsory schooling and is organised in three strands: media, computer science and the uses of digital tools. Before it, this content came mainly under MITIC, within General Education. Each canton implements it at its own pace. In the first years of school, a good share of the activities is done without a screen.

In German-speaking Switzerland and in the multilingual cantons, the Lehrplan 21 provides for a Medien und Informatik module. It distinguishes two competence areas, Medien and Informatik. The Informatik area requires in particular representing and structuring data, analysing simple problems, describing ways of solving them and translating them into programs, and understanding how computer systems work. Skills in using tools are acquired in the other subjects. The cantons set the hours and who teaches the module.

The canton of Vaud trained its teachers in the first years of primary school in computer science and robotics. An evaluation published by El-Hamamsy and colleagues covers about 350 teachers. The training, which was compulsory, combined unplugged activities and robots used without a screen. During the training, 97% of the teachers adopted these activities in class, and 80% the following year.

1. Open the curriculum for your cycle: the PER on the CIIP portal, or your canton’s Lehrplan 21.
2. Find the strand or competence area your activity serves, and copy its exact wording.
3. Write the objective in an observable way: what the student will be able to do, and in what situation.
4. Add an objective from another subject if the activity serves one, for example spatial orientation in mathematics.
5. Check your canton’s rules: hours planned, equipment provided, training offered.