BT has partnered with Computing at School (CAS) to support parents in Northern Ireland with their children’s digital skills at home, as part of its Skills for Tomorrow programme.
The series of activities is based on the BT-funded Barefoot Computing initiative with CAS, to help primary school teachers deliver “free, curriculum-aligned lessons in fun and relatable ways.”
The scheme has now been adapted to help children being home schooled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
BT said that the content has been developed to be easy for parents to use, with no prior subject knowledge required. Many of the activities can also be done offline without the need for a computer to manage screen time and digital wellbeing.
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Multiple activities will include interactive learning games, weekly YouTube Live computing classes and quick guides for parents with a simple introduction to key skills taught through the national curriculum.
To date almost 2,000 primary school teachers in Northern Ireland have already accessed Barefoot across 57% of all local primary schools.
This Friday (24 April), comedian David Walliams will be showing the UK how to use some of these Barefoot resources in an ad break takeover on ITV as part of BT’s Beyond Limits: Top Tips on Tech campaign.
CAS are part of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
Director at BCS, Julie Adamson said that “BT’s research has shown that computing is the subject that parents feel least comfortable with. Given the current challenges, it is even more important that families are given as much support as possible in this area.
“The new Barefoot toolkit will help parents keep their children stimulated, engaged and progressing, even if they’re unfamiliar with computing themselves.”
Visit www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow for more info.
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Source: Written from press release
