Upskilling teachers in computer science: one solution to close the digital divide
For the last three years, an organization in Chile had provided training in computer science to more than 900 teachers. They are taking their learnings to the classroom, benefiting 13.325 public students across the country.
The gap between those students who have access to technology, the internet and digital literacy education and those who do not is known as digital divide.
“It is important to see that the digital divide not only affects the ability of young people to achieve advanced levels of digital proficiency, but also determines the future possibilities of today’s students to perform in a digital world and obtain higher-paying jobs,” said Claudia Jaña.
Claudia is the Education Manager of Fundación Kodea, an organization in Chile that developed an initiative called IdeoDigital, focused on helping to close the digital divide gap by upskilling teachers in computer science.
Three years on and in close collaboration with BHP Foundation, IdeoDigital has evolved into an ecosystem of initiatives that:
provide training and content for teachers and schools to equip students with the 21st century skills that they require,
advocates for greater awareness of the skills gap in public school systems, and
seeks to influence public policy to put digital literacy on the agenda and into school curriculums.
The potential of an integrated solution
IdeoDigital's integrated model is proving to be an effective approach to help bridge the gaps in scientific-technological knowledge and has the potential to achieve greater impact.
"By having access to digital literacy education today, the future chances of public school students to improve their opportunities in life, and even to overcome poverty, are greater," said Claudia.
To date, the project has developed, curated, translated and distributed content on technology subjects for the four years of secondary education. The materials created are available to all teachers in the country through a platform provided by the Ministry of Education.
In addition, the content produced by Ideodigital in the areas of computational thinking and artificial intelligence will be included in the update of Chile’s national school curriculum, which is expected to happen in 2026. IdeoDigital is also part of the technical round table on these subjects at the Ministry of Education.
IdeoDigital’s impact by the numbers
911 teachers have been trained in computer science.
153 schools are implementing the IdeoDigital model
13,325 children and young people have benefited from the program initiatives.
14 regions of Chile are implementing IdeoDigital tools.
6,965 people from the educational ecosystem have been made aware of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Citizenship issues.
Fundación Kodea and its project IdeoDigital are supported by the BHP Foundation’s Chile program, which seeks to foster the inclusion of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in education and to strengthen the capacity of community organizations and groups to participate in decision-making. Read more about our program.
