The need for employees with computer science (CS) and coding skills is steadily increasing in Europe—by 4 percent every year between 2006 and 2016 according to DigitalEurope. But educators are struggling to keep up with the demand, often because they lack the professional development, confidence and resources to successfully teach their students.
Because of these challenges, we’re working to increase the availability of quality computer science education and access to CS skills by empowering CS teachers globally. We’ve recently launched new support in Europe, the Middle East and Africa through CS4HS, a program to fund universities and nonprofits designing and delivering rigorous computer science professional development for teachers.
We’re excited to be working with 79 organizations worldwide, and 28 in the EMEA region, who are committed to increasing the technical and teaching skills of educators, and building communities of ongoing learning. We believe that these organizations are committed to delivering high-quality teacher professional development programs with a deep impact in their local community and a strong potential to increase their reach.
Growing the community of computer science educators
Over the past 10 years, CS4HS has contributed $10 million to professional development (PD) providers around the world to help develop and empower teachers—like Catrobat, a non-profit initiative based at Graz University of Technology in Austria who created a free online course for students and teachers, and the University of Wolverhampton, who created a free MOOC to empower teachers of computing to teach programming in the new computing syllabuses in England, among others.
We’re excited to support new and future CS educators around the world. Even though computer science is a relatively new discipline for most schools, the enthusiasm is growing and teachers have a critical role to play in fueling their students’ interest and participation. These grants will help universities and nonprofits reach educators with PD opportunities that enhance their CS and technical skills development, improve their confidence in the classroom, and provide leadership training so that they can be advocates for CS education in their communities.
2017 awardees in EMEA
Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Informatica, Italy
Dublin City University, Ireland
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
Graz University of Technology, Austria
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Asociatia Tech Lounge, Romania
Association Rural Internet Access Points, Lithuania
University of Wolverhampton, UK
Jednota školských informatiků, Czech Republic
University of Lille - Science and Technology, France
Vattenhallen Science Center, Lund University, Sweden
University College of Applied Sciences, Palestine
Swaziland Foundation for STEM Education
Peo Ya Phetogo in partnership with University of the Western Cape & Mozilla Foundation, South Africa
To discover more about CS opportunities near you, explore our educator resources, student programs and resources, and tools.
