Solutions

Code School Finland Details

Description: Code School Finland provides teaching materials and teacher training for schools to implement digital skills and coding education for K-12 students. It provides a structured curriculum and teacher support to help learners acquire 21st century skills while working with their technology projects.

Type: Private EdTech company, for profit

Ownership: Majority founders and private investors, less than 3% owned by staff and private investors

Organisation size: Micro-entreprise

Operational in: 10+ countries, including South Africa, Thailand, Mexico, Colombia.

Serving: Teacher training and teaching material licences for K12

Technology Type and Infrastructure Requirements: Browser-based learning environment, low device specifications

User Competencies Developed: Technology and transversal 21st century skills

Connection Required: No internet connection required

Contact: Kaisu Pallaskallio, CEO kaisu@codeschool.fi
Code School Finland logo

1. WHY

Skills the solution aims to develop: Coding and programming skills

2. WHO FOR

The solution can be used by/serves: Teacher training and teaching material licences for K12

3. HOW TO IMPLEMENT

Resources needed for implementation/ Offline accessibility: Yes

Solution

 

Read the interview of Kaisu Pallaskallio, CEO of Code School Finland

 

What specific education challenge is this solution trying to resolve?

We prepare students for the future by teaching them 21st century skills such as creativity and critical thinking through technology. We help ordinary teachers to teach these skills so that specialist ICT skills are not needed.

Where does this solution fit into a global or local (digital) educational landscape?

Digital literacy and skills.

Workforce development is included in the national education visions of different countries for 2030. This means education decision makers are already taking action to educate students right now, and not waiting for when they are adults. Supporting national 2030 strategies is in the big picture for us.

Our experience is that in more than half of the countries in the world national curricula have learning goals for 21st century skills that our solution responds to. These goals are similar in different countries, such as programming or technology skills. The intention is not to make every student a programmer but to equip them with skills needed in future work life.

How does your solution work, especially for new users?

Students are designing and working on projects in small teams and the teacher takes the role of coach. Coding is the tool but the skills that are practised when doing projects are future working life skills: entrepreneurial spirit, teamwork skills, performance skills, time management, communication. Students present their own productions, take pride, take responsibility for their own learning and learn to receive and give feedback.

How well-known, popular, or used is the solution in Finland? (To what do you attribute this success?)

Our solution is used in one-third of Finnish municipalities. In addition, many teachers recognize our domestic brand through training which is provided by The National Agency for Education.

How safe is it to use this solution?

It’s safe and GDPR compliant. Users (students) do not log in and do not need any IDs. In the lessons they may use a third-party coding environment that handles its own login and security.

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User

Who can use the solution, what is the user’s role when using the solution, and what kind of skills are required?

The teacher is the primary user. The student cannot use it alone but is introduced to the content by the teacher and then works on it with his/her peer students.

What is required of the primary user (teacher) are basic computer skills and a positive attitude towards digital learning, which not all teachers have.

The user uses and applies the content. The teacher can adapt, take the whole course, or if more experienced, the teacher can take advantage of the material and adapt it to the desired learning goals.

Imagine a classroom setting: Describe the experience of the learners, teachers and other possible user types.

It is easier for teachers who are familiar with the Project Based Learning model. In many countries in the Global South, it is often difficult for teachers to take on the role of coach, which is required in Project Based Learning. Understanding a pedagogical model or starting point is often more challenging than the coding itself, and for a teacher, technology is not always the most difficult part.

The teacher's learning journey is related to the pedagogical approach, which is first studied and practiced. He moves from a beginner's course to more demanding content every year. It gets easier by the second or third year although the content is more challenging, because the pedagogical model is familiar. Our service includes practical, hands-on teacher support so that they dare to teach new topics. Continuous training and reflection guarantee success.

How are the users/teachers communicating with each other or building community in the context of/inside the solution?

Teachers participate in training, a combination of Zoom sessions and training given via an online course portal. The Zoom sessions with the instructor provide information, and the portal has a discussion forum. The training model is that teachers pair up, so they do not study alone. This is where the network begins to build. The network is important due to continuous support and sharing of best practices. When something is new, sharing the joy of success is important.

What kind of capacity building or system support is necessary to ensure the successful implementation and sustainability of the innovation?

The train-the-trainer model is important. In one of our projects, we were so excited that on average 15 % proceed to train as trainers. In the next step, we will train trainers and not teachers. This is not a fast roll out, but a 3-year project that fits the resources of the destination country.

 

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Scalability, Impact and Sustainability

Scale is a result of multiple successful implementations in a variety of contexts. How can the solution be scaled up to reach a larger number of learners and schools?

The train-the-trainer model, the continuous online support and the materials to be shared for those who are subject to the service are key when the service is scaled.

We usually make a three-year roll-out plan that has been adapted to the resources of the destination country. Then we start to implement the plan, starting with teacher training, pupils' projects, and trainer training.

Share an implementation success story/quote to describe your scalability.

I would encourage you to read about the two reference cases that are linked here. They are from Thailand and South Africa!

Explain your Operational model / Business model

We have several business models. We provide annual subscription agreements and strive to increase their number (ARR). In addition, we do fixed-term projects through project pricing. We provide online and offline courses and training Online courses include per course pricing.

Is it possible for parents, teachers, schools, municipalities, governments, CSR/NGOs/Funds to become users/customers of your solution?

Teachers or individuals can buy online courses. Districts, cities, etc. can buy a subscription service or a project. We do not offer a solution directly to students.

What are your pricing plans / funding models like?

We have a per unit price for the overall service including licenses, teacher upskills, annual support and train-the-trainer. In developing countries, the price varies between 50 cents and € 3 per student per year, depending on the scale of the deployment.

How do you measure the impact, or effectiveness, of your solution?

The solution is based on academic research and the Finnish curriculum, and its objectives are achieved. Currently, feedback is collected from teachers and students, collecting final projects and monitoring development through them. We provide pre- and post-exams to measure the students’ learning. We also measure pre- and post-deployment satisfaction of both the students and teachers.

Does the user receive feedback on the impact of the solution after using it? If so, how?

The solution measures agreed indicators related to the students’ learning, the teaching ability of the teacher, and overall satisfaction. We give feedback and develop activities on that basis.

 

 

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Implementation and adaptation needs

They say innovation needs to be flexible, as it will look different over time. Describe the flexibility of your solution.

We contextualise the solution to the situation and demands of the destination country, and there is no ready-made solution. A partner who knows the local domain in the destination country is crucial. Although you don't have to contextualize the actual coding content, at least you have to think about the teacher training model. Where does the coding lesson fit in the timetable and in what interval is the teacher training and support best organised?

What kind of adaptations are necessary when implementing the solution in a new location?

In order for our solution to be localised for the first year of operation, it takes about half a year, such as in Mexico or Thailand. If, on the other hand, it is sold to an international school in English, the implementation time is about 2 weeks.

How do you expand into new markets?

We have established local partnerships with local representatives who know the target and have experience of working with schools and teachers. The local partner contextualises and translates the solution and delivers it via their channels. This has worked in Thailand and Mexico.

How has the solution been implemented and adapted?

The difference between the implementations in Finland and other countries is particularly related to how experienced the local teachers are with the Project-based model (PBL). Outside Finland, teachers typically require more support than in Finland, where the model is already known, the teachers are more independent and know how to apply it. In China, for example, we came to understand that we should have written all the lines for teachers. That's not what we offer, and it would take away the credibility of the PBL model of the model. We have had to think about how teachers with different skillsets are supported in different countries and we have found compromises and ways to support them.

Compatibility with the local curriculum has been solved by a mapping tool. We map the learning objectives of the local curriculum to those of ours. We choose the content based on the mapping. The content can be taken to the locally used LMS and the students’ materials can be printed as books to make the use more flexible, i.e. offline. The topics of the projects to be implemented can be modified according to local needs. If a school or state has an artificial intelligence theme, you can choose a project to support that.

 

 

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Ecosystem

Who are the necessary people and roles needed to ensure a successful implementation of your solution?

For our solution to implementation, we need a local specialist/representative who has teacher educator skills and distribution experience of educational materials. When the localization is done, we find early-adopter teachers who can immediately use the solution and later become a trainer, and spread the benefits of the solution.

Sometimes parents have expectations that a young learner will become a programmer. Parents typically value the end result more than the learning journey. Sometimes we need to educate the parents too.

How can local innovators, startups or organisations collaborate with you or the solution?

In cooperation, we can implement afternoon clubs, theme days or projects, for example, for entrepreneurship.

How can local stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, and parents, be engaged in the implementation of the solution?

Parents or local activists may take the early-adopter role. Local district and municipality level education offices can support the implementation.

How do you collaborate with the ministry?

Slowness and lack of clarity in decision-making, change of officials and lack of perseverance are the main challenges. Education ministries often do want to make the solutions themselves, that makes creating a sustainable cooperation difficult. We have seen those who have tried to do it many times without success and still do not want to buy a finished quality solution.

How can the middleman help you?

A local partner who understands the local model and knows how to apply the solution at the school level is extremely important.

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