mSchools expands its scope, reaching 3rd-year ESO students in Catalonia for the first time

• The programme has begun its third school year in Catalonian classrooms with initiatives aimed at primary, secondary, senior school and vocational training students
• The application creation course “App Education” which has already been taken by 18,000 pupils, has seen its content adapted to reach out to 3rd-year ESO students
• More than 400 parents have participated in workshops on the responsible use of mSchools’ mobile technology, in joint coordination with schools’ parent associations

October 15, 2015

mSchools, the pioneering educational programme backed by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, in cooperation with the Regional Government of Catalonia, the City of Barcelona, and GSMA, is expanding its scope. After two years in Catalonian classrooms, mSchools will be made available to 3rd-year ESO students in Catalonia for the first time.

Notable developments for the 2015-2016 academic year include the introduction of Technology as a core subject in the 3rd year of ESO. This change in the syllabus will allow teachers to incorporate mSchools as optional content within the subject’s programme. mSchools’ objectives have been achieved and even exceeded year after year. The initial proposal to integrate digital skills into the school curriculum through the course “App Education” for the 4th year of ESO has impacted 18,000 students in two years, and has been expanded to three more levels: senior school, vocational training, and now the 3rd year of ESO.

The course materials, originally available only in Catalan, have been included in English to promote the use of this language in technology classes. About 25% of the materials have already been distributed in English. In addition, mSchools boasts a platform made up of 270 experts in the technology sector, accompanying teachers and supporting them in their classroom work.

Interactive maps and new tools for teachers and students

Mobile History Map (MHM), a collaborative georeferencing project in which students create contents related to points of interest near their schools, has already engaged 4,000 students at 600 schools across Catalonia since its launch in 2014. MHM is an initiative aimed at students in primary grades 5 and 6, secondary school, and vocational training. In addition to the positioning of cultural, historical and social heritage elements, at the end of last year MHM launched “geobiographic” positioning, a new method to also place on maps local historical figures, such as Jacint Verdaguer and Salvador Dalí, among others.

Operational since May 2015, the mSchools Toolbox is an online catalogue of applications for mobile devices evaluated by teachers following curricular adjustment criteria. The tool, which this year has introduced new thematic collections through which some contents are separated, allows teachers and families to discover and share applications to use in the classroom and at home. Today mSchools Toolbox features a catalogue of nearly 500 evaluated educational applications, and there are plans to continue increasing the number of solutions over the course of the school year.

Innovation beyond the classroom

More than 400 parents have also participated in the educational sessions organised by mSchools as part of the City of Barcelona’s Educational Support for Families Programme, to address the relationship between young people and mobile devices. The aim of these sessions, organised in collaboration with the parent associations at each school, is to provide families with tools enabling them to understand the use and potential of phones and tablets in the educational sphere, and to promote the responsible use of mobile technology by their children.