Google and the National Education Ministry joined forces to educate Turkish students in software technologies. The Ministry and Google officials signed a cooperation protocol yesterday in Ankara. Under the deal, Google will help develop IT curriculum, coding classes for grade school and prepare a guide for teachers. The corporation also offers a portal for teachers on a number of subjects from coding to digital literacy and online citizenship. The portal will help teachers educate students on basic digital skills.
Google will also provide content to simplify programming, coding classes and make it more fun for students. Students will be also educated on algorithmic thinking and through an updated curriculum, will benefit from classes specifically designed to their age group.
Deputy Education Minister Orhan Erdem said at the protocol signing ceremony that Google enriched the content of the coding classes.
Currently, fifth and sixth graders are eligible for information technology and coding classes and each class is two hours a week.
Turkey recently introduced coding classes for preschoolers. In a project by Ankara's Chamber of Industry, children between the ages of 3 and 6 are being introduced to coding, robotic construction with 3-D printers and the basics of computer algorithms. Several private schools already offer coding classes.
The country seeks to invest more in coding and IT education as part of a drive to reform its education system. It also works to make all schools "smart" with the FATİH project in which millions of tablet computers are being delivered to students and smart boards are being installed in classrooms. Fatih means "conqueror" in Turkish, but it is also an acronym for Fırsatları Artırma ve Teknolojiyi İyileştirme Hareketi (Movement to Increase Opportunities and Technology). The government aims to deliver 10 million tablets to students and teachers by 2020. The National Education Ministry is also working on adding more content to the Education Information Network (EBA), an education portal for both students and teachers that offers more than 150,000 pieces of digital educational content ranging from e-books and audio books to games, dictionaries and magazines.