The 11 most active programming teachers who completed Harvard University’s CS50 course in Latvia traveled to the United States of America (USA) at the end of June to meet the course developers, strengthen their knowledge, and exchange international experience. This is the first time that Latvian secondary school programming teachers have participated in such training. They also had the pleasure to meet in person Professor David Malan, one of the world’s best programming and computer science course designers and authors.
The teachers participated in the CS50 Educator Workshop 2023. As part of the program, they visited the CS50 office to see the technology used in the delivery of the course, learned about tools and methodologies to make the course more engaging, heard the experiences of other teachers, and visited Newton North High School, where they learned about the way programming courses are taught there and heard the experiences of students who have taken the CS50 course.
The trip brought together 11 teachers from different regions of Latvia:
Artūrs Ausējs, Draudzīgā aicinājuma Liepājas pilsētas 5. vidusskola
Arvīds Prančs, Jelgavas Valsts ģimnāzija
Diāna Siliņa, Cēsu Valsts ģimnāzija
Indra Kažoka, Valmieras Valsts ģimnāzija
Maiga Pigita, Ķekavas vidusskola
Māra Ozola, Valmieras Pārgaujas Valsts ģimnāzija
Marina Draboviča, Daugavpils Tehnoloģiju vidusskola licejs
Ojārs Krūmiņš, Rīgas 22. vidusskola, Rīgas Valsts 1. ģimnāzija
Raivis Rasnačs, Jēkabpils Valsts ģimnāzija
Sergejs Zembkovskis, Mārupes Valsts ģimnāzija
Māris Purviņš, Rīgas 72. vidusskola, Rīgas Kultūru vidusskola
There is a lot of interest in programming from young people at the secondary school level. Programming is a new course that students in Latvian secondary schools have started to study with the introduction of the new curriculum. I am incredibly proud of the teachers who are ready to improve their knowledge and who are ready to learn in order to teach. The resources for the CS50 course, developed at Harvard University, will soon be available on the learning platform Skolo.lv. We will definitely continue to work with Riga Business School to strengthen the knowledge and skills of existing programming teachers and to expand the number of teachers who can teach the programming course providing much-needed knowledge for the growth and professional development of young people.
Liene Voroņenko, Valsts izglītības satura centra vadītāja
From the trip, I got a sense of community support and practical examples of how to organize CS50 lessons. I learned about easy-to-use technology tools for classroom programming. I had already used the CS50 course materials in my classes. Now, I will continue to do so with a deeper understanding of the course’s methodological framework.
Indra Kažoka, Valmieras Valsts ģimnāzijas programmēšanas skolotāja
Communication is the keyword. It was valuable for me to hear the insights of the CS50 course authors about its delivery, to talk to CS50 teachers around the world about their experience, and to find that we are on the same page.
Māra Ozola, Valmieras Pārgaujas Valsts ģimnāzija
CS50 is a computer science course developed at Harvard University that has gained international popularity. It aims to provide fundamental knowledge in computer science using several programming languages and various technology tools. During the 2022/2023 school year, several Latvian high school programming teachers, with the help of Riga Business School programming instructors, learned the content of this course in order to further implement it in their schools. It gives students the opportunity to learn programming in an interesting, fun way while learning how they can apply their new knowledge in different areas of their lives.
The teachers’ visit to the USA was coordinated by Riga Business School as a structural unit of Riga Technical University with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economics, the National Centre for Education, the Education, Culture, and Sports Department of Riga City Council, Cesis Municipality, Tet and LMT. Such international educational projects contribute to the professional development of Latvian teachers and help to provide modern and high-quality education in programming.
