4 ways teachers are preparing pupils for a digital future

Discovery Education empowers teachers and captivates pupils by providing high-quality, dynamic, digital content to Primary and Secondary schools. They offer a range of services and opportunities for schools to meet the needs of students in the digital age. This includes award-winning digital content, interactive lessons, virtual experiences with some of Discovery's most talented presenters and contributors, classroom challenges, professional development and more.

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Coding now accounts for half of all Primary Computing, but delivering it can be daunting, even for the most tech-savvy teachers. Discovery Education Coding is a complete resource, helping teachers to meet every aspect of this challenging curriculum area. Over 2.5 million apps have been coded by pupils using the service. Let’s see how teachers use it to make an impact right across the curriculum.

1. Step-by-step lessons

With over 100 step-by-step lessons and simple, explanatory videos, Discovery Education Coding makes teaching a complex subject simple – and provides schools with a comprehensive scheme of work. Beginning with block coding, and progressing to HTML and python, the service takes pupils on a coding journey, building confidence as they see how easy it is to create their own apps and games.

2. Engaging pupils

Children are naturally interested in technology, and Discovery Education Coding helps teachers to channel this for independent learning. From Early Years upwards, pupils are encouraged to start programming fun apps and games, to master basic coding language and to share their work on a personal school web page. The instant ‘success’ of coding can be a big draw, as teacher Helen Hunter, from Bury Catholic Prep School, explains:

“Discovery Education Coding is a useful resource for all abilities. It allows children to independently program and they can instantly see the results of their work.”

3. Support for teachers

Getting to grips with coding can be a challenge for teachers, but Discovery Education makes planning easy, with complete lesson plans aligned to curriculum objectives.

“For teachers, Discovery Education Coding is invaluable,” says Michelle Grant, teacher at Fox Hill Primary School in Sheffield. “The lesson plans enable all practitioners to teach easily, regardless of their subject knowledge.”

From understanding algorithms, to creating and debugging programs, using logical reasoning and more, ready-made lessons meet every area of the Computing programme of study. They also include learning objectives and success criteria, enabling pupil progress to be easily assessed – and giving teachers the reassurance that they are meeting Ofsted expectations.

Teachers at Broadgreen Primary School in Liverpool like the breadth and accessibility of lesson content, as headteacher Anne Marie Moore explains:

“The Discovery Education Coding service is so easy to use, whether you're new to coding or experienced. Lesson plans are extensive, offering step-by-step support and terminology with clear evidence of challenge for pupils.”

Cross-curricular links and high-quality professional development also help teachers to weave computational thinking into other subject areas.

4. The right resources

There can be little doubt that coding is an important skill for the future. By choosing the right resources teachers can equip pupils with the skills and confidence and to play their part in a digital future.

As Michelle Grant from Foxhill Primary School explains: “We think Discovery Education Coding is fantastic! I would like to hope that some of the computer programmers of the future began their journey through using these resources.”