‘Digital Skills and Competencies’ program
The program is focused on building the mindset and sustainable and applied skills relevant for the digital era and promoting the interest to IT among school students.
The 2020 program relied on the analysis of more than 20 international frameworks to develop a model of digital skills and competencies (DSC) for school students. This model was based on state education standards, as well as the demand for IT experts among public institutions and businesses.
The DSC model is based on the Digital Skills for Life and Work framework (UNESCO, 2017). Since this UNESCO framework does not categorize by age, it was supplemented with the Marzano Research Scales for Additional Content Areas (U.S.) that, at the time of the research, was the only framework in the world that allowed for the categorization of DSC by age (within K-12 system). It has also been improved with advanced skills based on WorldSkills Russia standards and educational outcomes for every age group divided by three levels. The resulting framework includes three groups of standard skills:
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The main functional skills for using digital devices.
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Basic digital skills that include information technology literacy, communication, digital content creation, security, and awareness about digital rights.
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Advanced skills that include coding, artificial intelligence, mobile app development, web design and web-site development, internet of things, and virtual and augmented reality.
In 2022, we plan to use this framework to test school students for their DSC level and draft an analytical report following the results. Currently the program spans across more than 120 countries.
Artificial Intelligence Academy
The Artificial Intelligence Academy became the first project of the advanced skill development program among school students. The goal of the project is to spark interest to artificial intelligence and machine learning among school students and develop the skills required in these areas.
The project is focused on education and the development of educational content and its integration in the school program, as well as machine learning competitions among school students. During its rollout, the project reached more than 4.5 mn school students and 40,000 teachers, with more than 10,000 people enrolled in the project online courses and more than 15,000 participants of specialized competitions.
‘AI Start’ Project
In 2022, the AI Academy launched the AI Start project supported by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Foundation for the Development of Schools Specializing in Physics and Science. The project aims at after-school lessons in schools and extended education institutions. Participating teachers who want to start after-class lessons receive a program and all the required materials, get support from the experts during the school year and access to a free advanced training course ‘Artificial Intelligence: Theory and Education Methodology for Middle and High Schools, developed with the experts from the AI Academy and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.