At the initiative of the Mayor of Sofia Yordanka Fandakova, Sofia Municipality in partnership with the Regional Department of Education and the Center for Creative Training launched a pilot project – “School in the Cloud” – for the development of digital skills and work in an online environment. The first stage of the initiative will include over 200 teachers from 16 schools.

Information about the project was presented during the online event organised by the Second English Language High School “Thomas Jefferson” in Sofia on the occasion of the school’s approval as a Google Reference School – the first in Sofia and the second in Southeast Europe. The school is also part of the pilot project “School in the Cloud” and is applying the “One-to-One” model for managing the learning process via a device for each teacher and student. 

The first step in introducing the “One-to-One” model is to organize training for the teachers in the schools involved in the pilot project. The training will cover increasing digital literacy and skills for using the latest technologies and applications, good practices on the “One-to-One” model, methodology, and strategic guidelines for organizing the learning process, planning, managing, and class dynamics.

“School in the Cloud” aims to make Sofia a leader in using digital technologies in education, following similar teaching practices in the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, and others. The goal is to develop it successfully and implement it in more schools to help their digital transformation.

The event was attended by the management, teachers, parents, and students of the “Thomas Jefferson” Second English Language High School, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, Gencho Kerezov, Deputy Mayor for Digitalization, Innovation and Economic Development, Mark Sans Lopez, Director of Education at Google for the region, Stefan Stoyanov, Deputy Mayor in the field of “Education and Business Development” in the Plovdiv Municipality, Dr. Vanya Kastreva, Head of RME – Sofia, Prof. Dr. Galin Tsokov from the Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”, the team of the “Center for Creative Training,” as well as principals and teachers from schools in Kyustendil, Varna, Aheloy, Plovdiv, and other cities, who joined to watch the live event.

Joining the discussion, the Deputy Mayor for Digitalization, Innovation, and Economic Development of Sofia Municipality Gencho Kerezov said: ‘This project is the right step towards Sofia’s digital transformation, and I am convinced that it will work for two main reasons. Through this model, children have the opportunity to learn by doing and produce content created by themselves, which is the best way to acquire knowledge and skills. The second reason is that it is no coincidence that this is the learning model implemented in the world’s best business schools. You know that Sofia’s digital transformation is already underway, and an essential factor for success is to prepare people to use digital tools. Training teachers and young people in this direction is an approach we will not regret, and we will always think it was the right one because this knowledge and skills are transferable – when one can use digital tools for one purpose, one can use them for another. We can also see the efforts at a national level to speed up this programme’.

 

Watch a full recording of the event here.