Comment Neelie (Kroes)

Making speeches talk

excerpt from: Transforming learning through technology – new tools for teachers, new opportunities for students

[...] And we must ensure we’re reaching out to everyone. Women in particular are significantly under-represented in the ICT sector. They are often deterred from it, because of outdated attitudes, or because women don’t think it’s a sector “for them”. We need to change that.

My experience as a teacher is the following: If you reach out to girls before puberty, before they want to follow a "female role model", you can get them interested in ICT, especially if you do it in a playful way. Example: Last year I offered a course "Gamebased Learning" for 13-14 year olds. Only boys attended it. This year I offered it to 10-12 year olds. Now the majority are girls.

Edmund Huditz, 05/12/2011 22:32