Being IMPACT EdTech Winners Will Enable us Further Development of our Smart Classroom

As the first Impact EdTech winner from Slovenia we are very proud of our achievement. We were selected among the best high-tech solutions in the field of education (EdTech) in Europe for our smart classroom solution for teaching coding.

At CodeBrainer, we introduced our smart classroom and Cobie AI, a virtual assistant for Coding Classes, which will help teachers teach coding skills.

Why our smart classroom is among the winners of IMPACT EdTech

Most of the time, a teacher has more than 30 students in the classroom, and it is almost impossible for the teacher to devote quality time to everyone without the right tools. When we teach computer science, help must be available to students on every step in real-time to encourage students and help them if they have a problem.

Our smart classroom helps the teacher monitor how students follow the lesson in real-time, informing the teacher where the errors occur in the student’s code as they write the code. The smart classroom also recommends further steps. With this information, the teacher can immediately identify who has problems and help students immediately through direct communication within the platform.

More unsure students can ask the teacher using chat and not expose themselves if they do not want to. Most of the teachers we spoke to pointed out that being exposed was a big problem for shy students

Faster content creation with Cobie AI

Our smart classroom is complemented by the Lecture Synthesis System (LSS). Teachers can use our LSS to create synthetic content that looks like a person is using a computer and speaking, but in fact the computer carries out the whole lecture in real-time. The lecture can also be exported as a video for later posting on YouTube. LSS shortens the time for preparing content and simplifies the adaptation/upgrade of already prepared content, all with the aim of adapting the content to each student.

Our smart classroom runs in the cloud

Our platform enables a smooth transition between in-class and online learning, thus fully supporting blended learning. During the Covid-19 period, it turned out that teachers did not have adequate feedback while working remotely and were unaware of student problems and solutions. Usually, when teachers transition between environments, information can be lost. Our platform solves this problem, as all information is available in both in-class and distance learning.

Our platform is built entirely on cloud infrastructure, which is essential for transitioning between in-class and online learning. On the other hand, schools have easier infrastructure management as well and lower Total cost of ownership (TCO).

Cobie AI amplifies the role of the teacher

Our smart classroom further emphasises the role of the teacher, and upgrades it. The teacher takes on the role of mentor and motivator, that is the part of teaching where she/he can help students the most.

We believe that Artificial intelligence (AI) will not replace teachers for some time, if ever. We believe that AI can help the teacher and automate those repeatable tasks where the teacher loses too much valuable time. This improves and speeds up the delivery of the teacher’s knowledge. In this way, the teacher saves a considerable amount of time, which she/he can use as a creative component and become a more successful mentor and motivator. Independent researchers proved that with a mentoring approach, we improve learning success and increase motivation.

Which problem we are addressing

The EU’s digital strategy dictates the need to educate more young creators, not just computer or smartphone users. Only this way will we be able to adequately respond to the challenges we face in the era of digital transformation. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of teachers with sufficient computer skills in the EU, and existing teachers can only teach a limited number of students.

Our smart classroom addresses challenging lack of teachers around the world who teach computer science and programming.

We believe that using smart classrooms could emphasize a teacher’s  existing knowledge, which means that teachers could also teach large classes, or even in different locations at the same time, without compromising the quality of teaching. 

The other aspect of our innovation is the content creation and with tailored content the quality of the learning process could be significantly increased.

About IMPACT EdTech

A pan-European programme designed for EdTech start-ups/SMEs to break the barriers to education and enhance learning experiences in a new era of human-centred digital education. 

The ultimate goal is to support European start-ups/SMEs to move from promising prototypes towards viable products. The program has an EdTech-specific incubation environment and it is offering both business (access-to-market) support and access to an education ecosystem.

IMPACT EdTech provides expert knowledge, educational resources, and data.

IMPACT Edtech Challenges

Inclusive education is targeting specific underserved or vulnerable groups (socially disadvantaged persons, immigrants or minority groups, special educational needs students or other groups), address early school leavers or support the improvement of educational attainment for all.

Personalised learning (Based e.g., on Artificial Intelligence (AI), learning analytics, and other technologies) with a focus on supporting new, research-based pedagogical approaches for in-classroom education and encouraging life-long learning.

Skills development of children, teachers, and other types of learners with a focus on, but not limited to, the development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Computational Thinking and 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication.

Conclusion, and what awaits Impact EdTech winners

At CodeBrainer, we are already looking forward to the challenges ahead of us that being selected into Impact EdTech winners brought to us. 

We have an exciting challenge ahead of us, how to implement new technologies into education and help teachers do more with their existing knowledge, enabling them to motivate even more students. 

An additional challenge is the unpredictability of the current covid situation. However, we see a benefit in this situation , as it  makes all schools and teachers more aware of advanced technologies to facilitate blended learning.

Image Credit: Canva.com, own production