TCS - TCS and Toronto District School Board's Partnership Remains Strong in the Virtual Environment
--News Direct--
Ask nearly any teacher and they will all say?that?2020 and 2021?have?been the toughest years?of their teaching career,?with seemingly insurmountable challenges around every corner. From pivoting to remote learning?in just a handful of days?during the?onset?the Covid-19 pandemic?and teaching students with uneven access to technology and broadband to trying to maintain class engagement?from afar, the last year and a half have been taxing. Pile on increased levels of?anxiety and?mental health?among?students and educators, everything seemed impossible.
TCS, the creator and supporter of?goIT, the immersive digital innovation education program that seeks to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM,?recognized the hurdles teachers were facing and double-downed on support?for educators and their school districts.
With the switch to remote learning?as a result of?the Covid-19 pandemic, the?goIT?curriculum became even more critical. Toronto District School Board teachers?needed curriculum that would engage students, worked across subjects, and?aligned with?the TDSB global competencies, a set of skills that foster deep learning through engaging experiences that incorporate creativity, inquiry, entrepreneurship, collaboration, leadership, communication, global citizenship, character, critical?thinking?and problem solving. Since?September?of 2020, over 1,300 students in the TDSB participated in a?goIT?program and over 200 teachers became?goIT?facilitators.
The year-end celebration of student work, despite being canceled in 2020, was back on?track for this past June.?Teachers were invited to?register their top team for the June event, although students were so excited to pitch their?goIT?app designs, several teachers asked?to allow more than one team?to participate. The turnout was so large, the program was expanded from one to two days to?accommodate all the entries.?Teams?represented the full spectrum of TDSB,?from?Kindergarten?to Grade 8, and a few?goIT?Monthly Challenge participants and winners.
TDSB students and teachers as well as several?TCS volunteers were joined by?TCS?client partner?NielsenIQ, plus we had special guest speakers including TDSB?Director Karen Falconer and the?TDSB?Chair?Alexander?Brown;?TCS?Chief Social Responsibility Officer, Balaji Ganapathy and?Executive Director and?Canada?Country Head Soumen Roy,?joined us to welcome students and?congratulate them on all their hard work and effort throughout this?most difficult?year.
The TDSB is one of TCS’ longest standing educator partnerships, with 2021 marking seven years.??Since inception, the program has welcomed over 13,000 students, kindergarten through 12th?grade. TCS has trained?over 300 TDSB teachers as?goIT?Facilitators.?The?partnership with?TDSB also sparked one of the newest elements of the?program, the?goIT?Monthly Challenge, a recurring opportunity for students to directly engage in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the?goIT?digital innovation.
Be sure to check out?the?Monthly Challenges HERE
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on 3blmedia.com
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