A smart city for a more sustainable world: Transforming education through classroom practice

Authors

Keywords:

gender equity, STEM-STEAM, smart city, Internet of Things (IoT), computational thinking, SDGs

Abstract

The future of cities cannot be understood without the involvement of citizens and the generation of innovational ecosystems where learning processes and active participation can be developed. The school has an inalienable commitment to foster spaces for personal and social experimentation for students, to promote generational renewal for the community, and to accompany each child on their journey towards their own horizons for educational success.

In this article, the author presents an action-research based on a school experience. It is a teaching and learning project focused on the design of a smart city that follows models for reflection-action in educational centers. During a trimester, students in the final year of primary education at the Espai-3 state school have been working through a creative guided process to build a smart city. The main objective is to work collaboratively and in gender equity to foster interest in technology and science studies with a humanist orientation, especially among girls. In heterogeneous groups of students, boys and girls have identified problems in their environment, they have reflected on possible solutions, and they have learned different design methodologies. Through creative planning, by using the design thinking approach, the students have followed processes of active learning or learning by doing, and have evaluated the results that they have presented in each of the conflict situations or challenges they have encountered. The project has been named a finalist in the educational innovation awards (mSchools Student Awards), convened jointly by Citilab and the Catalan Department of Education in 2022.

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Author Biography

Rosa Maria de la Fuente Castelló, Escola Espai-3, Societat Catalana de Pedagogia (Barcelona)

Directora escola Espai 3; Secretària SCP

 

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Published

2023-05-02

How to Cite

de la Fuente Castelló, R. M. (2023). A smart city for a more sustainable world: Transforming education through classroom practice. Revista Catalana De Pedagogia, 23(1), 44–62. Retrieved from https://revistes.iec.cat/index.php/RCP/article/view/150026