Abstract:

Presented in this article is an algorithm for the development of software projects by students using the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme as a base. An approbated model is offered that traces the process of forming and developing digital literacy at school for the purpose of gaining two fundamental digital competences in accordance with the European Reference Framework: digital content creation and problem solution.

Students’ software projects for educational purposes include two components: product and solution. The product is developed through appropriate programming means on the basis of a set assignment while documenting runs parallel.

In developing a project, every student goes through the main stages of the software life cycle: inquiry and analyzing (set the assignment; draw up a research plan; explore similar products to analyze their structural elements; define the chief functional and design requirements); developing ideas (make decisions about what elements the final product will consist of and how they will be positioned; determine the interface design; plan for the details of the creation process); creating the solution (construct a logical plan that describes the efficient use of time and resources; develop the project); evaluating (student’s evaluation of the product in accordance with the pre-set criteria).

The article gives a detailed account of the different stages, the correspondence of the sixteen pre-set criteria as well as skills and competences related to them (communication, research, data analysis, evaluation of advantages and disadvantages, self-criticism, organization of a continuous working process, etc.).

Visualized by a diagram, the skills and competences that students develop by applying the model show that project education is a modern educational method that stimulate students’ activity and cognitive abilities and help them master key competences which could be basic their future career and self-improvement.

The criteria for evaluation of these competences are formulated in the context of self-awareness and willingness to update acquired knowledge; experience in various standard and non-standard situations and case studies; attitude to the process and the result of the application’s object.

Keywords:

Software project, Middle Years Programme, education technology, motivation, innovation.