Welcome to the MOOC Teach informatics using authentic learning and gender inclusion
Join this course to discover and explore authentic and gender-inclusive informatics learning — an evidence-based approach that will help you teach computer science more effectively while fostering an inclusive classroom environment.
You will gain insight into the importance of a gender-inclusive approach to teaching informatics and learn practical strategies to address and correct existing imbalances in your classroom. You will also learn how to design, identify and assess authentic learning experiences to make informatics teaching more relevant to your students.
By joining this course, you will become part of a vibrant community of like-minded teachers, educators and professionals in educational technology, where you can share experiences, exchange best practices, and learn from one another about authentic and gender inclusive informatics teaching.
You can follow the course at your own pace. We will open one module at the beginning of each week, and there are only a few deadlines you need to pay attention to (those for the quizzes and/or the peer-review activity).
Join us in the Facebook group or share your thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) using the hashtag #AuthenticInclusiveInformatics.
Learning objectives
By the end of this MOOC, you will be able to:
- Identify the key benefits and challenges of authentic learning in informatics and plan how to integrate this approach into your teaching practice.
- Evaluate and combine gender-inclusive strategies with authentic learning to design fair, motivating informatics lessons.
- Analyse existing learning activities to detect missing authentic-learning or gender-inclusive elements and propose concrete improvements.
- Develop and implement your own authentic, gender-inclusive learning scenario in informatics, ready to use in your classroom.
Prerequisites
This course is relevant to pre-service and in-service primary and secondary education informatics teachers, pre-service and in-service primary and secondary STEM teachers, STEM and informatics non-formal educators, as well as Educational Technology Professionals.
Modules
- Module 1: Teaching informatics in Europe opens on 23/03/2026
- Module 2: Teaching informatics with gender-inclusive practices opens on 30/03/2026
- Module 3: Authentic learning and informatics teaching opens on 06/04/2026
- Module 4: Design and assess authentic gender inclusive informatics learning scenarios opens on 13/04/2026
Certification
In order to receive the certificate, the participation in the quizzes will count for 5%, and the learning scenario together with the peer reviews will count for 95%. The overall passing grade is 95%.
The final deadline to complete all activities is Wednesday, 29 April 2026, 23:59 CEST.
Note to teachers from Emilia-Romagna: Per i docenti della regione Emilia-Romagna iscritti alla piattaforma regionale https://iscrizioni.istruzioneer.it/ è possibile ottenere, oltre all’attestato rilasciato da European Schoolnet Academy, anche l’attestato rilasciato dall’Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per l'Emilia-Romagna (Servizio Marconi) che attua un'azione di facilitazione ed accompagnamento a questa attività. Maggiori informazioni al link: https://bit.ly/EuroSmooc21.
Note to teachers from Ireland: It may be possible to count the completion of this course as part fulfilment of any discretionary CPD hours, subject to your school management's approval. Therefore, please enquire with your school management if your participation in this course can be formally recognised.
Course Staff
Giuseppe Mossuti - Course Coordinator
Giuseppe works as a project manager in the Science Education Department of European Schoolnet (EUN). Passionate about Open Schooling and integrated teaching, he coordinates international public funded projects on STE(A)M education. A sociologist and social researcher by education, Giuseppe started his career as a journalist, moving rapidly to social statistics. Since 2020, Giuseppe works on education advocating for the use of innovative educational practices. He regularly takes part to panels and contributes to international conferences.
Elisavet Vlachou - Course Co-Coordinator
Elisavet Vlachou is a Pedagogical Lead in the Science Education Department of European Schoolnet (EUN). Elisavet actively contributes to a wide range of projects and initiatives, shaping publications and developing innovative teaching and learning materials and educational programmes. Her work includes coordinating educators’ activities, running pilot programmes, and supporting research-related activities, as well as delivering career and professional development through online courses and interactive workshops. With an academic background in Educational Sciences, she has worked as a primary school teacher in Greece, and she has experience in teachers’ training and the design, implementation and evaluation of teaching tools and techniques. Additionally, she has participated in diverse studies as a researcher and co-authored scientific papers.
Sheetal Jalan - Course Moderator
Sheetal Jalan has been a STEM educator for over 16 years. She had the opportunity to work in the continents of Europe and Asia, where she believes she learned the best practices of both - east and west. She has been a Scientix Ambassador since 2021 and has taken an active role in the dissemination of its activities as well as EdTech Projects. Currently, she is teaching Science & Technology at Futuraskolan, Stockholm; she is also the ICT coordinator for the school. She has an Honors degree in Physics besides her degree in B.Ed. She loves traveling and reading books.
Behind the course
TINKER - i.e. auThentIc learNing and gender inclusive frameworK for tEaching infoRmatics in schools across Europe - aims to revolutionise informatics education in upper primary and lower secondary schools through a comprehensive pedagogical framework.
Rooted in authentic learning principles, the project encourages students to engage with real-life tasks, promoting exploration and intentional connections between theoretical knowledge and practical experiences.
Furthermore, TINKER aims to address and overturn the severe underrepresentation of women and gender minorities in the field, by adopting a progressive gender-inclusive stance: it promotes gender-inclusive teaching practices creating positive student-centred environments that celebrate diversity.
Scientix®, the community for science education in Europe, promotes and supports Europe-wide collaboration among STEM teachers, education researchers, policymakers, and other STEM education professionals.
European Schoolnet® (www.eun.org) is the network of 30+ European Ministries of Education. EUN aims to bring innovation in teaching and learning to its key stakeholders: Ministries of Education, schools, teachers, researchers, and industry partners.
Disclaimer
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. Project Number: 101132887
All content on this course unless specified otherwise is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
