Education Bulgaria Project #23525

Educate Bulgarian Children with Khan Academy

by Education Without Backpacks

Educate Bulgarian Children with Khan Academy

Project Report | Jan 19, 2024
Hoping for a Better Year for Bulgarian Education!

By Melli Popova | Operations Manager

In the dynamic landscape of 2023, the world witnessed an unprecedented surge in the development of generative AI tools, setting the stage for a transformative era in education. But can we keep up? At the end of 2023, we saw the release of the PISA 2022 results, a crucial benchmark for education systems around the world. Unfortunately, for Bulgarian students, the revelation was disheartening as their academic performance on mathematics had regressed, positioning Bulgaria at the bottom of the EU ranking.

In response to the sobering PISA 2022 results and the growing imperative to bridge the educational gap, Education Without Backpacks is ushering in the new year of 2024 with 2 transformative initiatives.

"For Math Teachers With Love" initiative is geared towards expanding the organization's reach to more schools, with a specific focus on enhancing math education outcomes – you can learn more about this endeavor in the link below.

Simultaneously, the "Digital School Leaders" program is set to equip schools with the necessary skills to navigate and embrace digitalization, ensuring a comprehensive and forward-thinking approach to education.

We can help improve Math results for Bulgarian students!

With the support of the Unicredit Foundation, we trained the teams of 2 schools on smart digitalization in the classroom and launched a 3-years mentoring program for introducing Khan Academy’s platform in the math classes. Students already use Khan Academy for 30 minutes per week to enhance their understanding of fifth grade mathematics with the support of their teachers. In 2024, we plan to expand this program into 10+ schools around the country.

Do you know how many Bulgarian teachers are using AI tools in school?

In December 2023, we conducted a survey among teachers and school administrators in our network on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and digitalization in schools. The results of this non-representative survey provide an interesting snapshot of the digitalization processes in education and the level of usage of artificial intelligence in schools.

Here are some of the more intriguing data points from the survey:

72% of teachers do not regularly use tools like ChatGPT or Bing Chat in their work, and 41% have never used such tools.
83% of schools do not have a defined strategy for digitalization. 53% of respondents indicate that their school has appointed coordinators or ICT leaders.
In 47% of schools, the advantages and disadvantages of teaching and learning with digital technologies are discussed extremely rarely, "less frequently than every month."

If you want to know more about the survey, check the link below.

Education Without Backpacks at the Ministry of Education forum

In December 2023, we participated at the Ministry of Education and Science forum "Education for Tomorrow" aiming to present the Ministry's vision and solutions for digitalization and improving educational outcomes, as well as best practices for the effective use of digital technologies, tools, and content to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. The event was opened by the Minister of Education and Science, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and other key political figures.

Our CEO was under the participants in the second panel "Digital Educational Content", presenting Khan Academy as the best free platform focusing on Math and Science combining learning content and unique features and tools such as mastery learning, even integrating AI with its newest instrument Khanmigo (to be available in Europe in 2024). Our work, our whole team and Khan Academy were presented also at the exhibition - part of the forum - where various organizations demonstrated digital and STEM-based resources, tools etc. to support the school system.

4-th grade math exam prep course launched

In November 2023, thanks to Fantastico's support, we finalized a new Khan Academy mathematics prep course for the national external assessment in mathematics after the fourth grade.

To promote the new content among primary school teachers, we organized an informational webinar attended by nearly 500 teachers from across the country. Following the event, the participants expressed extremely high satisfaction and readiness to teach their students using Khan Academy's content.

As of December 2023, after only one month after publishing the new course, the total time students have spent on this educational content is over 16,000 minutes. During that time they mastered over 8000 math skills!

New courses on Khan Academy

In September 2023 we launched two new courses on Khan Academy Bulgarian site with the America for Bulgaria Foundation & Cargill Bulgaria’s support:

Biology course for 7-10 grades – aligned according to the Bulgarian curriculum in help of all teachers and students in Bulgaria
Khan for Educators course – a hands-on course to prepare teachers to use Khan Academy in the classroom. Teachers who pass it develop skills to best implement Khan Academy in their classrooms and receive a Khan Academy certificate for their skills.

Khan Academy localization for the period September 2023 – December 2023

Translation: 130 words and 24 videos (256 minutes) in Art history, Informatics, Mathematics, Health and edicine and Resources

Proofreading: 214K words and 178 videos (1137 minutes) in Art history, Health and Medicine, and Informatics.

THANK YOU for supporting us on this journey and helping us expand our impact!

If you have 1 extra minute, you can check our 2023 summary below.

2023 in numbers

1.7 million words translated/proofread and 640 translated/proofread video lessons across Art, Math, Computer science, Natural science, and Teacher resources.
7 new courses on Khan Academy: two preparatory math courses – 4th grade and 7th grade, two art history courses – Ancient Art and Modern Art, two courses aligned with the Bulgarian curriculum – Biology and Chemistry, and one course aimed at teachers – Become a Teacher with Khan Academy.
2 schools with significantly low math results, where we started providing long-term training and mentoring for math teachers to improve students' math outcomes.
16 teacher ambassadors of Khan Academy reaching 500 other teachers.
80+ teachers who helped their students develop a love for mathematics through competitions in Khan Academy and Khanoniada.
20 teachers who completed the 6-week Introduction to School Digitalization program.
1 practical toolkit for teachers in 3 languages focusing on digital technologies like Khan for STEM education
15+ events for teachers such as webinars, trainings, workshops, and meetings.

Supporters of "For Math Teachers with love"

Our team at Ministry of Education conference

Teacher Training to improve children's results

Links:

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Sep 27, 2023
The New School Year Comes with New Initiatives!

By Melli Popova | Operations Manager

At the start of the new school year, we welcomed new team members and embarked on exciting new projects aimed at supporting schools with significantly low math performance. However, what truly fuels our motivation are the testimonials from both teachers and students that unequivocally demonstrate the impact of our efforts.

One such inspiring testimony comes from Maria Chakarova, a teacher from Varna who participated in our Khan Academy Spring Competition. She shared:

"With Khanoniada, students want to solve more and more problems, even when I tell them they should stop and that the class is over. They enjoy their collective achievements, help each other, and develop a stronger sense of unity within the class. This definitely motivates them to learn effortlessly, with enthusiasm for continuous improvement."

It is heartfelt testimonials like Maria's that serve as a constant source of inspiration, compelling us to devote our effort to enhancing Bulgaria's educational system.

New exciting projects with new partners

We are thrilled to announce that Education Without Backpacks has been chosen as one of only two organizations in Bulgaria to receive support from the UniCredit Foundation. Over the next three years, we will be working diligently to empower 5-th grade students from two underprivileged lower secondary schools, enhancing their mathematical proficiency and assisting teachers in integrating digital tools into their classrooms. In addition, we are committed to developing free supplementary resources to aid all students in Bulgaria in their preparation for the 7th-grade external mathematics assessment exam.

We understand the critical importance of identifying and addressing math gaps at an early stage and we are especially delighted to share that, thanks to the generous support of the Fantastico store chain, we will be launching a new, comprehensive mathematics course on Khan Academy in November. This course is designed to help fourth-grade students in Bulgaria prepare successfully for the national external mathematics assessment. It will be suitable for both advanced students and those who may have gaps in their knowledge.

Supporting teachers and schools

Under the Erasmus+ project Khan4STEM, in collaboration with our partners from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières Belgique, we organized an English-language webinar aimed at helping teachers across Europe enhance their digital readiness. During this webinar, we shared effective teaching practices that are part of a freely available toolkit for teachers. This toolkit is accessible online in English, Bulgarian, and French. Additionally, we developed and published a teacher online training module, which is also freely accessible, and a Train the Trainer course based on this module.
To further promote the use of Khan Academy, we conducted additional meetings with the Regional Education Departments in Veliko Tarnovo and Varna. During these meetings, we had the opportunity to introduce our latest innovations to over 150 mathematics teachers and 50 primary school teachers.
In preparation for the upcoming school year and our next Ambassador program, we hosted two online meetings with active participation from 60 teachers. During these meetings, we presented opportunities for collaboration and the support we can provide to teachers in the upcoming school year.
In the "Khanoniada" spring challenge, 89 teachers and 3,300 students from all over Bulgaria took part. Following a lottery, four teachers and two classes were awarded prizes. The feedback from teachers indicated that students were significantly more motivated to learn, and a sense of teamwork was fostered within their classrooms.
We also expanded the resources available for the 7th-grade preparatory course and created a dedicated landing page featuring attractive visuals.

Art History competition and ceremony.

To celebrate the launch of our freshly translated Art History courses, we rolled out an exciting online quiz aimed at high school students who have a passion for ancient and contemporary art. Participants included students from 9th to 12th grade, hailing from various schools across the country.

The awards ceremony took place on June 17, 2023, at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, where we welcomed more than 40 guests, including official representatives, students, high school and university teachers, education experts, parents, and more. It was a lively event where we recognized the winners of the online competition and introduced our new, free Art History resources on Khan Academy.

Khan Academy localization for the period May 2023 – August 2023

Translation: 90 words and 8 videos (28 minutes) in Art history and Informatics
Proofreading: 698K words and 108 videos (620 minutes) in Art history, Health and Medicine, Biology, Informatics, Resources.

Thank you so much for your continuous support and don't forget: #YouCanLearnAnything :)

Winners from Khan competitions with new headphones

First meeting with teachers from 75th School

For little Bora Niyazi Khan Academy is a miracle!

Links:

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May 31, 2023
The world is changing. Can education keep up?

By Melli Popova | Operations Manager

Spread the word about our upcoming webinar!

New technology is developing faster than ever and the educational system needs to keep up. It is no surprise that platforms such as Khan Academy are among the first to embrace the inevitable change. Salman Khan is already exploring the potential for AI in a limited pilot: GPT4 is carefully adapted to Khan Academy’s learning environment to guide students as they progress through courses and to assist teachers with administrative tasks.

We, from “Education Without Backpacks”, are also giving our best to support teachers from Bulgaria and EU to dive into the world of artificial intelligence and gain ideas on how to leverage its strengths and manage the risks of platforms like ChatGPT. Learn more about our efforts below!

Supporting teachers and schools

The past few months have been highly productive as we engaged numerous teachers to explore the implementation of digital teaching practices and to familiarize themselves with the possibilities of AI in education.

We conducted a Khan4STEM* workshop for teachers with 35 participants from across the country, where we introduced them to platforms such as ChatGPT, and we showed them practical steps for incorporating digital practices in their classrooms.
To enhance teachers' and principals' understanding of the latest European and global practices in smart digitalization for math and science classrooms, we also organized a free Khan4STEM webinar. Over 1000 individuals registered for the event, we had over 280 participants online, and the recording continues to receive numerous new views from teachers.
In order to expand the reach of Khan Academy in Bulgaria and support more students in their math and science learning journeys, we established a teacher ambassador program. 15 educators from various regions of the country joined this initiative and for 3 months actively presented Khan Academy to their colleagues.
To support the wider dissemination of Khan Academy, we organized a meeting with representatives from the Regional Education Departments. 28 employees from 16 regions in Bulgaria participated in the event.
At the Prepodavame.bg conference “Good Practices in Focus”, we conducted a workshop to show how to engage students to learn with Khan with approximately 15 teachers from different schools across the country. Additionally, we introduced approximately 100 attendees to our work and demonstrated how to incorporate Khan Academy into their classrooms.
We held a workshop with a school team of 28 teachers to explore innovative educational approaches.
To assist teachers and principals in devising strategies for digitalizing learning processes at both classroom and school levels, we offered a 5-week online course “Introduction to Schools Digitalization” with our partners from Software University. This pilot course serves as an introduction to our upcoming Digital School Leaders program for schools. Stay tuned for more details coming soon.

On June 28th, together with our partners from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières Belgique, we are organizing a Khan4STEM webinar in English for teachers across Europe. Please, spread the word about our upcoming webinar "The Power of Smart Digitalization in Schools"!

*The project "KHAN4STEM: More effective and inclusive European Math and Science Teaching – supported by the internationalized work of European Khan Academy Advocates" is financed by Erasmus+ program of the European Commission, Key Activity 2. It is implemented by "Libraries Without Borders" (Belgium) and "Education Without Backpacks" (Bulgaria).

Spring Competitions with Khan Academy

LearnStorm online competitions: This spring, we conducted our first LearnStorm (Khanoniada) Challenge to help STEM teachers engage their whole classes in a fun and meaningful way, while fostering a positive attitude towards learning. More than 3000 participants were registered by their teachers.

LearnStorm live demo at Sofia Science Festival: At the annual Sofia Science Festival, we held two live LearnStorm competitions for whole classes and demonstrated how teachers can motivate their students to willingly solve math problems.

Art history competition: To promote our newly translated Art History courses (see below), we launched an online quiz for high school students who want to learn more about ancient and modern art. We will award 10 students and 2 teachers at a special ceremony held in the National Academy of Arts in Sofia.

More STEAM in Bulgarian schools

We launched 2 new Art History courses in Khan Academy, and now all students in Bulgaria can learn more about Art of Ancient Mediterranean and Europe, and Modern art in the XX century.

We also published 1 new math course on Khan Academy to help students prepare for free for the national math assessment after 7th grade. To be even more helpful for the students, we developed a list with additional content and resources at our site at obr.education

The 3 new courses came to life under the project “Arts and Math together – for more STEAM in Bulgarian schools with Khan Academy”, with the support of the US Embassy in Sofia. The project promotes free STEAM education for all Bulgarian students specifically through arts and math content on Khan Academy.

Khan Academy localization for the period February 2023 – April 2023

Translation:

199 words and 7 videos (48 minutes) in Art history and Ecology.

Proofreading:

326K words and 263 videos (2018 minutes) in Art history, Health and Medicine, Biology, Resources.

Thank you so much for your support!

And don't forget: #YouCanLearnAnything :)

First official Khan Ambassadors in Bulgaria!

New art history courses available in Bulgarian!

Links:

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