Digitalisation and school: our topics in October

Our new magazine will be on newsstands on Thursday, 5 October. A few topics from it: the digital revolution in the classroom, the relationship between parents and teachers and Jesper Juul explains how to nurture your relationship as a couple - even with children.
How digital are Swiss schools already and where are they heading? Editor-in-chief Nik Niethammer talks to dossier author Bianca Fritz.

Let's be honest: when was the last time you said thank you to your child's teacher? Thank you for your passion in teaching your three-year-old the nines? Thank you for your patience with your pubescent daughter, whose hormones have been going crazy for weeks? Thank you for your willingness to work constructively with difficult parents? Exactly!
A teacher recently told him that she only gets calls from parents when things aren't going well, says Urs Gfeller from the Bern University of Teacher Education in our monthly interview. «There is never any positive feedback.» Gfeller runs an internet forum for teachers; 1700 teachers are registered and can seek advice. The experienced coach also appeals to teachers to contact parents at least once a year with an exclusively positive message. «Every mum and dad is happy to receive such a call.»
Incidentally, my wife and I tried this out straight away and sent our son's teacher an email after the summer holidays: «We wish you and the 2nd class a happy and varied new school year. We found the report very aptly and sensitively formulated. How nice that you perceive our son in such a differentiated way. Please let's keep in touch with each other.»
You wouldn't believe how happy our son's teacher was to hear this news. Do you want to see your child's teacher beaming too? Then pick up the phone or hit the keys!

Our magazine in October!
Our magazine in October!

We will soon need digital skills in 90 per cent of all professions. How are schools preparing our children for this? Why is it so difficult to introduce digital learning? When does it make sense to use a tablet? And do we need a separate computer science subject to keep pace with technological developments? My colleague Bianca Fritz gets to the bottom of these questions in our dossier «Digital revolution in the classroom». One thing is certain: digital change will not succeed without teachers. They have a lot to do. Not everyone is up for it. The magic word is training.
I wish you exciting insights with this issue.
Yours sincerely, Nik Niethammer