Social challenge and reasons for project’s initiation

Immediacy of the social problem

Preparation of skilled IT specialists is one of the key elements in Russia’s national digitization strategy for the period until 2024.

External reasons for project’s initiation

• The shortage of skilled IT specialists
• Supporting Russia’s system of higher, secondary and advanced education
• Quality IT education offers social mobility opportunities
• Sharing our knowledge to inspire kids
• Educational programs require strategic thinking

Internal reasons for project’s initiation

Samsung Electronics’ social education programs use the Company’s extensive technological expertise to assist in the training of future IT specialists, given the leading role that IT plays in the shaping of the digital economy.

Project description

Samsung IT School is an advanced education program in IT and software development. It was established by Samsung and endorsed by Russia’s Education Ministry. Since 2014, 1,000 students attend IT School classes in over 20 cities each year.

Project stages:

I. Preparation (May–December 2013). We designed the general concept of the project and a program for a one-year course on IT and Android app development in Java. The program was designed by specialists at the Samsung R&D Institute in Moscow and the Institute of Physics and Technology.

In addition, we prepared guidelines for teachers.

Also, we configured the equipment to be used in classes, using the Samsung School integrated platform designed specifically for schools.

Students were able to use laptops for coding and see the results of their work on tablets.

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II. Pilot (September 2013 – May 2014)

1. We signed three agreements for advanced education programs:
2. In Moscow – an agreement with the Moscow Department of Education to launch the program at the Moscow Technology Center for Modernizing Education (TeMo Center)
3. In Kazan – an agreement with Kazan University to launch the program at the University’s IT Lyceum
4. In Samara – an agreement with the Samara Oblast Ministry of Education to launch the program at Gymnasium 1.
5. We equipped classrooms in three pilot locations (Moscow, Samara and Kazan), selected teachers and formed classes of students based on entrance tests. The first groups successfully started the learning process.

III. National rollout (September 2013 – 2014)

We equipped 33 classrooms at 21 schools in 20 cities.

IV. Further expansion (2015 -2018)

By the end of 2018, Samsung IT School was present in 25 cities of Russia.

Support Projects

Since we received numerous requests from other cities, in 2018 we decided to try a new format – partnership sites.

Together with Samsung IT School partnership sites, Samsung offers the following:

• Samsung IT School online course on Java for Android
• School portal: a website, digital markbooks, online courses
• Assistance with recruitment, selection and training of teachers for online courses
• Methodological and technical support for program administrators and teachers
• Consultations on final projects – Java apps for Android – and assistance with placing them on Google Play
• Funding  for the annual IT School national contest for the best mobile app by trainees

Team and partners 

Team

The project is a collaboration by two separate Samsung divisions: Samsung Electronics Rus Company and Samsung R&D Institute in Moscow.

Partners

Samsung IT School is endorsed by national, provincial and municipal education authorities. In 2013, the project was presented to, and endorsed by, the Russian Ministry of Education. Its implementation in specific areas is always endorsed by respective local education boards.

The signing ceremonies for cooperation agreements and the opening of new classrooms are always attended by local officials, representatives of provincial and municipal administrations. For instance, the signing of the cooperation agreement between Samsung, the Tatarstan Ministry of Education and Kazan University in November 2013 was attended by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.

Since 2013, we have been cooperating with the following education authorities:

1. Moscow Department of Education
2. Samara Oblast Ministry of Education
3. Saint Petersburg Education Committee
4. Tatarstan Ministry of Education
5. Sverdlovsk Oblast Ministry of Education
6. Khabarovsk Krai Ministry of Education
7. Kaliningrad Oblast Ministry of Education
8. Krasnodar Krai Ministry of Education
9. Krasnoyarsk Education Authority
10. Novosibirsk Education Authority
11. Department of Education, Social Policies and Culture Committee, Irkutsk
12. Nizhny Novgorod Department of Education
13. Volgograd Department of Education
14. Omsk Department of Education
15. Vladivostok Municipal Education Authority
16. Sochi Education Authority
17. Voronezh Education Authority
18. Rostov-on-Don Education Authority
19. Ufa Education Authority
20. Chelyabinsk Education Authority, etc.

A cooperation agreement with the local education authority envisages assistance with the following:

• Selecting the school where the project will be implemented
• Providing organizational, media and legal support
• Selecting teacher with appropriate skills
• Jointly monitoring and evaluating the project

Samsung IT School certificate and awards in the School competition give additional points for young people applying to Russia’s 20 leading universities: ITMO, Peoples’ Friendship University, Moscow Power Engineering Institute, MISiS, MIREA, Southern University, Baltic University, Kazan University, etc.

In 2018, together with MEPhI, Samsung Electronics and Samsung IT School launched an Android Software Development test. It is an independent exam for Moscow high school graduates, which allows to score up to 10 additional points for young people applying to 22 universities in Moscow City and Moscow Oblast.

The jury of the annual project contest for program graduates is composed of industry experts representing Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Sibintek, Kaspersky Lab, etc. The top graduates go on to win national contests and WorldSkills competitions and receive job offers from tech companies.

Resources

Human resources

In addition to full-time work done by designated Company employees, IT specialists of the Samsung R&D Institute play an active role in the program as volunteers. In 2018, over 20 volunteers participated in educational programs.

• They help train teachers and design teachers’ guidelines
• They hold regular webinars and open lectures for children, teenagers, college students, IT teachers and the general public to promote the IT industry
• They participate as judges in competitions, hackathons and other events organized by Samsung and its partners

Technological and material resources

In 2013, the equipment configuration to be used in classes was determined. It is based on the Samsung School integrated solution, designed specifically for schools.

It includes the following:

• devices (interactive whiteboards, tablets)
• software for interactive learning environment adapted to specific class conditions and existing IT infrastructure

In addition, a decision was made to equip classes with laptops. All this equipment is transferred to schools free of charge.  

Achieved results

Immediate results

In five years:  

The program is project-oriented. The best projects get awards. This motivates students to develop mobile apps which would be popular and would enjoy commercial success.

The best apps by IT School students available on PlayMarket: https://myitschool.ru/apps/

Social results

The annual poll among the graduates invariably yields impressive results:

Other indicators of success:

1. The program is so popular that the average number of applicants competing for each place is 4.5 across Russia.
2. 49% of new students say it was their teacher or their friend who recommended the program to them.

The program has received a large number of awards, including the 2015 Creating the Future Award by the Ministry of Education and Science, the 2016 Runet Award in the Science and Education category, the 2017 Graduate Award in the Best Program for Schoolchildren category, and the 2016 Best Social Project Award in the Supporting Gifted Children category.

Internal project assessment

We regularly conduct a comprehensive performance review of the program to improve it further, which means:

1. Constant improvement and updating of the course
2. Progressive teaching techniques
3. Getting more motivated students to pick technology as their future major
4. Developing new partnerships and using additional opportunities and tools for developing the program further

The project is of strategic significance to Samsung. Its implementation format in Russia has been recognized as unique and was highly appraised by the corporate headquarters. The Company leadership particularly marked the introduction of innovative technology in education and close cooperation with the Samsung R&D Institute in designing the course.

Samsung IT School has expanded beyond Russia’s borders and is now successfully implemented in CIS countries.

External project assessment

Samsung IT School was recognized as one of the best education projects and received the Global Best Practice status.

Feedback from Beneficiaries:

Success stories

• Dmitry Pasechnyuk, Class of 2016, Kaliningrad Oblast. Dmitry won the Grand Prix of the IT School contest when he was only 13. He developed an app which helps people in a difficult situation to get a free consultation with a lawyer or a therapist pro bono. He won the 2016 ITMO Final Contest and received the Profi Year in Review Award in the Young Talent category. Together with his Samsung IT School teacher, Dmitry carried the Olympic torch in the Olympic relay before the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
• Vladislav Tarasov, Class of 2017, Moscow. Vladislav won the Grand Prix of the IT School contest. He designed an app called Enliven, which helps protect the environment and educates people about ecological issues. Enliven won the silver medal of the 2017 Moscow Young Innovators contest and received the prize of 150,000 rubles from the Rybakov Foundation.

For more feedback, please go to the project website: https://www.samsung.com/ru/itschool/

Project’s distinctive features and know – how

Samsung IT School is a unique project: in addition to IT, it emphasizes practical skills in Java coding for Android, one of the most popular segments in coding. In addition, study materials have been adapted for high school students.

Classes are conducted by skilled teachers selected by specialists from the Samsung R&D Institute and trained for teaching the course.

The learning process takes place in a well-equipped classroom with modern technology. This equipment is provided by Samsung.

Since 2014, the program has been upgraded every year. The current version (8th) consists of five modules to be taken over the course of one school year. The course duration is 132 hours, including 122 in-class sessions (4 hours a week), 2 hours for project presentation, and 8 hours for consultations on individual projects. The program is flexible and works well for students at different levels: the program has a core and additional materials for in-depth study.

In the course of the program, students participate in the following activities:

• theoretical and practical sessions in class
• individual practical work: home assignments, mini projects (small apps that students develop in class with the teacher and then finish on their own at home)
• individual project
• webinars
• online tests after each module

In 2018, we prepared an open interactive digital textbook for Samsung IT School (video), which completely matches the program and contains diagrams and animation explaining complex and abstract coding concepts, as well as a large number of practical assignments with automatic code approval. The textbook was edited by specialists at Russian Textbook Publishing House.

Plans of further development   

Samsung IT School turned 5 in 2019, and Samsung plans to continue with the program.

In April 2019, Samsung and the New Education Models Foundation, which operates Quantorium technoparks for children,  signed an agreement to develop Samsung IT School as part of the IT Cube national digital education program. Samsung IT School will be an integral element at all IT Cube centers created as part of the National Education Project.

In 2019, there will be 22 IT Cube centers; by the end of 2024, there will be 340 such centers in various parts of Russia. It is expected that over 135,000 high schoolers will be trained at IT Cube centers by that time.

This is how the project’s geography looks like in 2019:

The target audience is also expanding: in 2019, Samsung IT School was picked as a platform for a new app development course for college students.

Samsung IT School is five years old, and we are not going to stop. We are pressing on!