Listening to educators: how user feedback is shaping EU Code Week Educational Resources
25/06/26
Finding good digital education materials is not always easy. Teachers often need activities that are clear, practical, age-appropriate and ready to use. Parents may look for simple ways to introduce children to coding and digital creativity. Trainers, ambassadors and community organisers often need flexible resources they can adapt for workshops, school events or professional development sessions.
EU Code Week Educational Resources are intended to support exactly these kinds of learning moments. They bring together materials that can help learners explore coding, computational thinking, digital literacy, creativity and problem-solving, whether in a classroom, at home, in a workshop or during a community event.
Recent feedback from users offers a useful picture of how these resources are actually being used, what people value most, and what could make them even easier to use.
Resources are used in different contexts
The feedback shows that EU Code Week Educational Resources are used in a range of learning settings. Respondents reported using them most often in classroom teaching, but also during EU Code Week activities in October, school project days, workshops, webinars, teacher training and personal lesson preparation.
This is an important message. It shows that the resources are not limited to a single campaign period or one specific type of activity. A teacher might use a short coding challenge in a regular lesson. A school might build a project day around digital creativity. A trainer might adapt a resource for a workshop. A parent or community organiser might use an unplugged activity to introduce children to computational thinking in a simple and playful way.
In practice, the value of the resources lies in their flexibility. When a material can be used in different contexts and adapted to different learner groups, it becomes more useful for a wider community.
Teachers value ready-to-use, practical and adaptable materials
One of the clearest messages from the feedback is that users appreciate resources that are practical and easy to implement. Ready-to-use classroom activities, lesson plans and short coding or digital challenges were among the most frequently used types of materials.
This is not surprising. Many educators want to introduce digital skills, but they do not always have time to design a complete activity from scratch. A useful resource saves time by making the learning idea clear and by giving enough structure to help someone get started quickly.
The most helpful materials answer basic questions immediately: What will learners do? How long will it take? What age group is it for? What tools or materials are needed? Can it be used straight away, or does it require preparation?
When this information is clear, a resource becomes easier to trust, adapt and reuse. This is especially important for busy teachers, but it is also useful for parents, trainers and community members who may not have a technical background.
More than coding skills
The feedback also highlights the learning impact users observe when working with EU Code Week resources. Respondents reported improvements in learners’ digital and coding skills, but also in creativity, active participation, problem-solving, computational thinking and confidence in using digital tools.
This matters because digital education is not only about learning a programming language or completing a technical task. A good coding or digital skills activity can help learners test ideas, make mistakes, collaborate, create something of their own and solve problems step by step.
For younger learners, this can mean discovering that technology can be playful, creative and understandable. For older learners, it can mean connecting digital skills with real-world challenges, future studies or career interests. For teachers and trainers, it means having materials that support both technical learning and broader competences such as creativity, persistence and critical thinking.
Improvements in language, navigation and clearer information
The feedback also points to areas where the Educational Resources section could become easier to use.
Language availability is one important issue. If a resource is not available in the language a teacher or learner needs, it becomes harder to use, especially with younger children or in classrooms where learners need clear instructions in their own language. Making multilingual versions easier to find and access would help more people use the materials with confidence.
Navigation and presentation of information are also important. Users need to find the right resource quickly. This means not only having filters, but also making key information visible when resources are displayed. Difficulty level, age group, estimated duration, language and required materials should be easy to see before a user opens or downloads a resource.
This is particularly relevant because some metadata already exists, such as beginner, medium and advanced levels, but it is not always visible enough in the way resources are presented. If teachers have to open several resources just to understand whether they fit their learners, available lesson time or classroom conditions, they may give up before finding the right material.
The feedback also shows demand for more short classroom activities, more resources for younger children, more AI-related materials and more teacher-training resources. These requests point to a simple need: users want resources that match real educational situations, different age groups and different levels of experience.
Making good resources easier to use
The feedback tells a practical story. People are looking for digital education resources that are easy to find, easy to understand and easy to adapt.
EU Code Week Educational Resources are already being used in classrooms, project days, workshops, training activities and October Code Week events. Users value materials that save time, support active learning and help learners build not only digital skills, but also creativity, confidence and problem-solving abilities.
The next step is to make good resources even easier to use. Clearer descriptions, more visible metadata, better multilingual access and practical collections of ready-to-use activities can help teachers, parents, trainers, ambassadors and community members bring digital learning to life in more settings.
Listening to user feedback is therefore not just about improving a website section. It is about making digital education more accessible, understandable and useful for everyone who wants to help learners explore technology with curiosity and confidence.
