Between October 2024 and April 2025, the Secondary School “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Smolyan organised a series of seven Dialogue Clubs, held both in person and online through platforms such as Canva, Padlet, Wakelet, and DigiPad. These Dialogue Clubs served as dynamic, inclusive forums aimed at fostering meaningful conversations on modern teaching practices in informatics, teacher competences, and students’ readiness for the digital age.

The Dialogue Clubs brought together 16 stakeholders, including informatics and mathematics teachers, language teachers, parents, and community representatives. They initiated a sustainable dialogue on the teaching of informatics, the evolving role and competences of teachers, and strategies to increase their preparedness for integrating effective pedagogical approaches.

Participants explored innovative pedagogical approaches, recognising digital technology as a ‘first language’ for digital natives, and discussed upgrading traditional approaches to teaching informatics using seven functions.

The topics were explored, such as:

• The functional, interactional, instrumental, imaginative, heuristic, and regulatory functions of digital technology in education.
• Current gaps in knowledge transfer and ways to foster inclusive learning environments.
• Integration of tools such as Scratch, Python, Photomath, Kahoot, Padlet, Waklet, and collaborative platforms like Trello and Microsoft Teams;
• Creativity and problem-solving through project-based learning and digital storytelling;
• Digital behaviour, ethics, and online safety for students and their families.

Through active dialogue and collaboration, participants exchanged good practices and proposed innovative solutions to enhance informatics education at the national and European levels. The Dialogue Clubs confirmed the importance of community involvement, engagement, and continuous professional development for educators.

The Secondary School St. St. Cyril and Methodius has contributed to shaping a shared European vision for the future of digital education. The conclusions from these Dialogue Clubs will inform the next stages of the project and support the development of a stronger, more connected community of digitally empowered teachers and learners.