CASE STUDY Intel® Atom™ Processor

Lessons for ICT in Education

Charles and Intel support initiative to demonstrate and evaluate use cases for ICT in the classroom

Founded 1348, in is one of the world’s oldest . It frequently ranks highly among global league tables, validating its reputation as a leading center of learning both within the and internationally. Its of Education has about 4,200 , training as teachers and for other pedagogical roles for all types and levels of education. As information and communication technologies (ICT) become more prevalent in both the workplace and the classroom, the Faculty wanted to investigate the link between ICT and improved learning in more detail.

Challenges • Equip learners for the future. Support pupils in the development of core ICT skills in preparation for a digital future • Demonstrate best practices. Put various ICT use cases to the test in a real classroom environment to identify what works best • Validate ICT use. Implement effective and simple-to-execute methodologies for evalu- ating the impact of ICT on learning

Solutions • A collaborative model. Intel joined experts in hardware, software and educational con- tent to create the Education21* initiative • Include the community. Teachers, school boards and parents were all encouraged to support and participate in the project • Pilot project. Six Czech schools were chosen to run pilots of the new Education21 model during the 2009-2013 academic years ““Measuring the impact of newly- deployed technology can be Impact difficult – but it is essential to • Multiple uses. Trialing the model in different subject lessons across the schools justify often hefty investments showed the effectiveness of ICT in supporting a number of learning activities in PCs, connectivity, digital • In-depth reporting. Teachers submit regular video footage and diary reports for quali- content and other equipment. tative and quantitative analysis by Charles University pedagogical experts Our aim was to identify and • Setting an example. Regular updates to national media have shared project success and encouraged other schools to investigate using ICT in the classroom validate a selection of valuable use cases of modern IT in the classroom, particularly for grades Getting IT Right with Education The Faculty of Education set out to analyze the ways in which schools in the Czech six to nine.” Republic were using ICT to enhance the quality of education. Besides identifying best practices and common use cases, the Faculty wanted to develop and demonstrate Dr. Nataša Mazácová (PhD), Faculty of effective methodologies for measuring the positive impact of technology on learning Education, Charles University processes and outcomes. Leading university deploys and validates ICT learning model featuring Intel technology

Dr Nataša Mazáčová (PhD) from interactive technologies into their lessons. the Faculty of Education explains: Finally, the school authority needed to “Many schools and higher education agree to set up the digital classes and establishments are considering the use provide teachers and students with of ICT in the classroom now, but it’s often adequate support. hard for them to know how best to use it. Measuring the impact of newly-deployed ICT in Practice technology can be difficult as well, but The pilot phase of the project saw ICT it is essential to justify often hefty being used for a variety of activities investments in PCs, connectivity, digital during the academic year 2010-2011. content and other equipment. Our aim As part of the Education21 project, the was to identify and validate a selection Charles University Faculty of Education of valuable use cases of modern IT in the plans to create an online database of the classroom, particularly for grades six to most effective use cases to encourage nine.” greater collaboration and idea-sharing among teachers across the country. These Education21: A New Model include: The project the university initiated • Task analysis to meet these objectives was called Vzdělání21 (Education21). It was launched • Multimedia learning materials in collaboration with ICT and education • Individualized learning experts including HP, Microsoft, Avmedia • Teacher control and Fraus. As part of its commitment to create economic and social opportunities • Real-time instruction, assessment and for all by improving the quality of feedback education systems, Intel also formed part Task Analysis of the team. The teacher can use his or her own PC A holistic model for educational to control what appears on students’ transformation, based on the use of high- screens and ensure they understand the quality digital content and a 1:1 computing task at hand. For example, if explaining a model, Education21 encompassed six particular element of an image or graph, primary schools. The classes involved the teacher highlights the relevant were for children aged 11 to 12, with 65 section, drawing students’ attention to teachers and 275 students participating. the key details without complicated verbal Each classroom was equipped with a directions. In or language Wi-Fi network and electronic whiteboard. classes, the teacher can highlight specific Teachers were provided with HP ProBook* groups of numbers or words to ensure 6560b notebook PCs, and students with students can follow along as they explain Intel® Atom™ processor-powered HPMini* how to arrive at the right answer to an 5103 netbooks, through which they could equation or piece of textual analysis. “All schools agree that ICT’s ability access interactive tools and documents to encourage both independent including PDF* files, photos, videos and Multimedia Learning Materials online tests. Interactive textbooks were By equipping each with a learning and interactive group also supplied. laptop PC, schools give students the projects has helped increase opportunity to benefit from a richer Participation in the project depended learning experience, even when they are motivation, engagement and on three stakeholder groups – parents, not in the classroom. This means video teachers and the school authority. understanding among students.” and other multimedia content can be a Parents had to approve the placement useful resource for homework tasks. It of their child within a digital class and to Dr. Nataša Mazácová (PhD), Faculty of is particularly useful in teaching foreign support funding of their child’s laptop. Education, Charles University languages, where students can see The teachers had to agree to integrate

2 and hear native speakers of the target Teacher Control can view and mark their completed tests language. Physics classes have also When using ICT in the classroom for the immediately to assess their readiness to benefited significantly from the ability first time, many teachers fear children move on in the syllabus. to show students complex experiments will be distracted by their devices and Some classes have trialed applets and self- which may not be possible in the spend time surfing the Internet instead test exercises, but the Charles University classroom. of focusing on class work. To ensure team has identified opportunities for students concentrate on their assigned Individualized Learning further improvements in this area. In activities, teachers can take control of particular, it plans to create a system for Access to a wider library of engaging each child’s PC screen, turning the screen teachers to share exercises and tests to educational content and the ability to black and sending a message such as minimize the time-consuming process of interact on a one-to-one basis with the ”silence please” or “please look forward.” creating new applets for each class. teacher make it much easier for students to work at their own pace when using a Using Smart Sync* software, the teacher Tracking Performance laptop. Those who work faster or want can see what a child is working on at any to delve deeper into a topic can access time, quickly identifying those who need Regular Reporting extra help or are ready to move onto additional content, while others may Each of the six schools involved in the another task. prefer to spend more time on the core pilot nominated a teacher to act as exercises. An education experience Real-time Instruction, Assessment and Education21 project coordinator. This tailored to the needs and interests of Feedback teacher holds responsibility for liaising the individual student is more likely to with their colleagues to ensure that every Besides making learning more exciting for encourage perseverance and motivate individual participating in the project the student, ICT in the classroom can help students to do well. submits at least two hours of camcorder the teacher better monitor progress and video footage each quarter demonstrating Students can integrate digital elements provide more informed, timely guidance the use of IT in their classes. Each school into their learning to a greater or and feedback. For example, the teacher submits an average of eight hours of lesser extent, depending on their own can highlight details in a text on their own footage per quarter, covering subjects preferences, allowing those who prefer to screen, which then appears on the same including mathematics, languages, work from traditional text books to do so text on students’ devices, to help draw , physics and chemistry. where appropriate. attention to important information. A specialist from the Charles University The ability to allocate tasks to different Teachers can also use the Smart team also attends some classes to individuals or groups within a single class Notebook* software that comes as part observe them in real life. This specialist also means that teachers can give each of the Education21 package to create then collects the footage from all schools, student one-to-one attention without practice and self-test exercises for along with their notes taken on-site, to creating dead time for the rest of the pupils. Applets – readily-available online review and evaluate the use cases and class. While focusing on a task with one or created by the teacher – can enable effectiveness of the ICT resources. student, either on their PC or using the students to practice a particular aspect interactive white board, the teacher can of the course. This may include algebra Other reporting activities support the assign work to the rest of the class to calculations in mathematics class or qualitative evaluation enabled through ensure all students make the most of grammar exercises in language lessons. direct observation of classes and video class time. While tasks may not always Students access an applet from their own footage. For example, teachers submit be appropriate to the use of a laptop, device and the teacher can review their diaries recording details such as: students can carry out even more progress and provide feedback and help • How many minutes students use ICT traditional activities such as essay writing in real time. Within one class, different during each lesson. Generally, this does electronically, giving them the opportunity students can use different applets, not exceed 20 minutes, although time to practice core word processing skills. depending on their level of ability. spent with the devices varies by teacher The team from Charles University Once students have practiced their new and subject. Children are also encouraged believes this ability to empower each skills, the teacher can also issue each to continue developing their handwriting student to work at their own pace and individual a self-test exercise. Students skills level of knowledge is a key benefit of the use their own laptops to perform the • How much time teachers spend on les- Education21 initiative. tests at their own pace while teachers son preparation. Teachers who have just begun to teach using computers

3 spend more time on lesson preparation Qualitative Surveys than before, but become more efficient A survey was conducted across 32 Spotlight on Charles over time. All educators agree that while students from three schools to evaluate University they have responsibility for efficient initial responses to the introduction of Charles University is one of preparation, it is also important to have ICT to lessons. The questions focused on the world’s top universities, high-quality training for working with ICT identifying pupils’ attitudes to working frequently appearing near the • Which interactive materials have with ICT and their overall satisfaction top of international university proved most popular. Students like with digital teaching. The feedback rankings. It is the only Czech the electronic textbooks - mainly for was generally positive, with students institution of higher education to scientific subjects such as chemistry, identifying benefits such as being able be placed in the published list of mathematics, and physics. The textbooks to work more closely with the teacher, 500 universities. greater engagement in class thanks to contain audio recordings, videos and links More than 650 years old, the to the Internet. The interactive white- the interactive whiteboard and dynamic content, and easy-to-use devices. They university has 17 faculties, board is also very popular, and teachers three university institutes, six welcome the opportunity to check and also appreciated being able to use their laptops for homework outside of class centers for further educational, supervise all pupils’ work and progress scientific, research, development from their own devices and that having the device meant not needing to carry around so many weighty and other activities or for • How students evaluate IT-enabled textbooks. providing information services, teaching. Pupils agree that learning in an and five university-wide special interactive way is fun, with many saying Teachers were also questioned on facilities. It has more than 7,500 they would prefer to replace traditional their experiences, with most noting a employees and over 51,000 printed textbooks with their netbooks. significant and sustained boost in student students. According to their parents, students have engagement and motivation in the classes improved their approach to homework using ICT. Some could even point to an too. They are more motivated, more com- increase in students’ speed of learning, puter literate and very conscientious in with an improvement in average grades looking after their devices of about 0.5 points. Digital learning was found applicable to almost every • Any common technical problems. subject including , physics, Ensuring adequate connectivity was one geography, natural history, mathematics of the key challenges from the pilot, so and health education, with use cases learnings are shared with other schools varying to align with the demands of each wishing to use the 1:1 computing model. subject. An important point is to ensure on-site employees are able to provide basic The surveys also generated useful input technical support to supplement that from teachers and students on how issues provided by Intel, HP, Microsoft and other could be overcome and ICT-based learning specialists. Many teachers have com- could be improved. Some pupils suggested mented on the lack of problems with the that slightly larger laptops with easier-to- hardware involved in the project, noting read screens would be beneficial, and that that the devices are truly child-proof the interactive whiteboard – a popular • How teachers work with parents to feature – should be used more often. support the project. The advantage of Teachers emphasized the importance of the project is that parents are engaged the role of parents in ensuring students from the outset and can choose whether made full use of their ICT resources when their child is placed in a traditional or studying at home. They also indicated digital class. They attend regular meet- that preparing for ICT lessons can be ings to stay abreast of the project and more time-consuming, especially for can contribute financially to the purchase teachers who are not very tech-savvy, so of their child’s netbook. A recent survey sharing best practices and tips among the showed that over 50 percent of parents teaching community is important. think their children know more about computers than they themselves do, so Outcomes and Next Steps they appreciate the proper training pro- The team from Charles University vided in the classroom around the safe publishes its findings on the project use of computers and the Internet regularly through the national media and

4 television and interest in its progress education lessons. For those subjects pastoral support. Encouraging teachers, has been strong at a national level. More that do use IT, use cases are often especially those used to more traditional schools are starting to investigate the common across the board, with Czech classroom environments, to embrace new potential uses of IT in their own classes language classes tending to use electronic technologies was identified as a challenge – whether a full 1:1 computing model, textbooks while geography classes may by all participating schools. However, with or simply the introduction of a few be more likely to use online maps and practice and the support of more tech- digital nests across campus to provide video. Mathematics and lessons savvy colleagues, the schools all reported students with access to online resources. make heavy use of activity kits provided that even these teachers are now Throughout this expansion of the project, through the Smart Classroom Suite*, eager to takes advantage of the digital Charles University will continue to play an which include activities and tests. classroom.” integral role in providing methodological “Despite these differing use cases and consultancy and project coordination as Find the solution that’s right for experiences, all schools agree that ICT’s well as evangelizing the advantages and your organization. Contact your Intel ability to encourage both independent importance of ICT in education at the representative, visit Intel’s Business learning and interactive group projects national and international levels. Success Stories for IT Managers has helped increase motivation, (www.intel.com/itcasestudies), or The pilot schools are also starting to look engagement and understanding among explore the Intel.com IT Center (www. beyond their own initiatives to share students,” concludes Mazá ová. “However, č intel.com/itcenter). Visit the Intel ideas and best practices with each other. pilot participants also agreed that the Embedded Design Center (http://edc. Discussions highlight the fact that IT may teacher still has a critical role to play, now intel.com) be more appropriate to some classes acting as role models and enthusiasts than others. For example, no schools for using IT as well as continuing to have incorporated it into music or health provide their students with academic and

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