• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Frans Van Assche · Luis Anido-Rifón David Gri ths · Cathy Lewin Sarah McNicol Editors Re-engineering the Uptake of ICT in Schools Re-engineering the Uptake of ICT in Schools Frans Van Assche • Luis Anido-Rifón David Griffi ths • Cathy Lewin • Sarah McNicol Editors Re-engineering the Uptake of ICT in Schools Forewords by Giovanni Biondi and Patricia Manson Editors Frans Van Assche Luis Anido-Rifón Department of Computer Science Telematics Engineering Department University of Leuven ETSI Telecommunication Leuven , Belgium University of Vigo Vigo , Spain David Griffi ths Institute of Educational Cybernatics Cathy Lewin University of Bolton Education and Social Research Institute Bolton , UK Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester , UK Sarah McNicol Education and Social Research Institute Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester , UK ISBN 978-3-319-19365-6 ISBN 978-3-319-19366-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-19366-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015945102 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and the Author(s) 2015. The book is published with open access at SpringerLink.com Open Access This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. All commercial rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Foreword “The future classroom is not about the environment or about the furniture or the technology either. It’s about how the students learn”. This is how one iTEC teacher in the UK sums up iTEC (Innovative Technology for an Engaging Classroom), a 4-year European project on designing the future classroom. The evidence gathered from more than 2500 classrooms involved in the project between 2010 and 2014 suggests that iTEC has succeeded in improving learning by allowing teachers to innovate in their classroom practice. Key to the success of the iTEC project, and what makes it different from other, technology-focused education initiatives, is that it allows teachers to take a step back from their everyday practice to visualise and create scenarios of how learning could be. The iTEC project, which was a cooperation between Ministries of Education, educational technology providers and pedagogical experts, as well as primary and secondary teachers in classrooms across Europe, has developed a “scenario-driven learning design” process. This process facilitates teachers innovating in their teach- ing practice, supported with ICT and ensures that use of technology in schools is informed, not by “blue-sky” thinking, but by meaningful pedagogical visions of how it can best engage and support students. The Future Classroom methodology developed by iTEC has already had an impact in classrooms across 20 countries; it is not only allowing schools to rethink how they are currently using ICT but is also helping to close the “mainstreaming gap”—when technology is not fully integrated in teaching and learning, both inside and outside of school. This book provides an overview of the results of the iTEC project: its scenarios, innovative Learning Activities and tools, its mix of vision and practice, its engage- ment with partners and communities, its outcomes and results, and its remarkable journey towards widespread sharing and adoption. European Schoolnet Giovanni Biondi Brussels , Belgium v Digital technologies are transforming all sectors of our societies, including educa- tion. Technology has the potential to make the learning process more transparent, more personal, and motivating. It connects teachers and learners to each other and beyond the classroom walls to the world around us in a way that has not been pos- sible before. Technology can make learning accessible 24/7—and help transform the way we acquire knowledge and skills in the twenty-fi rst century. However, digital technologies are not a magic wand that makes learning happen without effort from teachers and students. We need to understand how and when to put it to best use in the classroom—and in so doing we can make sure the classroom is a place of discovery, passion, and joy. Just as technology helps to connect people, it helps each individual learner to fi nd individual learning paths and to be master of her and his own learning. The iTEC project was a fl agship project of the European Commission which brought these new methods and experiments in teaching and learning to over 2500 classrooms across Europe. It was supported by a large number of Ministries of Education and has pushed forward the change agenda towards twenty-fi rst century classrooms in Europe. We are confi dent that the effects of this change will multiply and cascade widely, and that today’s future classroom will become a reality for all our classrooms in the not-too-distant future. European Commission Patricia Manson Luxembourg vii Pref ace This book reports on the results of the iTEC project, 1 a comprehensive effort to re- engineer the uptake of ICT in schools, which was undertaken in response to the European Commission’s call for proposals for large-scale pilots as part of the “Learning in the 21st-Century Research Challenge”. Over the course of the project, educational tools and resources were piloted in over 2500 classrooms across 20 European countries, with the goal of providing a sustainable model for fundamen- tally redesigning teaching and learning. Teachers, head teachers, and policymakers may benefi t from reading how novel scenarios can be elaborated, adapted to a local context, and implemented in the classroom; how new technologies can support this process for teachers and their national/regional communities; how teachers and other stakeholders can be edu- cated in such a re-engineering process; how the approach can be scaled up through MOOCs, ambassador schemes, and train-the-trainer programmes; how future class- room labs can inspire teachers, head teachers, and policymakers; how teachers and, above all, learners can become more engaged in learning through the adoption of the iTEC approach. Readers with a more technical focus may also be interested in the discussion of recommender systems, the fl exible provision of resources and services, the deploy- ment of the cloud in schools, and systems for composing technological support for lesson plans. In particular, Chap. 4 is intended for readers with a technical background. The book is organised as follows. First, the whole concept of re-engineering the uptake of ICT in schools, its motivation, and an overview of the main results of the project’s work are given. Second, the basic concepts of Scenarios and Learning Activities are introduced along with an explanation of the experiences and lessons learned. Third, the technologies supporting the uptake of ICT are introduced. These 1 The iTEC project was co-funded by the European Commission’s FP7 Programme. The content of this book is the sole responsibility of the authors and it does not represent the opinion of the European Commission and the Commission is not responsible for any use that might be made of information contained herein. ix x Preface technologies range from tools to compose the learning design, tools to provide access to content resources as well as events and experts, tools for making recom- mendations about learning designs and resources, and an architecture that allows for cross-platform integration of these tools and resources. Finally, the book ends with the presentation of 15 key evaluation fi ndings addressing: how the iTEC approach impacted on learners and learning, how the iTEC approach impacted on teachers and teaching, and the potential of the iTEC approach for system-wide adoption in schools. This book could not have been written without the contributions of all partners, associated partners, and so many volunteering teachers in the iTEC project. This 12.5 million Euro project, coordinated by the European Schoolnet, involved 26 project partners, including Ministries of Education or national agencies represent- ing ministries (MoE), technology providers, and research organisations. The part- nership of iTEC consisted of: European Schoolnet (BE) Bundesministerium für Bildung und Frauen (MoE AT) Centre of Information Technologies in Education (MoE LT) Centre National de Documentation Pédagogique (MoE FR) Direção-Geral

Load more

  214

Copy Link