Silistra Summary 2007
IT’s easy
Silistra
Thursday 19 - Friday 20 April 2007
Summary
Each school presented their comments on the data resulting from the surveys conducted in each country, which had been issued and shared via e-mail.
Norway
- Pointed out that, although as many as 40% of Norwegian teachers taking part in the survey feel confident in general use of ICT, only 6,7% of them feel they are competent enough to use it effectively in lessons.
- Stressed the fact that 100% of staff in Norwegian school are willing to improve their skills and interested in developing, and made reference to learning from colleagues as the most important source of training, which should be both formal and informal.
- Made a strong point about the need for inspiring teachers, which is one major goal of the It’s easy partnership, and how this could be done through sharing project group special competence and motivation in a way which can be relevant to teaching experience.
Italy
- Pointed out that the survey had concerned 16 teachers out of 38, i.e. about 40% of the teachers in the school, only 2 of whom were under 40, which makes the results reliable as the age span of the target group is the same as the majority of staff.
- All teachers in the target group admit to having basic ICT skills such as word-processing, e-mailing and Internet browsing, which they use in situations other than teaching, whereas ICT use seems to be very limited in the learning-teaching process.
- Lack of time seems to be the main factor which accounts for not using ICT in the classroom, as well as the scarce relevancy of available tools to the teaching needs.
- Stressed that the teachers feel in need of training, but are not happy with the training given by the National agencies. Training from colleagues seems to be the best solution according to target group.
- Results of students’ survey conducted in Italian school reveal students’ competence in basic ICT skills, which is, nevertheless, hardly used for learning purposes. Italian pupils seem to be scarcely aware that ICT can be used effectively in the classroom.
Denmark
- Danish results concern a target group of 10 teachers, 7 of whom are females. They generally admit to being familiar with ICT, although 40% don’t use it because they always need to have a plan B in case the technology fails.
- 70% feel they don’t have enough skills for using this tool as a useful thing in their teaching practice.
- The Danish school put some effort in training and appointed a skilled teacher in each team in the past year, which, so far, has not given the wanted results, mainly due to scarce quality of trainers and lack of time.
- Students’ survey results showed that ICT overload kids with information, which does not allow them to be critical in processing it.
Sofia
- Informed that about 30% of the teachers in the school use CD-ROM information sources, as well as Educational software packages (externally produced) in the classroom, whereas nobody uses digital camera/ scanner/video, electronic debating as these ICT tools are not available.
- Pointed out that all the teachers in the school feel in need of training, which should hopefully come from colleagues
- Stressed that both staff and students are for the most part very motivated to use ICT in teaching and learning.
Silistra
- Introduced their results saying that their situation looks similar to the one of the Italian school, possibly due to the presence of similar equipment in the two schools
- Pointed out that the teachers seem to be generally competent in the basics of ICT, but scarcely use it for teaching. No administrative use is made of ICT at all.
- The students’ results show that 50% of the target group (made up of students from the first and last year, the older of whom seem to be more motivated) feel they are well grounded in the use of ICT, but do not require it for school training.
- 98% of target students said they are highly motivated and would like ICT to be used more in the classroom.
After discussion about the nature and intent of next steps, each partner school described their ideas for the continuation of the project according to the needs identified through the survey results:
- The Norwegian project group said they will try teaching 4 ICT lessons each in their colleagues’ classes in order to inspire them by focusing on items which the project group teachers are very much into, e. g. they will deal with photo editing lessons and how to use an e-learning platform (it’s learning) to make concrete teaching material.
- The Italian school will focus on the effective use of Moodle, a free e-learning platform the Italian school is provided with, not much used due to lack of training, in order to involve in-service staff and possibly spread the use of Moodle among partner schools.
- The Danish group will focus on training their colleagues on teacher-relevant ICT topics.
- The Silistra school will focus on the production of ready-made ICT-based language lessons.
- The Sofia school will focus on the issue of the environment and prepare a bank of web sites and materials on this subject to be used in science lessons.
It was agreed that the survey results would be put to the agencies as an interim phase report (final report for first project year). It will be necessary to identify the deadline for this report in each country but the feeling was that August is likely.
It was agreed that the report should include a General Overview of the Comenius Project to date. Italy will prepare a draft and circulate this for modification and agreement by members.
It was agreed that Denmark would take up the business of finding web space for the on-line publication of the project data, information and resource bank to be produced at the end of the 3-year partnership.
It was agreed that Silistra would set up a competition for the creation of a logo of the project.
Deadlines
- May 4th : Italy to submit summary of Silistra work
- May 11th : Partners’ comments and amendments
- June 10th: Italy to submit draft of final report
- June 17th: Partners’ comments and amendments
- 20 th June: Final version of report is agreed and uploaded in Yahoo group
Thanks everyone for a challenging meeting!
Antonella