From theory to practice: Implementation and evaluation
The main aim is to design and implement a Professional Training Programme for teachers to digital skills acquisition in primary schools and utilise all products of the projects. IO5 provides the opportunity (for the first time in most of the partner schools) to implement the project outputs and resources developed, pilot test, evaluate and revise them before they are openly provided to be used at the National and EU level.
The specific objectives are:
- To implement the GoDIGITAL Professional Development Programme for teachers and utilise, test and revise all products.
- To organise ICT training (in-house/work-school based) as needed to support teachers’ digital acquisition.
- To organise and set monitoring and assessment guidelines to collect feedback, views, case studies, observations etc, both on-line and on-paper.
- To design and produce the GoDIGITAL GUIDEBOOK for participants with all relevant information about the project and its implementation.
- To engage target group members in the project activities.
Based on the above the tasks to be taken results of IO5 are:
- GoDIGITAL GUIDEBOOK for implementation (hard copy and on-line) provides participants with essential information about all products: Framework, GoDIGITAL Assessment-tool, e-platform with learning modules, ICT Guides, evaluation procedures, portfolios
- Registration and participation procedures: on-line registration, selection of learning modules time schedule, participation requirements etc.
- Assessment and validation procedures
GODIGITAL Professional Development Programme
Go DIGITAL From theory to practice: Implementation and evaluation aim to design and implement
a Professional Training Programme for teachers to digital skills acquisition in primary schools and
utilize all products of the projects. IO5 provides the opportunity (for the first time in most of the
partner counties) to implement the project outputs and resources developed, pilot test, evaluate and revise them before they are openly provided to be used at the National and EU level.
The recruitment process was carried out in two ways: intentionally by direct contact with teachers
and school heads, as well as publicly, through social media. Therefore, only active teachers but also candidates for teachers and other stakeholders came for the training. In the recruitment form, there
were two possible methods were proposed, all of them using blended learning, but one with real meetings prevailing and the second one with one introductory meeting and the rest on-line. Thus, two groups were established, with a total of 16 active participants (over 50 people were enrolled but
did not appear on the platform), both were trained by the qualified trainer, who is an e-learning trainer with many years of experience with e-learning of teachers and students at educational science
faculty.
Yet, the pandemic caused the groups had to have full on-line training. The training started from
sending to the trainees the short manual about the training with the information on the project, aims
and methods aa well as for instructions about the platform and how to log-in. Due to the fact that
there was no possibility of organizing the initial meeting, the mentoring was enabled right from the
start of the training: The Trainer had personal contact via e-mails with the participants.
Some of the participants (16) finished all the modules by completing all the badges: certificates
for these people were issued. The rest did only these modules that they were interested in. Overall,
from the 5 modules, 87 badges were issued. The most popular was the first module about the
Internet and the second about the Web Pages Design.
The course was assessed as very useful and important (see the section about the evaluation), but it was conducted in a specific time of a pandemic which caused the problem with some participants
who could not participate more actively due to their lack of ICT skills.
The training started with the first group who decided to have on-line training due to the unclear
situation with the pandemic. Yet, as the situation got worse, the second group was started, with the mentoring process from The Trainer. This was extremely important due to the lack of introductory meetings and for the people having problems with ICT technology.
The training started on 23rd March 2020. The participants had one week to complete the module,
after which period, the second one was started, however, the possibility of self-paced training was
enabled, allowing the participants to decide whether they want to work for a shorter or longer
period. Additionally, the discussion forums were enabled with the topic to be discussed.
16 people were recruited for the training. The modules implemented by our teams were the
following:
- Module 1: Internet,
- Module 2: Website Design
- Module 3: LMS
- Module 4: Hardware,
- Module 5: Tools and Applications
The total number of issued badges from both modules is 48:
- Internet – 11 issued Badges;
- Website Design – 9 issued Badges
- LMS – 9 issued Badges
- Hardware – 9 issued Badges
- Tools and Applications – 10 issued Badges.
Pilot training was organized online using synchronous and asynchronous communication. Even
planned introductory kick-off with technical training on the platform functionalities was implemented online due to the pandemic restriction.
In the case of Cyprus, Emphasys Centre organised the online pilot testing between the 13th and 15th of May 2020 where 15 primary school teachers and 2 mentors participated. For the purposes of the project, a great collaboration started with the ‘5th Primary School of Aglantzias in Nicosia and is listed as one of the main stakeholders of the project.
The main aim of the pilot testing/training was to pilot test the learning material and the assessments (validation method) using the e-Learning platform. The mentors provided support to the participants at every stage of the pilot testing. i.e. how to register to the e-Learning platform and how to enroll to the ‘Internet and LMS’ modules, etc.. Additionally, mentors were regularly monitoring the progress of the participants and offered guidance when required.
During the online training, Emphasys Centre organised various online activities, including:
- A presentation of Emphasys Centre
- A Presentation of the GODIGITAL project
- An introduction to the GODIGITAL Learning Material
- The Assessment method and validation
- The Open Badges eco-system
- The GODIGITAL e-Learning Platform
To sum up, training in Cyprus went very well. By the end of the online sessions, the participants were able to understand why the use of digital technologies and tools is essential in the classroom and why the training of the primary school teachers with the latest digital technologies is equally important. Feedback received from all participants was positive.
Overall results of the training:
- In total, 15 participants (primary school teachers) are enrolled in the e-Learning Platform on both Internet and LMS modules (Greek Version)
- In total, 20 badges (15 badges per module and 5 overall GODIGITAL badges) were issued to the participants
RDPSEC’s pilot training program was organized with the blended methodology as it was initially planned in the proposal. It was divided in two parts : Face to face in school sessions and on-line courses. The face to face pilot training programme was a six-week preparation programme which introduced trainees to the platform, while familiarizing them with the procedures. It also includes an opening lecture on each GoDigital module.
It started on Wednesday, 8 January 2020 and ended on Wednesday, 12 February 2020. During each week there was a four-hour session on a total of 24 hours of classroom training. The first of the six sessions was an introduction to the program. During this, trainers prepared an introduction of the GoDigital program, helped trainees to complete registration to the LMS platform and become familiar with the content and the procedures. In the other five sessions, trainers made an introduction on each module and prepared examples on each module to urge trainees to keep up with their self-paced training in between sessions and obtain module badges.
All trainers were experts in computer science and highly experienced trainers both for adults and primary school students aged 6 to 12 years old. The trainers were analytical by providing many examples and exercises on the topic, which enabled the trainees to put theory into practice.
Approximately thirty trainees attended the pilot program. Most of the trainees obtained badges during and a few after the pilot program ended. There were 5 badges (one per module) and 1 overall Badge (GODIGITAL) for the completion of all modules. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the trainees managed to achieve a pass mark and left the course with a much better understanding of the use of technology for class purposes.
The piloting was completed by 40 hours of on-line courses. In total 64 hours of pilot training was offered by Godigital tutors and trainers.
The training was conducted in our primary school “Maestre Pie” in San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy.
All participants were primary school teachers, all of them managed to join online and successfully completed the
taught modules and took the related badges. The time in which the course was held was 3 days and each of the days
contained 6 school hours of teaching, training and assessing.
At the beginning of the training it was presented:
– GoDIGITIAL project and its aims;
– Each one of the modules with short description about their content.
Our strategy for the training was first to check teachers’ knowledge on both modules, this is why we decided to start
by giving them an initial test. Based on the results from the initial test we could easily indicate their gaps and further
on the training to put an emphasis on the necessary areas.
After the initial test we continued with the teaching material as they are presented in the platform. At the end of the teaching process on the given materials participants
had to make the final test, by which they earned the Open Badges for the modules they have choosen.
The overall results from the training showed the enhancement of digital competences, skills and knowledge among
teachers.
During the training the teachers showed high interest in the modules and they were very thorough to understand and learn how to implement them in their own teachings with their students. The assessment results are highly positive and everybody from the teachers earned both of the Badges from the modules.
The total number of issued badges from both modules is 30.
The training was conducted in Fifth primary school “Georgi Izmirliev” in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
All participants were primary school teachers, one of whom managed to join online and also successfully completed the taught modules and took the related badges. The time in which the course was held was 5 days and each of the days contained 4 school hours of teaching, training and assessing. The chosen modules for this training were – Internet and Tools and Applications.
The trainers are members of Euni Partners’ team. The leading trainer – Georgi Migdin, has long and various experience in teaching and he is also a Phd. holder. The assistant trainer – Ina Malcheva, has master degree and also teaching experience. There was also a volunteer – Angel who helped the teachers within the training.
At the beginning of the training it was presented:
- Association Euni Partners;
- GoDIGITIAL project and its aims;
- Each one of the modules with short description about their content.
Our strategy for the training was first to check teachers’ knowledge on both modules, this is why we decided to start by giving them an initial test. Based on the results from the initial test we could easily indicate their gaps and further on the training to put an emphasis on the necessary areas. By doing this we gained very good perspective for the things we had to underline and will be useful for the participants to learn. After the initial test we continued with the teaching material as they are presented in the platform. At the end of the teaching process on the given materials participants had to make the final test, by which they earned the Open Badges for the modules Internet and Tools and Applications.
The overall results from the training showed the enhancement of digital competences, skills and knowledge among teachers. During the training the teachers showed high interest in the modules and they were very thorough to understand and learn how to implement them in their own teachings with their students. The assessment results are highly positive and almost everybody from the teachers earned both of the Badges from the modules.
The total number of issued badges from both modules is 28:
- Internet – 13 issued Badges;
- Tools and Applications – 15 issued Badges.
Pilot-testing testimonials
