Practical ICT Didactics

1. Practical ICT Didactics Said Hadjerrouit Agder University College Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences Kristiansand - Norway Said.Hadjerrouit@hia.no IUFM, Montpellier March 7, 2006

2. Topics & Objectives • Didactics of informatics (ICT didactics) as academic discipline • Didactical relation model • Learning theories • LMS Classfronter as electronic platform • Classfronter as learning environment • Pedagogical use of Classfronter • ICT in the School Curriculum • Examples of pedagogical software • School curriculum (L97, R94, New Curriculum) • ICT in primary and lower secondary schools (L97) • ICT in upper secondary schools (R94) • ICT topics in secondary schools (fall semester 2005) • Teaching practice programmes with a duration of six weeks; • Primary and lower secondary schools: from the end of Sept until the beginning of Nov 2005. • Upper secondary schools: from the end of Jan until the beginning of March 2006. • Research-based task based on a new ICT training concept

3. Didactics of Informatics • Didactics of Informatics is a new discipline. • It does not exit any didactical tradition • To lay the groundwork for a strong foundation, we must ask fundamental questions: • What? Content • How? Teaching & learning methods • Why? Objectives / goals • Who? Teachers, pupils, school leaders, etc.

4. What? What are the particularities, goals and ambitions, and underlying ideas of informatics? • Informatics as science & engineering discipline • Informatics as theoretical/mathematical, technical and practical science • Informatics as interdisciplinary subject (mathematics, language, engineering, etc.) • Historical development of informatics and informatics didactics

5. Why? • Subject’s legitimacy in schools? • Why is ICT important in schools? • Why should pupils learn ICT?

6. How? • How should informatics content be organized and structured? • How to promote students’ learning? • How should learning be evaluated?

7. Who? Answers to what, how and why questions depend on who are the pupils ? which school ? and which society ?

8. Didactic Relation Model Assumes that different parts of the educational system are related to each other, and that there is a reciprocal influence between the elements: • Students’ characteristics and prerequisite knowledge • Course content • Learning goals • Methods of working and teaching methods • Assessment procedures • Learning environment, conditions and resources

9. Didactic Relation Model

10. Didactic Relation Model • Students’ abilities are prerequisite knowledge and skills, educational background and experience, as well as personal experiences. • External conditions are factors that make learning possible, such as computer equipment, resources, library, books, place, classroom settings, economical conditions, legal and ethical conventions, curriculum, time table, syllabus, etc. • Learning goals are about what the students should possess after finishing the IT-training course in terms of concepts, methods, theory, practices, ideas and principles. • Learning content is learning material that is associated with the subject matter, its topics and subtopics and how these are broken down into lessons. • Learning process is concerned with methods and activities based on learning theories, such as reading textbooks, doing exercises, performing projects, as well as the process of changing students’ knowledge to new knowledge. • Assessment is the process of assessing the student learning and how this can be done, such as oral and written exams, writing a report, performing a project, etc.

11. Didactic Relation Model:How to prepare, plan, implement and evaluate ICT teaching?

12. Learning Theories • Behaviorism • Cognitive constructivism • Social constructivism / Collaborative learning

13. Behaviorism • The goal is to transmit knowledge from the instructor to the learners. • Learning is seen as largely as a passive process. • Teachers/ Instructors are central to learning activities. • There are few opportunities for learners to express their own ideas. • Behaviorism stimulates surface learning and knowledge reproduction. • Stability and certainty with respect to knowledge acquisition and learning outcomes.

14. Cognitive Constructivism (Piaget) • Learning is an active construction process whereby learners construct their own knowledge based upon their prior knowledge. • Constructivist learning takes place as learners solve authentic taskswithin a meaningful, real-world environment. • The process of constructing knowledge requires cognitive skills (reasoning, analyzing, reflecting, evaluating, critical thinking). • Teachers serve primarily as guides of learning, not as transmitters of knowledge. • Assessment should focus on student’s cognitive development.

15. Social Constructivism (Vigotsky) • Learning is derived from and proceed by social relationships through participation in social activities with others. • Learning occurs through discussion, dialogue, collaboration, and information sharing with other people, e.g. teachers, fellow learners, etc. • Assessment should focus on students’ collaborative skills, group and project work.

16. Learning Theories, Teaching Methods and ICT • Behaviorism • Skinner • Cognitive constructivism • Piaget • Social constructivism • Vygotsky

17. Course Teaching Methods • Lectures (4 hours x 15 weeks) • Group work • Project work • Discussion forum • Teaching practice in primary and secondary schools • Compulsory work • Research work • Oral and written exams • Intensive weekend seminars may be part of the course.

18. Course Electronic Platform: LMS Classfronter • Classfronter is an LMS (Learning Management System) • Classfronter is a net based arena where teachers, lecturers, students and others • may read, store, delete, change course information • may share different kinds of information resources with all or selected users in the system • may need to collaborate and communicate electronically (discussion, chats)

19. LMS Classfronter • Classfronter is totally web based. • Users need • an Internet connection (http://www.hia.no/classfronter) • a web browser (Internet Explorer) and • a PC setup that allow communication with the Classfronter server • Classfronter is an access controlled system. Users need • a user name and • password to access the system.

20. Discussion Forum • Discussion topics • ICT as tool to support learning at primary and lower secondary schools • ICT as academic discipline at upper secondary schools • Face-to-face and Classfronter discussions

21. ICT in the School Curriculum • Using ICT as an educational tool in primary school, lower secondary, and upper secondary school level: • Standard software • Pedagogical software • Internet & web • ICT as medium to support dialog • Web-enabled discussion / e-mail • Discussion forum, chats • ICT as academic discipline (informatics)at the upper secondary school level.

22. ICT in Primary and Lower Secondary Schools: Topics • State of the art • Pupils’ use of ICT (Internet surfing, e-post, word, games) • Teachers’ use of ICT (most for teaching) • Pupils’ and teachers’ skills • Schools’ PC equipment • Home computing more and more important for ICT competence • Pedagogical software • School Curriculum L 97 for compulsory education (age 6 – 16)

23. Pedagogical Software • School curriculum L 97 defines 3 types of software: • Standard software - Text processing (Word), spreadsheets (Excel), Power Point, databases (Access), etc. • Data network (Internet) • Another type of software • Pedagogical software is included in “another type of software". • Classification criteria • Domain of use (mathematics, science, language, etc.) • Student group (age, school stage, etc.) • Technical criteria (memory capacity, platform, etc.)

24. Pedagogical Software: Multimedialab

25. Pedagogical Software: Multimedialab • Solar system • Pythagoras axiom • Napoleon’s live • Norwegian artists • Computer configuration

26. School Curriculum • Curriculum for Primary and Lower Secondary Education (L 97) • Curriculum for Upper Secondary Education (R 94) • New curriculum (gradually from 2006-2007)

27. Curriculum for Primary and Lower Secondary Education: L 97 L 97 consists of three main parts: • The core curriculum for compulsory, upper secondary and adult education (general part) - became effective from September 1993 • Principles and guidelines for compulsory education - is the bridge between the core curriculum and the subject syllabuses. • Subject syllabuses - are based on the core curriculum and formulated in accordance with the principles and guidelines for compulsory education Separate curriculum, L97 Sami, for the Sami pupils in order to preserve and develop the Sami language, culture and social life.

28. Curriculum for Primary and Lower Secondary Education (L 97) • Foreword • Core curriculum: General part • Principles and guidelines for compulsory education • Christian Knowledge and Religious and Ethical education Norwegian • Norwegian • Sign Language as a first language- Language for deaf pupils. • Mathematics • Social Studies • Art and Crafts • Science and the environment • English • Music • Home economics • Physical education • Compulsory additional subjects • Class and pupil council activities • School’s and pupils options

29. L 97: The School Structure Structural changes: • School starts at the age of six (instead of seven) • 10 years schooling (instead of nine) Compulsory education is divided into three stages: • Primary stage: grades 1– 4 (age 6–10) • Intermediate stage: grades 5 – 7 (age 10–13) • Lower secondary stage: grades 8 – 10 (age 13–16)

30. Core curriculum for Primary and Lower Secondary Education: General Part • Foreword • Introduction • The spiritual human being • The creative human being • The working human being • The liberally-educated human being • The social human being • The environmentally -aware human being • The integrated human being

31. Principles and Guidelines:The bridge between the core curriculum and the subject syllabuses. • Introduction • One school for all • An environment in which to learn and grow up • Subject syllabus – Content and Structure • Local work on subject syllabuses • Characteristics of the main stages • Methods, learning materials and assessment • Learning materials • Assessment • Allocation of subjects and periods

32. Curriculum for Upper Secondary Education (R 94) Common general subjects: • Norwegian • Civics Advanced Course I • Religion and Ethics • History • Second and Third Foreign Language

33. Curriculum for Upper Secondary Education (R 94) Specialized Subjects in General and Business Studies • Business Studies • Biology • English • Physics • Geography • ICT Operator - Training in Working Life • Information Technology • Chemistry • Marketing • Mathematics • Media Studies • Accounts  • Law • Sociology • Economics

34. Information Technology Chapter 1: General information 1 • 1.1 Introduction 1 • 1.2 The specialized subject Information Technology 3 • 1.2.1 User Systems (1A) 3 • 1.2.2 System Development (2A) 4 • 1.2.3 Information Processing (1B) 4 • 1.2.4 System operations (2B) 5 Chapter 2: Objectives and learning targets6 • 2.1 Common objectives for the specialized subject, Information • Technology 6 • 2.2 Information Technology 7 • 2.2.1 User Systems (1A) 7 • 2.2.2 System Development (2A) 9 • 2.2.3 Information Processing (1B) 12 • 2.2.4 System Operations (2B) 14 Chapter 3: Assessment 17 • 3.1 Why assessment? 17 • 3.2 What shall be assessed? 17 • 3.3 How shall assessment be carried out? 17 • 3.4 Special conditions – Project work 18 Appendix 1 19 • Distribution of tuition hours per module in Information Technology 19

35. Information Technology IT is a specialized subject. It consists of 4 modules, each of 187 hours (an average of 5 hours per week): • Module 1A must be taken by all who take IT and is founded on what is learned on the foundation course in General & Business Studies. • Module 2A is a depth study module founded on 1A. • Module 1B is founded on 1A, but can be taken simultaneously with 1A. • Module 2B is a depth study module founded on 1B.

36. Information Technology Module 1A USER SYSTEMS (5 hours ) Module 1B INFORMATION PROCESSING (5 hours) Module 2A SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT (5 hours ) Module 2B SYSTEM OPERATIONS (5 hours)

37. User Systems (1A) Software tools that are used at all levels of public & private life according to laws and rules (data privacy, ethical norms, etc) • Word processing • Spreadsheets • Databases, and • Programs for simulation, graphics, multimedia, networks (Internet, intranet, web)

38. System Development (1 B) • Development of information systems in organizations. • Analysing and assessing situations, detecting problems, constructing software solutions and implementing them. • Evaluation, maintenance and further development. • Modelling approaches, methods and techniques (UML). • Analysis of social effects for people affected by SD, as direct or indirect participants in the developmental process.

39. Information Processing (1B) • 1B can be viewed as enlarging on and pursuing further topics in 1A. • Understand terms such as hypothesis, theory, model, method, technique, & tools • General principles for modelling and applications of models such as analysis, specification, design, abstraction, generalizations, specialization, reuse, interpretation, experimentation & realization. • Use of models in private & public establishments in implementing information systems. • Examples are models used as the basis for numerical calculations (including budgeting), databases, object-oriented software libraries, simulation, statistical analysis and graphic representation (including animation).

40. System Operations (2B) • Module 2B is a further development of some of the topics in 1A & 1B. • Evaluate, select, install, configure, and maintain computer equipment (hardware and software) and operating systems • Knowledge of networks and security procedures • Operational tasks for small & medium-sized systems; operations on local area networks, cooperative and shared use of computer resources.

41. New Curriculum (from 2006-2007) • Core curriculum maintained • Introduction of a National framework for quality • Continuous curricula • Clear competence goals for pupils and apprentices • Objectives for basic skills integrated into all subjects

42. New Curriculum: Basic Skills • The ability to express oneself orally • The ability to read • The ability to do arithmetic • The ability to express oneself in writing • The ability to use information and communication technology

43. New Curriculum: Information Technology

44. Teaching Practice Programmes in Schools • Primary and lower secondary schools:from the end of Sept until the beginning of Nov 2005 • ICT as a tool to support teaching & learning • Integration and development of ICT in schools. • Upper secondary schools:from the end of January until the beginning of March 2006 • ICT as subject matter / discipline • Practical informatics education • Teacher’s observations and evaluation of students’ teaching (4-5 hours for each student)

45. ICT Teaching Practice in Upper Secondary Schools (Spring Semester 2005): Subjects • Database Access • Internet / Web • Microsoft FrontPage • Power Point • Access • Excel • Scientific calculator • Adobe Photoshop 6.0 • Microsoft Project

46. Research-Based Activity • As compulsory research-based activity based on use of a new ICT training method. • Research work is performed during students’ teaching practice at upper secondary schools.

47. Research-Based Activity: Projects • Creating forms and templates in the web development program Microsoft FrontPage • Creating diagrams using the spread sheet program Microsoft Excel • Connecting a database to a website using the database program Microsoft Access and the web development program Microsoft FrontPage • Using hyperlinks and style sheets in Microsoft FrontPage • Using hyperlinks, creating and changing backgrounds and font colors in Microsoft FrontPage • Drawing graphs with the calculator simulating program TI-interactive • Using scientific calculator (with advanced functions and derivation) • Implementing of the project management tool Microsoft Project • Using basic functions in the photo imaging software Adobe Photoshop 6.0

48. Practical Didactics in ICT: Credits Two variants: • INF112 : 15 credits - 2 semesters • INF113 : 30 credits - 2 semesters

49. Course Evaluation Methods • Two standard questionnaires (pre- and post questionnaires) • Classroom dialog and discussions • Observations and discussions during the supervision of compulsory and project work • Oral and written exams • Research work and reports

50. ICT and Learning 1