Polonca Vodičar, Tadeja Zupanc, Osnovna šola Vransko-Tabor

We live in times of “smart” devices that accompany us everywhere. If you want to keep in a “smart” step with the pupils, you must also use “smart” technology during the lessons. We are a specialist subject teacher and a single class teacher.

We carried out a minor class project with the third grade pupils and the eighth and ninth grade pupils who attend the geographical extra-curricular activity. The eighth and ninth grade pupils learned more about the cartography and domestic landscapes. They also hid some treasures on historically and geographically important points in Vransko and the third grade pupils had to find them. They published the treasures’ locations on the Web site http://www.geocaching.com/  where they presented the points and entered the coordinates. The pupils of the geographical extra-curricular activity helped themselves with the Internet where they were looking for, checking and evaluating the information. The third grade pupils learned more about their hometown, its institutions and heritage, and about a map and the directions in the sky, they learned how to use maps and sketches. They were looking for treasures around the school by using sketches. They have used different e-learning materials. At the end of the project they started their treasure hunt with mobile phones in their hands. All pupils have gained valuable knowledge they will use in their further lives. They used mobile phones for a completely new purpose as they used to.

Manja Kokalj, Uroš Ozmec, Franc Jakoš, Osnovna šola Selnica ob Dravi, Osnovna šola Janka Glazerja Ruše 

Within the project Implementation and use of e-contents and e-services, the students of 7. A at our school use tablet computers in five subjects. In science we introduced the e-textbook based contents and tasks and evaluated their advantages and disadvantages when used in class. Our work resulted in some appropriate solutions (knowledge assessment tools) designed in Moodle virtual classroom environment. The questions which have been set contain many design elements and vary according to the type and Bloom’s taxonomy. The approach we use is differentiated; the immediate feedback represents the added value. The virtual classroom contents can be used by other teachers, if interested. We monitored students’ achievements and assessed how they reached the set objectives and how they upgraded their ICT skills. At the same time we evaluated how the use of e-contents and e-services affected the level of understanding and knowledge with students. Our trial class (7. A) was compared with our 7. B class and with the same age group of students from the neighbouring school who didn’t use ICT when learning the same topic. The results show that students who use tablet computers have higher motivation for learning and that they have improved their ICT literacy. At the same time we were able to differentiate the tasks, use the individualised approach and encourage students to use higher order thinking skills. It should be mentioned that one can expect greater differences in students’ knowledge after a longer period of time.

Nada Rajtman, Vrtec Ljutomer

This contribution in the form of a digital story presents the wider cooperation of our nursery with the Ljutomer municipality and other institutions. The idea for such events and cooperation came from the Ljutomer municipality and we responded with great joy. I thought about how to summarize and graphically present the events in the nursery, the municipality, the city of Ljutomer and among the employees. The purpose of this mobility project was to raise public awareness of the current situation. It is the adults’ task to be an example and pass on to the youngest generations even in the nursery that movement is the driving force of our life. Movement is health and movement is joy. In the story I had presented a few video clips showing how enthusiastically the employees walked to work and how joyfully the children cooperated when music and movement was joined on the town square. I believe the video testifies to the sovereignty of events. The events are presented in chronological order. Photographs are complemented with descriptions and explanations. I have incorporated music in the background of the video to add dynamics. For this I have chosen the fit anthem of our nursery, as we have been involved in the national fit program for many years. Other added music is well known and was chosen by instinct. This contribution can be used in different settings, such as presentations of our work to the parents, chronological presentations, general presentations and promotion of the municipality. I obtained the material for the video with a camera and video camera edited it with Movie Maker.

A TeachMeet is an organized but informal meeting of teachers who wish to share examples of good practices, practical innovations and personal insights in teaching with ICT. Participation is entirely voluntary. A range of new ideas, materials and programmes presented at the event offer a welcome opportunity for participants to exchange information on useful and successful classroom practices.

The main purpose of TeachMeet, which was first conceived in 2005 in Scotland, is to provide a relaxed atmosphere in which innovative teachers can share their stories, spread their enthusiasm about innovations and also reflect on their less successful practices. The informal nature of the event guarantees a lot of fun and laughter, which inspires creativity and curiosity. The only rule the participants have to follow is that their presentations do not exceed the time limit of five minutes.

Verica Šenica Pavletič, Osnovna šola Savsko naselje, Suzana Antič, Vrtec Trnovo, Mihajela Črnko, Institut Jožef Stefan, Marjeta Pučko, Šolski center Kranj

The Opening up Slovenia – Odprimo Slovenijo z izobraževanjem« initiative is based on Communication of European Commission entitled »Opening up Education« and encompasses activities in four distinct areas: open learning environments, open education resources, connectivity and innovation, and seizing the opportunities of the digital revolution. This Communication agrees with the observations from pedagogical practice which show that new generations require a change in values in the field of education because of their different way of thinking and new trends, which in turn create new needs and new challenges. The need to free our education system from the rigid pedagogical process that is tightly tied by the curriculum has therefore resulted in the establishment of a development and demonstration centre at the Savsko naselje primary school and a Global Cross-curricular Centre for developing Open Minded Learning Approach at the Trnovo kindergarten.

The activities within the framework of the Opening up Education initiative have already started at the primary school and the kindergarten. On the basis of information and communication technologies and open education resources, there are currently projects under way which allow for a productive environment for childcare workers, teachers, pupils, students, researchers and other stakeholders, and also secure an environment that is conducive to creating quality content and finding and developing new paradigms of teaching and learning. Through innovative projects and sharing of good practice in primary schools and kindergartens innovation is encouraged and the development of open education is enabled.

dr. Boris Berenfeld, dr. Tatiana Krupa, GlobalLab International, London, UK

Despite common perceptions that individualized learning is one-to-one mentoring or adaptations of content and curriculum for individual students, the Global Students Laboratory demonstrates that learning, ironically, can be more individualized when students collaborate in globally-distributed groups. This paper explores how the web-based Global Lab platform enables student-directed projects where every learner is an explorer. Through participation in collaborative projects designed around instructional topics, students acquire both content and process skills. As they master collaborative problem-solving, we enable them to develop their own projects using a scaffolded environment. They apply everything they have learned, including how to use probes and collect quantitative and qualitative data. The platform supports probes and smartphone applications, enabling data to be streamed directly into the Global Lab database. There, all data is displayed on a world map based on where each data set was collected, and students can graph, visualize, and analyze the information. Again, the irony is learners follow the same protocols and procedures to capture data, but the results always vary. Despite the sameness that is built into data collection, the data inevitably differ. This tele–collaborative inquiry allows learners to work on their own, at their pace, but as part of a community of like-minded peers.

Lenart Bučar, Osnovna šola Luisa Adamiča Grosuplje

I did a research paper in the field of chemistry. I measured the time course of the temperature in reactions of reactive metals with water. As the temperature measurement with mercury thermometer is inaccurate and slow, I used the electronic temperature sensors. I have connected to the Arduino microprocessor, which I have programmed so that the temperature data were sent to a personal computer, and then stored in the file. I processed the data stored in Excel and drew graphs, from which I found the reaction rate and temperature difference of water before and after the reaction. On this basis, I classified metals according to their properties. I came to the conclusion that my computer has greatly eased reading, writing, and editing data, and I assume that it will come in handy in the future as well.

Daša Bejat Krajnc, Osnovna šola Dušana Flisa Hoče

Learning mathematics requires regular learning and revising. It sometimes happens that I forget mathematical rule or explanation. If the “forgotten” content can be found in this year’s pupil’s book, then I can easily refresh it. More serious problem occurs if an explanation you need is not in the pupil’s book. Then you can help yourself with e-textbooks that are useful in other situations as well. I decided to compare the use of a paper book with an e-textbook in three different situations: 1) I want to catch up with knowledge I missed due to my absence from school, 2) I want to revise and consolidate the content which we learned in school, 3) I would like to learn before the teacher explains the matter in school. In this article I will discuss the way I compared e-textbook with a paper book for 5^th grade of primary school. I found out that you can learn from both maths books, but the use of e-textbook has some advantages. I prefer using a computer for learning, as soon as you finish the exercise you can check it, the tasks are interesting. The only disadvantage is that we do not use a computer to learn mathematics in school.

This talk is based on a research project focussing on the use of e-portfolio software Mahara with student teachers at Vienna University of Teacher Education. The presentation will emphasise the didactic versatility of Mahara, its potential to support student-centred, self-organised learning and discuss its general reception among students and professors mainly within the context of self-responsible problem-solving strategies at school practical studies (presentation of good practice examples).

Next to scientific considerations, practical applicative scenarios will be presented (e.g. how can students be teachers with Mahara? What about a certain change of paradigm in the context of roles, teacher/student=>facilitator; how does reflection take place in Mahara? How can Mahara support child-led learning?). Furthermore, the talk presents several strategic and pedagogical steps in order to implement a student-centred, collaborative e-portfolio software at university and to convince sceptical staff and students.

dr. Thomas Strasser, Vienna University of Teacher Education. Educational technologist, teacher trainer, international speaker. Research foci: Technology-enhanced (language) learning, Social Media, Web 2.0, LMS, ePortfolios, Mobile Learning. Author of scientific articles, textbooks, methodology books. Academic reviewer for various journals and international e-learning conferences. Currently on a post-doc scholarship. www.learning-reloaded.com | @thomas_strasser

Social business technologies help people connect, communicate and share information, and is playing a critical role in transforming K-12 schools and higher education institutions. New generations of students use Internet social tools every day to communicate, collaborate and network with peers and family. They expect the same functionality within the learning environments of their schools, colleges and universities. At the same time, employers want graduates with the technology and collaboration skills necessary to succeed in a social business. So to prepare students for the future, educational institutions need to provide an environment that supports a social culture of reciprocity and sharing, along with access to the business tools that their graduates will be using for social media and collaboration. By implementing this collaborative approach, educational institutions can enhance teaching and research, improve administrative operations, and strengthen linkages between academia and business.

Scott Neumann is the Director of Marketing & Communications for IBM’s Central & Eastern European region.  His responsibilities include all levels of marketing and communications from advertising to demand generation to digital and social channels, spanning all of IBM’s business units.