2. Overview
• Background
• Lesson #1: Audience requirements
• Lesson #2: New paradigms
• Lesson #3: Professional development frameworks
• Lesson #4: A different mindset
• Final thoughts
Professional Development 2
4. Who is the course for?
• In-service teachers
• Professional Development / CPD
• New and experienced teachers
• Recommended B2 level of English
• Individual teachers
• Institutions
6. What we gathered
• Teachers want a little bit of input and lots of practical ideas
• Director of studies, coordinators tend to think teachers
need more theoretical input
• Some experts place more emphasis on equipping teachers
with the knowledge to use tools and resources (focus on
the ‘how to)
• Some experts place more emphasis on developing an
understanding on the pedagogical value of using
technology in class, and in learning about new pedagogies
that emerge from the use of technology (e.g. flipped
classroom, blended learning, etc.)
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
7. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Some theorySome theorySome theorySome theory
8. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Some theorySome theorySome theorySome theory
9. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Some practiceSome practiceSome practiceSome practice
10. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Some practiceSome practiceSome practiceSome practice
11. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Some reflectionSome reflectionSome reflectionSome reflection
12. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Some reflectionSome reflectionSome reflectionSome reflection
13. Audience and requirements
Low connectivity
vs. high
connectivity
Low connectivity
vs. high
connectivity
Institutions with own
equipment vs. bring
your own device
approach
Institutions with own
equipment vs. bring
your own device
approach
Institution with a defined
strategy around technology vs.
teachers use technology
according to their needs / skills
Institution with a defined
strategy around technology vs.
teachers use technology
according to their needs / skills
No pre-service
training around
incorporating
technology in class
No pre-service
training around
incorporating
technology in class
Classes where students
don’t have regular access
to technology in their
lives.
Classes where students
don’t have regular access
to technology in their
lives.
Teachers have an interest
in technology and use it in
class vs. Teachers don’t
see the point of using
technology in class.
Teachers have an interest
in technology and use it in
class vs. Teachers don’t
see the point of using
technology in class.
Students’ use of
technology is second
nature to them.
Students’ use of
technology is second
nature to them.
15. Approaches and frameworks in education
• In Europe: Key
competences
• In the US: P21 21st
century
skills
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:c11090http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:c11090
http://www.p21.org/http://www.p21.org/
16. Core competencies for the 21st
century
Key competences (EU) P21 Framework
Eight key competences:
communication in the mother tongue, to interact linguistically in
an appropriate and creative way in a full range of societal and
cultural contexts;
communication in foreign languages, main skill dimensions of
communication in the mother tongue, mediation and intercultural
understanding. mathematical competence and basic
competences in science and technology. to solve a range of
problems in everyday situations, with the emphasis being placed on
process, activity and knowledge.
digital competence involves the confident and critical use of
information society technology (IST) and thus basic skills in
information and communication technology (ICT);
learning to learn is related to learning, the ability to pursue and
organise one's own learning
social and civic competences, to participate in an effective and
constructive way in social and working life. An understanding of
codes of conduct and customs in the different environments in
which individuals operate is essential.
sense of initiative and entrepreneurship is the ability to turn
ideas into action. It involves creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as
well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve
objectives.
cultural awareness and expression, which involves appreciation
of the importance of the creative expression of ideas, experiences
and emotions in a range of media (music, performing arts, literature
and the visual arts).
Key Subjects and 21st Century Themes
Key subjects include English, reading or language arts, world
languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography,
history, government and civics.
In addition, schools must weave 21st century interdisciplinary
themes into core subjects:
• Global Awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy
• Civic Literacy
• Health Literacy
• Environmental Literacy
Learning and Innovation Skills
They include:
• Creativity and Innovation
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Communication and Collaboration
Information, Media and Technology Skills
Effective citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range
of functional and critical thinking skills, such as:
• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy
Life and Career Skills
Some of those skills are:
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self-Direction
• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
• Productivity and Accountability
• Leadership and Responsibility
17. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Awareness of what digitalAwareness of what digital
literacy meansliteracy means
Awareness of what digitalAwareness of what digital
literacy meansliteracy means
18. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Activities around someActivities around some
of these core skillsof these core skills
Activities around someActivities around some
of these core skillsof these core skills
19. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Activities around someActivities around some
of these core skillsof these core skills
Activities around someActivities around some
of these core skillsof these core skills
24. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Course isCourse is
mapped to themapped to the
EAQUALSEAQUALS
frameworkframework
Course isCourse is
mapped to themapped to the
EAQUALSEAQUALS
frameworkframework
25. In the course…
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
Can-doCan-do
statements tostatements to
reflect onreflect on
outcomesoutcomes
Can-doCan-do
statements tostatements to
reflect onreflect on
outcomesoutcomes
27. A different mindset
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
New context Implications
Access to information and communication
expanded thanks to technology.
Students have multiple ways of accessing
information / new challenges regarding the
validity of sources.
Governments are making new efforts to
embed technology in education.
Teachers are required to keep up-to-date
with continuous professional development
training around this area.
More Quality Assurance demands. Teachers are more accountable for their
choices in teaching practice.
Policies view digital skills to be delivered as
part of all subjects.
Teachers will need to promote digital skills
along the subject they teach.
28. Some final thoughts
• Teachers that don’t use any technology in class now will have to build If
they haven’t done it so far, teachers will have to start to think differently
about technology. More emphasis on the pedagogical value of using
technology, less emphasis on using technology just because you wan to
try something new.
• There is a growing expectation that teachers use technology more
‘naturally’ in class. More demand for pre-service training that includes
teaching with technology programmes.
• Teachers will be expected to use / design activities where a range of new
skills need to be present: technology skills but also critical thinking,
creativity, etc.
• More demand for robust training programmes for teachers, especially
when new technology is adopted (e.g. one laptop per child sort of
programme)
29. Some final thoughts
‘New technologies are providing unprecedented access to
ideas, information, people and organisations throughout the
world, as well as to new modes of creativity, personal
expression, cultural exchange and understanding.’
All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (May 1999)
Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016
31. Appendix: What are digital skills?
• According to EU:
"Digital competence involves the confident and critical use of information Society technology (IST) for work, leisure, learning and communication. It is
underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, access, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and
participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.“
• According to P21:
INFORMATION LITERACY
Access and Evaluate Information
o Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)
o Evaluate information critically and competently
Use and Manage Information
o Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand
o Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of sources
o Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information
MEDIA LITERACY
Analyze Media
o Understand both how and why media messages are constructed, and for what purposes
o Examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded, and how media can influence beliefs
and behaviors
o Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of media
Create Media Products
o Understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions
o Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriate expressions and interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments
ICT LITERACY
Apply Technology Effectively
o Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information P21 Framework Definitions Page 6 of 9 Publication date: 5/15
o Use digital technologies (computers, PDAs, media players, GPS, etc.), communication/networking tools and social networks appropriately to access,
manage, integrate, evaluate and create information to successfully function in a knowledge economy
o Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information technologies
• Other views:
Coding (15 EU countries have integrated coding in their curricula, whether at national, regional or local level - Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and the UK)
Editor's Notes
My name is Virginia Mario and I’m a senior editor in the Professional Development department at Oxford University Press, ELT division. We have recently launched a course on teaching with technology. While developing this course, we consulted a number of experts (authors, teacher trainers) and we also did some global research where we consulted teachers and director of studies in primary and secondary schools, universities and some private language schools. We used all this expertise to build the syllabus for the course and today we’d like to share some of the lessons we learnt from putting together a course on learning technologies, as well as reflecting on the knowledge and skills teachers need to face teaching students in the 21st century.
So this is what I’d like to cover today, I’ll give you a quick background on the course, and I’ll talk you through some of our findings, such as the differences in needs and foci from our audiences, and the frameworks and new paradigms that have influenced the development of this course. We’ll also share some final thoughts at the end.
Due to time constraints, I’d like to circulate some handouts, one has got a general description and the main aims of the course, the other one contains a detailed list of topics each session covers. Some of you may be familiar with the series if you visited our stand.
The syllabus was reviewed by various experts, among those we have Nicky Hockly and Gavin Dudeney, and Gordon Lewis.
This is the website of the Oxford Teachers’ Academy series if you want more information.
The course is not a teacher qualification, they are meant for already practicing teachers as professional development or teacher training. It is both for new and experienced teachers. We recommend teachers have a B2 level of English.
Individual teachers can do the course in a self-study mode. That doesn’t mean that they will be alone – they will join an international community of teachers all studying independently, but able to communicate through discussions and chat functionality, sharing experiences and best practice, asking questions, giving advice, building their own professional network.
Institutions can run the course at the same time for all their teachers. To do that, they will need an in-house moderator, who can set up a “class” just for the teachers from within the institution. It could be a Head of Department or a Director of Studies. They can then monitor progress, facilitate and start discussions within the group.
As I said, there more information on the website.
So I’ll now move onto the first lesson we learnt throughout this process, and this is to do with the needs that teachers and institutions expressed during the global research we did.
Generally speaking , our research showed that while teachers wanted practical ideas and ‘how to’ guidelines, heads and directors of studies preferred to focus on the value of using technology in class and reflect on the new pedagogies that have emerged with the development of technology. When we checked with experts, some place more emphasis on equipping teachers with the knowledge to use tools and resources while others place more emphasis on developing an understanding on the pedagogical value of using technology in class, and in learning about new pedagogies that emerge from the use of technology
So in terms of the digital skills that teachers need, we tried to find a middle ground and offer some theoretical input alongside with practical ideas.
These are some screenshots from the course, where for example, we explore a model to integrate technology in class.
This screen covers the Bloom’s digital taxonomy.
We also added practical ideas, for example, using technology for assessment…
Or when working on listening
There are also instances where teachers can reflect on their practice and beliefs. So this is an example where teachers agree or disagree with statements around classroom management.
The course has also got a reflect feature on many screens.
So, we found it was challenging to cater for the variety of scenarios around the use of technology. Just to give you an idea, these are some of the contexts teachers and schools shared with us.
Pre-service training does not always encourage future teachers to develop their digital skills.
A lot of teachers are keen to use technology in class but do not do so because of lack of training.
Many working teachers follow an ‘ad hoc approach’ when using technology in class.
Governments make efforts to provide digital tools and resources but many teachers don’t receive the right training in how to make use of these tools and resources.
I think this shows also how cautious we have to be when trying to decide what digital skills the teachers in your institution should have.
The second lesson we learnt is to do with changing paradigms in education and how this affects the skills teachers need to develop.
We know the world is changing fast, and this generates new views and paradigms which suggest new ways of teaching students in the 21st century. These new frameworks focus not only on developing subject-related skills, but also more overarching core skills such as critical thinking, creativity, learning to learn, and of course digital skills. These new views have a big impact on the development of professional development material and school curricula.
So two of the frameworks we visited are the Key competences proposed by the European Commission in 2006, and I’ll read part of their definition:
Key competences for lifelong learning are a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. They are particularly necessary for personal fulfilment and development, social inclusion, active citizenship and employment.
Key competences (Recommendation 2006/962/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning [Official Journal L 394 of 30.12.2006].)
And we also consulted a consortium based in the US called the Partnership for 21st Century Learning. They have developed a unified, collective vision for learning known as the Framework for 21st Century Learning. This Framework describes the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life; it is a blend of content knowledge, specific skills, expertise and literacies.
We think these frameworks are influencing school curricula, so Oxford University Press is currently conducting some research with the aim of developing their own understanding of what 21st century skills are and how they relate to language learning, how some of these skills can be woven in a language curriculum and how our materials can support the development of those skills.
Both frameworks refer to the importance of developing digital literacy beyond learning how to use hardware and software. So, for example, they propose developing skills such as search and find information online efficiently and effectively, evaluate information critically, understand ethical and legal issues around accessing and using media, understand how messages are constructed and for what purpose.
In many countries, these skills are taught alongside discipline-specific subjects, so we could argue that they will become more and more part of a standard language curriculum.
Again, teachers will need to have an understanding of these skills themselves before they can teach them, so when developing the course we thought it was important to try to raise awareness on these topics.
So here is an example of that.
We’ve also tried to provide some ideas on how some of these core skills can be worked on in the language classroom. Here is an example around using digital tools that promote communication.
And this is an example where we use project work to promote creativity as well as language skills.
These are activity types a lot of teachers already use in class, so in many cases is just about developing awareness of all the skills the activity promotes, not just the language skills.
Moving onto the third lesson, when developing the syllabus for the course, we looked at professional development workflows. We looked at the EAQUALS Teacher Development framework (Or TD Fram), the Cambridge English Teaching Framework and the British Council Framework. We found a few differences in the focus the placed on digital literacy, some placed more focus around developing knowledge around certain tools, others focused on developing strategies around the use of technology. Some are more detailed than others.
So for example the EAQUALS framework has descriptors around the use of specific tool such as LMS or IWBs….
…while the Cambridge English framework provides more general statements and places a little more emphasis on the development of critical skills to evaluate the pedagogical value of technology
Comes under Using Language Learning resources and materials: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/172992-full-level-descriptors-cambridge-english-teaching-framework.pdf
The framework developed by the British Council provides some more detailed descriptors around the types of digital skills teachers need.
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/CPD%20framework%20for%20teachers_WEB.PDF
We found the frameworks can outdate easily when they mention specific tools because of how fast technology evolves, so they may require a more frequent revision in this area.
In the Teaching with technology course, we didn’t develop the course following any framework in particular, however, we mapped the course onto the EAQUALS TD Fram once the course had been developed. We found that some of the content could not be mapped because the framework wasn’t detailed enough around digital skills, so we’d be interested in working further with EAQUALS on this.
We also decided to provide a series of can-do statements to help teachers reflect on the outcomes of each session, to complement the mapping to a framework.
(pause)
Finally, the last lesson we learnt is around the attitudes and values teachers may need to have to successfully incorporate technology to their teaching.
We thought that teachers may need to adopt a different mindset in order to cope with the rapid changes in technology and the new paradigms in education. They need to learn to be selective on what they learn around learning technologies, and develop a critical view to determine if the technology they want to adopt adds pedagogical value to their class and enhances the teaching and learning process. They need to place emphasis on the technologies around communication and collaboration as these are part of the 21st century skills set. They need to help learners develop a critical view of what they see and hear online and help them develop awareness of the ethical and legal issues around using and sharing information online.
We think these are some examples of the new context many teachers face around the world, and that these have implications for teachers, which in turn influence the mindset teachers develop around technology.
Why ‘different’?
Because in the past 10 years or so, using technology in class was either the result of a teacher with a particular interest in technology, or the result of a specific government programme, the use of technology in class was not fully expanded. Even when there were new policies encouraging the use of technology, it’s taken a few years for these policies to be translated into everyday practice. On the other hand, technology has become more and more reliable in various places and that that meant that more teachers are willing to try.
To round up, the digital skills teachers need go beyond learning how to use a set of tools. I think in the future teachers will be required to be more accountable on the use of technology so there’ll be fewer contexts where they can follow a more experimental and ‘ad-hoc’ approach, they will be required to be able to evaluate tools critically and assess how they impact the teaching and learning process. They may also be required to teach digital skills (and other core skills) alongside their subject, and this means they’ll have to learn themselves what these new skills are about, for example, as we’ve mentioned before, skills such as: Search and find information online efficiently, evaluate information critically, understand ethical and legal issues around accessing and using media, etc.
I don’t think this is something to get worried about but rather to see it as a positive challenge, ultimately, we want students to be as prepared as possible to face the world and as their world will have high exposure to technology, it feels natural that technology seamlessly integrates with our teaching.
I’d like to finish with a quote a from report led by Sir Ken Robinson:
‘New technologies are providing unprecedented access to ideas, information, people and organisations throughout the world, as well as to new modes of creativity, personal expression, cultural exchange and understanding.’
As a lot of the information that students will consume to understand the world will come from digital sources, it seems very important that teachers understand what students consume and help them make sense of what they see and read.
Source: http://www.euractiv.com/sites/default/files/euractiv_special_report_-_eu_code_week_2015.pdf
EU source:RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning (2006/962/EC)
