Kersti Peenema Mart Laanpere

1. Learning about and with the social media: evaluation study of DigiTiger teacher training programme Kersti Peenema Mart Laanpere Tallinn University

2. 1994-95: thefirstcoursesvia e-mail 1997-2000: localad-hoctraining at schools 2001 - 2004: Intel’s 40h course "Computers at school" wascompletedby 10 000 teachers = over 60% of all teachers. 2002 - 2004: subject-centeredDigiDidacticscourses at Tallinn University ICT coursesforteachersin Estonia

3. Initiatedin 2006 byTigerLeapFoundation 40 hours f2f trainingin 15 regionalcenters Trainingcontent (10 modules) developedbyactivecommunity of teachersinterested on ICT, formerCiScoursetrainers Activeteachersaccreditedasregionaltrainers Sametrainingto all schoollevels (primary, secondary) and subjects Theory and practicehand in hand Web-basedlearningenvironment, consistingofseveralcomponents (LMS, Web 2.0 tools...) DigiTigertraining programme

4. Contractedto Tallinn UniversitybyTigerLeapFoundationin 2008, aimed toevaluate: Design and implementationofDigiTigercoursetoproposeimprovements and changes Suitabilityofonlinelearningenvironment Impactofthetraining on formationofvirtualcommunitiesofpracticeamongteachers Researchquestions: To what extent do teachers implement in their daily work the knowledge and skills gained on DigiTiger course? To what extent and how the DT course supports formation of virtual Communities of Practice among teachers? What does collaborative knowledge building involves during and after the training? Evaluation

5. Twoonlinefeedbackquestionnaires (collectedimmediatelyaftertraining and againapproximatelyoneyearlater) Groupinterviewwithcoretrainers Analysis of trainingmaterials and e-learningenvironment Methods

6. Kirkpatrick's (1998) model: Reaction (satisfaction) Learning (achivement of learninggoals) Changes in behaviourastheresult of training Workperformanceimprovement Evaluationlevels

7. Zone of Proximal Development : facilitation of learningaccordingtoone’sabilities, experiences, interests Zone of Free Movement: ICT infrastructure in schools, availability of environments and services, restrictionsoftimetable Zone of Promoted Action: prioritisationoftheuseof ICT inteaching and learningbycolleagues and administration, ICT inthenationalcurriculum (as a cross-curriculartheme) Jaan Valsiner (1997): 3 Zones

8. Knowledgebuilding, creation of conceptualartefacts (Bereiter, 2002). Community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Collaborativeknowledgebuilding

9. Onlinequestionnairerightafterthetrainingwasfilledinmostlyby: Teacherswithage 40-45 y (20%), 45-50 y (19%) Foreignlanguageteachers (20%), classteachers (19%), scienceteachers (16%), teachersofcreativesubjects (16%). A newonlinequestionnaire a yearlaterwasmoreactivelyrespondedby: Classteachers and teachers in 40-45 years of ageweremoreactive. Ingeneral, thefeedbackwassurprisinglypositive. Respondents

10. Whatteachersuseintheireverydaywork:

11. Main e-learningenvironmentduringcoursewas IVA LMS, butparticipantshad a chancetotryoutthisenvironmentonlyintheroleof a student, withoutpossibilitytouse IVA laterwiththeirstudents IVA wasusedmainlyfordistributingthelearningresources, itisnotsuitableforcollaborativeknowledgebuilding, norforcommunitybuilding and doesnotalloweasyintegrationwithWeb 2.0 tools Participantscreatedtheirowne-courseinanotheronlinelearningenvironment VIKO, butmostofthemtheycouldnotusethiscourselaterwiththeirstudents. DigiTigercourseintroducedtoteachersalsotheconceptofe-portfolio, butwithoutsuggestinganysoftwareforcreatingone Onlinelearningenvironment

12. Communitiesduringthecourse Respondentsclaimedthatactivecommunitywasformedduringthecourse. Twothirdsofparticipantstendedtoaskforhelpfromothermembersofcommunity, whenin need.

13. Knowledgesharingafterthetraining

14. Teachers in mysubjectarea are using a specialWebsiteforinformationsharing and collaboration Communitiesofpractice

15. Afterthetraining I haveactivelyparticipatedindiscussionsviaforums and mailing list Communitiesofpractice

16. CommunityofDigiTigertrainers: Portal, mailing list, Skype chat Communityblog, personal blogs IVA Themostactivevirtualcommunities of teachers: Class teachers’ blog(klassiopetaja.blogspot.com) and communityportal(klop.edu.ee) Communityofmathematicsteachers(mott.edu.ee) Knowledgecreation in communities of practice

17. The results indicate that participants were satisfied with the training and found it relevant and timely. The reactionwaspositive, becauseteachersseemtovaluethesecompetences. Half of the participants had problems with putting their new knowledge and skills into practice. The main reason was lack of technological support and limited access to ICT infrastructure - limitation in the Zone of Free Movement.Atthesametimeparticipantsfeltsupportfromleaders and colleagues (ZoneofPromotedAction). Training didnot really support creation or strengthening of virtual communities of practice among teachers as well as it wasexpected - as the course e-environment did not correspond to teachers' subject-based community and the training itself did not directly integrate the individual teachers into communities of practice. Results and discussion

18. Collaborative knowledge building by course participants during and after the training depends mostly on the nature of course assignments and the possibilities of using the same digital tools after the course has ended. The study suggested replacement of online learning environment, this proposal has been accepted and implemented, Moodle was chosen (against our advice). Research methods and instruments need improvement – opinion polls are not reliable, we need tools to monitor knowledge building activities of teachers during and after the course; Valsiner’s 3 Zones proved to be a helpful framework for explaining the barriers. Learning resources used in the course should be public and dynamic, target to constant improvement by community. Conclusions

19. Questions? Thankyou!