This document discusses Croatia's approach to integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into its national school curriculum. It describes a bottom-up and top-down approach. The bottom-up approach involves getting individual teachers interested and trained in using ICT, while the top-down approach implements ICT on a national scale through policy decisions. The Croatian Academic and Research Network (CARNet) has played a key role in both approaches through various projects to provide infrastructure, training, and support to educational institutions. The ultimate goal is to transform schools into "digitally mature" environments that can fully utilize and benefit from ICT.

1. BOTTOM-UP TO TOP-DOWN
APPROACH OF INTEGRATING ICT
IN NATIONAL SCHOOL
CURRICULUM IN CROATIA
Aleksandra Mudrinić Ribić, Maja Quien
Croatian Academic and Research Network- CARNet, Croatia

2. Introduction
• technology is changing education principles and
methods – that’s nothing new!
• in Croatia potential of ICT not exploited enough
• ˝new learning revolution˝

3. • a shift of focus from teaching to learning must
lead to the focus on curriculum
• a large scale technological change requires a
large scale change on a formal level of the
education system
• activites of CARNet for involvement of ICT in
education system and national school
curriculum

4. Issues and possibilities of involving ICT in the
contemporary education system
Classroom of the future
• a distant vision
• average school is poorly
equipped with ICT and
unable to take part in most
activities of advanced e-
education

5. 2001. - Croatian Ministry of Science, Education
and Sport project: all schools were provided
with ISDN 1750 computers donated
2014. - 1651 institutions on 3299 locations have
Internet via CARNet
 CARNet is a government agency, which
operates under the Ministry of Science,
Education and Sports
 providing infrastructure for Internet access for
all educational institutions in the country

6. Making each teacher count: good practice example
of combining approaches for implementing ICT in
the national education system
two levels of activities integrating ICT in the
education system:
1. bottom-up
2. top-down approach
 crucial combining!

7. bottom-up approach
 starts at the level of each school or even each
teacher by getting them interested in ICT,
educating them how to use it in the classroom,
and finally implement it in their class.
 essential involvement of each techer
 teachers as change agents

8. top-down approach
 formal decisions, activities or large scale
projects that involve ICT in the education
system on a national level

9. …examples of activities
• technology enhanced teaching and learning in
Croatia at first was mainly focusing on
academic community
• end of the 90’s - CARNet started with the
development of free online courses on specific
subjects involving technology integration into
teaching and learning practices

10. • successful integration of technology into
education through raising awareness of its
presence and possibilities
• 1st CARNet Users Conferences – CUC,
presented innovative tools, methods, examples
of good practice that could be integrated into
teaching and learning concepts

11. • by 2000 dozens of online courses and face-to-
face trainings with a focus on encouraging and
supporting teachers and learners to develop
their own online courses
• provided a Learning Management System for
all its users as a platform for providing
education and as a place to store and share
users learning materials

12. • 2007 was a milestone in the work of CARNet
because of the decision of the Ministry of
Science, Education and Sport to officially
include all primary and secondary schools in
the country in the CARNet network, what
enabled them to use all existing CARNet
services

13. five main groups of activities of ICT integration in the
national educational system
1. awareness
2. education
3. implementation
4. promotion
5. support
eSchools
Awareness
Education
Implement
ation
Promotion
Support

14. • EU funded projects such as Open Discovery
Space – ODS, Inspiring Science Education –
ISE, e-Vet Ready, eVET2EDU, and leader of
Amores, ICT Curricula and Study Visit project
• they target stakeholders and decision-makers
that have impact on Croatian education policies

15. • CARNet organises education of school
teachers and other relevant users, such as the
Croatian Education and Teacher Training
Agency advisors
• 2007 - CARNet initiated education for all
primary and secondary teachers in the country
on the subject reflecting ICT integration into
their teaching and learning activities

16. • project ICTEdu with the Ministry of Science,
Education and Sport and the Croatian
Education and Teacher Training Agency - more
than 45000 teachers, school staff and principals
of primary and secondary schools were trained
in 3790 workshops, making about 98% of the
total school staff in Croatia
• this year our first Massive Open Online Course

17. • project Schools2.0 - provided broadband
Internet connection, videoconference systems,
Smart-School systems and tablets for all
teachers and students in 27 Croatian schools
• idea for creating digitally
mature schools was
the leading point
Elementary school Vežica, Croatia

18. a long term project ˝eSchools˝
• will apply for funding from two EU structural
funds
• received support from the Croatian Ministry of
Science, Education and Sport
• ambitious budget of approximately 280.000.000
€, the project aims to create digitally mature
schools that can produce competent and
research-oriented students adaptable to both
the educational and labour-market challenges

19. • Digitally mature schools are considered to be
schools that are able to accept, use and exploit
the benefits of ICT for the development of
educational and business activities of the
school and school system
• A result of long term cooperation of CARNet
with some of the key stakeholders (the Croatian
Education and Teacher Training Agency, Agency for
Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education,
several Faculties of Teacher Education and other higher
education institutions)
˝eSchools˝

20. Conclusion
• five main activities: Awareness, Education,
Implementation, Promotion and Support
• importance and inevitability of bottom - up
approach (probably impossible to start with a
top-down approach)

21. • top-down approach: necessary to have strong
teachers’ communities, which are ready for ICT
adoption, reliable technology to work with,
constant educational and technical support and
society as a whole ready to change.
• influencing stakeholders and decision-makers
that have the ability to implement ICT in the
school curriculum

22. Thank you for your
attention!
Aleksandra Mudrinić Ribić, Maja Quien
Croatian Academic and Research Network- CARNet, Croatia
Aleksandra.Mudrinic@CARNet.hr, Maja.Quien@CARNet.hr