Flexible ICT options for language learning in primary education
Dr. Wim de Boer
Afûk Institute for the Frisian Language
The Netherlands
w.deboer@afuk.nl
Using technology for teaching and learning in the classroom doesn’t seem to be so obvious and easy. Kennisnet[1], the Dutch research institute for ICT and learning, shows in her yearly monitor that although 80% of primary education classroom have a digital blackboard and every five students share a computer, its use stays rather limited. An important complain is that there is a lack of quality digital educational resources. Today’s promises for ICT seem more down to earth and focused on results. Projects with titles that include `evidence based` demonstrate that, and teachers ask for it. ICT should be working, and should give a benefit, an extra. So, new flexible ICT options for language learning should be based on these principles as well. The new learning and teaching series of learning materials for Frisian Language in primary education are being developed according to a design research approach[2]. Primary school teachers are part of the team designing and testing the educational resources and digital environment. Based on (own and published) research findings design decisions towards where and how ICT will be used are made. An important principle is flexibility as is defined by De Boer and Collis[3], which focuses on the organization and the curriculum part of learning. ICT can play an important part in the specific design of the curriculum of a program, which may differ from school to school. Also, the way schools use different media may differ: some schools like books, some their digital blackboard, some their tablets and others the mix of it all. Another example is de use of specific language games that can be part of the curriculum, or not. Also, the way schools want to offer their students personal learning tracks for parts of the curriculum is a choice. Teachers and schools work together with language, educational and ICT specialist in the design of the (digital) learning and teaching environment. It offers teachers choices. ICT is used, but books and paper as well. Based on the needs and conditions of teachers a suitable design for their teaching. The goal of this project is to include ICT in an offer towards schools and teachers in such a way that ICT is used for the benefit of teaching and learning.
References:
[1] Kennisnet (2012). Four in Balance Monitor 2012. Zoetermeer: Kennisnet.
[2] Reeves, T, McKenney, S., Herrington, J. (2011). Publishing and perishing: The critical importance of educational design research. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 2011, 27(1), 55-65.
[3] Boer, W.F. de, & Collis, B. (2005). Becoming more systematic about flexible learning: Beyond time and distance. ALT-J Research in Learning Technology, 13(1), 35-50. ISSN 0968-7769
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Flexible ICT options for language learning in primary education
1. Flexible ICT options for language
learning in primary education
dr. Wim de Boer
Florence, Italy
14 - 15 November 2013
2.
3.
4. Outline
• The language
• The need
• The approach
• The input
• The ideas
• The guidelines
• The first prototype
• The proces from
here on…
5. The language: Some facts…
• 620,000 inhabitants: 94% understand,
74% speak, 65% read and 17% write
• 55% Frisian mother tongue
• Schools have curricular autonomy
• Frisian language is part of curriculum
• Primary schools: one lesson per week
• 15-20% of schools use Frisian as
medium of instruction in world studies
& arts
• 67% of teachers are qualified to teach it
The Frisian language in education in the Netherlands
6. A new (digital) set of
learning materials for
learning Frisian in
primary education
The need
9. The input
• Inventory of actual developments within
education, focused on the use of
technology
• School visits, observations of classes
• Interviews with teachers and pupils
• Research with Frisian Academy on use
of existing materials
• Curriculum and evaluation project with
field
• Research with students of teacher
training institute on use of existing
materials and ideas about the future
• Inventory didactical approaches
10.
11.
12. The input
• Inventory of actual developments within
education, focused on the use of
technology
• School visits, observations of classes
• Interviews with teachers and pupils
• Research with Frisian Academy on use
of existing materials
• Curriculum and evaluation project with
field
• Research with students of teacher
training institute on use of existing
materials and ideas about the future
• Inventory didactical approaches
13.
14. Media mix options,
printing on demand
Not to be outdated fastly
Re-newing, improving constantly
Dig. Portfolio
Tests
progress
tracking
learning analytics
educational platfoarm
Teacher assistant
actual
Ease of use
overview
motivational
ICT: HTML 5...
Serious games
Games/gamification
individual &
adaptive
learning
Use of digital BB
differentitation
curricula
Use of ECFR
15. The input
• Inventory of actual developments
within education, focused on the
use of technology
• School visits, observations of classes
• Interviews with teachers and pupils
• Research with Frisian Academy on
use of existing materials
• Curriculum and evaluation project
with field
• Research with students of teacher
training institute on use of existing
materials and ideas about the future
• Inventory didactical approaches
16.
17. Design principles
• Curriculum flexibility: Custom made curricula based on school and
teacher (pupil) choices and characteristics;
• Didactical/pedagogical flexibility: Options for different learning
styles, content, differentiation, class organization, group &
individual learning;
• Presentation flexibility: Custom made based presentation on
school and teacher (pupil) choices and characteristics, digital
white/blackboard, digital teacher assistant, use on mobile devices
and tablets, crossed media/blended learning, printing on demand;
• New learning options: Serious games, gamification, personal
learning, adaptive learning modules;
• Evaluating learning options: Smart learning analytics, evaluation
tools and instruments, integrated as part of learning activities.
18. Flexibility
Frisian as a subject Important
Not
important
Use of Frisian in
other subjects CLIL
Yes No
Teacher with
diploma
Yes No
# students are
Frisian
High Low
Competences All Some
Digital Yes No
Size school Small Big
Content
Frisian
culture
Children’s
Interest
19. School 1
Frisian as a subject Important
Not
important
Use of Frisian in
other subjects CLIL
Yes No
Teacher with
diploma
Yes No
# students are
Frisian
High Low
Competences All Some
Digital Yes No
Size school Small Big
Content
Frisian
culture
Children’s
Interest
20. School 2
Frisian as a subject Important
Not
important
Use of Frisian in
other subjects CLIL
Yes No
Teacher with
diploma
Yes No
# students are
Frisian
High Low
Competences All Some
Digital Yes No
Size school Small Big
Content
Frisian
culture
Children’s
Interest
24. The proces from here on…
Doing it together…
• Pilots and workshops with
teachers
• Research with future
teachers and teacher
trainers, including teachers
and students
• Cooperation with network
of language coordinators
and multilanguage schools
• Working on curriculum
with teacher consultants
and in service institute
• ….
28. Learning domain (e.g. verbs)
Test
questions
practiceinstruction (A1-)
practice (A1)
practice (A1+)instruction
practice (A2-)instruction
instruction
29. De Romeinen komme út it easten
Klaas: Wy hawwe stienen nedich
Klaas: Kom deroan
Pieter: Ik haw it wol
40. • Secondary schools
offer the subject in
the lower grades
• In higher grades
possibility as a
subject with exam in
all types of s.e.
• Frisian as instruction
language is
permitted, but rare.
Today: 3-language
schools project…
52. Curriculum
oral language
1. The students develop a positive attitude towards the use of Frisian by
themselves and others .
2. The students learn to acquire information from spoken Frisian language.
Through texts, opinions or instruction on subjects familiar to them .
3. The pupils learn to process information in Frisian to express situations in
their daily lives.
written language
4. The students learn to acquire information from texts in Frisian in text
types such as leaflets, brochures , articles , webites , lyrics.
5 . The students learn to write about everyday topics with the aim to be able
to communicate with others about those subjects .
Linguistics, including strategies
6. The students acquire a vocabulary of frequently used words and acquire
strategies for understanding unfamiliar words .
Flexible ICT options for language learning in primary education
Dr. Wim de Boer
Afûk Institute for the Frisian Language
The Netherlands
w.deboer@afuk.nl
Using technology for teaching and learning in the classroom doesn’t seem to be so obvious and easy. Kennisnet, the Dutch research institute for ICT and learning, shows in her yearly monitor that although 80% of primary education classroom have a digital blackboard and every five pupils share a computer, its use stays rather limited[1]. An important complain of teachers is that there is a lack of quality digital educational resources. Today’s promises for ICT seem more down to earth and focused on results. Projects with titles that include `evidence based` demonstrate that, and teachers ask for it. ICT should be working, and should give a benefit, an extra. So, new flexible ICT options for language learning should be based on these principles as well. The new learning and teaching series of learning materials for Frisian language in primary education in the province of Fryslân in the Netherlands are being developed according to a design research approach[2]. Primary school teachers are part of the team designing and testing the educational resources and environment. Based on research findings design decisions towards where and how ICT will be used are made. An important principle is flexibility as is defined by De Boer and Collis[3], which focuses on the organization and the curriculum part of learning. ICT can play an important part in the specific design of the curriculum of a program, which may differ from school to school. Also, the way schools use different media may differ: some schools like books, some their digital blackboard, some their tablets and others the mix of it all. Another example is de use of specific language games that can be part of the curriculum, or not. Also, the way schools want to offer their pupils personal learning tracks for parts of the curriculum is a choice. Teachers and schools work together with language, educational and ICT specialist in the design of the (digital) learning and teaching environment. It offers teachers choices. ICT is used, but books and paper as well. Based on the needs and conditions of teachers a suitable design for their teaching. The goal of this project is to include ICT in an offer towards schools and teachers, in such a way that ICT is used for the benefit of teaching and learning the Frisian language in primary education.
The Frisian language in education in the Netherlands
only 15-20 % of prima-ry schools regularly use Frisian as medium of instruction insofar
as ‘world studies’ and ‘arts’
67 % of primary school teachers
are qualified to teach Frisian. 21 % of all Frisian lessons are
taught by unqualified teachers.
Fryslân is a province in the North of the Netherlands. Within the Netherlands, two official languages are spoken: Dutch and Frisian. The Frisian language is characterized as an autochthonous minority western Germanic language, closely related to Dutch[4]. Of the 620,000 inhabitants of Fryslân, 94% understands, 74% speaks, 65% reads and 17% writes (in) the Frisian language. About 55% consider Frisian as their mother tongue[4].
Primary schools in Fryslân are not that different than those in other parts of the Netherlands, with regard to curriculum. Schools are responsible for the quality of education and have a great deal of curricular autonomy[5]. They are for example able to select learning materials that relate to their educational visions, with budgets for which they have responsibility. An important difference is however that within the curriculum in Fryslân, the subject Frisian language is an obligatory part of the curriculum. Another characteristic is that schools in this part of the country are rather small. The (about) 450 schools have an average of 125 pupils, of which 24% have less than 60 children and only 3% of the schools have more than three hundred children[4]. The majority of primary schools in Fryslân spend 30-60 minutes on one lesson of Frisian per week and about 15-20% of the schools regularly use Frisian as medium of instruction[6].
obligatory part of the curriculum in primary education and in early secondary education.
Afûk is the publisher of educational materials for Frisian language learning in education.
They provide coherent packages of subject-related paper based learning materials, but also a digital learning environment.
Frisian became an obligatory subject in the lower grades
of secondary education
Frisian is an optional exam
subject in the higher grades of all three types of secondary
education.
It is permitted to teach using Frisian as medium of instruction in
all types of secondary education. However, the use of Frisian
as medium of instruction is rare.
