E-teacher training: didactical principles for developing e-teacher competences
Grete Oline Hole, Anne Karin Larsen, Jon Hoem, Xavier Bonete
Bergen University College, Norway
Background:This session gives an overview of how experiences from many years of international online courses for European BA have been utilized in developing a blended e-pedagogy course for Higher Education teachers. The course is developed by the VIRCLASS project (the Virtual Classroom for social work in Europe) with grants from Norway Opening Universities.ApproachInfluenced by the situated learning perspective (Lave & Wenger 1991), student-centred teaching and learning methods are used. Inspired by the Community of Inquiry (Garrison & Anderson 2003) we aim to promote the importance of Cognitive, Teaching and Social presence in the Virtual Learning Environment, and that students plan their own courses in accordance with the stages in becoming an e-learner (Salmon 2004).ResultsUsing the ecological “Model of Relations between Didactical Categories” (Nordkvelle 2004) as framework, the e-pedagogy course is customized to be “hands-on” learning experiences promoting the desired e-teacher competences. Attention is raised towards the importance of: Aims for the course (intended as well as unplanned), Course Contents, Teaching /Learning Methods, External Conditions, Participants’ Knowledge and how Assessment takes place. Decisions taken for each category is crucial for the participants’ learning trajectories, and they must be seen in relation to each other. Content, assessment and methods are heavily intertwined; and choices made for one will influence the others.During the 10 ECTS-credits course the students are engaged in interactions, discussions and cooperation through use of different ICT-collaborations tools. Tasks are designed to ensure co-operation. Tailor-made screen-lectures are developed after the evaluation of the pilot. Transparency ensures that the learning processes, as teachers’ and peers’ remarks upon assignments, are open for everyone to learn from. Using portfolio assessment, all tasks performed during the course are stored in the e-portfolio and can be further developed. The final assignment is to sketch a course and demonstrate content for its start, middle and ending, reflection of didactical considerations taken and their own learning process.ConclusionEvaluations by students have demonstrated that this carefully designed hands-on training course ensures that the students get the necessary competences needed to be efficient e-teachers.Garrison, D R & Anderson, T (2003) E-Learning in the 21st Century. A Framework for Research and Practice. London and New York, Routledge FalmerLave, J; Wenger, E (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, Cambridge University PressNordkvelle, Y: Technology and didactics: historical mediations of a relation. Journal of Curriculum Studies, Volume 36, Issue 4 July 2004, pages 427 – 444Salmon, G (2004) E-Moderating: The key to teaching and learning online. London, Routledge Falmer