Jan Georgeson and Linda la Velle,

Plymouth Institute of Education

Key Learnings from ENTELS Online

International Course

Plan of presentation

Introduction to project

Theoretical framework of evaluation

Developing & Piloting online course

Emerging findings: what do teachers think?

Implications

We gratefully acknowledge the vital contributions of

Andrew Edwards-Jones & Claudia Blandon

Project rationale ….

20th century-trained teachers need to develop 21st century skills

◦ collaboration

◦ creativity

◦ communication (including ICT)

◦ criticality

to meet complex, ever-changing workplace requirements and needs of 21st century learners

(Dede, 2004; 2009).

….. and Project Outputs

◦ Review – what works in CPD in 21C skills?

◦ Identify – suitable online platform

◦ Design – modules based on review

◦ Pilot – what do teachers think?

◦ Evaluate – what can we learn?

Each partner led on one aspect of the project;

all partners contributed to all outputs.

Object

Community Division of labourRules

Subject

Tools

Activity Theory used to frame

evaluation [of online learning]

Engeström, 1999; [Russell 2001]

ENTELS as an activity system

[for online learning]

What are people

working on?

To achieve what?

Who else is

involved?

How is the work

shared? What supports or

constrains the work?

From whose

perspective?

What is being used?

Edwards & Daniels, 2008; [Russell 2001]

Virtual campus

Course content

What

helped/hinder

ed?

Expectations

met?

Led by Universidad Santiago de Compostela

Modules selected before project began, to

meet local CPD needs in promoting 21C

learning

ICT Kit

Learner-centred Approaches

Entrepreneurship in Education

Assessment in Education

Design of ENTELS training course for

Secondary Teachers

Developing E-learning modules

USC based modules on outputs from previous European projects

◦ Many examples for ICT kit

◦ ‘Learner-centredness’ theme in previous ICT projects

◦ Entrepreneurship in Education informed by previous project setting up virtual company

◦ Assessment informed by E-portfolio project

◦ Partners provided examples from own contexts

Disparate examples from 4 different national contexts

Repurposed into coherent course

Piloting of E-learning modules

Teachers recruited via open call or network contacts

Teachers required to complete ICT Toolkit module +one other module.

294 teachers registered to take part across the 4 countries:◦ Ireland: 81teachers registered, 24 completed

◦ UK: 30 registered, no completions

◦ Lithuania: 70 teachers registered, 51 completed

◦ Spain:113 teachers registered, 51 completed

Courses still on-going in Ireland & UK.

Participants invited to give anonymous feedback via online surveys.

Completion of modules

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

ICT L/c app Entrepren assessment

UK

Ireland

Lithuania

Spain

ICT L/centre Entrepren. Assessment

What were teachers expectations?

Were these met?Baseline survey:

Increase knowledge

update skills

Network

0

1

2

3

4

Ireland Lithuania England Spain

Rating Scale

0=Not applicable1=Strongly disagree

2=Disagree3=Agree

4=Strongly agree

I hope to increase my knowledgeof ICT/learner-centredapproaches/entrepreneurship/assessmentI hope to update my skills inICT/learner-centredapproaches/entrepreneurship/assessmentI am looking forward to onlinenetworking

I hope this course helps toaddress a specific problem in ourschool

Actually, I have no expectations

Baseline Survey: Course Expectations

Ireland Lith Eng Spain

Baseline Survey: Rating own knowledge

0

1

2

3

4

Ireland Lithuania England Spain

Rating Scale

0=none1=Minimal

2=Adeqaute3=Good

4=Very good

ICT

Learner-centredapproaches

Entrepreneurship

Assessment

Ireland Lith Eng Spain

What were teachers expectations?

Were these met?Baseline survey:

Increase knowledge

update skills

network

Second survey:

Found out about new tools

Developed skills with new tools

Became more confident with ICT

ICT was compulsory module -> bias?

Disappointed with opps for networking

How do you rate your knowledge in

the following areas (Ireland only)?

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5Before

AfterGood

Adequate

Survey 1

Survey 2

“Taking the course has had a positive impact

on my working practice"

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable

%

Ireland Spain Lithuania

Typical comments on the courseGood course - very optimistic to think it would be

completed in the timeframe but then again nice to have

a drive to continue with it - Interesting content so I will

continue to engage with it until I finish.

Thank you for introducing me to materials and

resources I was unaware of.

Thank you for the opportunity and hopefully I can

engage more in the future. Family life is hard to juggle

additional workloads. Really enjoyed the online

seminars

Teachers from Ireland

Este proyecto es una oportunidad para trabajar en el

Aula de un modo diferente y hacerlo en conjunto con

otros profesionales y alumnos de otros lugares

Bastantes, tanto de las nuevas como de las que he

recordado gracias al curso. Por ejemplo, el sistema de

rúbricas para la para la evaluación del alumnado.

Faltó promover la interacción entre los participantes ,

las actividades estaban demasiado encaminadas a la

recogida de datos.

Teachers from Galicia

This project is an opportunity to work in the classroom in a

different way and do it in conjunction with other

professionals and students from other places

Enough, both new and things I remembered, thanks to the

course. For example, system of rubrica for student

assessment

Lacking [opportunities to] promote interaction among

participants; the activities were aimed too much at collecting

data

Teachers from Galicia

Ačiū už galimybę dalyvauti kursuose ir praplėsti žinias.

Laiko klausimas: ekspromtu pradėti taikyti naujus IKT

įrankius labai sunku, kai dalyko ugdymo turinys jau

susietas su faktinėmis ugdymo valandomis

atsižvelgiant, kad procesas bus organizuojamas

naudojant žinomus metodus.

Daugiau tokių projektų, kaip ENTELS, nes paprastai

mes sėdime ,klausome ir miegame mokytojų

kvalifikacijos kėlimo kursų ir nieko neišmokstame

Teachers from Lithuania

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in courses and

expand knowledge.

An issue of timing: an impromptu introduction of new ICT

tools is very difficult when the curriculum is already linked to

the actual training hours given that the process will be

organized using known methods

More projects such as ENTELS, because usually we sit , listen

and sleep teacher training courses and not learn anything

Teachers from Lithuania

Thanks - this looks like a great resource and I am keen

to work my way through it and then, next year, use it as

an integrated part of my teacher training course

Lecturer from England

It appears to be a very resourceful course that I am

looking forward to tackling

Trainee teacher from England

What helped participation in

different contexts?Partners took local contexts into consideration to

customise modules

Web trawled for material with local relevance

Each partner provided an online tutor to guide

participants.

Teachers took part in module activities and applied

learning in their classrooms.

Teachers used blogs/webinars to share and reflect on

their practice

What hindered participation in

different contexts?

Learning how to use platform

Timing constraints

Inflexibility: learning path, target participants

New tools can disrupt systems

Separate course for each country: teachers had to

‘apply’ to upload work to international site

Status of CPD/recruitment issues

“Mokinių patiriamas technostresas veda link

nusivylimo ir nenoro išbandyti naujus įrankius -

motyvavimo klausimas”.

Students experienced technostress, which leads to

frustration and reluctance to try new tools – motivation

issue (Teacher from Lithuania)

“Non "abusar" tanto do inglés na plataforma, dar

explicacións máis precisas para os que non

estamos familiarizados coas TIC e / ou facilitarnos

un modelo a seguir.

The " abuse " of English in the platform , but more

precise explanations for those who are not familiar with

IT and / or providing us with a model to follow

(Teacher from Spain)

“Completing the course alongside usual

workload was challenging”

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable

%

Ireland Spain Lithuania

ENTELS – finding the niche

Courses selected to meet cpd needs of teachers in

Galicia

Spanish teachers

contractually required to

engage in CPD – and it’s free

Lithuania focus on upskilling

teachers in ICT

Ireland: initiative on

assessment

England: CPD follows school development plan

ENTELS in UK – finding the niche

15 schools contacted directly (“cold calling”)

2 school networks contacted, potentially reaching most

schools in Plymouth via newsletter

But only 4 secondary teachers signed up

Personal (serendipitous) contact:

Special school teachers

Lecturer on Postgraduate teacher training course

◦ Cover topics not covered fully during course

◦ Academic engagement: finishing course & starting work

◦ Embed into course for new trainees in September

What have we learned?

Recruitment should follow course construction

Steep learning curve with technology can be off-putting

Ways for participants to connect between countries should be better

Value of co-construction of content

Local supports/constraints matter

Easier to flex-to-fit than find a niche?

I did one online call and found the technology a little

awkward and was put off. I then let work take over and

didn't follow through with the project.

I was put off by my first encounter. It might have been my

attitude...I felt like the first conference call had a few glitches

(which are obviously to be expected and why I avoid certain

aspects of ICT) I don't think it was your fault, I think it was my

attitude...I also think school was so busy that I felt like my time

could have been put to better use at that stage of the year

(Teacher from Ireland)

References

Edwards, A., Daniels, H., Gallagher, T., Leadbetter, J. and

Warmington, P. (2008) Improving inter-professional collaborations:

learning to do multi-agency work. London; Routledge

Engestrom Y. (1999). Innovative learning in work teams: analysing

cycles of knowledge creation in practice. In Y. Engestrom R.

Miettinen, & R.-L. Punamaki (Eds.), Perspectives on activity

theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Russell, David (2001) Looking Beyond the Interface: Activity

Theory and Distributed Learning. In Distributed Learning: Social

and Cultural Approaches to Practice. Ed. Mary Lea and Kathy

Nicoll. London: Routledge, 64-82.

Thank you