Abstract:

It is hard to imagine today's educational process without information and communication technologies (ICT). ICT allows us to increase students' motivation and interest, and to build on and deepen the knowledge they have acquired. Therefore, teachers face a great challenge of how to use different ICT in a meaningful way in order to stimulate the development of higher order thinking skills in students, such as critical and creative thinking, elaboration and evaluation. Teachers often do not feel sufficiently experienced to use ICT in the pedagogical process, so it is essential to support them with different activities and empower them for the use of ICT. In 2017, the Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) was developed, which comprises of six core areas into which 22 key competences are mapped that can be meaningfully integrated into the educational process at all levels of education in relation to the use of ICT. In the Center for the use of ICT in pedagogical process at University of Ljubljana, we designed different support activities for higher education teachers and staff, and one of them is the creation of 24 workshops that promote the development of competences in all six areas. While designing the workshops, we considered the DigCompEdu 6-stage progression model (levels A1 to C2). Activities were thus based on deliberately selected taxonomic levels: watching different materials (level A1), solving interactive H5P materials (level A2), solving interactive guides for working with different ICT (level B1), solving quizzes, adaptive learning materials, selecting tools and creating own materials (level B2), self-reflection on own ICT use and sharing ideas and knowledge (level C1), collaborative knowledge creation and design of redefined learning activities (level C2). In this study we present the findings of the research after the completion of the online courses. In the research we quantitatively and qualitatively analysed the use of ICT in the pedagogical process among approximately 500 higher education teachers at the University of Ljubljana in the period between 2019 and 2024. We obtained the results with a questionnaire and an analysis of the reports of updated study activities with ICT that the participants created at the end of the courses. We were interested in whether the content in the online course was meaningfully prepared and what kind of contribution it had to participants’ professional development. They highlighted the usefulness of the content and the acquisition of ideas for the use of ICT in their own pedagogical work. When analysing the ICT-based activities designed and highlighted by the participants in their end-of-course reports, we noticed that participants chose to implement activities that correspond to the different areas of the DigCompEdu. They prepared different digital resources for the students, developed different innovative learning approaches, and used different strategies to assess their knowledge. Based on ongoing feedback from the participants, the workshops have already been upgraded to best meet the expressed needs of the participants. In the future we would like to encourage participants to be more active in creating accessible materials and to reflect on the possibilities for individualisation and personalisation. Due to the rapid advances in ICT, we will continuously update the workshops with relevant examples of the use of ICT in different subject areas.

Keywords:

ICT, didactic use of ICT, development of digital skills.