Abstract:

One of the tasks of high school teachers is to prepare pupils for the changing demands of the current knowledge-based society [1]. To obtain this goal, their teaching method is of crucial importance. A teaching approach with many learning-focused teaching elements, such as interaction, active construction of knowledge and new assessment forms, is considered to be the best approach to stimulate the skills needed in the 21st century [1].

Based on the findings that technology can be supportive in the development of these teaching strategies [2], [3], Future Classroom Labs with flexible learning spaces and new technology were set up in Flanders [4]. However, previous research shows that the mere set-up of these classrooms does not lead to changed teaching behavior. Only half of the teachers who had access to the Future Classroom Lab actually used it, and only a few teachers used it for learning-focused teaching [5].

The main reported problems differ based on the type of teacher. While Digital Dannis and Innovative Ians have trouble with the elevated workload in lesson preparations, Worried Wallys and Traditional Tonis have doubts and insecurities about their own technical knowledge and about losing control of the pupils’ learning processes [5]. It could be concluded that teachers need support to develop learning-focused lessons, even when technology or flexible classrooms are available.

Based on the results of this study, we conducted 5 codesign sessions with teachers, to develop learning-focused lessons. A differentiated codesign method, in which teachers were grouped based on their personal profile (didactical and digital preferences), appeared to be especially useful to obtain suitable lessons. However, the presence of the researchers was of crucial importance in these codesign sessions, to offer teachers the boost they needed towards more learning-focused lessons. Therefore, we developed a tool to support customized codesign trainings for teachers, without the help of a researcher or moderator. This tool guides teachers in teams towards more learning-focused lessons, based on their own teacher profile and the technological and infrastructural opportunities they have in their schools. The results of the evaluations of the tool are promising and will be presented at the INTED-conference.

References:
[1] J. Voogt en N. P. Roblin, “21st Century Skills. Discussienota”, Kennisnet, Universiteit Twente, 2010.
[2] W. Clark en R. Luckin, “What the research says. iPads in the Classroom”, London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education University of London., 2013.
[3] OECD, Students, Computers and Learning. OECD Publishing, 2015.
[4] D. Bannister, “Guidelines on exploring and adapting learning spaces in schools.”, European Schoolnet, 2017.
[5] C. Verdurmen, E. Vanderhoven, en D. Dhondt, “Towards active learning-focused teaching in a digital future classroom: a design-based research.”, EDULEARN18 Proceedings, pp. 7390–7398, 2018.

Keywords:

Learning-focused teaching, Future Classroom, codesign, digital profile, teaching profile, differentiation, teacher training, technology implementation.