On 23th September 2021, we organised the third online teacher workshop on Digitising the linear curriculum.
During the event, we continued working with analogue scenarios created earlier. The session started with a thematic workshop, and the groups finalised the script and methodological outlines of the sub-topics under the guidance of the subject coordinators.
The workshop focused on the exchange of professional experiences, during which the participants presented their individual results, observations, difficulties encountered and asked questions. In the process of learning from each other, they were able to share good and useful practices and to seek solutions to the issues raised.
The technical block was the final session of the workshop, led by Zoltán Lukács, and was open to anyone who felt they needed further help with digitisation.
An empirical approach to curriculum development
The multi-component interrelationship of curriculum development consists of several important factors that interact with each other:
- Educator (methodological skills and digital readiness);
- digital tools – specificities of the content development platform;
- subject requirements (knowledge and competences to be developed);
- and learner characteristics (age, socio-cultural background).
The workshops and workshops so far have focused mainly on the digital toolbox and subject requirements. As it was considered that the participants had now acquired the technical and methodological skills necessary to formulate an adequate opinion, we wanted to understand and organise the teachers’ experiences so far, after the methodological and technical grounding of the previous sessions, in order to use them in further developments.
The aim was to launch a professional dialogue that would not be limited to this occasion, but could provide a solid basis for further work and support. We wanted to ensure that the different thematic groups could also benefit from and participate in each other’s work. During the interactive block, participants had the opportunity to share what they have achieved so far, exchange views on the potential of the app, on joint curriculum development and on their experiences so far. The members were able to brainstorm together on the implementation of a specific educational objective, discuss technical and methodological solutions and ask for professional help from each other.
The main themes that emerged from the exchange of experiences were the following:
- the reception of the app by the students;
- the process of digitisation;
- curriculum development, methodological solutions ;
- technical issues.
The wide-ranging and multi-thematic professional dialogue triggered a common reflection. In summary, regardless of their digital experience, the participating teachers are already showing a more open and flexible approach to teaching, a motivation to adopt new methods and an improvement in their digital competences.
