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FISTE - A Future Way For In-Service Teacher Training Across Europe

ICT IN EDUCATION: REFLECTIONS AND PERSPECTIVES – Bucharest, June 14-16, 2007

ICT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING AT UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA IN THE LIGHT OF THE FISTE PROJECT S. KALNINA*,1 and I. KANGRO1 1

Teacher Education Department, Faculty of Education and psychology, University of Latvia, Jūrmalas gatve 74/76, Riga, LV – 1083, Latvia

Abstract: The development of ICT – electronic mail, Internet, multi media, possibilities to use collaborative platforms, undoubtedly, influences the process of using them in everyday classroom teaching and learning. Actually it provides new and new possibilities of using ICT in the modernization of the teaching-learning process and with its help to increase the quality of education and meet the requirements set by the contemporary knowledge society. In order to be successful in one’s professional career the today’s school graduate along with key competences needs also the computer literacy. ICT no longer serves to be a simple additional means but ICT is an indispensable part of the modern and contemporary learning environment. The article presents some background ideas on introducing ICT in the educational system of Latvia and using ICT at schools. The article also analyzes the course „Using IT in Foreign Language Classroom” which is offered to pre-service foreign language students and allows students to explore the possibilities of using CALL (computer assisted language learning), satellite TV, Internet and multimedia programs in their own studies and in their teaching practice. The present course incorporated also the ideas from FISTE on-line course. The article introduces the results of the study concerning the attitude of foreign language teachers towards using ICT in the teaching/learning process. Key-words: ICT, foreign language classroom

1. Introduction European Socrates Comenius 2.1.– project FISTE (A Future Way for In-Service Teacher Education across Europe: http://fiste.ssai.valahia.ro), which has been co-financed by the European Commission, was started in 2004 and aims at offering European teachers skills and knowledge on using ICT in teaching in a pedagogical and innovative way. From the very start the project has tried to find and introduce innovative and efficient ideas primarily in in-service teacher training but it could also be used in pre-service teacher • Corresponding author: e-mail: [email protected]

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education. There are seven partner universities involved in the FISTE-project from five European countries Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Romania, and Spain. The introduction of ICT in the educational system of Latvia has been purposefully implemented already since 1985 (A. Grinfelds, 1996). The initial plan envisaged working along two lines: firstly, equipping schools and institutions of higher education with computer sets and secondly, most importantly, training of teachers and university faculty. A new subject – informatics, i.e., the information technologies, was introduced at schools and it was emphasized that computers should be used not only in the new subject but also in other school subjects. Gradually the in-service training was offered to teachers of different subjects on the pedagogical importance of using ICT in the teaching-learning process and possibilities of using computers in their respective subjects. The relatively high level of using ICT at school’s educational process Latvia in the second half of 1980-ies and the beginning of 1990-ies was confirmed by the results of the international comparative educational study organized by IEA - Computers in Education Study (COMPED), the data were collected in 1992. The study proved that the degree of computer integration and availability of instructional software Latvian schools is relatively high in comparison with other countries (W.J. Pelgrum, 1993; A. Geske 1997; A.Kangro 1999). The development of ICT – electronic mail, Internet, multi media, possibilities to use collaborative platforms, undoubtedly, influences the process of using them in everyday classroom teaching and learning. Actually it provides new and new possibilities of using ICT in the modernization of the teaching-learning process and with its help to increase the quality of education and meet the requirements set by the contemporary knowledge society. In order to be successful in one’s professional career the today’s school graduate along with key competences needs also the computer literacy. ICT no longer serves to be a simple additional means but ICT is an indispensable part of the modern and contemporary learning environment. The information technology today has become an indispensable part of initial teacher education, in-service training and teachers’ everyday performance. The data of the study show that 88 % of Latvia’s students learn at schools where school principals want teachers to use the modern IT in the teaching-learning process most students - 37.5 % have used ICT to master English, 29.9 % - to master other foreign languages, 26.3 % - in history, 24.8 % in geography, 23.7 % - in mathematics, 22.9 % in the Latvian language, etc. (see Fig. 1). It is not surprising that ICT is mostly used in schools of Latvia in acquisition of foreign languages (not counting informatics as a subject), because these subjects (English, German, Russian) were among the first in which the original software was developed, the foreign experience was acquired through participation in different international projects, new study courses in teacher education programs were developed and implemented, and in-service courses were organized for teachers practicing in these subjects. Starting with the end of 1980ies computer assisted training, test, drill and authoring tools were developed, tested and applied in language classrooms at the University of Latvia. For several years students are offered a course on using CALL, satellite TV,

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Internet and multimedia programs in foreign language teaching – “Using IT in Foreign Language Classroom”. English

40 35 30

Other foreign languages

25

History

20

Geography

15 10

Mathematics

5 Latvian language

0

Fig. 1 Use of ICT in different school subjects

2. Course Methodology The faculty of the Teacher Education Department, Faculty of Education and Psychology, are trying to develop teacher education programmes that fit the needs of the modern society. We encourage students (both pre-service and in-service) to take on the responsibility for their own studies, to develop the ability to co-operate, to work in a problem-oriented way and be prepared for continuous changes. It also refers to using ICT in the active and reflective study process. Educational psychology has shown that significant learning takes place only when the learner actively constructs his own learning. Therefore the concept of this course is moving from the teaching centred model to the learning centred one, focussing on constructing knowledge, discovering the world and entering intercultural multilingual communication via e-learning (work forms: group work, discussions, presentations, peer teaching, work on projects and e-projects, producing media materials, e.g., with the help of such programs as Camtasia, working in the collaborative platforms etc.) The discussed study course is developed on the bases of the theoretical propositions offered by A.Dougall, P.Dunkel, I.Forsyth, P.Gray, B.Rüschoff, D.Squires, M.Schwarz, and others, which are creatively interpreted and further developed, and which coincide with the philosophy of FISTE project. Everyday teaching and research work uses the experience and theories that have been acquired while participating in several important projects of the European Centre for Modern Languages and projects financed by the European Commission (ICT in VOLL, ELCHE, TNP, @cm, FISTE, etc.) The course teaches students to be able to integrate the use of technology with the current foreign language teaching methodologies (with an emphasis on "procedural knowledge" and the changed nature of learning). Students in the course learn to analyze the 107



materials in view of the practical application of the available technology to their own lesson plans. It also asks students to look for the pedagogical use of ICT and teaches students to approach the use of technology critically. In addition, the course is designed to explore and access, through cooperative discussions, for example, the ways in which CALL programs and multimedia can change the nature of language learning and generate new types of teaching practices. The course consists of two parts: a theoretical and a practical one. The first part of the course is devoted to the theory on the development of CALL and multimedia programs, and the second to the implementation and analysis of the programs developed by the leading software firms. Students analyze the software available and, using these programs, make outlines for their own lessons. During the class students learn how to work with the specific program in order to proceed with it individually. These are high quality software programs aimed at using various sensory channels thus achieving the best possible psychological effect and corresponding to different learning styles, individual cognitive levels and features. A further step for students then is to use, for example, authoring tools from Wida Authoring Suite and from Teleste Partner Tools or the Camtasia program to develop their own testing and teaching programs for grammar, vocabulary work, writing, etc. By developing their own programs, teachers are then better able to implement CALL and other multimedia programs in their classrooms. The goal of the course is to enable the future teachers to create multimedia teaching and learning materials in accordance with the needs of the individual learner or a group. The course presents the Internet as both an Information Superhighway (emphasis on information) and as a global Village (emphasis on communication). The use of the most popular search engines such as Yahoo, AltaVista, Google, etc. is taught, showing students the most efficient means of navigating the web by teaching them to search by keywords and/or different categories and subcategories. Interactive foreign language teaching/learning materials/exercises/tutorials are demonstrated and analyzed as are the ways of finding authentic material. E-mail is a tool for intercultural communication around the world. The pedagogical aim of using E-mail is to encourage teacher students to improve their second/ third language skills working with authentic materials. Establishing learning projects via e-mail puts students in contact with native speakers or English/German learners around the world and provides an authentic context and motivation for communication. To support the pedagogical implementation of ICT in the foreign language classroom (in FL in-service teacher education and pre-service teacher education) as a part of Latvian Education Informatisation System (LIIS), sets of recommendations on using ICT in the process of language acquisition have been worked out. These recommendations include websites that can be used in foreign language (English, French, German, Spanish) learning/teaching as well as the bibliography on ICT in foreign language learning and information on the most relevant computer and multi-media programs that can be implemented in upper secondary schools in Latvia and methodological materials on ICT in foreign language classroom (http://www.liis.lv). The FISTE project offered students the online course where traditional face-to face teaching was combined with web-based learning

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tools. The following ideas from FISTE on-line course were implemented in the current course: Materials from the Database Pedagogical use of ICT Using technology Producing different teaching-learning materials with Camtasia Video editing Screen recording Narrating slides Image processing On-line conferencing Video conferencing The use of ICT in the foreign language classroom motivates students to be more curious, it stresses the great opportunities ICT provide for differentiation, especially in mixed-ability classes as multimedia and telematics are the best in offering a real context, authenticity and topicality of materials and a cross cultural perspective. Furthermore, multimedia is a highly dynamic medium, which has the potential of generating dynamic types of interactions, not only with the computer but with other students and teachers as well. In other words it generates cooperative learning, learning accompanied by the instructor and autonomous learning. Moreover, teachers of today need to understand that their roles have to change and that the physical space of the classroom will need to be changed as well to accommodate different kinds of interaction: small group, student to student, and student to computer interaction. We have to remember that "electronic communication can help foster a new teacher-student relationship in which the students become more autonomous and the teacher becomes more a facilitator" (Warschauer M. 1995). The implementation of the FISTE course and the experience gained from it makes us stress that ICT should only be treated as one component of the powerful learning environments which has to be integrated into broader contexts of learning ,i.e., virtual learning possibilities must be combined with traditional teaching aids, books, maps, dictionaries etc. The results of FISTE on-line course: 26 teachers started the on-line course, 20 teachers finalized the course and 9 teachers implemented the didactic projects. After finishing the on-line course all the teachers filled out the questionnaires and had a discussion with the tutors. The analysis of the questionnaires and teachers’ views expressed in the discussion allowed making some conclusions about the lessons learned both by the teachers and their pupils. Thus, some ideas coming from the teachers about lessons learned by them: It was a completely new situation for both the teacher and the pupils Teachers have to monitor their work and combine different forms of teaching and learning to get better results The pupils, in their turn, have the following evaluation concerning the lessons learned: Visual presentation /Camtasia films/ helped them to learn and acquire the theme more effectively 109



Possibility to work not only individually but also collaboratively Possibility to work at their own pace Interesting tasks, relevant to their learning contexts The lesson in which teachers used ICT were different from the routine Necessity to work with different software programs is not only interesting but also will come useful in their further lives

3. Conclusions In order to achieve significant results in implementation of ICT in education, there is a need for state level strategic projects, the goal of which is not only to equip schools with qualitative and up-to-date hardware, but mainly the pre-service and in-service training of teachers for the pedagogical integration of ICT in the teaching and learning process. Possibility of in-service teachers to participate in regular actions, similar to FISTE online course. Integration of ICT in foreign language learning provides a powerful learning environment to ensure project based active and cooperative learning and different interactions: students-students, teacher- student and vice versa. The experience of FISTE on-line course proves that the use of ICT in foreign language classroom motivates both pre-service and in-service teachers to be more curious, creative and innovative in using new technologies and multimedia themselves and teaching their pupils to use them, to use the options ICT offer in producing their own small projects.

References [1] Davies, G. (1997) Lessons from the past, lessons for the future. 20 years of CALL. In Kranz, D. et al. (eds) Multimedia-Internet-Lernsoftware. Fremdsprachenunterricht vor neuen Herausfor-derungen? agenda Verlag, Münster. [2] Geske, A., Grinfelds A. and Kangro A. (1997) International Comparative Assessment of Latvia’s Educational system. Humanities and Social Sciences. Latvia. 4(17), 68-100. [3]Grinfelds, A. and Kangro, A.(1996) Policies on Computers in Education in the Republic of Latvia. In Plomp, T. Et al.(eds) Cross National Policies and Practices on Computers in Education. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London. [4] Kangro, A.(1999) The Development of International Comparative Research in the Field of Education in Latvia. Humanities and Social Sciences. Latvia. (Education Science in Latvia (Comparative Research and Measurements)) 2(23), 53-80. [5] Pelgrum, W.J. and Anderson, R.E. (2001) ICT and the Emerging Paradigm for Lifelong Learning. An IEA Educational Assessment of Infrastructure, Goals, and Practices in Twenty-six Countries. MULTICOPY, the Netherlands. [6] Warschauer, M.(1995) E-Mail for English Teaching. Bringing the Internet and Computer Learning Networks into the Language Classroom. Illinois, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.). 110