21 st Century Classrooms: Meeting the challenge of the digital era with innovation and creativity Chapter 6 Interactive Pedagogy: the use of educational aimed tools 1. School/Institution SOUEE Konstantin Kiril Filosof Ruse, Bulgaria 2. Theoretical approach or conceptual guideline Interactive pedagogy is not about ICT only and about the interaction between computers and people. Interactive pedagogy is about sharing information, role play, drama, music the students may not remember the lesson plan but they will remember the experience. Interactive pedagogy allows the teacher to be a facilitator while the students explore various information sources and try to analyze the information. The virtual world and games have their important role in the teaching/learning process. The students do not watch videos passively but they think and play, try and fail and try again.
Since technology is not the final goal of education but rather a means by which it can be accomplished, educators must not only have a good grasp of technology with its advantages and disadvantages, but also practice interactive pedagogy In pedagogy interactive strategies are introduced from sociology and social psychology. Insured, interactive pedagogy means the interrelation and interaction between people in the process of communication, in which the processes of teaching and studying acquire a dynamic and open character. Interactive pedagogy does not mean using ICT only but attract more students and teachers to different ways of teaching, learning, being open-minded. 3. Context references pertinent to the main issue ICT tools integration in teaching various subjects Project based learning Aiming at developing creativity and innovation in teaching and learning Improving foreign language and communicative skills by using interactive approaches 4. Good practices identification Google drive and other Google applications, devices (laptops, computers, various software) a. Justification (why is that a good practice?) i. Context 1. Careful identification of the departure point SOUEE Konstantin Kiril Filosof is a secondary school with the study of European languages. The process of increasing the application of ICT at school gives our students the opportunity to be up-to-date and advanced. 2. Problem situation or Dream departure Rise of students motivation Respect the different learning styles Autonomous learning (learning at one s own pace)
ii. Difficulties and problems 1. Technological Lack of sufficient number of devices and the need of a better technological provision 2. Training Need of relevant training of both teachers and students 3. Human Inadequate skills, motivation and fear of using ICT among some of the teachers 4. Budget Insufficient budget b. Process (How are we developing the practices) 1. Google Documents Because of the lack of national platforms for schools, our school management decided to use Google Documents to easily receive needed information from teachers and other staff in relation with everyday work. Teachers have instant access via school website to different forms to fill in referring various schedules (current and term tests), consultations, meetings with parents, etc. As well as information about current events and activities. In the beginning some teachers resisted to this way of report but gradually they got used to it and realized that it makes their work easier. 2. Google Drive We encourage the students to use Google Drive not only for sharing files but to realize their own projects. For example, students use Google drive to share information and files with their Partners from abroad when working on etwinning projects. 3. Social networking sites These allow the learners to post their thoughts, ideas and comments in an interactive learning environment. Social networking sites encourage collaboration and engagement and can be a motivational tool for selfefficacy amongst students 4. Kahoot (https://getkahoot.com/) It allows the teachers to create interactive games and quizzes to check their students knowledge and understanding. Students can create their own Kahoots, too which is very stimulating. What is important
is that in order to play a Kahoot students can use both equipment provided by the school or their own mobile phones. A recent innovation is the team mode which means that students can play the game in teams and thus encourage team spirit in the classroom. Kahoot is often used by the language teachers at our school. 5. etwinning (https://www.etwinning.net/bg/pub/index.htm) - The etwinning community is getting bigger and bigger. The etwinning projects allow the students and teachers to interact with their partners from abroad and thus gain new experience and knowledge. At the moment there are three etwinning projects at our school and the students enjoy working on them. In order to complete their project tasks and communicate with their partners the students use online tools. They use etwinning Twinspace and chatrooms. 6. Ted Ed videos and lessons (http://ed.ted.com/) allowing the teachers to share materials, use readymade lessons, engage the students in meaningful interactive lessons and use authentic materials. It is mostly used by the foreign language teacher at our school. 7. Use of Skype and YouTube allows the use of authentic materials as well as direct video and audio connection and conferencing. c. Assessment i. Good results Integrating technology in education helps students stay engaged. Today s students love technology so they are sure to be interested in learning if they can use the tools they love. Thus our students are more engaged in the learning process. Students are excited about being able to use technology and therefore are more apt to learn Students become more responsible. Technology helps students take more control over their own learning. They learn how to make their own decisions and actually think for themselves. ii. Impact 1. On school Realizing the need to integrate ICT in all spheres of teaching and learning Introducing innovative methods of teaching which include the integration of ICT in the classroom. 2. On community and feedback In general students are good users of ICT but using them at school will be beneficial as students will become more responsible when using the equipment, will develop
certain working habits, will develop skills for their future real life (job interview through skype). Integrating ICT in the learning process will prepare the students for the 21 st century new jobs which require new skills. Better prepared and ICT competent workers. iii. The next steps 1. Presenting the good future of each good practice encouraging more teachers to use ICT tools and approaches 2. Problems to overcome Finding good pedagogical reasons for the use of ICT at school. Generation gap between the technology used at school and outside school. Better commitment and support on the side of parents d. Debate about the good practices presented i. Sharing opinions Useful and efficient talks after the presentation. Raising the understating of our team how such presentations should be developed. ii. Peer assessment Appropriate and useful way of evaluation iii. Projection of the good practices for the near future Planning the improvement of presenting our good practices