We think that the basic objective of schools and universities is to prepare students for the knowledge society, i.e. to train their knowledge networking skills. Students should get used to search for information and to transform it into knowledge through individual and collaborative, participative techniques. In this context, we would like to stress the perspectives offered by various web 2.0 tools such as weblogs, wikis, video conferences and discussion boards. Thanks to all these different tools, people (students) from different countries and cultures can take part in the collective construction of knowledge by carrying out international projects. This implies, of course, a high degree of communicative competence and - besides technological skills - social skills such as
We will carry out projects about primary school teaching, open learning and the ideas of formal and informal instruction together with students from Bulgaria, the USA and Germany. The professors involved are Leigh Ausband (USA), Iliana Mirtschewa (Bulgaria) and Klaudia Schultheis (Germany). Our students will work together on some of the topics and prepare presentations and thus create content which they will present online.
How Can ICT Literacy Skills Support Global Awareness at the K-5 Level? questions to answer: 1. The reading on ICT/Global Awareness describes two examples of how ICT (Information and Communications Technology)skills can support global awareness. What do you think are the benefits to students who participate in these types of projects? What similar types of projects might you do with students when you begin teaching?
Framework for the 21st Centuryquestions to answer: 2. The Framework for 21st Century Learning list 4 areas that are important for a 21st education: Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes; Learning and Innovation Skills; Information, Media, and Technology Skills; and Life and Career Skills. Which of these, if any, are the schools in your area addressing? What does a teacher in training like yourself need to know and be able to do in order to teach 21st century skills to children?
Reading recommendation for the German students:
Martin Wellenreuther (2008): Lehren und Lernen - aber wie? Empirisch-experimentelle Forschungen zum Lehren und Lernen im Unterricht. 4. Aufl. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren
Falko Peschel (2006): Offener Unterricht. Idee - Realität - Perspektive und ein praxiserprobtes Konzept zur Diskussion. Teil I: Allgemeindidaktische Überlegungen. 4. Aufl. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren
Werner Jank & Hilbert Meyer (2008): Didaktische Modelle. 5. akt. Aufl. Berlin: Cornelsen Scriptor Verlag
Reading recommendation for the Bulgarian students:
Мирчева, Илиана. (2004): Проблеми на дидактиката на родинознанието и природознанието. София: ИК "Веда Словена - ЖГ". (виж разделите, посветени на отворените форми на обучение)
Мирчева, Илиана. (2006): Докосване до природата. София: ИК "Веда Словена - ЖГ". (виж разделите, посветени на отворените форми на обучение)
Петрова, Ваня. (2003): Работата по проект при запознаване с природната и обществената среда в І-ІV клас. Стара Загора: ИК “Кота”.
Boo, Max de. (2004): Using Science to Develop Thinking Skills at Key Stage 1. London: David Fulton Publishers. (мога да предоставя книгата на всеки от Вас, тъй като я няма в библиотеката)
Brubacher, M. , R. Payne, K. Rickett. (1990): Perspectives on Small Group Learning. Oakville: Rubicon Publishing Inc. (има я в библиотеката на факултета)
Fried-Booth, Diana. Project Work. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (мога да предоставя книгата на всеки от Вас, тъй като я няма в библиотеката)
Reading recommendations for American students for some groups:
Abstract:
Celebrating its 35th year, the Fayerweather Street School of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of the few extant schools associated with the "open education" movement of the late Sixties. Not only has the school flourished, but it has managed to stick to its original progressive principles.
The Open Classroom: Were Schools Without Walls Just Another Fad? (EJ763250)
Author(s): Cuban, Larry
Abstract:
The open-classroom movement originated in British public elementary schools after World War II. American educators who adopted the trend viewed informal education--or, as they came to call it, open classrooms or open education