Tomi Dolenc and Janko Harej, Arnes

With the introduction of new e-services, we often get the feeling that these digital novelties  are an additional burden, rather than making everyday life easier. Therefore we have approached the development of services for the E-school bag from another angle – we based them on the actual desires of our customers and prepared solutions for those requirements expressed by the users of the entire education vertical of education that are really important. Naturally, we tried to make them more accessible, taking mobile devices into account.

You’ve probably already noticed that access to services on the SIO portal is considerably simpler, but you are probably unaware of the many tools available to simplify things even further. The issue and storage of certificates for your training sessions, for example. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if the information on certificates in the field of ICT education were collected in one place? You can also save all the documents you otherwise store on various cloud services such as Dropbox, Flickr, Google and others to your portfolio very easily. I suppose it goes without saying that the documents stored in your portfolio will remain in Slovenia and that there’s no need to worry about your documents disappearing if the cloud services provider goes out business. Do you already know what a school e-card is, where you can see one, and what they’re actually for? What does your website and online classroom look like today, and what will they look like tomorrow? We have already made improvements to the E-school bag and, through a Single Sign On, also linked the important services that make your work easier – such as online surveys.

The community of SIO and E-school bag users will grow very rapidly in the future and you are, or will be, part of this community, too. It will therefore be very useful to bring yourself up to speed with the services that are available to you and simplify your daily work and professional development as well as solve some of your concerns and offload them to ARNES.

Andreja Čuk, Amela Sambolić Beganović, ZRSŠ

At the closing conference of the E-schoolbag project we will present the most notable achievements of the project. We will sneak a peek into newly developed  interactive textbooks, present the results of the pilot project, the evaluation of the project, developed e-services, teacher support, the SIO website, the e-editor, the edustore … We will answer the question if pupils’ schoolbags have become less heavy. All this and more in presentations of 20 slides in 400 seconds.

Dragica B. Banović, mag. Valentina Mavrič Klenovšek, ŠC Novo mesto, Srednja elektro šola in tehniška gimnazija

In the previous school year the Secondary school of electronics and technical gymnasium of the School Centre Novo mesto took part in the project of the National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia Introducing and using e-contents and services. We started a path together with fourteen pilot schools (secondary schools as well as gymnasiums) from all parts of Slovenia, which received tablet computers as their primary tools that were used in each school in a pilot class.
At present we have been testing the existing e-student books from the field of science (chemistry and mathematics) as well as other e-materials that are being produced. We are regularly researching the library of different programmes and applets in order to find those that would operate as a motivational means on one hand, but on the other hand they would enable the development of critical thinking among students as well as the achievement of higher taxonomic levels of their knowledge.
The main achievement in the project were not not tablet computers nor e-materials. Looking back on it, on realised learning situations, it shows team work of teachers and collaborative learning of students. The teachers’ team work was reflected in exchanging ideas and experiences. Collaborative learning of students was helpful for everyone when working with modern ICT. Students and teachers worked together without any restraint, which proved to be successful and beneficial for both sides. That is the main achievement on our path to introducing and using e-contents and services- knowing how to work in a team.

Mirijam Pirc, ŠC Nova Gorica

Teachers and students at the School Centre Nova Gorica were involved in the project “e-šolska torba”. The subjects included in the project were Slovenian, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Physics. The teachers gained valuable experience in using e-books and e-services in the classroom. Slovene is one of the subjects of the humanities and keeps pace using modern technology in class. Alongside new didactical approaches, which not only cover lesson organisation, but cooperation between teachers as well, we try to incorporate the digital media into the teaching of Slovene at our high schools. First and foremost, this is suggested in the curriculum accepted in 2008 for high school Slovene, which had already anticipated a change of teaching methods in this regard. The pursuit of modern methods has been encouraged by official institutions as well (ZRSŠ), which have provided the tools we can use during lessons, and a digital workbook. At Mathematics, the quality of e-learning material is very high and e-textbox represents an important contribution to the enrichment of methods and strategies in teaching and learning. The tasks check students’ understanding in many different ways. Consequently, the teacher should consider very carefully which parts of the material to use to achieve specific learning targets and not to make the students “lose” themselves in the e-textbook. E-learning at Chemistry can be used to check the students’ primary school knowledge, to learn new facts and to consolidate the established knowledge. In order to achieve the desired goals, the teacher must choose the strategies and methods very carefully. Students can be “supersaturated” with the abundance of new concepts and e-learning methods. At Science subjects like Biology and Physics teachers use a variety of  tools which are available on the World Wide Web: Socrative program, collaborative cards Cram.com, application Exe, Google’s drive and Vernier sensors.

Špela Knez, OŠ Naklo

Many times a picture or even better a film can tell us more than a thousand words. The latter has proved to be the most thankful part of using a tablet computer in a physics classroom. The existing course books are not compatible with the new curriculum and even less with a modern way of teaching. Tablet computers with the applications adapted for teaching physics have proved to be an excellent addition to the existing ways and methods of teaching. An actual example is astronomy. A vivid demonstration of our solar system, the movement of the planets, the Earth, the Moon and the stars has not only impressed the students but also served as an excellent basis for ordinary lectures because the students knew what the teacher was talking about and what they would learn in that lesson. While revising and repeating subject matters a tablet computer represented diversification and breaking the monotony of regular testing of acquired knowledge. Its use was best proved while doing group experiments. It was interesting to observe how the students used tablet computers in their groups for different purposes. Some used it merely as a video camera, others as a stopwatch and some as a means of getting information. Not only has the use of a tablet computer proved to be an interesting teaching accessory for giving lectures but it has also proved to be a source for students own initiative and a stimulator of their own ideas.

Frančiška Hvalc, Suzana Plemenitaš, Lea Senica, OŠ Dobje

Teachers and students gain a lot by being part of the project Introduction of E-Content and E-Materials into the Classroom. Our final goal was not to use tablets but to improve lessons while we were using them. After two years, we can say that we have succeeded. Students, due to new methods and forms of work assume an active role in learning; they are more responsible and more independent. Teacher appears in the role of a facilitator in the classroom. Cooperative learning dominates traditional, frontal teaching. Because each student has his own tablet, checking the knowledge by different tools (Socrative, Google Drive, Mahara), fast feedback and insight into students’ prior or achieved knowledge is possible for the teacher and the student. Students use tablets and seek information and materials on the Web. They work as fast as they want, videos and animations can be seen again or split; they take photos and make films… We can differentiate lessons easier and offer students an open way of teaching. E-textbooks that are available and that we have tested have many animations, good illustrative photos, interactive exercises for assimilating knowledge and practising. Tablet itself is already an additional motivation for the students. However, a lesson must be well planned and controlled; the teacher needs to know why the tablet in the classroom and pupils should know the rules of work.

Nataša Jeras, Živa Škrinjar, OŠ Šmartno pod Šmarno goro

In the school year 2013/2014 we became involved in the project entitled Introducing e-contents and e-services with emphasis on natural sciences. Each 4th grade pupil was given its own tablet, since our main assignment was testing the usage of tablets at different school subjects while at the same time evaluating whether using the tablet is indeed worthwhile at a particular school lesson or topic. Tablets were used by all teachers of the 4th grade which was chosen for the project, but only after carefully reflecting whether using the tablet will actually benefit the lesson. They were used at different school subjects and at different stages of the learning process. We also occasionaly lent the tablets to other teachers and pupils. Fourth graders were happy to assist younger pupils and help them gettin acquainted with the new technology. The pupils were of course included in exploring different possible ways and strategies of using the tablets. A new 4th grade is involved in the project this year and they have also managed to grasp the new teaching aid very quickly. With their teacher they have been successfully exploring different ways of using the tablets at school work. We all share the opinion that lessons with a careful and meaningful use of tablets are indeed better and more interesting and that the use of tablets also allows new modern approaches toward teaching.

Anita Nose, Gimnazija Novo mesto

Abstract: Our school is taking part in the project called The introduction and use of e-services and resources in class. It enabled the school to use tablets in one first-year. We first focused on raising internet safety awareness among students, and set ground rules for using tablets in class. Slowly but surely, a team of six teachers began introducing novelties that tablets facilitate. In the initial stage, most of our time and effort went into lesson planning, searching for useful resources, tools and teaching the use of them … We assembled a variety of resources and classroom materials in our respective e-classrooms, which have greatly improved since the project started. Without a reliable technical support, the project would not run smoothly. At the beginning, both teachers and students could hardly imagine a lesson without it. In time teachers were able to deal with technical problems on their own. Lessons with tablets are dynamic, student-centred, which increases motivation. The use of tablets enables bot students and teachers to get instant feedback on the work done. Keeping moderation in mind, we should use tablets when they actually bring added value to class, not necessarily every lesson or the whole lesson. We have to be aware of the fact that technology cannot replace lecture-explanation techniques, and teacher-student rapport. The project team provide support for the colleagues who would like to introduce or improve the use of e-resources and services in class.

Mitja Kobale, Aljoša Kancler, Prva gimnazija Maribor

Due to their extended use, tablet computers were introduced into schools. Prva gimnazija Maribor was chosen as a partner school for the pilot project E-School Bag and in addition in another project Implementation and use of e-contents and e-services. Within the project e-materials were introduced and tested with tabs. Together with the advisers from The National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia we began planning, executing and following classes of particular subjects by using e-contents and e-services. We tackled the development of new and completion of existing teaching and studying models with e-contents and e-materials. A focus was especially on how the use of e-contents will influence the existing teaching methods and how these will be accepted by the students. Furthermore, it was tested, what is the yield in the project class like, since their results were compared to a test class. This whole project is being rounded up by a final evaluation, in which a quality of the e-course books is compared to the classical ones, their influence on the way students study and finally, the influence of the e-course books on the way teachers teach. In the context of the presentation at the SIRikt Conference, positive and negative experiences of using the e-contents will be presented as well as possibilities of extended application at our grammar school, like expansion of knowledge and experiences to other teachers at school and their dissemination to other classes.

Manja Kokalj, OŠ Selnica ob Dravi

As our schools priorities we defined: ICT usage in the course of instruction, introduction of e-contents and e-services as well as the development of digital literacy. In order to efficiently perform these tasks we joined the e-project which enabled us to use tablet computers in grade 7 instruction. All components of our lessons contained work with i-textbooks which made it possible to evaluate both, their quality as well as the advantages of their use. We were active in virtual classrooms – the students were able to gain new knowledge independently and via different methods of work. In surplus they learnt from each other. During our lessons we used different e-contents, e-services, e-sources and mobile applications. The presentation is based on concrete examples which were most frequently used in Science classes (with focus on the flipped learning combined with reading and learning strategies). The usage of tablet computers with practical work also proved to be interesting. At the same time we assessed the students work and evaluated to what extend the learning objectives were reached and ICT skills upgraded. Besides that we tried to establish whether the usage of e-contents and e-services ameliorated the students understanding or knowledge and whether it activated higher order thinking in them. We summarized the feedback of observed lessons and tried to find out in which cases the usage of tablet computers contributed to the higher quality of instruction.