Content uploaded by Valere Awouters
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Valere Awouters
Content may be subject to copyright.
E-LEARNING COMPETENCIES FOR TEACHERS IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
E-Learning Competencies for Teachers in
Secondary and Higher Education
doi:10.3991/ijet.v4i2.739
V. Awouters, S. Jans
Limburg Catholic University College, Diepenbeek, Belgium
Abstract—Teaching and learning with ICT requires specific
competencies for teachers and lectures. Too much attention
was given to the technological aspects. Teachers learned to
work with hard- and software. A typical example is the
European Computer Driving License (ECDL). A lot of
people attend courses on text processing, spreadsheets… but
using a Virtual Learning Environment like e.g. Blackboard
or Moodle demands more didactical than technical skills.
Especially e-learning and blended learning is too demanding
to let teachers learn to use these tools only by
experimenting. More and more is generally accepted that
the e-learning competencies for teachers require a longer
course. Which competences and how these can be realized is
the main focus of this paper? Besides the theoretical
background, two examples will be showed.
Index Terms—digital didactics, e-learning competencies,
European Computer Driving License, Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), postgraduate e-learning.
I. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
A. Introduction
When ICT was introduced in schools, teachers often got
courses on how to use technology. Still today these kind
of courses are successful. The ECDL-foundation even
graduates people that prove to have basic knowledge
about seven modules, from basic insights in incourse
technology over word-processing to the internet and e-
mail. A second kind of courses concern the use of virtual
learning environments (VLE). Most courses concern about
the technical use of the VLE: how to upload documents?
How to make quizzes? … Often it is seen that these kind
of courses on the use of the VLE is directed into online
learning. Baars (2006) describes the organizational aspects
and advantages of this kind of education: education
independent from time and distance. Also the advantages
to increase communication among students and to help
students with disabilities are described. Baars sees 7 bases
for education with digital learning means:
• A better cooperation between students,
• Active learning,
• Direct feedback,
• Better and more contact with teachers and peer-
students,
• Possibilities to learn in different ways,
• Contextual learning,
• A larger spread in different ways of teaching and
learning.
B. ICT-competencies for teachers
Until now too little time is spent on didactical courses
to learn teachers to use ICT with a learning surplus value.
To offer these kind of courses it is necessary to determine
what kind of ICT-competencies teachers really need. In
the European U-teacher project the competencies of
teachers with regard to interaction with themselves,
students, colleagues and the neighborhood are combined
with eight specific ICT-themes.
Summarized, the ICT-competencies for teachers have
three dimensions:
• The teacher knows for what learning activities ICT
can be set in (awareness)
• The teacher has the necessary skills for using hard-
and software (readiness)
• The teacher knows the pedagogical-didactical
elements of ICT (e.g. drill and practice programs)
Zwaneveld and Bastiaens (2007) argue that the most
categories of ICT-competencies for teachers are too
tighten. They see five competences teachers should have
when they want to integrate ICT in their teaching practice:
• Individual media-competencies, this includes the
basic knowledge and skills for handling the required
hard-and software. These media-competencies also
include the use of ict-means, like beamer … in a
traditional teaching practice.
• Critical media-competencies, this includes the skills
to select critically the media in the learning process
of learners. The criteria are educational, human and
social.
• A lifelong learning competence, this means that
teachers have to be aware of all the new
technologies that are developed and can be
integrated in the daily teaching and learning
practice. We think e.g. at the PDA (Personal Digital
Assistant) and iPhone.
• “Supervising learning process”-competencies, this
contains that teachers can optimize the learning
processes of learners. Communication is a core
element in learning. Learners in groups are more and
more located at different places and locations. ICT
makes it possible to maintain communication
between these learners. It is a competence for
teachers to know this and have the necessary skills
to organize these kinds of communication and
manage and enhance the learning process.
• Educational-design competencies, this competence
includes to develop in a right way the necessary
58
http://www.i-jet.org
E-LEARNING COMPETENCIES FOR TEACHERS IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
learning materials and didactical activities by means
of ICT and new media.
Zwaneveld and Bastiaens argue that ICT-courses
should part from these competencies to learn teachers to
use ICT and new media in their teaching practice.
II. PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
In this section we describe two ‘best practices’ of
courses that try to enhance the ICT-competencies for
teachers. The first example is a very specific example,
directed to teachers working in secondary education,
especially all the courses in the automobile-sector. The
second example is a general and more broad example that
is developed in our own university and can be used in
every secondary education school and university.
A. Autoweb
http://www.autowebtraining.eu
Employees in technical firms, like e.g. garages, need
more and more courses. Due to the very fast innovation in
technology, lifelong learning is a real need for these
labour forces. On the other hand are the needed courses
very specialized and expensive. Another problem
employers in this economical sectors in Western Europe
face is the lack of candidates. Also secondary education
schools see that the wide interest for these courses is
decreasing. One of the factors that causes this problem is
that schools don’t have enough money for investing in
new and high-tech machines and that teachers have too
less developed e-learning competencies.
Therefore an Interreg project was submitted and
approved for financing. Interreg is an initiative of the
European Union meant for the permanent development of
the “European Space”. The third phase of Interreg is
meant for enhancing the economic and social cohesion
within the European Union. Partners in this project are
secondary education schools, universities and training
centers for in-service employees. This project experiments
with partners in several languages: Dutch, German and
French. The project starts from employees in garages and
wants to offer them a continuing course on four modules,
like air conditioning, diagnostic, multiplexing and
common rail. The modules are developed in three
languages. The theoretical elements are offered through e-
learning, using the virtual learning environment ILIAS.
Main goal for the use of an VLE for the theoretical part is
to make time free for the practical courses. For pupils in
secondary education the developed materials have been
adopted to the learning programmes. All partners together
have chosen for the practical learning sessions to
cooperate with professional learning centers. Not every
school has to invest in very expensive equipment.
Teachers and pupils get insights into the new way of
learning at the workplace and that ‘authentic learning’ is
tried to implement in schools. At this moment we see that
teachers really need e-learning courses to get started with
the project.
B. Postgraduate e-learning & digital didactics
To realize earlier mentioned ICT-competencies for
teachers a longer course is needed. Therefore a
postgraduate e-learning was set up. The postgraduate e-
learning is a course, consisting of four modules, spread
over two academic years. The four modules are:
• Pedagogical-didactical module,
• Technical module,
• Communication module,
• Project module
Pedagogical Module: In this module learning theories
are studied. Special attention is given to the connectivist
theory for online learning. According to Siemens (2004),
connectivist theory is for the digital age, where individuals
learn and work in a networked environment. As a result,
we do not have control over what we learn since others in
the network continually change information, and that
requires new learning, unlearning old information, and/or
learning current information (Anderson, 2008), It is
necessary for teachers to know how learning can be
realized using new technologies as the internet and WEB
2.0-tools. Not only adults, but also the youth is connected
through myspace, facebook…
Technical Module: In the technical module teachers
are confronted with a lot of new technologies, that can
have an impact on learning. Not only virtual learning
environments, but also the internet, WEB 2.0 and even
mobile devices are studied. Using mobile devices for
learning will require some new strategies – smaller chunks
of information, shorter modules, efficient searching for
learning objects (Harper, 2008).
Communication Module: The third module deals with
side-effects that teachers meet when using e-elements in
their courses. Examples are the ethical and juridicial
effects of using ict in education. Also the teachers’ role as
an e-moderator is studied.
Project module: In the last module, teachers chose a
project, in which they prove they can integrate learning
elements of each of the previous modules and show their
acquired e-competencies. The results of the project
module should show to colleagues and staff that a change
in the teaching practice is realized and that the changes
have a positive impact on the learning-results of learners.
Other courses: There are more examples of courses,
like e.g. Sheffield Hallam University (UK) offers a Master
of Science in E-Learning (http://www.shu.ac.uk/educa
tion/elmac/). UOC (Spain) offers a European Certificate in
E-Learning Course Design and Teaching
(http://www.eden-online.org/contents/UOC_info.pdf).
Figure 1. 5 stage model, http://www.atimod.com/e-
tivities/5stage.shtml
iJET – Volume 4, Issue 2, June 2009
59
E-LEARNING COMPETENCIES FOR TEACHERS IN SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
But this is not enough. Teachers who want to change
need an innovative environment to act in. Therefore also
management has to change. For that reason our institution
offers together with the postgraduate e-learning also a
postgraduate pedagogical leadership for school-
management-teams. In this postgraduate school-leaders
can learn how to deal with innovation and high tech
learning environments.
And it doesn’t stop with those courses. Also a project,
called “Wireless Web Kids” was submitted and is funded
by the Flemish Government. In this project PDA’s and
iPhone’s are used to do some learning activities with geo-
cashing with pupils. This triangle (Management – Teacher
– Students) is needed to realize e-learning in education.
III. CONCLUSIONS
As conclusion can be formulated that realizing e-
learning competencies with teachers is a multidisciplinary
task that takes time. Technology is part of the course, but
ICT-competencies for teachers requires much more.
Teachers are part of school-live. If ICT-competencies
have to be developed and shown in teaching practice, the
board of directors have to develop a climate that
encourages the high-tech-use in schools. Pupils have to be
encouraged to learn using high-tech. Also cooperation
with the work floor in companies is necessary. Authentic
learning requires to imitate the real life at the workspace
as much as possible. E-learning is integrated in real-life,
so it also has to be implemented in secondary education
schools.
REFERENCES
[1] Anderson T., The theory and Practice of Online Learning, Second
Edition, 2008, AU Press Athabasca University, Edmonton,
Canada.
[2] Baars,G.J.A.; Wieland, A.; Van de Ven, M.J.J.M.; Jager, K.M.:
Leren (en) doceren met digitale leermiddelen in het hoger
onderwijs, 2006, Lemma, Den Haag, Nederland.
[3] Connectivism, http://www.connectivism.ca
[4] ECDL, http://www.ecdl.org/publisher/index.jsp
[5] Harper D., Education for a Digital World, Advice, Guidelines and
Effective Practice from Around the Globe, 2008, BCampus and
Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada.
[6] Hogenbirk, P.: Docenten: Klik ‘t Professionaliseren voor een ict-
praktijk, 2006, Utrecht, Nederland.
[7] Salmon G., E-Tivities, http://www.atimod.com/e-tivities/intro.
shtml
[8] Sheffield Hallam University, ELMAC, http://www.shu.ac.uk/edu
cation/elmac
[9] UOC, http://www.eden-online.org/contents/UOC_info.pdf
[10] U-Teacher, a European project on teachers’ professional profile in
ICT for education, http://ulearn.itd.ge.cnr.it/uteacher
[11] Zwaneveld B.; Bastiaens T.: Specifieke ICT competencies van
docenten, 2007, Onderwijsinnovatie, Open Universiteit Nederland.
AUTHORS
V. Awouters lecturer & researcher at Limburg Catholic
University College, Teachers Training dept, Agoralaan,
gebouw B bus 4, B3590 Diepenbeek Belgium (e-mail:
valere.awouters@khlim.be )
S. Jans, lecturer & researcher at Limburg Catholic
University College, Teachers Training dept, Agoralaan,
gebouw B bus 4, B3590 Diepenbeek Belgium (e-mail:
sebastiaan.jans@khlim.be )
This article was modified from a presentation at the International
Conference ICBL2008 in Florianópolis, Brazil, Novemer 2008.
Manuscript received 28 November 2008. Published as submitted by the
authors.
60
http://www.i-jet.org
