Ida Femc, Sara Ferlin, Klaudija Humar, Sabina Perenič, Matej Zapušek, Jože Rugelj, Univerza v Ljubljani, Pedagoška fakulteta, oddelek za matematiko in računalništvo

Over the past few years, the presence of game-based learning in Slovenian education has increased significantly. To further such utilization, an educational computer game was made, as a part of project within a computer science didactics class in the 4^th year of studies at Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, to help pupils learn and understand sorting algorithms, specifically bubble and selection sort. Both algorithms are introduced to pupils through an entertaining story, that later requires a construction of pseudo codes and tests the pupil’s newly acquired knowledge. The game doesn’t require any prior programming knowledge, which increases its usability and eases the teacher’s incorporation of the game into a structured lesson.

This paper presents the production and conceptual development of the game, with a focus on representation of algorithms in a pupil friendly, logical, explanatory and motivational way, as well as on the game itself.

Tajda Štrukelj, Maja Šušteršič, Gorazd Vasiljević, Matej Zapušek, Jože Rugelj, Univerza v Ljubljani, Pedagoška fakulteta, Oddelek za matematiko in računalništvo

Oto’s index is an educational computer game, based on programming concept of one and two dimensional arrays. It was created by a group of 4^th year undergraduate students of Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. It runs on eAdventure game engine and it is designed for students of second triennium in elementary schools.

The game’s main goal is to strengthen students’ algorithmic thinking, approaching programming concept of one and two dimensional arrays to students and connecting these concepts with real life forms of arrays. Since the elementary school curriculum does not include distinctly programming courses, the game can be used as part of computer literacy course or extra-curricular computer science activities.

Oto’s index provides the player with appropriate challenges and motivates him via feedback to achieve set educational goals. Players do not need any special prior knowledge to play and the game itself is designed to be simple and understandable for use. It runs in a single player mode and each player has an option of advancing at his own tempo.

The main content goal is the care for a dog called Oto, who represents the key motivation for solving problems inside the game. With successful completion of tasks, the player collects different goods for his Oto and thus increases Oto’s satisfaction. At the same time he or she is subconsciously learning about programming concept of one and two dimensional arrays. 

Vesna Gros, Renata Krivec, Petra Mikeln, Osnovna šola Polje, Ljubljana

As teachers we often ask ourselves how to encourage our students to think critically about what they hear and see and how to teach them to plan, monitor and assess their own progress and development.

According to many, critical thinking is one of the key competences of the 21^st century; therefore we believe that it should be fostered already in primary school. What exactly is critical thinking and how it can be developed, is the key topic of the EUfolio project, lead by the National Institute for Education. The main objective of the project is to incorporate up-to-date approach to teaching, monitoring and assessing knowledge and skills while using an e-portfolio.

This presentation will show how the students of 6^th–9^th grade at Primary School Polje have been introduced to critical thinking and encouraged to ponder about themselves as critical thinkers. Since critical thinking covers many different competences, we focused primarily on the distinction between facts and opinions; giving constructive feedback and evaluating own work and the work of others. Lessons have been carried out using the Maharaonline environment, which offers Moodle-like opportunities of connecting, opinion sharing, forums, uploading of various files etc.

Irena Rutar, Šolski center nova Gorica

Teaching chemistry should be based on experimental and task-based research work. It essentially comprises content-related activities with which students can solve problems.

During my previous chemistry lessons I always prepared teaching materials in advance and gave students clear instructions including the task description, the devices/equipment needed, the steps for the actual performing of the experiment and finally the questions providing consolidation and revision of the related content.

In this school year I have introduced a new method at acquiring experimental skills – i.e. the method of flipped learning with the help/use of tablet computers. At this type of teaching the emphasis is on the active role of the students throughout the whole learning process.

In the first part of the experimental practice I published the website link for a certain video clip in online classroom. The students watched the video at home and recognized the instructional steps for the completion of the task/activity. During the actual chemistry lesson the students independently wrote down the instructions for work with the help of the tablet computers and the instructional steps from their homework. I mostly offered the students mentoring and guidance. If it was necessary, I helped them during the lesson, cooperated with them and encouraged their mutual collaboration and help.

The second part of the experimental practice was carried out as pair work. One student was accomplishing his task in the laboratory, the other was recording the whole process. They watched each other’s videos at home and uploaded the written evaluation/comments of them to the online classroom.

Janja Androić, Franci Kolar, JVIZ l. osnovna šola Rogaška Slatina

Due to constant development of computer technology new models of teaching have appeared in the recent years. One of the models is flipped learning, which combines online learning with face-to-face instruction. Learners watch online tutorials made by their teachers (or someone else) and prepare for the lesson at home. A teacher spends valuable class time assisting, coaching and guiding their learners in class. This article explains what flipped learning is, its advantages, how to prepare a video tutorial and how to flip your classroom. We flipped English lesson in 6^th class. Screencasting software Camstudio and video editing software Movie Maker were used to prepare the tutorial, which was posted on Youtube. Learners watched the video at home and practiced and expanded vocabulary in class. They loved this model because they found this kind of homework different and interesting and they were very anxious to watch the tutorial. Learners were more active during the lesson than during ‘traditional’ lessons.

Robert Murko, Osnovna šola Videm pri Ptuju

There are many teachers who face oral presentations by their students and other various presentations in the classroom. Students must make a poster for his or her presentation. There are still a lot of »paper posters« in use but they are available to students only in particular classrooms and for a specific time. By using Glogster (http://www.glogster.com/) we allow student to produce electronic posters in an environment that is easy to use, free for educational purposes, and of course, accessible to all students, anytime and anywhere. The paper presents an example of the use of Glogster at Science. Students made posters on different topics by using Glogster.

Students work in small groups (in threes). They divide work according to their strengths, so that one takes field photographing, the other prepares background music and the third designs the whole image. Before starting they determine the basic concept of the poster together. Following the guidelines that they have set together they prepare their parts. The emphasis is on cooperation, coordination and the development of strong personal skills in the context of the total product. The product is made on-line so students can see it at any time as a whole and make changes and improvements. The final product is available to all students and can be used as a high-quality multimedia learning tool.

Tina Žagar Pernar, Tatjana Lotrič Komac, Osnovna šola Naklo

The shown example, which includes cooperative learning, the principles of the so called fit pedagogy and ICT (e-portfolio, tablet, questionnaire), stimulates development of lateral or critical thinking and thus makes students aware of the fact that the process of learning is a lengthy procedure which they can have influence on and must take responsibility for, not to mention critical distance.

EUfolio project and trial version of using tablets in 8^th class, made the authors realise that a systematic approach to critical thinking is a long process and it has to be implemented as early as possible in the development of a child. Consequently it seemed appropriate to use this new teaching approach in 6^th class during lessons of Slovene. After discussing different literary genres, students had to create a story with the help of a shared folder. They chose one of the genres (detective, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi story) and wrote the beginning. Then they changed their position, did a short physical activity and continued with the story. They had to read the beginning and write a logical follow-up. After they finished the stories, they assessed the content and grammar and gave feedback to the writers. Apart from that, they had to reflect on the work in the form of an online questionnaire.

It turned out that this kind of work is demanding for students because they are not used to it, however, it benefits the weaker students whose progress improves because they are responsible to their group and have to participate.

mag. Vera Stoilov Spasova, Osnovna šola Naklo

A tablet computer, a wireless Internet connection and on-line interactive exercises have made studying English much more interesting and teaching has become easier because the students are more motivated. In my lessons I use a website for creating interactive on-line exercises. The website is free and you only need to create an account. The mentioned site enables the user to create various types of exercises where you can insert texts, images, audios and videos. You can create different games, quizzes, crosswords, mind maps, cloze tests, number lines, etc. There is also a template with the possibility to enrich an audio or video recording with additional information banners. A tablet computer is also very useful for the application called Kliker (classroom response system) which motivates students to actively engage in studying and the teacher gets immediate feedback about the students’ understanding.

Mojca Janžekovič, Osnovna šola Toma Brejca Kamnik

The teacher’s role in the classroom is to teach pupils to use a particular piece of information in everyday life, to think critically and to find meaningful answers in everyday situations. In order to assess knowledge, the pupil has to put the teaching contents into different situations, solve problems, compare, conclude and explain while maintaining a critical opinion as well as creativity (Rutar Ilc, 2003). Pupils may achieve all of the above-mentioned learning goals by participating in a bulletin board. Furthermore, they also deepen their skills of using a computer, Internet communication and argumentation. In the e-classroom, two bulletin boards are published. One of them is a platform for debates on a subject matter, expressing opinions and moderating. The other one serves as an answer-forum for the teacher’s questions. The pupils have to participate actively, search for solutions and give opinions and answers to their schoolmates’ questions. Attached to their posts are pictures or/and quotes of experts and reliable book or Internet sources. The goals of this activity include life learning, use of various skills, and development of critical thinking, argumentation and creativity. The activity immerses the pupils into the process of re-evaluating the usefulness of the World Wide Web. Pupils become actively involved on many levels and gain a lifelong knowledge. Due to its diversity and casualness, this method of teaching and assessing is very popular with the pupils.

Mirijam Pirc, Šolski center nova Gorica

I introduced cooperative learning in my physics lessons in 2006. Since then I have been using two different methods of cooperative learning: the original group compound and cooperative cards. When students use the method of original group compound, every member of the group does his exercise and then he presents it to other members of the group. Students exchange roles, so that they play a role of a student and a teacher alternatively, when they use the method of cooperation cards.

In the last year I upgraded the cooperative learning with the use of tablets. Cooperative cards were made on www.cram.com, where students can check their knowledge by answering the question which is on the front side of the card. Meanwhile the other student sees the answer on the back side of the card and checks and writes down notes on the performance of his colleague. When students use the method of original group compound I use interactive exercises where the data changes. Each student must solve correctly his exercise in the first lesson, then take a photo of it and send it to other members of the group. In the next lesson students explain their exercise to the rest of the group.

The use of tablets brings a change to our lessons. Students prefer learning with tablets to learning on paper. The learning material is always at hand and it is cannot be lost. That is a big advantage. The interactive exercises have two priorities. Students cannot copy exercises from their schoolmates and they can repeat the exercise several times because the solutions will always be different.