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Educational Technology
in Higher Education –
Methodological Considerations
Ida Dringó-Horváth
Judit Dombi
László Hülber
Zsófia Menyhei
Tibor M. Pintér
Adrienn Papp-Danka
ICT Research Centre Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary
Budapest, 2021
Funded by the Education informatics in higher education project (no.
20629B800) supported by Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed
Church in Hungary.
Dringó-Horváth Ida, Dombi Judit, Hülber László, Menyhei Zsófia, M. Pintér
Tibor & Papp-Danka Adrienn (2020). Oktatásinformatika módszertana a
felsőoktatásban. KRE IKT.
Editors
Ida Dringó-Horváth, Tibor M. Pintér
Authors
Ida Dringó-Horváth, Judit Dombi, László Hülber,
Zsófia Menyhei, Tibor M. Pintér, Adrienn Papp-Danka
Reviewer
Zsuzsa Gonda
Translators
Csaba Maczelka
Proof-reader
Paul Crowson and Judit Dombi
ISBN: 978-615-5961-69-4 (pdf)
Video materials were filmed and edited in the studio of the Károli Gáspár
University of the Reformed Church in Hungary
Video: Dániel Körösényi, Gergely Kutai
Editor: Kozma Gyula, Pék Barnabás
© Authors, editors, 2021
© ICT Research Centre
Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, 2021
© KRE BTK Studio
Table of Contents
Introduction 4
1. Professional Engagement 8
Ida Dringó-Horváth & Tibor M. Pintér
Introduction 8
1.1. Organisational Communication 9
1.2. Professional Collaboration 13
1.3. Reflective Practice 20
1.4. Digital Continuous Professional Development 26
References 31
2. Digital Resources 32
Ida Dringó-Horváth & Tibor M. Pintér
Introduction 32
2.1. Selecting Digital Resources 33
2.2. Creating and Modifying Digital Resources 39
2.3. Managing, Protecting and Sharing Digital Resources 50
References 54
3. Teaching and Learning 55
Zsófia Menyhei
Introduction 55
3.1. Teaching 55
3.2. Guidance 61
3.3. Collaborative Learning 65
3.4. Self-regulated Learning 71
References 74
4. Assessment 76
László Hülber
Introduction 76
4.1. Assessment Strategies 77
4.2. Analysing Evidence 88
4.3. Feedback and Planning 92
References 97
5. Empowering Learners 99
Judit Dombi
Introduction 99
5.1. Accessibility and Inclusion 100
5.2. Dierentiation and Personalisation 105
5.3. Actively Engaging Learners 111
References 115
6. Facilitating Learners’
Digital Competence 117
Adrienn Papp-Danka
Introduction 117
6.1. Information and Media Literacy 118
6.2. Digital Communication and Collaboration 122
6.3. Digital Content Creation 128
6.4. Responsible Use 131
6.5. Digital Problem Solving 135
References 137
4 INTRODUCTION
and critical thinking, elaborate information management skills and advanced
communication skills” (Demeter, 2006
3
).
The six chapters of the volume are organised around the six areas set out
in the DigCompEdu Framework of Reference, which are interconnected in
several ways (Figure 1).
Chapter 1 explores the field of professional engagement and provides ideas
on how to use digital technologies to promote communication, collaboration
and professional development, and scientific visibility. Chapter 2 deals with
digital resources – how to find, create and share digital resources eectively
in our educational and academic activities. Chapter 3 discusses teaching and
learning, seeking to promote the management and coordinated use of digital
technologies in teaching and learning by presenting specific good practices
and useful applications. Chapter 4 focuses on assessment – how to increase the
eectiveness of assessment by using digital technologies or strategies. The apt
use of digital tools also contributes to increased inclusion, personalisation and
student engagement, and the relevant opportunities are discussed in Chapter
5 on dierent means to support learners. Finally, Chapter 6 explores how to
support the acquisition of digital competences – how to help students use digital
technologies creatively and responsibly to obtain information, communicate,
create dierent types of content and solve problems.
The structure of each chapter follows the activities defined in the
DigCompEdu framework. In addition to a short explanation of the most
important theoretical notions, we provide ideas about how to implement
each activity in a practical form, with methodological ideas, and examples.
The original Hungarian version of the book included interviews
conducted for each chapter with acclaimed experts who also have teaching
3 Demeter, K. (2 006, Ed.). Akompetencia. Budapest: Országos Közoktatási Intézet.
INTRODUCTION
Dear Reader,
Educational Technology in Higher Education – Methodological Considerations
is a handbook promoting and supporting the conscious use of digital tools
among instructors in higher education. The content of the volume has
been composed in accordance with the Digital Competence Framework for
Educators (DigCompEdu, Redecker, 20171).
In our interpretation, in a higher education environment the concept of
educational informatics include s skills related to the use of infocommunication
technologies in teaching and learning, as well as other activities related to
education, like education management, related individual and organisational
communication, and research activities (cf. Kárpáti & Hunya, 2009
2
).
The concept should be understood as part of the wider notion of digital
competence, which “encompasses the confident, critical and ethical use
of the technologies of the information society, and of the content made
available and transmitted by these technologies in social relations, work,
communication and leisure.” (NAT, 2012, p. 19) The European Council defines
it as one of the key competences of lifelong learning, which is “linked to logical
1 Redecker, C. ( 2017). European f ramework for the dig ital competence of ed ucators: DigCom pEdu
(JRC1 07466). Seville, Spain: Joint Research Centre.
2 Kárpáti, A. & Hunya, M. (2009). Kísérlet atanárok IKT-kompetenciája közös európai referen-
ciakeretének kialakítására – aU-Teacher Projekt II . Új Pedagógiai Szemle, 59(3), 83–119.
INTRODUCTION 5
Before reading the handbook, it is advisable to perform self-assessment
concerning where we stand in dierent competences, what our strengths
are and where we might need to improve.
The assessment can be carried out in
this multilingual self-assessment test.
The test can be downloaded in
dierent languages.
Click / Sc an Click / Scan
experience in higher education. Every chapter in the English translation
features shorter English excerpts which provide additional knowledge and
practical information for the given thematic unit.
Each chapter refers to the relevant results of a comprehensive research
project carried out in 2019 by the KRE ICT Research Centre which relied
on the cited framework to assess the digital competences of instructors in
Hungarian teacher training (Horváth et al., 2020, N=183). The figure below
illustrates the results responding trainees achieved in each area through
their self-assessment (Figure 2).
Figure 1. DigCompEdu Framework of Reference (source: Redecker, 2017)
Selecting digital resources
Assessment strategies
DIGITAL RESOURCES
ASSESSMENT
Creating and modifying
digital resources
Analysing evidence
Managing, protecting and
sharing digital resources
Feedback and planning
2.
4.
2.1.
4.1.
2.2.
4.2.
2.3.
4.3.
Organisational
communication
PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Professional collaboration
Reflective practice
Digital Continuous Professional
Development
1.
1.1.
1.2.
1.3.
1.4.
Teaching
Guidance
Collaborative learning
Self-regulated learning
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Accessibility and inclusion
Dierentiation and personalisation
Actively engaging learners
EMPOWERING LEARNERS
3.
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
5.
5.1.
5.2.
5.3.
3.4.
Information and media literacy
Digital communication and
collaboration
Digital content creation
Responsible use
Digital problem solving
FACILITATING LEARNERS’
DIGITAL COMPETENCE
6.
6.1.
6.2.
6.3.
6.4.
6.5.
Educators’ professional competences Tearners’ competencesEducators’ pedagogic competences
6 INTRODUCTION
How should an instructor start and then continue to use digital
pedagog y? What are the first tea ching and academ ic activities that
should be supported by digital means?
Gábor Halász:
It is a fact that a significant number of our students are
much better informed and prepared in this field than we
instructors. They are characterised by a high degree of
digital creativity, and such students should be supported in
their use of these technologies in a creative way.
Judit Szivák:
Find a pair of students wh o can support you in this field and
work together with them, taking small steps and trying out
what you are learning in dierent scenarios. And you will
need a good deal of patience as well! You cannot escape
experimenting on your own, and a wide range of mistakes
are inevitable.
Andrea Kárpáti:
It is best to deliberate on the kinds of teaching or research
activities we are not satisfied with. So you have to look at
where you want to improve and look for an educational IT
solution for this!
András Benedek:
Some basic knowledge s hould be organised in a concentrated
way. We should get involved in open educational structures
and open educational courses.
If, based on our self-assessment, we have successfully identified the
areas where we need to improve, it is advisable to study the relevant
chapters of the handbook first. This is possible because the six chapters,
while interconnected and cross-referenced in many cases, are independent
units in themselves, so they may be approached individually, breaking the
usual linear order of reading.
We sincerely hope that the practical content, supplemented by multimedia
elements gathered here, will provide real help for higher education instructors
to put digital tools into practice in both their teaching and academic activities.
Although its concepts had already been under formulation for some time, the
Covid-19 pandemic lent the handbook particular relevance and currency.
For inspiration, here are some tips from the experts:
0
5
10
15
20
1. Professional
engagement
2. Digital
resources
4. Assessment 5. Empowe ring
students
6. Facilitating
learners’ digital
competence
3. Teachin g
and
learning
Figure 2. Results responding trainees achieved in each area
through their self-assessment
INTRODUCTION 7
Gyöngyvér Molnár:
It is crucial to see that technology is just a tool. Technology
should not determine the direction of changes itself, but
should be the catalyst for the changes, i.e. we should use
digital solutions as a tool and not as a goal.
Gyöngyi Bujdosó:
Early career instructors should definitely use these tools
for their own purposes first – in order to see how they can
apply them, what they like about them and what they find
inspiring. Only then should they start to introduce these
digital tools in the curriculum.
Attila László Főző:
It is important that educators and instructors who are now
opening up to digital technology should first let digital
solutions into their own personal learning environments,
and explore them – this requires time and a little
perseverance.
On behalf of the authors, I wish you all the best for the successful use of
these new technologies.
Ida Dringó-Horváth (project manager)
ICT Research Centre,
Project "Education Informatics in Higher Education"
Márta Turcsányi-Szabó:
If we want to start using digital tools, whether in teaching
or research, we must be sure to choose the right tool for
our own objectives and our own p edagogical methodology.
János Ollé:
I think that it is very important in the educational
introduction of any use of ICT tools to look for dierent
technological solutions for our existing pedagogical goals
and tasks.
Helga Dorner:
We should talk to colleagues with a similar philosophy,
who teach in a similar way, and who already understand
and feel some of the eects of these tools on learning and
teaching: this is how methodological reflection and the
use of tools themselves can meet.
Éva Bodnár:
Firstly, we should throw in some little things to make our
classes more colourful. Once we have gained confidence,
we can start reading about the methodology. It is not the
tool itself that is important, but how we can integrate it
into the teaching and learning process.
Tibor Prievara:
We should not expect immediate success; we have to keep
trying, five, six, ten times even. Many good practices are
now available and we can start with one of them.
8 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
technological development is gaining ground in higher education, creating a
growing demand for the acquisition and skill-level application of various new
teaching competencies – especially in teacher education (Khvilon & Patru,
2002). One of the cornerstones of professional development is regular and
eective self-reflection, the level of which correlates with the development
of the educator’s digital pedagogical competencies (Dringó-Horváth et al.,
2020). Analytical, critical reflection and evaluation concerning our digital
education practice and that of our teaching community helps us to become
active players in the development of digital competencies.
The first topic is explored in Chapter 1.1. Organisational Communication,
which deals extensively with the role of institutional support in the
development of digital competencies, emphasising the importance of
the understanding of institutional digital strategies and the development
opportunities they open up. In conne ction with this, Chapter 1.2. Professional
Collaboration, presents the opportunities oered by digital tools to facilitate
cooperation, communication, and knowledge sharing between colleagues,
as well as to update teaching practices with digital methods. The final two
subchapters focus on the importance of individual responsibility. Chapter
1.3. Reflective Practice, concerns the possibilities of reflection on our digital
education practice and the practice of our teaching community, as well as
the possibilities of active participation in the improvement of this practice,
while some further aspects of professional development that can be
eected with digital tools are discussed in Chapter 1.4. Digital Continuous
Professional Development.
We interviewed the professors and educational experts Dr. Gábor Halász,
DSc (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest) and Dr. Judit Szivák (Eötvös
Loránd University) about the topics in this chapter.
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Ida Dringó-Horváth and TiborM. Pintér
Introduction
When we talk about the digital competence of educators, a fundamental
aspect is to suitably exploit the opportunities technology oers for
professional communication with colleagues, students (or, if necessary,
the families of students) and third parties of the university, as well as for
their continuous professional development and the improvement of related
professional communities (Council of the European Union, 2017).
Institutional support is a key factor in this process, and the positive
eects it has on teacher competencies are corroborated by test results
(cf. Dringó-Horváth, Hülber, M. Pintér, & Papp-Danka, 2020). Putting
digital competencies into practice requires the right infrastructure and
tools, but most of all the right approach, involving a strategic thinking that
recognises the importance of digital competencies and their development
(even incorporating them into the quality assurance process), and a
certain leadership attitude This system-wide approach includes training
programmes, curricula and teaching materials that are in line with digitally
assisted educational models (European Commission, 2018).
Equally important is the responsibility of educators for their own
development and, in this context, for the continuous development of
their digital competencies. Continuous professional development is much
needed in all fields, but especially in the area of digital competencies, since
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 9
less often, or hardly at all, be they learning management systems (LMS),
webinar software, or other web 2.0-based tools.
The idea of the digital footprint is a multifaceted concept, representing
not only content published online, but also our entire online presence, such
as public searches, liking content, or the transparency of personal data
regarding email accounts and registrations. The digital footprint is actually
a social factor – a behaviour pattern, a specific form of behaviour in society
– that can be compared to the way we dress, and it can be either passive
(generated unintentionally) or active (when intentionally submitting
something online) (McDermot, 2018). In our teaching activity, we act both as
instructors and individuals, and these two spheres of activity may converge
very frequently. It matters how we present ourselves to others and what we
allow them to see of us, and we should thus be consciously present in both
professional and personal digital space as we can (even if inadvertently)
serve as role models.
How important is it for teachers to leave digital footprints during
their digital activities, and how should they do it?
Judit Szivák:
The first question is how to deal with the fact that it is
impossible not to leave a mark. Nowadays, the boundaries
between personal and professional space are terribly
blurred. It is important for students to understand that
while they are preparing in a typical student role for a typical non-student role,
they must learn what footprints they can leave and how to present themselves
online.
1.1. Organisational Communication
To use digital technologies to enhance organisational communication
with learners, parents and third parties. To contribute to collaboratively
developing and improving organisational communication strategies.
An institution with digital awareness has its own channels specifically
designed for institutional communication where – in addition to the digital
content needed for education – documents relating to the institution
and the educators also appear, while communication with third parties is
established as well. Such an institution typically pays attention to the digital
communication behaviours of dierent age groups and social strata, and
develops several dierent communication platforms accordingly. Starting
from the website of any major university, we mostly see that not only the
websites of the individual faculties and organis ational units can be accesse d,
but that we can also find the university’s Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
LinkedIn and Twitter links. It is also typical that the sta and students of the
university are kept up to date through digital newsletters.
Constantly updated contact details for instructors and lists of their
scientific activities and publications can be an integral part of the digital
communication of the institution. In addition, important content can be
displayed on the personal websites of educators, researchers and other
sta working in the institution.
The Covid-19 pandemic in many ways amplified the digital presence of
educational institutions and the flow of online information. Online education
has encouraged educators’ use of digital solutions for communication and
content sharing, increasing the use of tools that were previously employed
10 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
necessarily as important as the information they display. One of the main
advantages of digital information interfaces is that they can be updated
quickly, which is a basic expectation of today’s users.
It is necessary, therefore, to keep personal and professional websites
(e.g. on linkedin.com, researchgate.net, GoogleScholar or academia.edu),
or institutional and departmental pages up to date. Regularly maintained
digital interfaces allow for quick access to regulations by tracking changes
(e.g. final exam requirements sorted by year of admission). They can also
provide an opportunity for the per sonalised management of students’ work.
The transparent documentation of student progress can be facilitated, for
example, by providing personal access to assessments, which can even be
done (with the right sharing settings) using Google Docs.
The advantage of shared folders is that students’ work is easily
accessible, and the assessment process can be tracked: in addition to
assessment notes, student reflections can also appear and peer assessment
can be easily carried out (see Chapter 4.3). Due to this, the systematisation,
storage and evaluation of student work is much easier and transparent than
in the case of materials submitted on paper or sent by email.
Personalised information sharing can work well either via email or
through the Canvas, Moodle or Neptun systems (see Chapter 2.3 and
Chapter 5.2).
With regard to information sharing, a primary task is to regularly
maintain the interfaces and set up passwords. When using passwords, it is a
good idea to change them regularly (every two months, say) or, if possible,
use two-step verification (Figure 1.1).
Gábor Halász:
Those involved in research or teaching, those who create
knowledge and share it with others, have a fundamental
interest in the preservation of their information. For
example, an educator or a researcher simply must have a
personal website, where they share not only their CV, but may store knowledge
content. They can record their reflections or write a blog. Every researcher or
educator who wishes to disseminate their knowledge must have a digital sphere
where it is possible to store this and share it with others. That’s how people can
learn from them.
An educator who uses organis ational-level digital communication eectively
can be characterised as possessing the following abilities:
To use digital technologies to make additional learning resources and
information available to learners and third parties, to communicate
organisational procedures to learners and parents, e.g. rules, appointments,
events, and to inform learners on an individual basis, e.g. on progress and
issues of concern.
More about the diversity of digital content and the various ways it can be
used can be found in Chapter 2. 2, but here, it is useful to distinguish between
organisational and pers onal space. From the point of view of organisational
and institutional space, institutional web pages have a special significance,
since with their help we can share news and information both within the
institution (with teachers and students) and with third parties. Creating
such pages is rather simple. Content management systems such as
Drupal
,
Joomla
,
Plone
or
Django
are easily installed on an institution’s server and
they are constantly updated by developers. With such pages, design is not
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 11
training systems. To facilitate this, there are centres for educational IT support
for teachers, the main purpose of which is to provide advice and training on
educational and research processes, as well as on their application in higher
education. A significant number of universities worldwide have a centre
dedicated to this purpose, and it is heartening to see more and more such
organisational units in institutions. It is important that the scope of the unit’s
activities should not be limited to IT and technical services – methodological
support for teachers and students should also be given due emphasis in the
digital learning space, and the appropriate methodological use of modern
technology in teaching and research should be promoted.
We should find out if our institution has a similar organisational
unit and learn how to make use of its services and support in
our educational and research activities, or how to apply them to
a specific issue or problem. It is also worth looking for similar
services in other institutions and using them as much as possible.
The content of an institution’s digital strategy has an impact on its
communication strategy as well. Digital support for internal communication
(e.g. newsletters for teachers, information pages, university community
forums, knowledge-sharing platforms for research groups , etc.) is becoming
more and more frequent, while external communication is also increasingly
characterised by the use of digital tools (dierent types of institutional
online presence, networks established with professional partners and
communities, connection to international online networks, online operation
of alumni networks, etc.). The communication strategy also sets out the
general rules for institutional communication, which allows the individual
organisational units (faculty, institute, department, research group) to act in
1 Enter your password
You’ll enter your p assword. Whe never you sign in to Google , you’ll enter your pas sword as usual. .
2 You’ll be asked for something else.
Then, a code will be sent to your phone via text, voice call, or our mobile app. Or, if you have a
Securit y Key, you can insert it in to your computer’s USB po rt.
Figure 1.1 Two-step verification in Google
To contribute to collaboratively developing and improving organisational
communication strategies. To examine and critically evaluate the digital
practice and regulations of the institution, and actively participate in their
inception and development.
The IT (often ICT) strategy of institutions and their regulations summarise
the prescribed roles and functions of digital technologies in institutional
communication, education, research and publications. Related to this, an
institutional IT strategy may also be present, in which the digital competence
of teachers is a basic expec tation, but at the same time continuously improved,
enabling and encouraging the use of digital pedagogy and providing
appropriate infrastructural parameters, curricula, regulations and internal
12 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
We should find out if our institution has a digital strategy. Based on its
detailed practical description, we can usually identify how important the
role of educational technology is in our institution, and it can also help to
identify how consistent our own use of tools is with the current and future
ideas of our organisational unit.
An extensive study of our institution’s digital strategy can help
us to recognise if our own educational-technological expertise
and practices can contribute to the development of the current
strategic ideas, and it is worthwhile forwarding our suggestions for
development to those responsible, following an appropriate ocial
route. In doing so, it is advisable to refer to both the research and
literature on innovative teaching that supports our proposals and
the cooperation with potential colleagues and researchers during the
evaluation of innovative methods and the development of proposals.
In any activity that involves innovation – be it at the level of
institution, institute, department, or professional research group
– the following questions supporting the analytical evaluation of
innovation may be very useful (Szivák, 2014, p. 82):
• What are the professional and personal reasons and motives
behind the innovation?
• What are the conditions for initiating the innovation (external,
internal factors)? What preparations have been made?
• How can we analyse the situation or problem that is the subject
of the innovation?
• What is the purpose of the innovation?
• What is the coope ration of the participants in the inn ovation like?
• How does the introduction of the innovation take place
(creating a development plan and conditions)?
a unified way and to show a unified image to students and third parties. This
may feature the use of uniform visual elements but also includes the ethical
and legal regulations of communication, such as the time within which
teachers are required to respond to a student forum entry in an institutional
LMS or to an email sent to their institutional mailbox. It is also part of the
communication strategy that the institution informs the students of which
organisational unit or member of sta to turn to regarding a particular
problem, and what communication tool (email, forum, etc.) is to be used.
Digital space has its own characteristic rules of behaviour, so it is a good
idea to learn about the concept of netiquette (see Chapter 6.2). In this
respect, it is useful if educational and institutional presence can, as far as
possible, serve as a positive example.
It is a good idea to lay down the codes of conduct in digital space, and
to know and apply them naturally. Our expert has some tips concerning
the rules of communication between the instructor and the student, or the
organisation and its members:
What are the main guidelines for using the digital space?
Gábor Halász:
Leaking private data or losing confidential information,
knowing what I can access as an educator or as a student,
and similar matters raise a range of ethical and regulatory
issues. But regulations alone cannot keep these things in
order; we need to create a culture of data management, where people are
no longer motivated by rules, but routinely and instinctively know what is
acceptable and what is not. In the light of this, formal regulations and building
an organisational culture must run in parallel because the latter plays a much
greater role in shaping people’s behaviour than formal rules do.
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 13
The definition of professional communities organised for the purpose
of mutual learning, regardless of the level of education or the form of
participation or media, is, according to Stoll et al. (2006, p. 223), as follows:
“a group of people sharing and critically interrogating their practice in an
ongoing, reflective, collaborative, inclusive, learning-oriented, growth-
promoting way; operating as a collective enterprise.”
Even though our continuous professional and methodological-
pedagogical development is primarily a personal process, the active
participation in professional communities and networks is paramount in
bringing about change. The DigCompEdu framework lists the following
abilities, among others, as characteristic of an educator experienced in
professional cooperation:
To use digital technologies to engage in collaboration with other educators
on a specific task or project.
What kind of digital communication strategy should an educator
develop with colleagues, students and professional partners?
Judit Szivák:
There are relatively well-established platforms for
communicating with colleagues. What is really a success
story is docume nt editing on a common interface, which was
a qualitative leap in scientific work. For me, there are two
important communication channels with students: email and Canvas. Among
many other rules, we always set this out at the beginning of the semester.
Students can only reach me through these channels and they can only expect
feedback from me through them. Recently, I have been increasingly shifting this
communication towards Canvas be cause, as a collaborative workspace, it has the
huge advantage that everyone will find everything there.
• How does the innovation take place: testing solutions,
analysing experiences, corrective options?
• How is the innovation received (by the educational community,
parents, students, etc.)?
• What are the accomplishments and diculties during the
implementation of the innovation? Is the innovation successful?
• In what forums do we share the innovation? In what forums would
we like to share it in the future? How sustainable is the innovation?
1.2. Professional Collaboration
To use digital technologies to engage in collaboration with other
educators, sharing and exchanging knowledge and experience, and
collaboratively innovating pedagogic practices.
At all levels of education, only continuous professional development
ensures the eciency and success of teaching, a cornerstone of which
is cooperation between colleagues and the sharing of knowledge. In
the past, this was achieved in a narrow circle only, traditionally within
the professional communities of the given institution. Today, however,
educators are increasingly taking advantage of participation in virtual
communities, as these are not limited in space and time, and the range of
participants is significantly expanded (and is growing continuously). Within
such a framework, we can quickly and eciently share learning resources,
our own curricula and our best practices. The introduction of professional
online collaboration is of particular importance when other tasks, mainly
of an administrative nature, may make these activities more dicult or
marginalised.
14 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
Communication methods for collaboration can be synchronous (real-time,
e.g. online meetings, video conferencing) and asynchronous (e.g. email,
forums, blogs). The use of digital tools can also help the transparency and
proper monitoring of communication processes and projects, e.g. by using
Trello.
Using online voting and appointment scheduling applications such
asDoodle, Congregar andDudle can help when organising online meetings.
IdőPont.net (Figure 1.2, click on the flag for the English version) oers a similar
function, but provides a dierent solution: if we enter the email addresses of
participants and the possible dates, the system will automatically notify the
participants, oer the most suitable time(s) based on the received feedback,
and then notify the invitees of the final date(s). In some apps we can also
link the invitation to a specific calendar (e.g. Google, Outlook). The event will
appear as a calenda r entry for all those invited and we can see the final number
of participants from the feedback (yes, no, maybe).Foodle is a matching
service with federated identity (EduID), suitable not only for matching dates,
but also for matching ideas and lists. Once we have entered the parameters
for the area to be negotiated (for example, “invitees”, “to be procured”, etc.),
participants can vote on it and Foodle summarises the results in a clear way.
Gábor Halász:
This raises the question of whether we are thinking of
educators, a community of educators, or an organisation
made up of a community of educators. I would encourage
everyone to move their thinking towards the last-mentioned
category and not to envision isolated teachers and trainers, but communities
where knowledge is constantly being shared and communities which digital
technology can dramatically strengthen.
In the tools used in the course of international scientific and educational
collaboration, digital technology occupies an increasingly important place
both in terms of information sharing, support of communication and
cooperation, and regarding joint creation and the storage of products.
The use of these methods oers many new opportunities for the ecient
implementation and administration of activities.
We should develop well-functioning protocols and frameworks
for online collaboration in our own professional community. It is
advisable to agree on the tools to be used, on how to schedule
and announce online meetings, and on the online means of
administration. If we wish to make recordings, we must ask for
the prior consent of all participants and agree on the availability,
storage method and preservation time of the recordings.
Recordings of the cooperation processes and discussions allow
those absent to be informed of the proceedings, and they can also
serve as a useful reminder for the participants themselves
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 15
To use digital technologies to share and exchange knowledge, resources
and experiences with colleagues and peers. To use digital technologies to
collaboratively develop educational resources.
Collaborating groups are characterised by a jointly undertaken and
continuously synchronised common task, shared resources, procedures,
problems and glossary, as well as close working relationships (Lengyelné
Molnár, Kis-Tóth, Antal, & Racskó, 2015). An important element of most
cooperations, including professional collaborations, is the creation of a
common product: the common activity, the common object of knowledge
created by teamwork (Lengyelné Molnár et al., 2015).
Online communities and networks that cooperate in this fashion can be
found on the Internet in the form of institutional or independent portals, as
well as on social media platforms related to all fields, including all forms of
scientific and professional activity. Visiting these regularly and subscribing
to their newsletter and information services can help us stay up to date
concerning the release of new content and the organisation of important
events (conferences, webinars, etc.).
The importance of reciprocity must be emphasised: through
regular and active participation, the knowledge base of
professional communities expands and becomes a useful field
for self-education and professional further training for a growing
audience. We should therefore ensure that we take part in these
communities not only as end users, but also as contributors
by oering our own content, good practices and training
programmes.
Figure 1.2. Creating a new event by időPont.net – idopont.net/newEvent.php
For information on suitable and safe ways to share digital resources, see
Chapter 2.3. To jointly edit content, prepare project results and create
products, we can use online content sharing and editing interfaces. The two
most popular services in this field are Google Drive andMicrosoft OneDrive.
These are cloud-based file sharing sites that allow you to store any content
you upload or produce in your service provider’s hosting space and, with the
appropriate permissions, edit them with others. In addition to web access,
applications can be installed as desktop and mobile applications, so they
can be accessed from a variety of devices – in the same state of editing,
thanks to the built-in sync feature.
To learn more about digital tools for the joint presentation of the results
of professional projects, see Chapter 2.2; for ideas on how to create and use
interfaces (blogs, project websites, etc.) for the publication and long-term
accessibility of such results, see Chapter 2.3.
16 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
To use professional collaborative networks to explore and reflect on new
pedagogic practices and methods.
The task of teachers dedicated to research an d innovation is to continuously
develop and train themselves in their subjects and pedagogical and
methodological activities. A proper understanding of our pedagogical
practice, methodological repertoire and professional skills is an essential
precondition for progress and development in these areas. There are
several ways to receive feedback on the eectiveness of our teaching and
research work (e. g. through discussions with colleagues and students,
questionnaires administered either collective or individually centred on
our work, communicating in online professional forums or just reading
literature), yet all this feedback can only have a developmental eect and
be incorporated into our practice after proper reflection (cf. Szivák, 2014;
for the significance of individual and collective evaluation and reflection,
and suggested methods, see Chapter 1.3).
A great example of how to build professional networks focusing on the
methodological training of teachers is the European Higher Education Area
and Bologna Process (EHEA, see above for details).
Regardless of our specific p rofessional field, the following higher-education -
related portals are useful starting points for cooperation and knowledge
sharing:
• COL (The Commonwealth of Learning) is the only intergovernmental
organisation in the world dedicated exclusively to the promotion and
development of distance and open learning.
• EHEA (European Higher Education Area) is an international cooperation
network related to higher education, in which the modernisation and
quality transformation of higher education is carried out through joint
development and mobility projects and the development of quality
assurance elements.
• EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe) is an open
community of professionals involved in adult learning. The portal of the
organisation features professiona l materials, projects and good prac tices.
There are several professional communities within the organisation, but
we can create our own professional community related to our activities
according to individual needs.
• Hochschulforum Digitalisierung is a community of professionals involved
in the digitisation of higher education, helping to keep people interested
in the topic by the frequent publication of articles and the regular
organisation of webinars and conferences.
The significance of active online communities and groups dealing with
higher education methodology lies mainly in quick assistance, problem
solving and eective information transfer based on reciprocity (e.g. the
announcement of upcoming events).
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 17
seminars. The main result of the project is the free DIGICOMP e-learning
portal.
• The free CRISS MOOC Digital competence for teachers online course
provides knowledge concerning digital competence in the classroom.
Access to the MOOC course is free for all teachers in the European Union.
Our methodological development can be facilitated by an awareness
of the latest ideas about learning and up-to-date professional research. A
great help in this may be Learning how to learn, which is available as part of
the Coursera online course collection. (For more about similar websites and
courses, see Chapter 1.4)
.
How should educators develop their digital competencies?
Gábor Halász:
Every single educator has their own unique approach.
It would be very dicult to make uniform conclusions
about this question. Personally speaking, I do not plan my
development in advance, but when I run into a problem, I
seek knowledge, or improve my skills to solve it. I feel that
if we do not try an idea out in practice, if we do not experiment with it, we
will learn very little from it. Of course, others prefer the systematic acquisition
of knowledge. Within an institution, the best solution is probably to support
people’s learning from each other as much as possible.
What opportunities for the development of digital pedagogical
competences do Hungarian higher education institutions oer their
teachers?
Gábor Halász:
They are setting a good example when they do not hold
traditional training programmes, but rather organise
activities and workshops which are frequented because
the participants want to meet people who have similar
problems and want to know how others solve them.
Our pedagogical-methodological toolkit can be updated by completing
various online courses and taking part in workshops (for details on online
courses – MOOCs – see Chapter 1.4). The ever-expanding range of online
courses at the European Schoolnet Academy can be used for this purpose.
For the development of digital competencies specifically, we can choose
from the following list, which includes items that focus on public education:
• With the help of Google Digital Workshop, we can learn the basics of
online presence and digital marketing, two competencies that can be
important in several ways for those working in higher education.
• E-teaching.org is a non-commercial initiative of the Leibniz-Instituts
für Wissensmedien (Tübingen). The portal (which is available in
German only) collects scientific and professional material, and practical
information and good practices related to the opportunities presented
by digitisation in higher education, and also provides information on the
most important related events
• The DIGICOMP project is dedicated to the development of a set of open
educational resources (OER) for training teachers in the field of digital
competence, and the assessment of their knowledge at the end of
18 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
can help the exchange of ideas of professionals in the same field and
contribute to creating a network of contacts (Figure 1.3).
• Academia.edu, also founded in 2008, works in a similar fashion.
Registered users from a given field can connec t with each other and share
their data and announcements. This site, however, is profit-oriented, and
some features must be paid for.
A common characteristic of scientific community networks is that they
provide feedback on the use of the data and content we have uploaded
through various statistical analyses, which may also entail the classification
of users and a certain degree of ranking. Through network activities and
communication, however, the professional activity carried out in a given
scientific field can be easily traced, including the online presence of our own
institution or work (provided our activity is sucient).
Figure 1.3. Overview of the institutional presence of
the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on ResearchGate, as of January 2021.
To use professional collaborative networks as a source for one’s own
professional development.
The evaluation of the work of educators and researchers working in the
academic sphere (when rewards, promotions and accreditation processes
are considered) depends to a large extent on various bibliometric indicators,
such as the number of publications, citation index, journal index (impact
factor or SJR index) or Hirsch index – to mention only the most important
ones. All these are heavily influenced by the online presence of the educator,
the proper publication of their scientific and professional work, and the
extent to which they can reach a given professional community.
International scientific community networks are quite useful in this field,
and their positive eects on scientometrics (mainly on citation indexes) have
been confirmed by research (cf. Van Noorden, 2014; Niyazov et al., 2016).
By the number of registered users, the following services are considered
to be the most popular in this field (Sasvári & Urbanovics, 2019).
• Google Scholar has become very popular mostly for finding and listing
references. The “cited by” feature allows you to list documents that cite
the original article, modelled on citation indexes.
• Founded in 2007, the main function of Mendeley is to collect and organise
literature. We can upload documents directly from the browser or from our
own computer, organise them online and access them from anywhere at any
time. Another important feature is that we can sort references, citations, and
bibliographies across a wide range of journal styles with just a few clicks.
• The services of Research Gate were launched in 2008 and are free to use,
although registration requires an institutional email address. The aim of
the site is to facilitate professional community relations – by sharing our
most important professional data and uploading our publications, we
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 19
contains useful statistical data and graphs related to the listed journals, and
the resulting country-ranking data can by searched as well (Figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4. Classification and statistics for the journal ReCALL based on Scimago
The question of whether our study will be accepted by a reputable journal
is easier to answer if we can discern the relevance of our topic to the given
journal. This is simpler if we use journal search systems, which, based on
the information provided (mostly titles and abstracts), suggest journals that
typically publish studies similar to ours. The process is illustrated by this
example.
Based on Sasvári & Urbanovics (2019), such freely available online
services include:
• Elsevier Journal Finder
• Springer Journal Suggester
• Wiley Journal Finder Beta
• Edanz Journal Selector
We can increase the readership of our scientific work by
registering in a scientific community network and sharing our
most important publications there. By choosing to appear
publicly, our work becomes available for download and review
by registered users. It helps to build network connections by
tracking the activities of registered users who work in our field
of interest – this can help others to follow our work, thereby
increasing our visibility within the network. We can also present
our ongoing projects to the professional community in order to
connect with research which is relevant to us as soon as possible.
This also enables us to start a professional exchange of opinions
about our results, even before their actual publication.
If we wish to publish our scientific work internationally, it is advisable to
publish it in internationally listed journals. A good starting point is to
search in international cataloguing databases, which record journals and
publications on the basis of a strict set of requirements, and then organise
them by discipline. Two of the most important databases in this regard are
Web of Science, maintained by Clarivate Analytics, and Scopus, owned by
Elsevier.
The journals listed by Scopus are ranked by the
Scimago Journal
and Country Rank (SJR)
, which has become an increasingly important
classification indicator in addition to the impact factor (IF, a measure of
scientific impact) that had previously long been dominant. The system
classifies journals into four quality categories according to the quartiles of
discipline rankings (from Q1 to Q4, based on the first, second, third and fourth
25%, cf. Sasvári & Urbanovics, 2019). In addition to the classification, the site
20 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
of educational practice. It enables practitioners to thoughtfully examine
conditions and attitudes which impede or enhance student achievement.”
(Norton, 1994, quoted in Taggart and Wilson, 2005.) Reflective teaching in
this manner means “a thinking and p ractice that continuously and consciously
analyses pedagogical activity, ensuring the continuous self-monitoring of
educational activity and its improvement.” (Szivák, 2014, p. 13.)
Improving reflection is also important at the organisational level: “...the
organisational eectiveness might be increased by synchronising the
individuals’ professional development with the development of the whole
organisation.” (Verderber, Szivák, & Vámos, 2016, p. 23.)
While the significance of pedagogical reflectivity is becoming
increasingly important in relation to primary and secondary education, it is
much less frequently disc ussed in relation to university and college teachers.
Although its practical advantages are significant in higher education at both
the individual and organisational levels, it is of paramount importance for
teacher training due to its value as an example to others.
In the light of the above, self-reflection is essential in the development
of any competence. An educator who is open to eective self-analysis and a
critical approach is characterised as possessing the following abilities:
To critically reflect on one’s own digital and pedagogic practice. To identify
competence gaps and areas for improvement.
Irrespective of the subject of reflective practice, based on the work of
Taggart and Wilson, three levels are distinguished in this process (Taggart
& Wilson, 2005; illustrated below using the examples of self-reflection
questionnaires from Dringó-Horváth et al., 2020):
• Jane (Journal/Author Name Estimator)
• JournalGuide
• IEEE Publication Recommender
When we talk about the spread of open access journals, we need to address
a source of danger: the emergence of so-called predatory or parasitic
journals, which, without any particular scientific background, have been
founded with the direct goal of financial gain and seek out researchers
by their online data, trying to persuade them to publish in the journal, or
become members of an editorial board. Unfortunately, they typically use
sophisticated, very clever advertising tricks that can easily be deceptive.
If we receive a suspicious request, we should check the journa l in question
in the international databases described above and in the Directory of Open
Access Journals. In addition, predatoryjournals.com contains a register of
parasitic journals, although it is dicult to keep up with their rapid growth.
1.3. Reflective Practice
To individually and collectively reflect on, critically assess and actively
develop one’s own digital pedagogical practice and that of one’s
educational community.
Quality teaching work, regardless of the level and scene of education, is
inconceivable without a reflective attitude or the ability and continuous
development of reflective thinking. Reflection upon our practice helps
us to find meaning and make sense of what we are doing, which requires
us to understand ourselves (Ghaye, 2011). Reflection in education is “a
disciplined enquiry into the motives, methods, materials and consequences
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 21
• In connection with student reactions and feedback (e.g. based
on course evaluation)
• In relation to learning outcome s (e.g. bas ed on assessment results)
Considering the participants of reflection, we can distinguish between
self-reflection – when instructors perform the analysis on themselves –
and dialogic reflections conducted with others (dialogues with students,
colleagues, professional communities, etc.). For both types, we can talk
about oral and written reflection (Szivák, 2014). Here are some examples
from higher education (Figure 1.5):
Written Oral
Monologic /
Individual
• teacher portfolio /
e-portfolio
• reflective written
assignments
• research projects, action
research
• mental self-reflection
Dialogic /
Social
• asking students to complete
a course evaluation
questionnaire and
discussing it with them in
writing (e.g. in the learning
management system)
•
written exchange of
experiences with colleagues
(e.g. on a professional forum
or social site)
• oral discussion of the
course evaluation
questionnaire with the
students (e.g. at the end
of the course)
• oral exchange of
experiences with
colleagues (e.g. in a
departmental meeting)
Figure 1.5. Types of reflection (authors’ own editing after Szivák, 2014,
and Dringó-Horváth et al., 2020)
• Technical level: Not conscious, systematic, identifying practical diculties only
(e.g. “How should I prevent my students from using Facebook in my classes?”)
• Contextual level: Focusing not only on practical diculties, but also on
solving them in order to be able to develop routine activities (e.g. “What
could be the reason for my students using Facebook in my classes?”)
• Dialectical level: Systematically analysing oneself as a teacher, able to
objectively judge an educational activity or a problem situation, even by
questioning one’s assumptions and ideas (e.g. “Do students use Facebook
in my classes because it is an elementary need for Generation Z? What is
my responsibility in this matter as a teacher?”)
We should note that the particular emotional events and
situations that almost automatically make us think and reflect
vary individually. It is worth striving for some awareness in
this, and not only looking for possible causes in connection
with problem situations and failures, but also linking reflective
activities to specific stages of the educational process (Szivák,
2014). In connection with higher education, reflective practices
can be linked to the following initial and final stages of education
and other events (cf. Dringó-Horváth et al., 2020):
• When preparing for the lesson (planning phase)
• Immediately after class
• Following a larger unit or at the end of an educational stage
(e.g. at the end of a course)
• When a learning organisation problem emerges (e.g. a smaller
number of students than planned)
• When an educational or methodological problem emerges
during teaching
22 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
• Mind maps / tree diagrams: These allow us to display structures
and concepts, and their internal relationship. A mind map helps us
to organise our associations completely freely, while a tree diagram
requires that we organise a specific list of concepts, or record our
thoughts on a given diagram for the given concept circle.
Both methods can help to systematise the large number of
new concepts related to digital pedagogy.
• Preparing a personal development plan: This is a personal document
that describes the (continuous) professional development path in a
reflective form, presenting the main goals and stages of development.
(For the benefits and reflectional advantages of creating individual
student learning plans, see Chapter 5.2).
• Teacher’s portfolio / e-portfolio: This is an organised collection of
works related to a given activity, accompanied by reflections.
In order to improve our command of digital tools, this may
include a review of related literature, the administration
of content development, communication and assessment,
related (self-)assessment questionnaires, reflections on the
topic with students or the faculty, etc. (For the digital tools of
e-portfolios , see Chapters 4.1 and 6.2; for student e-por tfolios,
see Chapter 3.4.)
Reflective skills are improved in various ways (individually and
with others), in various situations, and with the involvement of
various participants. We should find out in which situations we
are likely to employ reflection and what form it typically takes
(individual or social) and then consciously try another reflective
situation and form we have less experience of. It is worthwhile
selecting the situations that seem most eective and practising
our reflective activities consciously, regularly and diversely.
In higher education, we can apply dierent method s to the written individual
forms of reflection, from which a few specific options are selected below
(Szivák, 2014; for dialogic modes, see the following section):
• Self-reflection questionnaire: This helps to record feelings, events, opinions
and thoughts related to the given activity by answering questions.
This can be used, among other things, for a regular review of our
digital competencies or for a focused analysis of the tools used
in the classroom.
• Reflective textual analysis: While studying a text, we can describe any
reflections and analytical thoughts that are related to the text. (This is
not necessarily only an individual task; it can also be done in pairs or in a
professional community.)
This can be used to eciently explore and utilise any literature,
curriculum or other text we have seen on a professional
community site or in a blog entry related to digital pedagogy.
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 23
there are typically two key areas of this kind of reflection: reflection with
colleagues in pairs, small groups or even a larger teaching community, and
dialogue with students for professional self-development. A typical form
of the latter is the course evaluation questionnaire, which is either part of a
central, institutional survey, or an individual initiative. Centrally-organised
student evaluations are usually part of the mandatory quality assurance
system for higher education institutions and can be downloaded from the
websites of several universities or as an appendix to the regulations.
For the tools of digital questionnaires and feedback options, see Chapter 4.1.
The role of active professional communities is significant at all levels of
education: by initiating conscious professional dialogues and consultations,
they encourage reflectivity and professional improvement, which is needed
at all stages of the teaching career. In higher education, this can take the
form of conversations or the exchange of experiences in the narrower or
wider institutional environment, but the range of participants and activities
in the digital space is considerably larger – through professional community
portals, blogs, mailing lists and newsletters, experience sharing and
reflection (see also Chapter 1.2).
Below are some dialogic reflection methods taken from public education
mentoring and work community activities, the conscious application of
which can also be useful in higher education. Their possible applications to
the field of digital competencies are also presented below (Szivák, 2014).
• Joint experimentation: The mentoring and the mentored colleagues work
together to solve a task (e.g. selecting the right digital tools to achieve
certain educational goals, or building a professional online presence).
• Action research: This is a problem-centred, focused reflection process
that facilitates self-monitoring and self-improvement by conducting
targeted research.
For the analytical evaluation of our activities and possible
problems related to the use of digital devices, we can use the
action research template of Taggart and Wilson (2005):
• Identify the problem.
• Define the central question or topic.
• Define smaller and larger goals.
• Select control techniques for research.
• Collec t and analyse the data. Communicate findings eectively.
Analytical thinking related to the lesson should be performed in the
following steps (after Szivák, 2014):
• An overview of the lesson-planning process, with particular reference to
the preliminary objectives related to the topic of the analysis.
• Reflection on the events in class that are relevant for analysis.
• Analysis of the results and problems of the completed learning process.
• Identification of the areas for improvement and the necessary steps to
be taken.
To seek the help of others in improving one’s digital and pedagogical
practice. To help others in developing their digital pedagogical competence.
It is also a good idea to learn about the possible forms of dialogic reflection
and to consider trying out dierent methods or incorpo rating some eective
solutions into the system of our work community. In higher education,
24 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
• Thinking aloud: The core of this method is to articulate any relevant
thoughts we may have during an activity. By doing so, our individual
thinking and decision-making mechanisms are revealed, and our
motives and problems related to the activity, as well as our reactions
to them also emerge. With this method, we can avoid using routine,
stereotypical solutions, and it allows us to look at problematic situations
from a new perspective, presenting several aspects during the decision-
making process.
The above factor is why we can use thinking aloud eectively
in the systematic, conscious and methodologically accurate
acquisition of the application of new technologies.
Whether we engage in a dialogic reflection as mentors
or the one being mentored, or perform a self-analysis, it is
important to have a positive experience that enables the
participants to “analyse, define, and, if necessary, transcend
their own “reality”. When that is present, people focus on what
they want to create, not on what they want to avoid.” (Szivák,
2014, p. 25) It helps if we do not focus on negative aspects or
mistakes, but analyse the positive features and strengths, e.g.
along strength-focused questions. The dierence between
the two is illustrated in the table below; with this we can
easily formulate appropriate questions for the analysis of any
activity or problem concerning digital pedagogy (Ghaye, 2011;
Szivák, 2014):
We should help our colleagues to articulate their goals and find
the appropriate tools, and then test them together in our own
courses. At the end, the success of the idea can be evaluated
(considering the method, digital device and procedure) in a
joint reflection session, which might possibly generate further
ideas to be tested.
• Case discussion: During this process, one of the participants presents
a situation or a specific case that is problematic for them, which is then
analysed in pairs or groups. In a productive case discussion , we can gain a
deeper understanding of the problem and of our emotional involvement,
and may thus find novel, creative solutions more easily.
We should feel free to use this method to solve problems with
the use of digital tools in a focused way with the involvement
of expert colleagues from our organisational unit or institution.
• Debate: A clash of opinions and arguments elicited to solve a problem.
The focus is on communication, on trying to convince one another by
stating arguments and counter-arguments.
This is a particularly useful m ethod for discussing the methodolog ical
purpose, function, advantages and disadvantages of the use of
digital devices or even the factors influencing eciency. It can
take the form of a verbal discussion or can be done in writing (on
professional pages, forums, etc.).
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 25
What opportunities do Hungarian universities and colleges oer to
develop the pedagogical digital competencies of their educators?
Judit Szivák:
Basically, every university and college is working hard to
improve the digital competence of educators. Courses are
organised to discuss various issues, which are then held at
beginner and advanced levels. I would certainly make the
development of a digital culture for university teachers project-based, which
means that I would organise it around a range of issues related to education. I
would not separate the learning space from the professional community, but
take the focus down to smaller professional communities who already think
about certain issues together every day.
If regulations and recommendations are built into the relevant quality
assurance system or reward system in order to maintain and continuously
improve the quality of teaching, a university or college can greatly facilitate
the self-training process of its teachers and their participation in further
training. This kind of knowledge and competence should be given more
emphasis in promotions at the institution, as well as in the assessment of
habilitation procedures. It can be especially eective to disseminate such
good practices within the teaching community and reward them (e.g. with
teaching awards). The University of Vienna’s Univie Teaching Award is a
good example here. Students and teachers, as well as (vice) directors of
studies and (vice) deans for teaching are invited to nominate courses they
consider excellent and each award winner (individual or group of teachers)
receives a considerable sum of money to dedicate to future teaching
activities. Applications are evaluated by an ocial committee and the
award ceremony takes place at the end of each academic year.
Weakness-based
questions
• What’s wrong?
• What were the causes of
the problem?
• What do we need to stop
doing to fix the problem?
• What behaviours do we
need to change?
Strength-based questions
• What has been successful?
• What led to the success?
• What do we need to keep
doing to remain successful?
• What behaviours do we need
to strengthen and how do we
go about this?
To seek targeted training and use opportunities for continuous professional
development. To seek to continuously expand and enhance one’s repertoire
of digital pedagogical practices.
It is quite revealing that further training programmes and workshops on
educational informatics take place regularly within colleges and universities,
mostly in a freely chosen form, but there are institutions where such training
is a part of the quality assurance process and as such, its completion
is rewarded in some way. As for the topic of training programmes, it is
satisfying that they are related not only to the technical management of
tools, but also to their conscious methodological application (Dringó-
Horváth et al., 2020).
Our expert points out some ways to improve digital competencies in an
institution even more eciently:
26 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
1.4. Digital Continuous Professional
Development
To use digital sources and resources for continuous professional
development.
An important aspect of the European Commission’s adult learning policy
is lifelong learning and, as part of this, the promotion of regular, conscious
further training for professional development, which Member States seek
to achieve through a number of national and international calls, tenders
and projects. However, an external support system is only eective if it is
coupled with an internal need and a readiness for continuous professional
development. The path of professional development lies in trying not to
adhere to old habits and practices that have been imprinted on us and have
over the years become routine behaviours, but to upgrade our professional
practice regularly and consciously.
Digital space oers several new opportunities for higher education in
this regard, especially in the wide range of online courses, webinars and
conferences that are easily and quickly accessible from anywhere and at
any time. In this chapter, we present the opportunities digital space oers
for the development of teachers’ professional competencies, give tips and
come up with specific recommendations on how to use them eectively in
teaching and research work.
An educator who is seeking continuous professional and methodological
development in using digital technology is characterised as possessing the
following abilities:
Similarly, this process is often positively influenced by strengthening
the research on the topic within the institution, e.g. by means of calls for
proposals or by encouraging par ticipation in a central tendering opportunit y.
Research shows that the basic prerequisite for the proper development
of pedagogical digital competence and the development of a new
methodological culture is a positive attitude towards new digital content,
tools and methods (Khvilon & Patru, 2002). The support of our professional
community and institution can also play a role in this process. Useful strategies
for the leadership to achieve lasting change are listed below (according to
Khvilon & Patru, 2002, p. 157 – here referring to teacher educators, Figure 1.6):
Attributes of
Innovations
Leadership Strategies
Relative advantage Try to demon strate that ICT-e nhanced lear ning is more eec tive than
traditional approaches to teaching and learning.
Compatibility Try to demo nstrate that IC Ts are not at variance wi th current views , values
and approaches. No technology is culturally neutral, and so it is important to
addres s this attribu te openly and hon estly.
Complexity Try to de monstrate tha t ICTs are relatively ea sy to implemen t in teaching.
To do this impl ies that leader s have some knowle dge of ICTs, or can c all on
assistance as needed.
Trialability Give teach er educators th e opportunit y to try out ICTs in a way tha t is not
threatening. Time is required here, as is further technical assistance.
Observability Gi ve teacher educa tors the chance to s ee the use of ICTs in tea ching. It would
be benefi cial to see leade rs using ICTs or to se e other teacher e ducators
using ICTs.
Figure 1.6. Continuous professional development through digital support
(authors’ own editing after Khvilon & Patru, 2002)
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 27
Online bookmarks can be used primarily with the following
functions in our teaching work (cf. Papp-Danka, 2013):
• to organise and quickly access online content (when preparing
for courses, research work or class activities with students);
• to create an annotated bibliography;
• to share content and evaluate it, to exchange professional
community information and experience, to collaborate with
others;
• to publish personal works and the activities of our students
(possibly in groups).
Making a collection of our most frequently used online content on
our browser’s home page speeds up access to it.
The online options for methodological-pedagogical development, especially
the targeted development of digital competencies, are discussed in Chapter 1.2.
Professional international journals related to higher education, adult
and vocational training and the development of these areas, such as
the International Journal of Lifelong Education, the International Review
of Education, and ELM MAGAZINE, can provide a good starting point
for professional exploration and for disciplinary and methodological
development.
To use the exchange in digital professional communities as a source of
professional development. To use online training opportunities, e.g. video
tutorials, MOOCs, webinars, etc.
Perhaps the easies t method of further training and professional d evelopment
is when we find guides, descriptions, or good practices relating to our
To use the Internet to identify suitable training and professional development
opportunities, to search for and identify digital resources which support
professional development. To use the Internet to update one’s subject-
specific competencies and to learn about new pedagogical methods and
strategies.
We can greatly facilitate exploration, research and further training for the
purpose of continuous professional development with the help of digital
tools, especially with the use of the Internet. An important aspect in this
process is the systematisation and the careful and transparent storage
of information, of the useful tools and applications (on our own devices),
as well as creating access paths (in the case of cloud-based online data
storage; see Chapters 2.1 and 2.3 for details). Storing information on our own
devices is definitely safer from a data protection point of view, but cloud-
based solutions are more appropriate for the educational process and for
sharing experience and knowledge with colleagues, as information can be
easily accessed and giving opinions, joint editing and cooperation helps to
develop and spread good practices.
When organising our selected resources, it is a good idea to use online
individual or social bookmarks, which allow us to annotate, systematically
organise, access, and share collected content anywhere and at any time,
regardless of the device or browser (see Chapter 6.1 for more details).
Some prefer to search for content with social bookmarks rather than with
commercial search engines, since relying on the personal experience of the
user community and taking frequency of use as a measure of satisfaction
yields more reliable and more relevant content (cf. Papp-Danka, 2013).
28 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
to teacher-centred and highly structured); the level of quality
assurance; the extent to which reflection is encouraged; the level
of assessment; how informal or formal the course is; autonomy;
and diversity.” (Conole, 2014, p. 10.)
Courses can also be placed in various categories (for details on each type,
see Conole, 2014). Another important dierence is the access we are given
and with the time frame in which we can complete a course:
• In self-paced training programmes, following registration, we get access
to the entire curriculum and we can work on each topic at our own pace.
• In timed training programmes, specific times and deadlines are given
for enrolment, for the timetable and for the completion of the course.
• There are also archived courses, where we are given access to the
material of a previously completed course and work on it independently,
without a tutor, classmates or deadlines.
Here is a list of some major MOOC p roviders who oer a variety of courses under
a partnership agreement with universities, colleges or other organisations.
They typically have a well-developed search interface and significant user
feedback (evaluation) to help orientation; most of the study materials are free
of charge, but if a certificate or degree is required, it usually has to be paid for:
• Coursera: Its first course was launched by Stanford University in 2012;
since then countless training sites have joined the initiative and oer
courses on a variety of topics.
• edX
: Launched by Harvard and MIT, also in 2012; the number of courses
available today exceeds 2500 through a collaboration of 140 institutions.
problem or our educational goal that have been uploaded by others, and we
expand our understanding in the matter by reading, watching or listening.
There are several opportunities to complete systematically structured
curricula, courses, or even entire training programmes online. One way
to do this is by participating in an online meeting or a video conference,
during which we use a synchronous communication device to take part in
the training at a given time. The term “webinar” is sometimes used in this
sense, but the concept also includes the real-time transmission of online
meetings or presentations via the Internet, as well as the publication of the
recording in archived form.
One of the best-known forms of complex online courses are MOOCs
(Massive Open Online Courses), an open education system in which
participants have unlimited and free access to online courses.
This new type of distance learning first appeared in 2008, and by 2012 it
had become widespread. The training programmes are sometimes initiated
by universities or non-profit organisations, and sometimes by individuals
or professionals – in the first two cases we can expect more reliable, more
professionally controlled content. It is advisable to start online distance
learning with such courses. In the case of courses held by private individuals,
caution is advised and we should do some research into the lecturers and
the content before we begin learning.
As it is not always easy to choose from such a wide range of
courses, the following twelve factors may help us to evaluate
the courses on oer: “the degree of openness; the scale of
participation (massification); the amount of use of multimedia;
the amount of communication; the extent to which collaboration
is included; the type of learner pathway (from learner-centred
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 29
sharing takes the form of plenary, sectional and poster presentations, as
well as workshops.
We can also take part in a virtual exhibition, where we can visit online
stands, view multimedia information, download content, and exchange
text, image or audio messages with the exhibitor. The following exhibitions
are highly recommended: Virtual Expo V2.0, DaFWebKonf 2018, Virtual
Exhibition, opening (Figure 1.7).
Figure 1.7. Deutsche Welle’s exhibition stand at the DaFWEBKON 2020 conference
– dafwebkon.com
After logging in and possibly registering (especially at workshops), we
can join the online events and activities, and if needed, we can ask for a
certificate of participation in the conference.
• Cognitive Class: This site mainly oers courses related to data mining
and cognitive computing.
• Lynda.com / LinkedIn Learning: One of the oldest portals, it has been
oering courses as a basic service since 2009, with a free one-month trial.
• Udacity
: Also launched in 2012, this site oers IT courses.
• Open Learn: This is the online distance learning portal of the Open
University; it mainly features a collection of written materials. ITunes U,
which is also linked to the university, was created with the help of Apple,
where, in addition to courses in higher education, a large number of
primary and secondary education courses are also available.
• Alison: On this site, professional experts oer courses that provide
certifications or degrees in a variety of topics, but they can be completed
for individual learning purposes, too.
With the help of
MoocList
, we can use multiple criteria to find
MOOCs and free online courses in a wide range of categories and
subjects from Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, Udacity and other top
providers and universities.
In recent years, it has become increasingly popular to hold scientific and
professional events and conferences online. The main advantage of this –
for both the organisers and the par ticipants – is cost-eciency and flexible
participation, regardless of location or time. This trend was boosted by
the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in a significant increase in the
number of online conferences and professional events, oering countless
opportunities for quick and easy access to professional, scientific training
and knowledge sharing. As with face-to-face conferences, knowledge
30 1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT
conference management software not only supports the organising of and
participation in online presentations, but also provides other services that
are an essential part of conference organisation – whether the event is held
face-to-face or virtually. Such services include managing registrations,
announcing, managing and evaluating presentations, and arranging
participation fees, payments and other administration (invoicing). Apps
with such complex services are provided, for instance, by
Confware
.
When selecting the application, an important quality aspect is the extent
to which it supports the activity of participants, which is paramount for the
eectiveness of online events. Interactivity is enhanced if participants can
exchange message s with each other individually or in groups, or if interactive
elements (surveys, participant questions, etc.) can be incorporated in the
presentation. When used for practical educational activities (seminars,
workshops, etc.), we should always consider whether breakout rooms can
be created during the meeting.
In the preparation phase, it is a good idea from a methodology viewpoint
to include as many interactive elements as possible. One of the pioneers
of large-scale international conferences that are only held online is the
DafWebKon for German language teachers, which has been organised with
great success every year since 2012.
Another option for sharing knowledge is to launch our own online course,
perhaps as a MOOC. Complex online course materials can be created and
uploaded by commercial portals such as Course Builder by Google, Open
MOOC or LearnDash. Although online learning requires self-regulation and
independent work, it is essential that the educator plays a significant role
in helping the participants achieve their learning goals. In the creation and
management of online courses, our tasks as teachers are basically centred
on three areas (Lengyelné Molnár et al., 2015):
To use digital technologies and environments to provide training opportunities
for colleagues and peers.
If we want to support the professional development of others, our first step
may be to disseminate our own good practices and share them within the
university. One of the simplest ways to do this is to create a guide for others
to the tools and applications we use. This might be a written description
(with or without accompanying images) or a video, which would make it
even easier for others to learn about each function. The content created by
this activity can be stored and published on various file sharing portals (see
Chapter 2.1). The applications that may prove useful in the process – e.g. a
screen recorder, video recording for presentation, etc. – are discussed in
Chapter 2.2.
A more complex way to share knowledge is for us to advertise a further
training programme, workshop or conference for the colleagues in our
professional community, in which we share our own experiences related
to a given topic (digital pedagogical methods, tools, applications, etc.)
and help to develop our colleagues’ digital competencies through various
(interactive) projects. With the help of an online meeting or webinar, we can
use a synchronous communication tool to provide further training for our
narrower or wider professional community, or stream our presentations in
real time and make them available later in archived form (for more details,
see Chapter 5.1). When conducting a video conference with the involvement
of colleagues, we can organise events on several topics which may even run
in parallel.
Small-scale online events can be hosted by software that is suitable
for a simple webinar (e.g.
Adobe Connect
,
Google Meet
or
Hangout
,
MS
Teams
,
Zoom
,
Skype
,
FB Messenger
, or
Viber
). However, more complex
1. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT 31
European Comission (2018).
Communicaion from the Comission to the European
Parlament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions
. Brussels: European Comission.
Ghaye, T. (2011). Teaching and learning through reflective practice. London: Routledge.
Khvilon, E. & Patru, M. (2002).
Information and communication technologies in teacher
education: a planning guide
. Division of Higher Education, UNESCO.
Lengyelne Molnar, T. Kis-Toth, L., Antal, P., Racsko, R. (2015). IKT innováció. Eger: EKE
Nyomda.
McDermot, M. (2018).
Digital footprints: Creation, implication, and higher education.
FDLA Journal 3(11).
Niyazov, Y., Vogel, C., Price, R., Lund, B., Judd, D., Akil, A., Mortonson, M., Schwartzman,
J. & Shron, M. (2016). Open Access Meets Discoverability: Citations to Articles
Posted to Academia.edu.
PLoS ONE
11(2).
Papp-Danka, A. (2013). Tanulas es tanulasmodszertan az informacios tarsadalomban.
InSasvari, P. & Urbanovics, A. (2019). A tudományos publikálás alapjai. Budapest:
Nemzeti Kozszolgalati Egyetem, Allamtudomanyi es Kozigazgatasi Kar.
Szivak, J. (2014). Reflektív elméletek, reflektív gyakorlatok. Budapest: ELTE Eotvos Kiado.
Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M. & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional Learning
Communities: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Educational Change 7 (4) ,
pp. 221-258.
Taggart, G. L., & Wilson, A. P. (2005). Promoting Reflective Thinking in Teachers: 50
Action Strategies. SAGE Publications.
Van Noorden, R. (2014). Online collaboration: scientists and the social network.
Nature
,
Vol. 512 No. 7513, pp. 126–129.
Verderber, J., Szivák J. & Vámos Á. (2016). Understanding Professional and Pedagogical
Problems and Reflections of Teachers by Professional Capital Model. Karlovitz,
J. T. & Torgyik J. (Ed.)
Some Issues in Pedagogy and Methodology
(pp. 23–33).
Komárno: International Research Institute.
• Content elements: This area includes the writing and editing of the
curriculum, the elaboration of the methodological elements (e.g. student
work, tests, etc.), and the compilation of any related notes, background
materials and lists of recommended reading, as well as their adequate
circulation.
• Contribution: During the course, it is important to help learners achieve
their learning objectives. The educator’s main tasks include motivating
and encouraging self-directed learning (see Chapter 5.3), providing
tutoring or mentoring support to complete the tasks (assigning tasks,
scheduling, testing), managing potential conflicts using appropriate
communication strategies, and monitoring the progress of participants.
• Documentation: It is a good idea to begin documentation before
starting the course by assessing the participants’ prior knowledge,
but documentation is always present in the form of progress reports
and task evaluations. At the end of the course, the educator’s task is
to verify the success of the participants, and comments and feedback
can be collected with the help of a satisfaction survey, which facilitates
evaluation (see Chapter 5.3).
References
Conole, G. (2014). Anew classification schema for MOOCs. International Journal for
Innovation and Quality 2: 3. Special Issue on MOOC.
Council of the European Union (2017). Council Conclusions on arenewed EU agenda for
higher education. Brüsszel: European Comission.
Dringó-Horváth, I., Hülber, L., M. Pintér, T., Papp-Danka, A. (2020). A tanárképzés
oktatási kultúrájának több szempontú jellemzése, Pécs: MTA Pedagógiai
Tudományos Bizottság, PTE BTK Neveléstudományi Intézet, 129–142.
32 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
Ida Dringó-Horváth andTibor M. Pintér
Introduction
The range of digital materials available for educational and research
purposes is almost unlimited, and the textbook industry shows a clear
tendency towards making learning materials available in exclusive or
optional digital form (Allen, 2015; Dringó-Horváth & Menyhei, 2021). The
ambiguity concerning the plethora of learning material available on the
Internet should always be kept in mind: such materials are not only searchable
and queryable, but we may also upload our own materials, which, however,
imposes newer requirements on instructors’ knowledge and abilities: new
skills are needed, for example, in the fields of organisation, sharing of
learning materials, and technological expertise (see Priatna et al., 2020),
while the organisation and operation of online educational spaces presents
new challenges (regarding the challenges of operating online spaces,
see, for example, Obelia & Kadlečík, 2020, or Gordon & Wiltrout, 2021).
The quality of the digital learning materials and the learning environment
determines eciency, so both the precise selection of materials and the
didactically and methodologically sound production of learning materials
must be mastered (Recker et al., 2013). As a result, the acquisition of skills
and abilities related to the creation, selection, processing and use of digital
resources is becoming increasingly valued (Ehlers & Kellermann, 2019).
The inclusion of information and communication devices in education is
a welcome pedagogical development, but its true educational potential can
only be achieved through appropriate and targeted use. Therefore, when
planning the educational process, the goals and pedagogical benefits of the
tools and software involved in teaching should always be carefully considered.
Chapter 2.1. Selecting digital resources is designed to help with this
issue. It provides guidance on the selection of digital content and related
tools, and their integration into educational and research activities. Chapter
2.2. Creating and modifying digital resources focuses on creating our own
digital content and on adapting the resources available online to our own
educational context. In connection with this, it is essential to find ways to
eectively manage and safeguard digital resources. These questions are
explored in Chapter 2.3.
We interviewed the university teachers Dr. Andrea Kárpáti, DSc (Corvinus
University of Budapest) and Dr. András Benedek, DSc (Budapest University
of Technology) about the topics in this chapter. As an introduction, here
are some of their opening thoughts on the dierences between the use of
digital content inside and outside the classroom.
What dierences can you identify between the uses of digital
content in and out of the classroom?
András Benedek:
The highest bandwidth is provided by communication in
person: each lesson has its own special charm. What the
teacher explains there, and executes at an appropriate pace,
following a certain logic, with a board layout and diagrams, is
a type of experience that even video cann ot replace. Personal experience is crucial.
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 33
The first step in choosing the right digital content is to properly identify,
evaluate and select the resources that will support teaching and learning.
When selecting digital resources and planning their use, the specific
learning objective, context, pedagogical approach and, above all, the
unique features of the learner group should be considered.
When choosing and organising documents to be used in education, we
should make sure that the resources used:
• adequately support the teaching and learning process;
• are approachable, scientifically and pedagogically credible, and reliable
for the participants in education;
• are easily accessible and usable (copyrights, file format, technical
prerequisites and requirements, etc.) for the participants in education;
• are visibly useful and tangible (they correspond to specific learning
goals, the characteristics of the student group and the teaching style of
the teacher).
The digital resources and methods used should correspond to the
educational and learner competences expected in digital education (on
these, see Falloon, 2020, pp. 2455–2457).
To ensure that the participants in the educational process achieve their
various goals, it is vital that both the instructor and the student can manage
the resources. (For more information on providing access, see Chapter 5.1).
The DigCompEdu framework characterises an instructor experienced in
creating and editing digital content as possessing, among other things, the
following abilities:
Andrea Kárpáti:
There is a huge dierence, because these two genres exhibit
fundamentally die rent characteristics. Classroo m materials
are typically short, and they are related to the curriculum.
Out-of-classroom learning materials, on the other hand, are
typically much more flexible. Those who view them are interested, so they are
willing to spend more time on them. We can supplement, or expand them, and
even push them in a dierent direction, add our own materials to the ac tivities of
a class or include cu rrent topics that have not yet been included in the textbooks .
So we can make the curriculum personal. This is why such digital content is
worth developing.
2.1. Selecting Digital Resources
To identify, assess and select digital resources to support and enhance
teaching and learning. To consider the specific learning objective, context,
pedagogical approach and learner group when selecting digital resources
and planning their use.
The modification of the learning environment and its digitisation requires
instructors to employ innovative educational methods. The altered personal
learning environment (see Chapter 6.5), the resources available in the digital
toolkit (Burden, K. & Kearney, 2018, pp. 4-11) or even the virtual classroom
immensely challenge teachers who are less inclined to use digital devices
(see Mishra & Koehler, 2005). Managing the educational process so that
every participant feels comfortable and even at home – while preserving
the basic parameters of content and information transfer – is not a simple
task, yet it is by no means impossible.
34 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
results list (the
digital -pedagogy
search shows results that
contain ’digital’ but not ’pedagogy’);
• file format: with the ext: operator, keyword results will only
contain the desired file type (
digital
ext:pdf
results in a list of
PDF files where the file name contains the word ’digital’);
• language: the
lang
: operator narrows results to the desired
language (
digital lang:en
will only find English-language sites
containing ’digital’);
• narrowing to web page: the
site
: operator narrows the
list of results to the desired web page (the search
digital
site:researchgate.net
yields results that contain ’digital’ but
only from the site ’researchgate.net’);
• truncation: the
*
character substitutes any other character
(the search
digital * pedagogy
yields results where ’digital’
appears at the beginning and ’pedagogy’ at the end);
• body text, title, URL search: the keyword can be searched
only in the body text with
allintext
:, the title with
title
: or
only in the URL with
allinurl
: searches (for example, the
search
intitle:di gital
will yield results where the title of the
page contains the word ’digital’, whereas
allintitle:digital
pedagogy
will yield web pages where the title contains the
phrase ’digital pedagogy’).
To formulate appropriate search strategies to identify digital resources for
teaching and learning.
Search strategies can be interpreted as knowing the location of the content
we are looking for (for example, familiarity with important databases and
collections of resources), but search strategies can be expanded by an
awareness of the dierent types of keyword searches that are available
in browsers. Narrowing or refining our web search can be very helpful,
whether we are filtering according to keywords, web pages, language,
or file type. Boolean operators also greatly help targeted searches: they
provide the means for more complex searches and the ability to pre-filter
the information we are not interested in. For more accurate results, we can
use the following operators during our search:
•
quotation marks: words in quotation marks are treated as a
single unit, i.e. the browser treats them as exact matches (e.g.
“
digital
pedagogy” provides results that include the word pair
’
digital
’ + ’
pedagogy
’);
• the expres sion
and or
: the
or
element between words expresse s
alternative relationship, while the
and
element expresses
addition (i.e.
digital
and
pedagogy
yields results that contain
the words ’digital’
and
’pedagogy’ – it must be noted that as a
default, web search engines treat consecutive words as if there
was and between them, so its real benefit is in conjunction
with other operators;
digital or pedagogy
gives results that
contain either the word ’digital’ or ’pedagogy’);
• narrowing with a minus sign: with the minus sign in front of
words we can exclude words that we do not want to see in the
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 35
• Digital libraries and archives: High-quality educational (course)
materials not only exist in paper format, many theoretical and practical
learning materials and books are available online. For example, many
essential books are to be found at the Project Gutenberg International
database, where various special searches can be made through tagged
content. Bookbook, the University of Pennsylvania online library, or even
the pages on Scribd are other valuable sources of content for educational
use. Useful repositories can also be found at major universities, for
example, the repositories of the University of Cambridge and the
University of Oxford.
• Image, audio and video sharing services: Digital content can be
enhanced not only with images, but al so with audio or audiovisual material.
Examples of content sharing services include
Pinterest
,
Photopeach
,
YouTube
for movies and audio, or the Hungarian repository of academic
lectures
Videotórium
, while audio material is available, for example,
in
Jamendo
. The best tool for the creation of visual and audio content that
can be customised for pedagogical purposes is the smartphone.
• Presentation services: We can share our presentations on our own
website, but it may be more useful to use dedicated presentation sharing
pages. Popular cloud-based presentation making or sharing services
include Prezi and Slideshare. The value of such sites lies not only in
cloud-based storage, but also in tagging, which is useful for targeted
content searches.
• Personal pages: Researchers’ personal pages and websites can provide
useful and interesting content such as essays, articles, blogs with
personal reflections and thematic Facebook pages.
To select suitable digital resources for teaching and learning, considering the
specific learning context and learning objective.
It is important to bear in mind that the use of digital resources is not uniform,
and that dierent stages of learning (for example, the presentation of new
knowledge, or the deepening of existing knowledge) call for the use of
dierent digital resources. The conscious instructor carefully considers the
choice of a resource, and selects digital content that is consistent with the
material to be presented and the existing knowledge of the target group.
Given that most student groups are in many respects heterogeneous, it is
important to be aware of the fact that digital resources and digital learning
materials are not necessarily supposed to work within the context of contact
lessons (in some learning organisation styles, they are designed for use
outside the contact les son – see, for example, the Flipped Classroom section
of Chapter 3.1). No matter what resources we use, it is extremely important
to obtain feedback afterwards, and to constantly monitor the results of the
learning process, as the fact that the instructor feels at home in the digital
world, or that the contact lesson was successful does not necessarily mean
that the use of digital content was also successful.
In addition to using appropriate search strategies, an instructor confident in
the digital space also knows the content aggregators and repositories related
to their own field of expertise. Such services can be classified, for example,
according to the following categories:
• Educational portals: Educational portals publish diverse content related
to various (pedagogical) processes related to education. Examples
include the FutureLearn site, which oers high-quality disciplinary
training, courses and learning materials supplemented with digital
publications
36 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
The reliability of the digital content available online is not always clear-cut.
Authentic and reliable materials are recognised by the presence of various
benchmarks (pages or features that are authentic or convey authenticity).
Such a benchmark can be a website in itself (the websites of departments
and institutes are usually supervised), but there are also quality-assurance
features on various content sharing sites as well: On Wikipedia, for example,
these include the checkmark in the upper right-hand corner of the article,
and the “seriousness” and verifiability of the source list.
But what criteria should we employ when choosing and evaluating digital
content? The answers of our two experts may help us here:
What criteria should be used to evaluate a digital resource?
Andrea Kárpáti:
The very first assessment criterion is the site of the source.
If it is familiar and scientifically credible, we can be sure
that the information displayed is being reviewed, edited
and supervised by someone. The second step is to check
the author of a particular source. If the site is credible, if the author is reliable
and respected, and if the genre is suitable, then the next evaluation criterion is
whether the work concerns what we need. One last aspect I recommend is the
reading of the abstracts.
Using a smartphone to record and upload pictures and videos
has countless advantages. During lectures and tasks, it can be
useful to create images and videos about reports related to
project work, the results of student (group) work, board layouts,
etc. for future teacher and student use, or even for assessment
purposes. When preparing for a lesson, recording a relevant
picture or a short video can make the material to be learned more
personal and up to date, which can have a positive impact on
students’ learning processes and motivation.
To critically evaluate the credibility and reliability of digital sources and
resources.
The reliability of content in the digital space depends on several factors, but
its absolute value and eciency can chiefly be measured in relation to the
pedagogical goal. The possibilities of the digital space must always be in line
with the learning and teaching goals, i.e. the title and description of an item
of content does not guarantee its suitability and practical use for the given
course.
Repeated use of individual resources increases confidence and
eciency, so when introducing digital content (be it software,
text, image or video), we should first test it on a smaller sample
or group, make sure it works and that students have access to
the content and the technology (see Chapter 5.1), and establish
that the resources fulfil our pedagogical expectations, while the
results should be later fed back into the educational process.
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 37
To consider possible restrictions to the use or reuse of digital resources (e.g.
copyright, file type, technical requirements, legal provisions, accessibility).
In general, the use of digital content is governed by two requirements:
the associated copyright requirements and the technological background.
When using digital materials created by other people, we should be aware
of the permissions granted by the licenses. The most common free use
licenses in pedagogical practice are the dierent Creative Commons (CC)
licenses, designed to encourage the creative use of our own content in the
community (see also Chapter 6.3). Thus, when creating and publishing our
own material, we should determine the conditions under which it is allowed
to be reused, and we should also adhere to the conditions under which
others’ content can be processed.
To define a Creative Commons license, we can use the dierent
combinations of the following four restrictive conditions:
• Attribution (i.e. the information related to the work must be indicated as
specified by the author);
• No Derivative Works (i.e. the source cannot be modified or reworked);
• Share Alike (i.e. the source can only be distributed under the same license
as the current one, or one that is interchangeable with it);
• Non-Commercial (i.e. the source cannot be used for commercial
purposes).
András Benedek:
It is very important to look at the origins of digital
resources, the background of the service provider and the
related quality assurance guarantees, since they are based
on standards that must be adhered to. Another important
element is the validation processes that are built into these systems, since it is
still easier to assemble materials in an amateur manner than to adapt existing
ones and validate them, if you like, to tailor them according to dierent
demands.
For example, we can use this following playful task for the qualitative
evaluation and analysis of online resources.
As instructors, we use not only content that we have created ourselves,
but also content created by others. The following interview excerpt contains
advice on how to use content created by others.
What guidelines should be followed when an instructor uses digital
content created by others?
Andrea Kárpáti:
When we develop digital material, we need to know the
copyright implications of all content. It is best to use socially
shared images , sounds and movies. That is because d ierent
types of Creative Commons licences prescribe if the content
can be used in an unchanged form, if it can be translated, or if it can be used
completely freely. These are big dierences.
38 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
When using visual content, it is advisable to consult the image sharing pages
in advance, and become familiarised with the conditions of using the re sources
they oer. The following image sharing sites all use the CC license, and they
provide category and keyword search based on the tagged content:
• Free Stock Photos: high resolution photos by skilled photographers;
• Freerange: jhigh quality photos that can also be used for commercial
purposes;
• Openphoto: no registration needed, browsing images based on
transparent categories;
• Unprofound: quality images for free use, organised by colour.
There are free images on the following image search sites as well, which are
either free to use, or expressly state their copyright status – see Chapter 6.3
for more information:
• Flickr
• Stocksnap
• Gratisography
• Freepik
• Unsplash
• Pexels
• Pixabay
A free image search can be useful: free to use images can
be searched for using various web search engines (such as
Google) or even by simply typing the free photo keywords
in our browser. Another way to search for free image content
is to use the image search feature of search engines such as
Figure 2.1. Creative Commons licenses, version 4.0 (source: http://images.
hungtonpost.com/2014-03-25-creativecommonslicenses-thumb.jpg)
In addition to CC licenses, there are other licenses that allow free use or
modification. Overviews and descriptions of free use licenses are available
in several places, for example, in the relevant Wikipedia entry.
Licenses are easy to use: knowing the features of the license, it is enough
to place the name of the license on the finished digital content, or to link
to a detailed description of the license (as digital content). For example, if
we use the GNU General Public License, we indicate the version number
(v3.0) and refer to the publicly available description on the Internet (GNU
GPL v3.0).
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 39
by a conscious instructor fit the specific pedagogical goals and are not used
for their own sake: the impact of the knowledge transfer or classroom work
they are intended to support can be measured by all participants.
2.2. Creating and Modifying Digital
Resources
To modify and build on existing openly-licensed resources and other
resources where this is permitted. To create or co-create new digital
educational resources. To consider the specific learning objective,
context, pedagogical approach and learner group when designing digital
resources and planning their use.
The creation of digital content is of great importance for both parties involved
in the educational process. The subject of this subchapter is the use (creation
or modification) of digital content from the instructor’s point of view, while the
student perspective (learning activities and tasks implemented by creating or
transforming digital content) is discussed in Chapter 6.3.
Present-day students (and some of their instructors) are members
of Generations Y and Z, i.e. they have been actively using information
communication and digital tools from an early age. Digital tools not only
aect their everyday lives and entertainment choices, but also their learning
habits. However, since during their own university training, a significant
proportion of teachers gained next to no experience in the use of digital
content and tools, a high degree of creativity and imagination is needed
to create eective learning materials and to use the appropriate tools in a
proficient manner.
Google. We search using the “Images” tab, click on the “Tools”
button, and select “Creative Commons licences” from the
“Usage rights” drop-down menu (instead of “All”). Results can
be further refined using the “Size”, “Colour” and “Type” menu.
In addition to pictures, plenty of free audio files, music and videos are
available; here are some options:
• commons.wikimedia.org can be used to search for sounds, images and
videos published by users of the Wikimedia website;
• jamendo.de contains music shared by artists for free;
• audiyou.de contains a large selection of dierent sound eects and
music, downloading requires a login;
• freeplaymusic.com oers free to download acoustic music;
• videvo.net contains video, music, and audio.
To assess the usefulness of digital resources in addressing the learning
objective, the competence levels of the concrete learner group, and the
pedagogic approach chosen.
When creating digital content, besides the content itself, user experience,
ease of use and an intuitive interface are also important, and the content
must be adapted to the pedagogical needs and goals of the instructor and
the students. The conscious instructor is familiar with the value-creating
activities carried out on online platforms, is aware of their impact, and is also
aware of the ethical and legal aspects of actions carried out with digital tools,
i.e. they are capable of “doing the right thing at the intersection of technology
innovation and accepted social values” (O’Brien, 2020, p. 12; for more on
ethical dilemmas, see Buchanan, 2019). Digital materials created or modified
40 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
images and diagrams, usually with a resolution of 300 dpi or more.
However, we may need to reduce the size for online publication (e.g. on
social media, image or video hosting sites, personal blogs or educational
frameworks) or even for digital transmission (e.g. via email). This task can
usually be done with image editing programs, but not in all cases, and in the
interests of saving time, it may be easier to learn about the use of simple
resizing programs. These provide a way to quickly and simply change the
size of our images according to our predefined settings, so that they can be
used on both desktop and mobile devices.
It is important to bear in mind that while it is always possible to
render a high-resolution image at a lower resolution, the inverse
process is more complicated. Accordingly, if several original
resolutions are available, it is advisable to obtain our media files
in the best available quality or to create media files in higher
resolution and better quality on our own devices – even at the
expense of larger storage capacity.
Web-based services (ResizeImage, Shrink Pictures, Resize Pic, Resize
Your Image, Web Resizer) can resize images online, while downloadable
software (Graphics Converter Pro, Plastiliq ImageResizer, High Quality
Photo Resizer, FastStone Photo Resizer) can be installed on our own
computers. Paint, which is a standard application for editing and resizing
images on all Windows-based computers, is also worth mentioning. Before
resizing an image, we must not forget that the process reduces their quality,
so it should be used with caution.
With audio and video editors we can also modify and edit these file
formats to customise the ready-to-use digital resources. The Audacity app is
According to the DigCompEdu framework, an instructor competent in
the creation and modification of digital content possesses, among other
things, the following abilities:
To modify and edit existing digital resources, where this is permitted. To
combine and mix existing digital resources or parts thereof, where this is
permitted.
The first step towards creating digital content is to customise and adapt
existing resources. In doing so, generally by implementing a few simple
modifications, we can make the digital source created by others fit into
our educational context. A frequent example of this is editing various task
sheets, surveys and ready-made presentations, customising their content
according to our own pedagogical goals and target groups, typically using
oce software. During such modification, we should always act in an ethical
way: on the one hand, we should only modify freely available content (see
Chapter 2.1), and on the other hand, we should indicate copyright information
according to the extent of our modification.
In the same way, we can modify existing digital media using the appropriate
editing software. Fortunately, several excellent media editing programs are
available for free or as part of a freemium. Various image editors (such as
Photoshop
,
GIMP
,
Canva
,
Pixlr
,
SumoPaint
) can be used to modify the image
content, and some of these can even produce infographics (
Infogram
,
Easelly
,
Visme
). The
Microsoft Photo Story
image editor allows us to create high-quality
slide shows. These image editing programs are also suitable for creating
personalised feedback (see Chapter 5.3) and student products (see Chapter 5.1)
.
When creating images, the size and resolution should be optimised
according to our requirements. Most publications require good quality
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 41
To create new digital educational resources individually or jointly with others.
In the practice of higher education, the creation of presentations or
handouts and task sheets is an instructor’s most typical creative activity.
In both cases, we can distinguish between static, mostly teacher-oriented
digital materials presented or distributed in print, and digital materials,
which are interactive and enhance student-engagement.
Creating pictures, diagrams and movies
In all of these activities, creating our own image s, diagrams and movies is essential
if we want to generate unique content that cannot be found in any database or
course repository. As it provides real-time collaborative drawing with others, the
Drawpile drawing tool can be useful in this regard, as can Sketchpad, a drawing
and painting software, and Gliy, a versatile online drawing and char t editing app.
We can even create animations, but in the case of more professional
software, usually only a restricted trial period is available for free. Wideo,
Powtoon,Animoto andYvond, are useful for animation and video production,
and we can export the completed content in mp4 and GIF file formats.
Apps for creating word clouds and mind maps are particularly useful for
representing relationships and associations.
With the help of a word cloud, textual data can be visualised in an
appealing way: a given set of text can be turned into a spectacular
image, where the most important things (the most frequently
occurring elements) can be highlighted using colour, font size,
typeface or other typographic tools. In addition to simple, cloud-
like word images, most apps can tra nsform the text into a dierent,
even completely unique image.
a reliable audio editing software, while for video editing or screen recording
purposes,Camtasia orMicrosoft Movie Maker are recommended. If we create
recordings with smart devices, it is best to use built-in apps or online services.
If we need a specific file format, our existing files can be easily converted to
the appropriate format:CloudConvert is a versatile online converting service
for almost any audio, video, document, e-book, archive, image, spreadsheet
or presentation file content. The file we want to convert can be selected
from our computer or from a cloud-based file sharing service (Google Drive,
OneNote, Dropbox), or we can specify the Internet link (URL) to access the file.
YouConvertIt is another great online tool for file conversion.
2.2. Online file converter
42 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
The most popular word cloud generators are:
Wordle
,
WordItOut, and
WordArt, whileJason Davies spectacularly organises elements in dierent
angles. Some word cloud services (such as Tagxedo) are interactive: we can
click on each element to display Google search results or custom links related
to any given word or phrase. Additional options are available inTagCrowd
where we can create word clouds without entering our own text, but rather by
simply specifying a web address (URL). Word clouds can usually be saved in
dierent formats, and they can be printed or embedded in a web page.
The purpose of a mind map or concept map is to link dierent subconcepts
to a central idea and thus map the grid of conceptual associations that are
formed in our brain in relation to the given subject. Online mind maps are
similar in many respects to the original paper version, but may oer several
advantages:
• they can also feature multimedia elements (images, sound, videos, links,
even attached files);
• most of the time they cater for collaborative creation and editing with
participants who are distant from each other in space and time;
• they can be quickly shared with others across several channels and can be
commented by others if needed;
• some applications also provide the interesting option of tracing the process:
if the creation of the mind map is played back, the chronological order of
each element added, and the stages of the map’s development can be
revealed, even (in the case of registered users) with names and dates.
Mindmeister, XMind,bubbl.us, Popplet and Mindomo are popular applications
for editing digital mind maps. Cmap, EDraw orVUE are freely downloadable
solutions for use on PCs. The original service that best reflects the ideas of the
inventor of the method is Ayoa/iMindMap, about which this video contains
Figure 2.3. Examples from the gallery of the Tagxedo word cloud generator
When designing a word cloud, we should bear in mind that the
end result is more powerful if we choose an image that fits the
words of the given topic, and the layout of the words can also be
important. By studying the settings of each application, we can
discover additional useful functions, such as displaying multiple
words together (e.g. by using underscores:
digital_competence
).
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 43
suite, with which we can create high quality interactive presentations
featuring multimedia to be displayed on dierent platforms. Like other
applications in the product line, it can be used online and also downloaded,
and we can load and convert existing PDF or PPT files.Adobe Spark Is a
similar application, providing the means to create images with captions,
blog post presentations, and videos compiled from images and related
text.Emaze is also suitable for creating slightly more complex prese ntations,
web pages, digital postcards, blogs and photo albums.
One of the oldest and therefore most widely used presentation
applications is Microsoft PowerPoint. It was first released in 1987, and in
recent years it has been expanded with an increasing number of popular
features: more templates and animations, voiceover and video dubbing,
and support for online collaborative work via Microsoft 365. Another cloud-
based presentation editor isGoogle Scholar, which, among other things, can
convert PowerPoint files to Google Slides for collaborative editing (and later
convert them back to their original PowerPoint format).
The use of a cloud-based presentation can greatly contribute to
the success of a lecture: sharing the presentation before the event
helps the participants to prepare, and it can be used for individual
or joint note-taking during the lecture itself (see Chapter 6.1). At
the end of the process the presentation may form the basis for
further related activities in a manner accessible to all participants.
Comprehension can be supported by the use of non-linear
presentations, which make complex notions easier to digest by
employing dierent images and audio, interesting eects and
animations, and creative spatial layout.
further information. The most typical uses of mind maps in (higher) education
are discussed in Chapter 3.3.
We should also mention a significant and increasingly popular trend in
the production of visual content: the electronic technology known as Virtual
Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) is well suited to all levels of
education.
HP Reveal
and
QuiverVision
are interactive applications where we
can scan images or QR codes to display 3D content on our mobile devices. The
visuals can be rotated, and with the help of camera technology we can even
zoom in and out, or view them “from the inside”.
Creating presentations
The concept of what a presentation is varies from discipline to discipline.
In essence, it is a complex and interactive method of giving a lecture, but it
can also be seen as a trifold system consisting of the presenter (the creator),
the presentation (the content) and the presentation (the process). Yet, a
fourth element is also necessarily involved: the recipient, i.e. the audience,
who, during a properly interactive performance, can aect the presenter,
the presentation method, and even the content presented.
The key advantages of digital presentation materials are their multimedia
formats and the fact that they allow collaborative editing and quick and
easy sharing. We can embed links into the presentation and enrich its
content with additional resources (images, sound, text, videos, etc.). Such
an enriched presentation is highly suited to the predilections of Generation
Z, and as a consequence we may be able to motivate our students more (see
also Chapter 5.3).
Simple interactive presentation posters featuring multimedia and
hyperlinks can be created with Glogster orThingLink. A similar but slightly
more complex solution is provided by Sway, a part of the Microsoft Oce
44 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
These lectures are an ideal starting point.
More and more programs support the possibility of showing not only
the presentation, but also the presenter (e.g. PowerPoint video recording
or Prezi Video).
We may use this opportunity to increase per sonal presence during
distance learning, or to support students in a flipped classroom
environment (see Chapter 3.1) and those who are absent for a
lengthy period (students on an exchange programme, foreign
students, students with health problems). Additionally, this
solution might help us to improve our own presentation skills
and techniques.
The active involvement of the audience can be facilitated by integrating
interactive elements into our presentation via the online quiz and task
generators and polling applications listed below, or we can use presentation
software with interactive elements already integrated (e.g. Mentimeter,
AhaSlides) or flipped classroom applications with similar functions (see
Chapter 3.1). The role of the above tools in assessment is discussed in
Chapter 4.1, while their use in supporting learning is discussed in Chapters
5.2 and 5.3.
One such unique, non-linear presentation software is Prezi. In the web
application, the presentation can be edited using a simple browser
program, even on mobile devices, and if necessary, it can be downloaded
in a portable format for oine playback or exported as a PDF. Editing is
like freely placing the dierent elements of the presentation (text, pictures,
sound, animations, videos, links) on a large poster or mind map, and we
can demonstrate relationships by zooming in and using camera eects,
which are the trademarks of Prezi (warning: zoomed content might be more
dicult to follow for students with vision problems, see Chapter 5.1, and
also here). Only the version oering basic features is free, but it is sucient
for the ultimate goal of creating non-linear presentations.
If we have elaborate PowerPoint presentations, we can take
advantage of the conversion option, but if we wish to create
more thoughtful presentations that optimally utilise the
capabilities of Prezi, it is worth producing our presentation
independently, based on the PPTs. Whatever presentation
software we choose, we should also regularly devote time to
evaluating our presentation skills in the interests of constant
improvement. This can be done by requesting direct feedback
from the participants, or by studying materials that discuss
presentation techniques, and consciously incorporating the
relevant points into our presentation.
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 45
Task sheet generators typically create visually appealing tasks that are
already familiar from textbooks and workbooks (e.g. crossword puzzles,
word searches, gap-filling and pairing exercises) in a matter of seconds
from our own specified content, mostly in DOCX or PDF format. Some of
these generators focus on one specific type of task, such as crosswords
(EclipseCrossword, CrosswordLabs, Crossword Puzzle), word searches
(Word Search Maker) or triominos (Trimino Generator), while other
worksheet generators are specially designed for one discipline, like the Math
Worksheet, which generates a variety of mathematical tasks. In addition,
there are generators that can create and even merge dierent types of task
(e.g. Quickworksheets, Theteacherscorner, tutory.de, Übungsblätter Goethe).
Interactive quiz and task generators (e.g. Quizizz, Kahoot!, LearningApps,
Hot Potatoes, Socrative, Mentimeter, Jeopardylabs) are not only capable of
creating a variety of quiz questions or interactive versions of the basic task
types listed above, but they also often support the creation of more complex
exercises such as (competitive) multiplayer tasks (e.g. hangman, memory
games, competitive word finders) or joint tasks based on group knowledge
sharing (e.g. voting, collaborative notes, message boards). Of course we can
find applications that produce both printed and digital interactive versions
of these tasks, so after creating an exercise, we can deliver it in the medium
most appropriate to our specific goals, the students’ needs and the available
technical background (e.g. WordWall). Varied, customisable tasks can help
quantitative dierentiation in the classroom (see Chapter 5.2) and have a
particularly motivating eect on students (see Chapter 5.3).
Similarly, we can use theQuizlet application to create word lists and
glossaries related to specific learning content, which students can then
memorise with various interactive tasks automatically generated for the
word list. The application’s QuizletLive game, where participants solve quiz
Figure 2.4. Diagrams with live voting results from a presentation
(ahaslides.com)
Practice and test sheets, and task sheet editors
One further major area in the production of learning materials as mentioned
in the introduction is the creation of practice and test ta sks. These are typically
created using simple oce software. An alternative to the widespread
Microsoft Oce
suite in this case is
LibreOce
, a free open source oce
suite that contains word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software.
However, when preparing educational presentations and learning materials,
certain processes can be automated, and tasks may also be automatically
generated. In this area, we can distinguish between task sheet generators,
which mainly create static, printable content and creative suites, with which
we can create complex interactive learning activities with multimedia, without
any programming knowledge.
46 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
• Audio materials: These may be the subject of learning, or may have a
learning support function – depending on this, they may be independent
of or related to other materials in order to improve learning eciency.
• Multimedia elements: The use of multiple media within one platform
facilitates cognition through multiple channels in an ecient way.
• Interactive content: Such content enables the modification of learning
objects subsequent to student interaction and can provide immediate
feedback during the learning process.
• Tasks: Complex learning objects capable of interactivity contain the help
needed to solve the task, and display the correct and incorrect solutions
(feedback).
• Collections: These are interrelated learning objects based on certain
organising principles (e.g. glossaries, collections of texts).
• Links: These reveal the internal (structural) and external (connection to
other learning materials) relationships in the form of hyperlinks.
In order to be properly organised and searchable for the users of the relevant
content management system, learning objects must be provided with
descriptions known as metadata (the main features of the content, such as
title, category, keywords). Social tagging and the users’ ratings can further
facilitate searching. Digital learning objects are digital learning materials, i.e.
they are educational materials which rely on pedagogical principles and utilise
the possibilities of information technology according to the educational goals
(Hülber, Lévai & Ollé, 2014). The greatest advantage of content management
systems is that in the case of an active user community, the number of
available materials is constantly expanding, and users (instructors and even
students) can create learning materials from existing items according to their
individual needs, modifying them as and when required (in accordance with
tasks together using their smart devices, is particularly motivating. We can
use this activity for revision, preparation for a tes t, or even for playful testing.
(For the eective use of the listed apps in measurement and assessment,
see Chapter 4.1.)
Databases suitable for sharing (interactive) tasks are usually grouped
around the content of a course or a training programme, but there are
also more comprehensive, multi-disciplinary collections covering several
subjects (e.g. Worksheetworks).
Producing learning materials with learning management systems
Internet-based online resources “are often aggregated, curated, and made
available in resource collections. The vision is that, supported by this
increasingly available infrastructure, teachers and students can access,
create, connect, and share knowledge in ways that fundamentally transform
practice.” (Recker et al., 2013.) By using content management systems, we
can provide our materials for the users directly inside the system or through
learning management systems. The smallest unit produced for the system
is the learning item or learning object (Benedek, 2020a, 2020b), i.e. smaller
thematic units independent of the curriculum and the syllabus. The main
types are as follows (based on Hülber, Lévai & Ollé, 2014):
• Texts: These are typically digital text networks, which can be divided
into primary (learning materials) and secondary (learning support, e.g.
instruction manuals, methodological guides) texts according to their
function.
• Images: According to their pedagogical purpose, these are either
independent carriers of information or they can be used as a supplement
to textual information (for purposes of explanation, clarification and
demonstration, etc.).
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 47
Figure 2.5. List of search results on theOER Commons educational portal
International trends in the field of content- and methodology-based
education development have increasingly moved towards the creation
of learning materials with an open structure, featuring the constructive
contribution of those actively involved in learning and the provision of mass
access through interactive online interfaces, during which the role of mobile
devices and applications is constantly expanding (see Horváth Cz., 2016), a
phenomenon which facilitates the development of microcontent optimised
for mobile devices (micromedia), i.e. adapted to the relatively small size of
the displays.
The electronic notes and learning materials created in this way open
up completely dierent perspectives than the previous method, i.e. the
digitisation and e-learning adaptation of the existing printed learning
materials. Open structure electronic learning materials can be supplemented
with tasks and demonstrative materials, which can make the students
processing the learning material in a group environment within a study
the indicated license, see Chapter 2.1). Content management systems (e.g.
Learning Resource Exchange) are more typical in public education, but such
systems often contain materials that can be used in higher education, too.
Familiarity with such systems is also important for teacher training courses, as
participants should be taught how to use existing learning materials and how
to produce and upload their own.
There are content management systems specifically designed for higher
education, one of the most popular being the English-language Labxchange
which facilitates the development and distribution of high-quality digital
resources in a higher education setting. Uploaded content can be browsed
by discipline, content type or source, and after logging in, we can upload our
own higher education learning objects.
The OER Commons educational portal oers materials from preschool age
through primary and secondary school to higher education, complemented
by other areas of adult education. In addition to keyword searches, we can
search by discipline, educational level and educational standards, and in
addition to the author’s profile and the date of upload, the results will also
display the evaluations of the user community.
48 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
an undertaking requires considerable technical and methodological skills,
which can be obtained from relevant training courses.
Knowledge sharing and a transparent, traceable culture of collaboration
is supported by creating educational content together with our colleagues,
using the collaborative editing interfaces presented above.
To consider the specific learning objective, context, pedagogical approach
and learner group when adapting or creating digital learning resources.
In order to achieve dierent pedagogical goals, it is essential to select tools
and content that are best suited to the goal, the learning context, and the
specific characteristics of the learning group in question. In some cases,
digital resources created by others must be modified and adapted to the
given pedagogical goals.
Variety is an important aspect when using digital content, as the
monotonous use of even the most innovative digital tools and applications
that initially trigger a great response can quickly lead to a decrease in
student motivation.
One key to ensuring diversity is to oer dierent digital resources
to the same student group at specific intervals, or to use the
same resources with dierent tools and forms of work. Feedback
should never be neglected: after using a newly introduced tool
or curriculum, it is advisable to reflect on how ecient, eective
and motivating the experience was; at the same time, it is also
important to request continuous feedback regarding applications
that are being used regularly
framework think together. The development of learning materials with the
involvement of students has immense motivational power and it increa ses the
eciency of personalised knowledge acquisition (Benedek, 2020a, 2020b).
For more details about the engagement and motivation of students, see
Chapter 5.3. Here is the opinion of one of our experts on how to appropriately
design, upload and manage repositories of learning materials:
Does an instructor need to create his own digital content?
András Benedek:
When we look at repositories of learning materials that are
the benchmark in terms of learning, we often see that access
is subject to strict rules: not everyone can upload, there
are “gatekeepers” who monitor the content. Creating such
interfaces on the Internet today is easy, but making sure that
they can be properly tagged and linked, that they properly handle dierent file
formats, and that they are resp onsive are issues which are definitely challenging.
For proper use, a culture of sharing must also be developed.
Creating collaborative online learning content
More complex educational content includes the creation of collaborative
online learning activities (e.g. wikis, blogs) that can be created using
standalone online applications or embedded in an existing educational
framework (e.g. Moodle, Canvas, etc.). Some recommended user-friendly
blog services are described in Chapter 2.3.
The highest level of creating digital educational content is when instr uctors
develop their own application or game. This may be necessary when even
from the vast range of digital learning materials and related services, we
cannot find a solution appropriate for our educational goal. However, such
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 49
the main driving force and motivation in the course of the activity is to
increase the eciency and success of the learning and teaching process:
How can higher education instructors be motivated to develop
innovative content and learning materials?
Andrea Kárpáti:
Money is not the first thing I would mention, although it
does not hurt to get paid for such a demanding task, but
time has unique motivational power. I would definitely
consider the creation of digital learning materials as an
educational activity in its elf, for which a separate timeframe
should be provided. However, the greatest motivating force is the interest of
the students themselves.
András Benedek:
The answer is simple: in my opinion, success. It can be
professional, individual or internal success. After holding
a class or a lecture, instructors should draw up a personal
balance sheet evaluating the participants’ levels of attention
and activity, and examining the comments they made and how well they
understood the tasks. Success is a basic motivation in this profession, and it is
something upon which we can build. The other thing is to take advantage of all
available tools: tell the participants to bring their own devices and use them in a
purposeful way! In this way, students are also able to produce microcontent and
they remain motivated. In good microcontent, the learning unit is connected
to the knowledge we want to convey, but perfect imprint is achieved in a
multimodal fashion, with a joint complex experience. True success is when
something is triggered in the students and we achieve a feeling of pleasure that
we make available with this digital content.
If our goal is to promote learning oriented and learner oriented processes
that are increasingly based on student activity during education, we can
take advantage of the opportunity presented by students producing
learning materials themselves. With the proper pre-selection of tasks,
students can also become involved in the production of learning materials,
thereby ensuring their more active participation in the development of
the content and material of their lessons (see Chapter 6.3). Supporting
students’ production of learning materials also helps us to build a constantly
expanding and up-to-date learning repository related to a particular topic.
To understand the dierent licences attributed to digital resources, and the
implications of reusing such resources.
When we create simple, printable learning materials or more complex
interactive content online, we usually have the option to restrict the
availability of our materials. In the case of private use materials, only those
who create the materials (and persons specifically selected by the creator)
can access materials, while publicly shared material will be available for the
members of the respective group of users. The advantages of the latter
may be constructive community criticism (e.g. in the form of ratings and
comments on the file sharing site), joint development and mutual assistance,
but one disadvantage is the possible abuse of the material, including its
improper modification (on licenses and their proper use, see chapters 2.1
and 6.3).
Innovative content and curriculum development requires substantial
background knowledge and energy investment from instructors, but – as
we can see in many other learning situations – adequate practice leads to
increasing confidence and more ecient work. According to our experts,
50 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
and interactive online environments in education additionally depends on
the ecient pursuit of a variety of ICT-related activities. In what follows, we
discuss activities that promote the secure and legal sharing and handling of
digital content.
When sharing digital content, we must be sure to preserve the security
of the content: rather than open systems with no password protection,
closed systems with password requirements are preferable (whether using
university servers or external, but reliable software – for example, Google
considers security of content to be increasingly important). We should also
be careful when choosing closed systems: the data management policy of
the hosting company should guarantee that the file cannot be transferred to
unauthorised users. Data processing information is usually available in the
Privacy Policy located in the footer of such websites.
Open systems are particularly sensitive to data security as they are
spaces where content can be accessed by a mass audience. Our expert
discusses a unique form of protection:
How can I protect my own digital content? Do I even need to protect
my content?
András Benedek:
I will give a peculiar answer. When teaching open systems,
we always tell instructors that if they upload to open
systems, they should be aware that others can use the
upload. However, the content can also be protected by
various techniques . We are moving towards putting electronic badges on these
systems.
2.3. Managing, Protecting and Sharing
Digital Resources
To organise digital content and make it available to learners, parents,
and other educators. To eectively protect sensitive digital content. To
respect and correctly apply privacy and copyright rules. To understand
the use and creation of open licenses and open educational resources,
including their proper attribution.
Managing digital content requires a specialised strategy from instructors.
The successful management of content placed in the digital space is
primarily the task of the instructors (they create the content and the
methodological assistance that goes with it). The appropriate management
of digital content and participation in digital education requires knowledge
from the students as well: developing this knowledge and the relevant skills,
and facilitating their acquisition, is also the task of the instructor. Successful
strategies are already reflected in the preparatory tasks involving digital
materials. Instructors make digital content (including administrative and
student data, if necessary) accessible to students and even colleagues in a
responsible manner via email, online platforms, websites, blogs, etc. They
also ensure adequate data protection, respecting privacy, copyright and
other sensitive data. One of the first steps in the responsible management
of data placed in the digital space (such as tests and task banks) is finding
the right platform.
The management of digital learning materials depends on a number of
factors. In terms of their function, learning materials can be of assistance
during lessons, and also serve to provide and deepen knowledge outside
the classroom. The active and successful use of digital learning materials
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 51
To share resources on online platforms or personal or organisational websites
and blogs. To share personal repositories of resources with others, managing
their access and rights as appropriate. To respect copyright restrictions.
Sharing online content is no longer an actual challenge for students and
instructors inhabiting a digital space. Besides content requirements,
however, quality assurance requirement s should also be met. In addition to
bulk content sharing pages, a unique quality is maintained by moderated
pages, where the content displayed is screened by machines or people.
Closed online social networking sites with only registered users are usually
moderated, which makes them more reliable sources, and they typically
oer quality content. When it comes to sharing digital content, it is always
better to use our own personal or institutional pages: on the one hand,
they are easier to access, on the other hand, the content sharing service
provider can oer assistance in the case of problems (the same applies
to paid services, where we usually buy background support with our
subscription).
Personal pages can be created with free blogging services. Notable
free blogging engines are
blogger.com
,
blogspot.com
,
wordpress.com
,
Wix
and
TwitterBlog
. However, before we start blogging, there are two things
that need to be taken into consideration: the privacy policy of the site and
the security of our Internet access. It is advisable to use pages beginning
with
“
https
”
and avoid
“
http
”
, since data on the latter is more vulnerable,
and the content (and personal data) stored can be more easily accessed by
phishing schemes. Creating websites is simple and free, but paid services
such as
Webnode
provide aesthetically pleasing and functionally versatile
sites.
To share resources using links or as attachments, e.g. to e-mails.
The two most basic ways of sharing digital resources are to send the material
itself, or just a link to it, via email. An important dierence is that while the
resources that are sent are preserved, the materials sent as a link are lost
when the upload is deleted or modified, and the link itself can change if the
content is altered. Despite this, digital resources sent as links can be easily
organised in their original location. A password protected interface (whether
GoogleDrive
or
Moodle
) may be perfect for this task, but it is also important
to properly set the access permission for the content. In the case of long, hard
to read links, consider sending an html-formatted link or use a link shortener
service (e.g.
tinyurl.com
,
Bit.ly
,
Google URL shortener
,
Ow.ly
).
Short, concise URLs are easier to manage and remember (they can
be shared verbally or even on a blackboard), and they are more inviting
for the users. Another advantage is that as part of their premium services
some providers (e.g.
bit.ly
) also give statistics on the content behind the
abbreviated link, which can be used to analyse and assess the eciency and
use of the given resource.
Larger files cannot be shared as attachments, because email clients
usually come with upload restrictions. The ecient way to send large files
is to share links. If we use
Gmail
, for example, files larger than the permitted
size will be uploaded to the sender’s
Drive
storage, and the recipient will only
receive a link with which to download the content.
Dropbox and OneDrive are
similar: after uploading the material, a sharing link can be generated. If we
do not want to burden our own storage space with large files, we can use
online file sharing services, but the security of non-international companies
is always a question. It is always best to consult and study online privacy
policies before using them.
52 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
To appropriately reference sources when sharing or publishing resources
subject to copyright. To attribute (open) licenses to self-created resources.
Free content sharing is a positive thing. It contributes to cooperative work,
boosts the flow of knowledge, and also stimulates creativity. In the process
of community knowledge sharing, users not only give, but also receive. This
is why it is important to use open licenses so that all users who are part
of the community can benefit from the knowledge. Importantly, teachers
should not be averse to the sharing of knowledge: it is no dierent from
writing essays or books, because in those cases we also share our thoughts.
The concept of open or free licenses and the use of licensed resources
are described in detail in Chapter 2.1. If we wish to provide our own digital
resources with such licenses, we can use the creativecommons.org page,
where we can freely download the buttons and icons for all CC license types.
Figure 2.6. License icons and buttons
Over time, those instructors who create their own digital content will build
up a collection, the real benefits of which will be revealed if the collection
is more widely shared. When sharing content, it is useful to tag the content
we want to place in the public online space – these keywords will make it
easier to find and contextualise content. When sharing self-made content,
the conscious instructor also controls its rights of use through licenses and
it is therefore very advantageous for us to familiarise ourselves with the
possibilities implicit in the various licenses (see Chapter 2.1).
The rights of access to and organisation of the materials we upload to
dierent digital learning repositories should also be carefully managed.
Services where we can create student groups and within them
student accounts (e.g. LearningApps, Quizlet) usually provide
tracking of the activity of the participants, including their use of
learning materials (tasks performed, statistical data, etc. – see
Chapter 4.2).
Access rights vary: compared to the access available to the instructor who
created the group, student access is limited. We should study the rights
associated with instructor and student accounts in every interface used for
producing learning materials; instructors can typically monitor participants’
activities and they can share the materials created by the participants with
the other members of the group. Before starting to use a service, we should
also review the publishing conditions – for example, there are certain sites
where all materials are privately accessible by default (e.g. LearningApps).
2. DIGITAL RESOURCES 53
How can students’ personal data be protected? What are some of
the typically problematic situations?
András Benedek:
Images are particularly sensitive things in this regard. It
should be known that likeness right is quite strict. Both
consent and documentation are required. The rules that
apply to instructors must also be kept by students. Just
as we expect the teacher to create original microcontent, students should
also use their own (however, the use of diagrams requires some knowledge).
An interesting question is whether students (possibly related to their
special needs – see Chapter 5.1) should be allowed to make video or audio
recordings during teaching (e.g. videoing a whole lecture or taking a picture
of a slide that is being projected). The recording of a part of a lesson is usually
regulated at institutional level, and the rules of recording are conventionally
laid down by the institution or university. Unless otherwise stated by the
university or institution, the recording of the content heard or seen is subject
to the written permission of the teacher or the students. That is, not only
the instructor, but also the student is obliged to ask permission from those
present before making a recording. If students want to record content created
by the instructor, they must ask for the instructor’s written permission (the
easiest way is to write a letter of consent beforehand and then ask for the
instructor’s signature), and if the instructor wants to record any part of the
lesson, they must also ask for the students’ written consent. If the student
makes a recording in which other students can be seen and heard, they must
also be asked for their written consent.
When uploading to media hosting services, licenses are set up in the given user
interface: we usually need to fill in a datasheet containing a brief description of
the media (text, image, audio, video), the source (author and original location,
e.g. website address), and we can also specify the license that regulates usage.
To take measures to protect sensitive data and resources (e.g. students’
grades, exam papers, etc.).
One of the great advantages of closed systems (
Moodle
,
Canvas
) is a
higher degree of security. The content hosted by such systems can only
be accessed after registration: registration regulates the scope of access
to the content and the rights to manage the interface and the content. The
conscious user is aware of data sensitivity and the fact that certain types
of data require more careful protection, and should be stored in systems
secured by passwords or privileges.
Data concerning students’ grades and progress paths is both important
and sensitive. Such information can be stored in evaluation tables, even in
a shared Google spreadsheet (a more detailed related good practice can be
read in Chapter 4.3). When storing data in evaluation tables, we should pay
attention to who can view it (we should set the table up in a way that the
content stored there can only be seen by the learner whose data is stored).
Here, too, before sharing student data with other students (for example,
because we cannot ensure that only the students concerned will see their
actual data), it is advisable to ask them for their written permission.
Not only account numbers, passwords and user names are sensitive data –
personal rights also apply to the use and distribution of visual representations
of people, such as photographs. This is why we should follow the advice of our
expert about the use of pictures or diagrams created by others:
54 2. DIGITAL RESOURCES
Obonya, J. & Kadlečík, M. (2020). Assessing the Intensity of the Usability of the Course
Content within the Virtual Learning Environment. International Journal of
Emerging Technologies in Learning, 15(17), 165-180, https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.
v15i17.13715
O’Brien, J. (2020). Digital Ethics in Higher Education: 2020. EDUCAUSEREVIEW, 2
Mimi Recker, Linda Sellers, Lei Ye, “Teacher Design Using Online Learning Resources:
A Comparative Case Study of Science and Mathematics Teachers”, Education
Research International, vol. 2013, Article ID 243248, 11 pages, 2013. https://doi.
org/10.1155/2013/243248
Priatna, T., Maylawati, D., Sugilar, H. & Ramdhani, M. (2020). Key Success Factors of
e-Learning Implementation in Higher Education. International Journal Of
Emerging Technologies In Learning, 15(17), 101-114. http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/
ijet.v15i17.14293
Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators:
DigCompEdu (JRC107466). Seville, Spain: Joint Research Centre.
Tóth-Mózer Sz. & Misley H. (2019). Digitális eszközök integrálása az oktatásba Jó
gyakorlatokkal, tantárgyi példákkal, modern eszközlistával. Budapest: ELTE
Eötvös Kiadó.
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3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 55
targeted application of technologies that support teaching and learning
with appropriate methodologies, which is the primary topic of this
chapter. Chapter 3.1. Teaching discusses the topic in more detail through
practical examples. In this context, the potential of dierent educational
environments and the flipped classroom will also be discussed. Chapter
3.2. Guidance discusses the practical implementation of the instructor’s role
as a guide and facilitator, and how learning management systems (LMS)
can support these roles. Chapter 3.3. Collaborative learning outlines the
organisational questions, tools and benefits of collaborative student work,
while Chapter 3.4. Self-regulated learning proposes solutions which support
students’ self-regulated learning. As this brief overview of the topics in the
chapter shows, the relevant third area of DigCompEdu is more general in
its focus compared to the other areas, because topics like digital resource
management (Chapter 2), assessment (Chapter 4), or empowering learners
(Chapter 5) are all constituent elements of the teaching-learning process.
We interviewed the experts Dr. Márta Turcsányi-Szabó (Eötvös Loránd
University, Budapest) and Dr. János Ollé (University of Pannonia, Veszprém)
about the topics in this chapter.
3.1. Teaching
To plan for and implement digital devices and resources in the teaching
process, so as to enhance the eectiveness of teaching interventions. To
appropriately manage and orchestrate digital teaching interventions. To
experiment with and develop new formats and pedagogical methods for
instruction.
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
Zsófia Menyhei
Introduction
When discussing teaching and learning, an indispensable starting point is
how the information society and the changing technological environment
have shaped the way we think about these two activities. The activity
of the learner in the digital age is particularly important: the goal is
to make students able to critically select information, solve problems
while constructing their own knowledge, collaborate with others, take
responsibility for their own development and learn in a self-regulatory way
(ISTE, 2016). Their instructor should support this process – according to
carefully appointed goals – with the appropriate methods and tools, and
consciously build on the possibilities of dierent learning environments. All
of this perfectly echoes the learning concept of constructivist pedagogy, as
we will frequently see in the current chapter. One of the basic assumptions
of the chapter is that the key to teaching and learning in the twenty-first
century is the combination of modern pedagogical ideas and digital
technologies that assist their practical implementation.
At the same time, one of the most pressing tasks of higher education
globally is to provide meaningful responses to the needs of the information
society and to incorporate the ideas outlined above into daily practice. This
obviously requires renewal at several levels, such as that of institutional
culture. At the level of the instructor, this means, among other things, the
56 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
student is expected to be able to cultivate at the action level by the end of
this learning phase. In other words, the starting point is not what we will
teach in a given lesson (e.g. “I will teach figures of speech”), but what the
student will gain in terms of concrete, measurable outcomes (e.g. “by the
end of the lesson, the student will be able to distinguish metaphor from
metonymy”). For this, we should map our prior knowledge of our students,
using, for example, a diagnostic assessment (see Chapter 4.1). Because well-
defined learning outcomes often contain verbs expressing student action,
a modified version of the Bloom taxonomy that operates with verbs may
help us to define them (Anderson & Kratwohl, 2001). The learning outcomes
approach focuses on the outcome rather than the process, but in the next
stage of planning we must naturally concentrate on the teaching process
itself: the teaching-learning strategies, methods and tools. It is important
to consider what activities will lead to the desired result, what methods of
feedback we will use and whether at some point technology can improve
on these.
One of the key issues in the planning of the process is the selection
of the relevant student activity. In most cases, the short answer to the
question of what is “relevant” is that it must promote productive activity
with the given goals in mind (Smith Budhai & Brown Skipwith, 2017). It
has often been suggested that the learning concept of pedagogies based
solely on knowledge transfer and demonstration is incompatible with the
changing demands on education. Of course, this does not mean that the
methodological solutions of such pedagogies should be disposed of – a
logically structured, highly demonstrative, and suggestive lecture may have
a considerable impact on a student sitting in a lecture theatre. However, in
most teaching-learning situations, it is essential to build on student activity,
for example, through tasks embe dded in real contexts, which are often made
What is the attitude of students to the use of digital technologies to
support learning?
Márta Turcsányi-Szabó:
Students’ attitudes towards digital devices, whether in or
outside of class, always depend on the nature and relevance
of the task. If students are given a task that they could solve
without a computer, but they do have to solve it with a
computer, they will, of course, be reluctant to do it. However, if technology can
inherently facilitate the solution, they will love it, and sooner or later realise that
solving the task becomes much easier.
In the DigCompEdu framework, the first component of the third area,
teaching, is referred to as the most important competence of the area –
and perhaps the whole framework (Redecker, 2017, p. 20). This is perhaps
not surprising, as the oft-cited “ground rule” for classroom integration
of digital technologies, according to which the use of tools must be truly
justified and methodologically relevant, is nowhere as prominent as in this
area. As emphasised in the above quote, digital technologies should only
be incorporated in the teaching-learning process if they bring some added
value and if they can help in the implementation of an activity. There are
many examples of this (see the methodological ideas and good practices
in this handbook), but it is ultimately the instructor’s responsibility to judge
– during a conscious planning process taking into account the goals, the
context and the participants of the course – when it is necessary to rely on
digital technologies.
What exactly does conscious planning of the use of digital technologies
mean? As a first step, we should apply a learning outcomes approach, meaning
that our lesson or course should clearly articulate what competencies the
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 57
and/or laptop, these tools can be called upon to support learning in the
classroom. The added value of technology often lies in activating students –
smart devices can even be used as a kind of “classroom polling system”, but
they can also prove useful in the implementation of many other objectives.
In a university lecture, for example, audience engagement can be
significantly boosted with the combination of interactive presentation
software (e.g. Mentimeter, Nearpod) and mobile devices. With such
software, our presentation can be enhanced by interactive slides asking
students questions. The students answer these on their mobile devices,
and the results appear in real time in the presentation, i.e. on the projector
(Figure 3.1). This can be useful for several dierent purposes: when we
want to receive quick information about our students’ prior knowledge of
a topic, when we are curious about the associations they make and their
opinions, or when we wish to encourage them to ask questions and think,
the process characteristically goes more smoothly when it is anonymous.
Since the given answers are visible to the whole group, they can provide
a good starting point for a joint discussion. One significant advantage of a
tool being available to all the participants, is that each of them can become
individually engaged (for more information on engaging students, see
Chapter 5.3).
easier, faster, and more feasible with the use of digital technologies. This
might even mean that the students are tasked with blogging, commenting,
making a movie, doing something on social networks, and so on.
Where appropriate, students can be involved in the planning of activities,
and as the course progresses we can ask them for feedback on the relevance
of the tasks (how useful, entertaining or challenging they were), using, for
example, Google Forms or the polling feature of our learning management
system (see chapters 3.2, 5.2, 5.3).
Another key issue in conscious planning is how the teaching-learning
process can be optimised with technology. Obviously, as instructors, we can
only judge whether the use of tools is really justified for a particular activity
if we are aware of the potential of the technology in question. The aim of this
chapter is to present some practical examples of the relevant opportunities
and the added value they incorporate, such as the easier activation of
students, support for personalised learning and guarantee of transparent
work processes.
Regarding the teaching competence area of the DigCompEdu framework,
instructors should possess the following abilities:
To use classroom technologies to support instruction (e.g. electronic
whiteboards, mobile devices).
The extent to which classroom technologies should be used depends
on dierent factors, but one of the most fundamental questions is the
availability of devices at institutional level. Despite this, the BYOD (Bring Your
Own Device) concept can provide a solution to deficiencies of infrastructure,
although stable Internet access can be a crucial requirement in this case as
well. The point of BYOD is that since most students already have a smartph one
58 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
a classic computer room), and since these are their own devices, students
are generally fully conversant with their use. Interactive presentation is
just one of the many solutions to realise students’ productive activity.
There are additional ideas in our handbook, such as the use of digital exit
cards (see Chapter 4.3) or creating shared lesson notes.
In addition, there are a number of classroom techniques that help
to engage students without relying on their smart devices. A teacher’s
computer and a projector are sucient for showing word clouds – images
created from keywords or phrases that allow us to easily visualise textual
data (see Chapter 2.2) – yet such a relatively simple concept can be
employed in the classroom in multifarious ways
.
Before introducing a topic, we can create a word cloud from the
keywords associated with the subject matter. Projected in class,
students can be guided to focus on the most important elements
of the topic and their prior knowledge can be assessed by asking
them to share their associations concerning the words. Dierent
font sizes can be used to indicate the core points and the more
peripheral elements of the topic. The same word cloud can be
useful later when summing up: we can provide a unique overview
of the topic and make students aware of the specific gains in their
knowledge. Meanwhile, we are also helping them to memorise
the learned material and to be able to recall it later. Word clouds
can support not only the introduction or summary of a topic, but
also its revision. However, they can also be used for more light-
hearted purposes, for example, at the beginning of a series of
seminars or an entirely online course, the instructor and students
can create a word cloud about themselves (their activities and
interests) as a personal introduction (see Figure 3.2). Other
participants can ask questions about a student’s word cloud in
Figure 3.1. A slide type with dierent answer options in Mentimeter
Of course, not all students may have the necessary devices (for the
importance of ensuring equal access, see Chapter 5.1), and students should
not be expected to download the myriad of dierent applications we
recommend on their own devices.
As a compromise for the former problem, groups of three or four
can work on one device, while the latter issue can be addressed by
consciously aiming for applications that require no download (for
example, in
Mentimeter
and
Nearpod
, with the use of a code, interactive
slides can be directly accessed on the web interface).
Further potential drawbacks of BYOD include potential security risks
and the need to develop an institutional-level strategy to address this
issue (NMC Horizon Report, 2016).
The use of BYOD in education is supported by the fact that personal
devices are always at hand, typically small in size (so they do not break the
personal space between participants in the same way as the desktops in
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 59
The concept of blended learning can be linked to the hybrid environment,
which means that part of the teaching-learning process takes place within
a traditional classroom environment, while another part is carried out
as online distance learning. The extent to which the course relies on the
dierent environments depends on the regulatory environment of the
institution, as well as the various aspects, objectives and participants of the
course itself, but the ultimate goal is to make the activities taking place in the
dierent environments complement each other. The competence quoted
above is partly founded on the fact that by realising the huge potential
inherent in blended learning, instructors consciously exploit the advantages
of both traditional contact classes and online education. Contact classes,
for example, are excellent for participants to become personally familiar
with each other, become emotionally involved, and perform activities with
a practical focus that can only be conceived through personal attendance.
The online environment provides opportunities for, among other things, the
processing of the learning material at an individual pace and with individual
methods, and it also facilitates online communication, knowledge sharing
and collaboration. One way to implement blended learning is to create a
flipped classroom, which is described in more detail below.
In contrast to the hybrid learning environment, in a wholly online
environment the teaching-learning process is entirely independent of
classroom space and time, and this is often realised with the help of a
learning management system (Chapter 3.2). As distance learning became
the last resort for educational institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic,
such an environment is most likely familiar to everyone. Many educators
probably believe that the eectiveness of distance learning lags far behind
that of regular education. In the case of certain activities this might hold
true – as mentioned earlier, it fosters emotional involvement, and physical
order to get to know them better, or if everybody is already well
acquainted at the beginning of the course, we can make a quiz
where the students guess which word cloud belongs to whom. In
this use, therefore, the word cloud has a group dynamic function
as an “icebreaker”.
Figure 3.2. A personal word cloud for a student, created with WordArt
To set up learning sessions, activities and interactions in a digital environment.
The above examples demonstrate how digital tools can support work in a
contact class, but technology can obviously help students to learn outside
the classroom as well. On the one ha nd, technology-assisted learning already
takes place outside the framework of formal education, which is natural
and self-evident, but in institutional education we tend to underestimate
or completely ignore its importance. On the other hand, formal education
can also take place in dierent spaces, and hybrid and online educational
environments both have their own possibilities.
60 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
One typical manifestation of the flipped classroom can be
described in four stages (Ollé, Ruszkai, & Hülber, 2017; cf.
Bergmann & Sams, 2012). In the first stage, tuning in to the
topic and the tasks, as well as experience-based involvement
takes place within the framework of a contact class. This is
followed by learning – with teacher support – about the content
made available by the instructor in the online digital learning
environment. This content is typically a digitally recorded
presentation by the instructor or an instructional video from
another source (good examples can be found on the Khan
Academy website or in this video). However, any auxiliary
material that helps the acquisition of knowledge related to the
topic can also be used. In the third stage of learning organisation,
the student interprets the content outside the contact hours, in
an online environment, actively processing it and often creating a
product (e.g. notes, reflections, an explanator y video) individually
or in collaboration with group mates. In the fourth and final s tage,
we return to the classroom to build on the knowledge acquired
at home, and facilitate the deeper (joint) processing of the topic,
the discussion of the issues that arise, and the presentation of
the finished products. Therefore, the contact activity is practice-
oriented and characterised by shared learning.
Of course, innovative solutions supported by digital technologies cannot
be expected to provide an answer to all pedagogical problems or to work
equally well for all courses. This situation is no dierent in the flipped
classroom, but in some instances it can lead to a significant improvement
in quality as it has a number of advantages that in many respects coincide
presence is essential for some forms of experiential learning. At the same
time, it is important to realise that probably the most important condition
for the eectiveness of distance learning is preparation for the process,
an opportunity which was denied to the majority of instructors during the
aforementioned global crisis. By preparation, we primarily mean that in
addition to sharing resources, we also consciously plan students’ learning
activities, select the targeted individual or collaborative tasks which can
ensure student activity (Smith Budhai & Brown Skipwith, 2017), and discover
ways to maintain motivation (see Chapter 5.3), which is the main driving
force behind self-regulated learning. Examples and methodological ideas
are provided in the following subchapters (3.2 to 3.4). In an online learning
environment we might also strive to support students in the construction of
their own personal learning environment (PLE), which is discussed in more
detail in Chapter 6.5.
To experiment with and develop new formats and pedagogical methods for
instruction (e.g. flipped classroom).
The flipped classroom (al so known as the mirrored classroom) is the reverse
implementation of the currently most common educational practice. In
this form of learning organisation, activities in which students are mostly
passive recipients of the curriculum (e.g. listening and taking notes during
a traditional university lecture) are implemented as extracurricular, home
activities in a digital environment. Thus, significantly more time is available
in the contact class to deepen and apply knowledge.
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 61
• If the nature of the course allows it, we should let the student
choose from the content to be processed or decide how to
process it (e.g. what product to make).
• We should try to activate students in the extracurricular
phase of learning the content with the help of interactive
tutorial videos.
• The activities that feature in the dierent stages should be
structured so that they build on each other (e.g. students have
to in some way prove that they have learned and processed
the learning content of the previous stages). The majority of
students can be eciently motivated in their home activities
with relevant tasks supporting self-expression, but an
important question arises when the content has not been
properly explored and processed in the extracurricular stage.
Some instructors use online tests for this purpose: students can
only take part in the practical lesson (or, in the case of a score-
based assessment system, only get points for home activities)
if they pass the test. Other instructors try to form mixed groups
in the contact class, in which students who have completed
their homework work with those who have not.
3.2. Guidance
To use digital technologies and services to enhance the interaction with
learners, individually and collectively, within and outside the learning
session. To use digital technologies to oer timely and targeted
guidance and assistance. To experiment with and develop new forms
and formats for oering guidance and support.
with the ideas of modern educational theories. On the one hand, the flipped
classroom supports students’ active and self-regulating learning, builds on
their responsibility for their own learning and represents a learner-centred
approach. The extracu rricular activities provide an opportunity for individual
scheduling and progress at an individual pace – if necessary the tutorial
video can be replayed multiple times, yet some students may even process
material faster than when they are in a conventional classroom environment.
In the contact class, students can receive more personal attention and
help from the instructor and their fellow students, and interactivity can be
exploited. In summary, in the flipped classroom, personalised learning is
more significantly present in both the out-of-class and the contact stages
compared to the classic classroom solution (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).
There are naturally drawbacks to the concept as well, and in fact the
very advantages of the strategy might in some cases be manifested as
disadvantages: self-regulatory learning and responsibility may seem
foreign to students at first, as it is likely that the majority will have had no
prior experience of such a model. Similarly, the instructor may also have
reservations concerning their new role of having to support and monitor
student activity not only in the contact class, but also online.
The following good practice tips may prove useful in designing a
flipped classroom solution:
• We should take the time to tune in. At this stage, we can
even openly discuss the advantages the new kind of learning
organisation with the students, and highlight potential
diculties and concerns.
62 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
tasks, such as completing attendance sheets or recording grades, and they
feature a calendar function, which is useful for providing students with a
reminder of the deadline for the submission of their tasks.
According to the DigCompEdu framework, competent instructors in their
guidance-related role can be characterised as possessing the following
abilities:
To use digital communication tools to respond promptly to learners’
questions and doubts, e.g. concerning homework assignments.
A number of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools are
available for instructors with which they can communicate with their
students outside of contact classes. If simultaneous interaction is required,
we can use, for example, a device that allows instant messaging or video
conferences, but if non-real-time communication is more appropriate,
communication may take place on a message board or forum, or by email.
As instructors, it is advisable that we develop a strategy regarding when
to be available on dierent interfaces, and we need to inform our students
accordingly.
Learning management systems integrate most of these tools on the
same platform (see Chapter 6.2), so it is an obvious choice to predominantly
rely on the tools available within the given system (e.g. personal messages,
forums). At the same time, these functions not only facilitate communication
between an instructor and their students, but also make discussion and
cooperation between the group mates smoother. For example, a forum
built into a learning management system can be used by group members to
discuss issues that arise (e.g. related to homework), which is an important
part of community learning, and a measure of students taking responsibility
It is a cliché about the information society – and one of the foundations of
the DigCompEdu framework – that teachers are no longer the exclusive
source of knowledge: their role is being redefined and their responsibilities
in supporting and facilitating learning are growing ever greater (ISTE,
2017). In practice, such a statement covers a wide range of pedagogic
knowledge and activities: for example, knowing when to intervene and
not, helping students to become independent and cooperative learners,
providing frameworks, guidance and advice, and developing critical
thinking. These activities are excellently supported by digital technologies
and are extremely well integrated with learning management systems
(e.g.
Canvas
,
Moodle
,
Google Classroom
,
Edmodo
). In this section, we focus
on the potential of these systems, paying special attention to how they can
help us in our work as guides and mentors.
An organic part of our teaching work is to share learning content with
students, communicate with them by email, solicit their feedback, create
tests, and evaluate submitted materials. Learning management systems
provide a comprehensive solution to carry out the listed activities on
the same platform. The distinct advantage of these interfaces is that the
learning materials can be found in one place, in a structured form – for
example, we can upload our own presentations, notes and multimedia
content, and share links to external applications and res ources in a modular
fashion; we can make a weekly breakdown or organise our resources
according to other principles. Of course, students can also share content
with their instructors or with all participants in the course, and even with
smaller groups, as most systems also support the creation of subgroups.
Learning products are available and evaluated on the same interface,
eliminating the chore of sending emails at every step of the process.
Learning management systems also provide solutions for administrative
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 63
What can an instructor do to make students active in online
communication?
János Ollé:
A forum is a community interface where interactive
communication needs to be shaped on an ongoing basis,
in which the instructor has a prominent role and serious
responsibilities. So the instructor must be present, too.
The response to this from most instructors is, obviously, that communicating
with students has always been severely time-consuming, and now that the
workload is multiplying, we have to be available for students day and night.
But that is not what this is all about. The instructor should set limits that can
act as an example to students: we are not constantly present, we do not react
immediately, but we are only actually available at certain times and in certain
situations.
To set up learning activities in digital environments, having foreseen learners’
needs for guidance and catering for them.
Learning management systems are useful in both distance and blended
learning environments, but the course interface must be carefully designed.
Typically, participants access content, tasks and tests grouped together in
separate blocks on the interface (see Figure 3.3). It is important to include,
on the one hand, collaborative tasks that are essential for the development
of a well-functioning online learning community, and, on the other hand,
guidance, supporting content and modules.
for their own learning. This also relieves the instructor to some extent, as
they do not have to answer the same question several times in multiple
emails. Of course, we can monitor an ongoing discussion and intervene if
necessary, but letting students tackle the problems which can be solved
within the group may be the preferred option. On the other hand, there is
no doubt that it is the instructor who has to boost the communication on
the forum with questions, targeted tasks, and active participation – without
such input, this function of the system will almost certainly remain unused.
In most cases, this type of instructor intervention is only needed during the
introduction of the course interface, and its intensity can be subsequently
reduced.
To catalyse participation on an LMS forum, we might stimulate
communication by asking participants to share an introductory
image, video, blog or article related to the topic of the course.
Later we can encourage students to respond to those items with
which they most closely identify. Students can then be motivated
to make use of the system’s other services in the same way.
In conclusion, we could say that in a learning management system, the
presence of the instructor as a facilitator is very important, whether we
use the LMS to support an entirely online course or to supplement contact
classes. Our expert emphasises the same:
64 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
a strong source of motivation (for more information on project work and
related digital solutions, see Chapter 3.3).
Another form of online instructor support is to incorporate
regular formative (developmental) assessment modules into the
learning management system. These can take the form of, for
example, playful self-asses sment tests or tasks that the instruc tor
prepares in advance and then integrates into the interface using
either external task editing applications (see Chapter 2.2) or
interactive response systems (see Chapter 4.1).
It may sound strange, but the instructor can also support online learning by
building on the supportive activity of the participants.
For example, in the case of a score-based assessment system,
students can voluntarily collect points by creating a FAQ
document for the course, expanding it, maintaining it, and
possibly creating an instructional video or quiz for their peers.
Of course, students may need guidance and support that we have not been
able to provide in advance.
We can rely on, for instance, the polling function of a learning
management system or an external tool that provides a similar service (e.g.
Google Forms) to assess and more easily respond to such needs, and to
involve students in the decision-making processes.
Figure 3.3. Content and activities arranged in modules on Moodle
In a digital environment, the aforementioned guidance and support can
take dierent forms.
Some instructors share frequently asked questions (FAQs) and
their own instructional videos with the students on the learning
management system. For some complex tasks, student work
may be supported by step-by-step instructions in a tutorial
document.
However, the above might be more of a barrier in task types relying on
individual creativity. When designing the course interface, it is important
not to control every step of the learning process. If the nature of the
course allows it, students should be given a free hand in the selection and
processing of content in these interfaces (for example, with open-ended,
problem-solving tasks). There are dierent ways to implement these tasks,
and they not only provide space for student creativity, but also work as
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 65
In higher education, collaborative learning activities are important in several
respects. On the one hand, after graduating it will be important for most of
our students to be able to participate eectively in work performed together
with others and to resolve potential issues or conflicts. On the other hand,
collaborative tasks presuppose a twenty-first century approach to learning:
they enable participants to learn actively, requiring them to take responsibility
for their own work and that of their peers, while the instructor’s role as
facilitator comes to the fore. Constructivist and connectivist learning theories
serve as a good starting point for a deeper understanding of all this.
According to the constructivist view, learning is a personal, active
and internal process of construction in which the learner interprets new
information using their existing knowledge (Pritchard & Woollard, 2010, p.
5). The approach focuses on the learners: their own activity and autonomous
actions are crucial in their learning, and prior knowledge plays a decisive
role. On the other hand, social constructivism holds that the social nature
of learning, interactions and group processes are the decisive factors.
Although these are two separate theories, in a sense, the latter “inherits”
constructivist theorems about individual cognition (Nahalka, 2002, p. 77).
The ideas briefly outlined here call for the creation of the following essential
conditions for eective learning:
• rich experience opportunities;
• tools supporting individual learning;
• social learning, collaboration, community creativity, diverse group processes;
• trueness to life, provision of authentic problems, embedded in a real
context;
• application of knowledge;
• dierentiation – in terms of goals, tasks, assessment, etc. (Honebein,
1996; Nahalka, 2002; Pritchard & Woollard, 2010).
To use digital technologies to remotely monitor student progress and
intervene when needed, while allowing for self-regulation.
The added value of digital technologies used in education lies in making
students’ progress more transparent and traceable. This is also true for
most learning management systems. In these systems, a variety of data
about student activity is automatically recorded, for example, when they
last logged in to the interface, how much time they spent there, what tasks
they completed, etc. (see Chapter 4.2). Thanks to logging, we can also track
document editing processes in Google Docs, or the tasks of a project in
Trello, making students’ individual contributions transparent in collaborative
tasks as well (see Chapter 3.3 ). Logged activities thus provide an insight into
certain aspects of the participants’ learning processes and the instructor
can recognise if a student is in diculty or needs more support. This does
not mean that we ought to monitor and account for every moment of
the students’ online work, as the goal is their self-regulated learning (see
Chapter 3.4). The supporting role of teachers therefore also means that we
should strive to maintain an optimal level of instructor and student control,
which is, admittedly, not an easy task. However, it helps to be aware of the
services that are available.
3.3. Collaborative Learning
To use digital technologies to foster and enhance learner collaboration.
To enable learners to use digital technologies as part of collaborative
assignments, as a means of enhancing communication, collaboration and
collaborative knowledge creation.
66 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
social assessment and conflict management, and develop skills in relation to
these matters.
What are the features of a task that facilitates all this? A good collaborative
task is primarily relevant to and frequently connected to a real-life problem.
Ideally, several solutions should be possible, i.e. the task should allow group
members to solve it creatively, using processes which ensure that the
dierent interests and strengths of each student can come to the fore. As
evidenced below, this aspect was also discussed by our experts:
Do you consider it an appropriate form of learning for students in
higher education to seek and process information in groups?
Márta Turcsányi-Szabó:
If we really accept that students with dierent profiles can
work together, wonderful group work can be developed.
Everyone can add their individual knowledge to the
process, resulting in significantly more innovative, creative
and unique work. In this case, it is clearly important for the teacher to assign
the group a task that is open-ended – there should always be more than one
possible solution.
Digital technologies oer excellent opportunities to promote collaborative
learning by, among other things, facilitating information sharing and
collaborative editing, and making the workflow transparent and traceable for
all participants. Collaborative research can rely on an inexhaustible repository
of online resources, while content sharing is supported by the learning
management systems mentioned earlier, or cloud-based file sharing sites (e.g.
Google Drive
,
OneDrive
). Web applications such as
Mindmeister
or
Padlet
are
important tools for structuring shared knowledge and brainstorming, while
Linked to social constructivism, yet dierent in many respects, connectivism
is considered to be the learning theory of the digital age. According to
this theory, knowledge is organised in a network, and it is created from
interactions and relationships between people (Downes, 2008); in other
words, learning means the creation and development of new relationships.
This presupposes a horizontally organised, multi-channel form of learning
based on learner autonomy and the spontaneous exchange of knowledge.
From a practical point of view, this means that students use dierent web-
based services to share content with each other, make connections about
it, tag it, evaluate it and edit it together – this is what we call community-
based knowledge construction.
Connectivism has received criticism for various reasons. Some argue
that it cannot be called a new theory of learning, while others question
its applicability in institutionalised education (Kop & Hill, 2008). Perhaps
unsurprisingly, experience to date has been gathered primarily in adult
education, which by its nature allows for looser organisation. At the same
time, the theory undoubtedly outlines some thought-provoking ideas about
twenty-first century learning, and some projects designed in a connectivist
system are also conceivable within an institutionalised educational
framework. The digital technologies and solutions described in this chapter
work very well with constructivist pedagogy and its approach, and they are
largely essential elements of connectivist practice.
There are many benefits to incorporating carefully planned and well
organised collaborative tasks into our courses. In working together,
students can not only learn from each other on the content level, but their
learning methodology toolkit can also be expanded based on what they see
from each other. They can also gain experience in cooperation, organisation,
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 67
has many advantages: the visual presentation and structuring of thought
elements can greatly help in the deeper understanding of connections, and
in memorising and recalling information. Furthermore, it improves critical
thinking as well as comprehension and focusing skills (see Buzan & Buzan,
2009). Mind mapping apps oer even more possibilities, as they can be
jointly edited, and additional text, links, comments and images can be
added at any time.
Figure 3.4. Mind map created in Mindmeister
Mind maps are excellent for providing a detailed picture of
participants’ prior knowledge when introducing a topic –
students can even create their own maps and share them before
the class, providing the lesson with a point of departure. At a
later stage of the learning process, mind maps created earlier
can prove highly useful in recalling the learning material, and
when summarising a topic they can be used to illustrate the
new knowledge the participants gained during the course
the coordination of collaborative tasks is extremely well supported by
Trello
.
All of these things are discussed in more detail in the following sections.
The DigCompEdu framework characterises the instructor supporting
collaborative learning as possessing the following abilities
:
To implement collaborative learning activities in which digital devices,
resources or digital information strategies are used.
As mentioned previously, some collaborative learning activities are much
easier to perform in a digital environment. One such example is using web-
based services: thanks to these, we can easily create, share and comment
online content, all in collaboration with others in a transparent process.
Thus, such services can be considered technologies that promote learner-
centred education and collaborative learning. Some are probably already
part of our students’ personal learning environment or will be integrated
into it during the course. For example, many people use Google Docs, a
cloud-based file-sharing site that allows for shared document editing. This
practice allows multiple users to work on the same textual product, either
simultaneously or at dierent times. A versatile tool, it is also suitable for
making joint class notes, collecting ideas in groups or documenting research
work in teams (for teacher use, see chapters 1.2 and 2.3).
In some courses, it may be us eful to give our students editorial permis sion
for a blank document before class. During the class itself, they may enter
their questions on this document via their own smart devices, and at the
end of the session the group will try to provide answers.
As an alternative to text-based class notes, our students can make
group notes in the form of a digital mind map using a suitable interface
(e.g. Mindmeister, Coggle, see Figure 3.4). Even a paper-based mind map
68 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
To employ digital technologies for collaborative knowledge exchange
among learners.
The specific examples described so far in this chapter have mostly referred
to smaller-scale collaborative activities, but a course may pursue goals that
can be achieved more eectively through project work. This usually means a
complex task based on a joint activity, the end result of which is a presentable
product: e.g. a comparison chart, tutorial video, podcast, summary of an
inquiry, etc. (see Larmer, Mergendoller, & Boss, 2015). Project work often
consists of distinct steps:
• definition of goals;
• planning and organisation related to activities, responsibilities, duration,
etc.;
• implementation, with phases like data collection, processing and product
compilation;
• closure, i.e. the presentation and evaluation of the project.
In the case of such complex tasks, carefully selected digital technologies
can be a source of invaluable assistance for the coordination of the
workflow, the creation and presentation of the output, and the evaluation
of the collaboration. Similarly, they can likewise become a crucial tool for
knowledge sharing between students, which can be achieved by using
certain functions of learning management systems, but also by the use of
external, web-based applications.
As an example, a blog or an online bulletin board is an excellent way
to document joint research and publish its results. With an online bulletin
board (e.g. Padlet, Lino) students can collect and organise content in
dierent formats (links, audio files, text, photos, their own drawings, etc.)
(i.e. by comparing their initial mind map with their mind map
edited during the summary). Mind maps are also capable of
supporting student or teacher presentations, but – to stick to
collaborative work – they are also suitable for the joint planning of
certain tasks and work processes. (See Chapter 2.2 for additional
ideas related to mind mapping.)
Naturally, students should not be expected to be immediately proficient
in the use of professional text editors, mind map applications or any other
web-based tool that is new to them. Although these are exceptionally user-
friendly interfaces, students must still be given some time to explore them.
If we are planning the classroom use of such technology, we
should assume a student’s perspective, and consider the
practicalities involved. For example, in order to edit a Google
document on their mobile device, they must first download the
related app (if they agree to this), so you should to ask them to
do so before the class begins.
In some cases, students may not share our enthusiasm about a certain
application. This is not neces sarily a problem, as the ultimate goal is eective
collaborative learning for students, which can often be accomplished by
other means, especially if they are already an integral part of the students’
personal learning environment.
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 69
At the same time, transparency can be further enhanced by certain
methodological solutions used in parallel with technology.
For example, in the case of a project, it is a good idea for group
members to sign a written group agreement, and a schedule of the
steps of the project, and make these available to the instructor.
Both are a means of taking responsibility for the shared learning.
The group agreement is a useful starting point and reference
for collaborative work. The agreement may declare (whether
through instructor questions or a template in
Google Docs
) the
responsibilities and roles of the group members, the channels
and regularity of meetings, and the way to handle problems, for
example, if a member is late in submitting their assign ment. A project
schedule, on the other hand, summarises activities and deadlines.
This can also be created in a collaboratively edited document, but
there are also design tools developed specifically for this purpose,
such as
Trello
or
Asana
. With these applications, the individual tasks
in the project can be listed, and responsibilities and deadlines can
be assigned (see Figure 3.6). Students open a planning interface for
their project where they can create lists (e.g. “To Do”, “In Progress”
or “Completed Tasks”). Cards can be added to these lists with a brief
description of the task, but they can also include file attachments,
links, comments and checklists. With the help of the application,
students can decide which card and task to assign to which member
of the group, who can then opt to receive email alerts about related
developments and deadlines. With the comments feature of the
on the same eye-catching, freely customisable interface (see Figure 3.5).
They can share their online bulletin board with their peers, and – with the
appropriate settings – receive feedback in the form of comments and likes,
which have a strong motivating force (for the role of feedback in motivation,
see Chapter 5.3).
Figure 3.5. A student’s bulletin board in Padlet
To monitor and guide learners in their collaborative knowledge generation
in digital environments.
We have already discussed one of the most important added values digital
technologies bring to teaching and learning: that they make the workflow
transparent. The same is true of many tools used to support collaboration.
For example, inGoogle Docs, activity is logged during document editing,
so we can easily keep track of who contributed to a specific collaboration.
70 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
comments and suggestions for changes, while on online bulletin boards,
likes or textual evaluation can be added to the individual products making
up the comprehensive task. As all this is going on, the instructor can see
who gave what feedback to whom.
Here, too, it is true that the use of technology coupled with the right
methodology is the best way to take advantage of these opportunities.
On the one hand, it is important that course participants are
aware of the criteria the instructor will use to evaluate the
collaboration or its product. It is advisable to make these
benchmarks clear at the beginning of the work process, and if
they are agreed on collectively, the students will also be able
to give each other feedback according to the same criteria. On
the other hand, the guidelines for constructive peer assessment
should also be clarified with students (see Chapter 4.3). This kind
of social feedback is eciently supported by the pedagogical
solution in which a student receives extra points in the final
assessment for a constructive comment or suggestion that in
some way contributed to the progress of their group mates.
Constructive peer feedback can be motivated by informing the
students that its purpose is to provide reciprocal assistance
during the final stages of the construction of their work, prior
to the instructor’s evaluation. Of course, collaborative activities
can be evaluated not only in terms of the work done and the
output produced. Students can also reflect on the work process
itself, e.g. the reasons why cooperation with certain of their peers
was particularly eective or the causes of the diculties they
encountered.
cards, group members can give feedback to each other or indicate
if they encounter a problem during the process. If necessary, the
instructor can be added to the project’s planning interface, but often
we do not need to intervene. (An application that supports project
work can be viewed in action
here
).
Figure 3.6. A design interface to coordinate project work created in Trello
To use digital technologies for peer-assessment and as a support for
collaborative self-regulation and peer-learning.
Peer assessment and peer-learning play a major role in an individual’s
development and one of the benefits of collaborative tasks is that they
provide a comparatively natural background for this. For example, a project
abounds with opportunities for students’ formative evaluation of one
another: in shared document editors, they can support each other with
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 71
(e.g. perception of how the learner’s own performance changes when they
change their strategies along the way).
3. Self-reflection: as part of this, the learner performs self-assessment
(e.g. in relation to their abilities and learning strategies) and attributes
dierent reasons to their performance while reacting to the process in an
adaptive or defensive way (e.g. by modifying less eective strategies as
an adaptive reaction). The cyclical structure suggests that the processes
of the self-reflection phase may aect motivation or further learning goals
that feature as part of the next planning phase (Zimmerman, 2002, pp.
67-68)
.
According to the DigCompEdu framework, an instructor who suciently
supports independent learning possesses the following abilities:
To use digital technologies (e.g. blogs, diaries, planning tools) to allow
learners to plan their own learning.
Students may need support in how to plan their own learning. This type of
assistance can take many forms, depending on how much freedom we wish
to give them in choosing goals and modes of attainment, and on whether
we are dealing with short or long-term plans (e.g. a plan to complete a task
or planning what they want to achieve during the entire semester).
Student independence, responsibility, and motivation are also
aided by the learning contract, which is a kind of agreement
between the instructor and the student regarding the learning
process (Hunt, Wiseman , & Touzel, 2009, pp. 176-177). The learning
contract declares students’ learning goals, the activities through
3.4. Self-regulated Learning
To use digital technologies to support self-regulated learning processes,
i.e. to enable learners to plan, monitor and reflect on their own learning,
provide evidence of progress, share insights and come up with creative
solutions.
In modern pedagogical thinking, the teacher-centred approach is replaced
by learner-centredness, i.e. rather than teaching, the learning processes
become the crucial factor. The teacher is present as the organiser and
supporter of the learning proces s, while the active, self-regulated learning of
the students is given precedence. We have already referred to self-regulated
learning several times in this chapter, and under the label “learning to
learn”, it has also become one of the key competences for lifelong learning
(European Commission, 2019). One of the most im portant basic assumptions
about self-regulated learning is that students are active participants in the
learning process and are able to regulate their cognitive, motivational and
emotional processes (Pintrich, 2004). One way to approach this notion
is to examine its components and constituent abilities (e.g. ecient time
management), but in one of the most common interpretations it appears as
a cyclical process of three distinct phases:
1.
Planning: in this phase, among other things, goals are defined and learning
strategies are selected, while a role is also played by factors closely related
to motivation, such as the learner’s belief in their own ability to learn (self-
ecacy – see Bandura, 1977).
2. Implementation: this phase is characterised by self-control (e.g. focus on
attention, constant monitoring of the learning proces s) and self-perception
72 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
(e.g.
Google Drive
,
One Drive
), on an online bulletin board (e.g.
Padlet
,
Lino
), or within the learning management system in use.
Some guiding questions about the task in question are often
helpful. Examples include:
• What is the purpose of the task? What do I want to achieve
with it?
• What are the distinct phases and subtasks?
• How much time is nee ded to complete each phase and subtask?
• How can progress be documented at the end of each phase?
These questions can be answered by students in a Google
document and then continuously expanded as the task is
completed, supplemented with reflective comments (e.g. if
something is particularly dicult for them during the process,
or if they try out a new strategy), and in this way we are already
talking about a learning diary.
What’s more, with planning tools such asTrello
or
Asana, student s can create
a transparent, instructor-friendly plan for individual or shared assignments.
Here we can list subtasks and assign deadlines, and one possible use of
the comment function is to establish a dialogue between a student and the
instructor about the challenges and achievements related to the subtask.
which they want to achieve these, and the ways to demonstrate
that the knowledge was acquired – that is, this approach c aters for
dierentiation and the free choice of dierent individual learning
paths (on dierentiation, see Chapter 5.2). In practice, this often
means that, in addition to one or two compulsory assignments,
the instructor oers a range of dierent types of assignments,
and the student chooses which of these to complete in line with
the defined goals.
Take, for example, a course aimed at developing the educational ITC
competence of prospective language teachers: some participants will
probably want to learn more about learning management systems, while
some might already be familiar with them, and may prefer to explore
tools supporting collaborative learning. The learning contract provides a
separate framework for these dierent needs, but, of course, presumes
a shift in the role of the instructor and entails more thorough planning.
It is obviously not a practical solution for a survey lecture with a hundred
students, but it may be the key to a more eective, personalised form of
learning in smaller, practice-oriented courses.
Whether oered as an optional task in the learning contract or a
compulsory assignment, students will receive great help during planning
and execution if they are familiar in advance with the assessment criteria
for a given assignment (or, where appropriate, if they develop self-
assessment criteria with instructor support). Some people find it easier to
plan following examples and ready-made solutions: for example, student
products made in the previous semester, which, depending on their nature
or our own preferences, can be stored in a cloud-based file-sharing service
3. TEACHING AND LEARNING 73
the opportunity to choose between such solutions, we are taking a step
towards dierentiation – bringing important aspects of constructivist
pedagogy into play (see Chapter 3.3). All the same, it is undeniable that this
type of task requires thorough ba ckground work on the part of the ins tructor.
One of the conditions of creative work is that students use the technology
needed to create the product with confidence. An instructor’s support
may be needed in this, and the best solution is to help the participants
“remotely”, e.g. by setting up a forum where the students can answer each
other’s questions. They may be additionally supported with assistance in
building and using their personal learning network (see Chapter 6.2).
To use digital technologies (e.g. ePortfolios, learners’ blogs) to allow learners
to record and showcase their work, as well as to enable learners to reflect on
and self-assess their learning process.
Traditionally, a portfolio is a collection of a student’s work that contains
documents and products selected by the creator on the basis of a set of
criteria, proves the student’s progress and eorts, and is supplemented with
analytical, interpretive reflection (Frey, 2014, p. 165, see also Chapter 1.3). A
digital solution to this can also take the form of a blog or e-portfolio. Some
learning management systems (e.g.
Canvas
) have their own e-portfolio
service, but we can also use an external a pplication developed for this purpose,
such as
Mahara
. If we choose a blog, students’ work can be collected in a
suitable interface (e.g.
blogger.com
,
wordpress.com
) or on an online bulletin
board (e.g.
Padlet
,
Lino
, see Chapter 3.3 ). On these interfaces, collections can
be expanded with textual, visual, multimedia and interactive content, i.e. all
the mentioned outputs can be combined on them. Another advantage is that,
compared to their paper-based equivalents, they can be easily shared with
To use digital technologies to allow learners to collect evidence and record
progress, e.g. audio or video recordings, photos
.
In higher education, it is customary to supervise students’ learning
through text-based reports (e.g. home assignments, theses). Thanks to
intuitive, user-friendly interfaces and applications, however, students can
now also prove their progress with podcasts, videos, infographics, word
clouds or mind maps, for example, following individual or joint research, or
content processing. Students can also create produc ts that are traditionally
the task of the instructor: screen videos (e.g.
Loom
,
Screencast-o-matic
),
interactive videos (e.g.
Edpuzzle
,
PlayPosit
), interactive worksheets or
quizzes (e.g.
LearningApps
,
Kahoot
).
Do you consider students seeking and processing information
independently or in groups to be an appropriate form of learning in
higher education?
János Ollé:
In higher education, if we develop a working digital educational
culture, we need to get to the level which is not only a culture
of information gathering and sharing, but also a culture of
production. Ideally, productivity should predominate, so we
not only structure and select existing information from which to construct learning
tasks, but at the same time, a new product, a new knowledge item, is also created.
In the best case, this is not necessarily textual – students could express themselves in
virtually any media format.
The huge advantage of content creation is that through this process, the
application of knowledge comes to the fore. In addition, by giving students
74 3. TEACHING AND LEARNING
expected terminology – aka the “evaluation game” (Stocks &
Trevitt, 2008) – this solution is well worth considering as well.
To conclude the chapter, János Ollé shares his thoughts on the future of
higher education practice in relation to the use of digital tools.
How do you see the future of higher education practice?
János Ollé:
Innumerable elements of higher education could be almost
entirely feasible in an onli ne environment. Why don’t we create
a marketplace for higher education learning materials instead
of parallel training? Dierent institutions could bring their
own existing theoretical training, such as their lectures, into this online curriculum
market, developing an e-learning course. Students – or even instructors – could
decide quite clearly which of these was the best. In this way, part of the training
could be transformed in a way that would ensure excellent quality, and rather than
leading to the elimination of in-attendance universities, the pedagogical culture
within those universities would be transformed.
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the whole group (or even published more widely), so that students can learn
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If the task requires the creation of a product that can be used
directly in students’ later activities (e.g. in the case of a teacher
training course, a worksheet or a video-based lesson), then we
can encourage them to start working as a real professional
community, saving each other’s work, using it and adapting it to
their own context.
Portfolios are not, however, simple folders or content sharing interfaces – they
only adequately fulfil their function if they also include students’ reflections.
In these reflections, students assess their own work, evaluating the progress
they have made and planning the next steps, thereby becoming more
conscious of the various stages in their own development. Ideally, portfolios
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a role in the development of such learning.
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76 4. ASSESSMENT
significance they attribute to this can be fundamental factors in students’
development of learning strategies and their thinking about learning.
Assessment provides a norm and a benchmark against which to evaluate
their environment, including their peers and themselves, and therefore it is
also considered a method of education (Secolsky & Denison, 2017).
The pedagogical views of educators – and thus their assessment
strategies – are determined by their personal experiences of studying and
the educational culture in which they were socialised. This has unfortunate
negative consequences in various areas. For example, assessment may
become a means of disciplinary action or the exclusive way to motivate
students. This leads to the common and legitimate criticism that grades
become the sole purpose of learning, i.e. students do not study for
knowledge itself, and they develop a learning strategy that focuses on
performance at the points of measurement. The underlying reason for
this often lies in the dominance among established forms of evaluation of
summative assessments. A typical example from higher education is that
the assessment of students is carried out in the form of one or more end-of-
module tests or exams, disregarding continuous assessment and diagnostic
and formative possibilities. Such a scenario provides no information for the
students about their own development before the given test. In addition,
learners may well become overanxious about their performance in those
one or two appraisals because there are limited options for rectification.
If during the learning process they have no insight into their performance,
students can easily develop misconceptions about their own learning
progress. Instead of being motivated to acquire the knowledge that
interests them, they are encouraged to concentrate on the specific content
and the specific manner required by the given examination. Following this
logic, it is easy to see how preparation for assessment supplants learning as
4. ASSESSMENT
László Hülber
Introduction
Assessment is a distinct and organic part of the pedagogical process which
is simply indispensable. Being an activity which digital tools can eciently
support, the European framework for the digital competence for educators
appropriately dedicated a separate area for it. Assessment determines the
entire educational process and delivers information that measures its goals
and content, the teaching and learning process, and the accomplishments
of the learner, while also contributing to a more ecient organisation
of teaching and learning from the perspectives of both instructors and
students alike (Astin, 2012, p. 2). The accomplishment of our goals can only
be confirmed through appropriate assessment procedures. For each piece
of content and each learning or educational proces s, an assessment strategy
must be developed. It should be used in practice for support, development
and evaluation, and at the end of the process, feedback should be provided
to all the stakeholders. One of those stakeholders is the instructor, who
can correct the planning and implementation of the pedagogical process
depending on the achievement of the designated goals.
Instructor feedback plays a key role in students’ educational life and in
the development of their personalities. It shapes students’ attitudes towards
each subject, the ins tructor, the institution, and the whole process of s tudying
itself. Together with learning motivation, how they are assessed and the
4. ASSESSMENT 77
Csapó, Ainley, Bennett, Latour, & Law (2012) collect the advantages
of the application of technology in measurement and assessment and
systematically organise them into a hierarchy, highlighting the following
aspects:
• The administration of measurement and assessment is simplified: it is
easier to create, edit and distribute tasks, and the storage, analysis and
visualisation of the results is also greatly facilitated by technology.
• The use of automated assessment techniques is time- and cost-ecient,
potentially leading to more measurement and assessment, and more
feedback on the learning process.
• Computer-based evaluation delivers more accurate results, and if tasks
requiring manual correction are not used, the results are available
immediately after the survey. This may increase the eciency of
feedback on learning.
• Exploiting multimedia, interactive elements and adaptive techniques,
twenty-first century skills can be measured and assessed in twenty-first
century ways.
4.1. Assessment Strategies
To use digital tools for formative and summative assessment. To enhance
the diversity and suitability of assessment formats and approaches, and
employ them in a personalised way.
Educational innovation can be eective if, along with the development of
goals, content and methods, assessment practice also improves. Before
developing a toolkit for this, it is important that instructors examine
their own concepts of assessment, and the possible consequences of any
the focal point of the pedagogical process. If instructors themselves studied
in a similar type of assessment system or received the same inheritance,
they can repeat the same patterns without being aware of the necessity of
and the possibility for change – and its potential pedagogical benefits.
A revaluation of pedagogical assessment calls for the development of new
strategies with clear goals – and planning and the subsequent choice of tools
should be subordinated to these goals. In this process, as with all integration
of digital devices into learning and teaching, this is the appropriate order of
importance. Of course, this requires familiarity with the solutions provided
by technology. Once we are aware of our options, we can select the suitable
tools for our goals. Having said this, however, we do not need to dispense with
traditional non-technological solutions if they are more ecient.
We interviewed the experts Gyöngyvér Molnár (University of Szeged),
and Tibor Prievara (Eötvös Loránd University Apáczai Csere János Practice
School and Dormitory, Budapest) about the topics in this chapter.
How can digital technologies improve the eciency of existing
assessment strategies?
Gyöngyvér Molnár:
Technology provides opportunities for assessment that we
could not even imagine before.
Tibor Prievara:
If we expect technological tools to improve or change
assessment, we are probably looking in the wrong direction.
78 4. ASSESSMENT
6. We should use technology in the implementation of the aforementioned
guidelines, but always subordinate it to the pedagogical goals so that
the eectiveness, reliability and validity of the assessment increases and
reaches an appropriate level by ensuring that no students are adversely
aected.
4.1.1. Defining the goal of assessment
Guideline 1 above is related to the clarification of the assessment’s function.
When students in higher education clearly have fixed learning strategies,
and the most important element of this is probably a focus on performance,
it may sound idealistic to try to prevent the purpose of learning being
grade-oriented. It would be naive to think that the majority of students
would not tend towards “the path of least resistance” in an era when the
validity of education is questioned at all levels and in all types of institution.
In the course of assessment, we always compare the results of learning
to the goals, so defining our goals is a step closely related to assessment.
The eectiveness of assessment is fundamentally determined by the
quality and method of the definition of our goals. A coherent system of
goals is needed – one which provides the means to record the changes
in personality, behaviour and performance that are eected by learning
(Astin, 2012).
In the definition of goals, we regard the learning outcomes approach as
the example to be followed. This is an action competence description defined
in the context of knowledge + skills + attitude + autonomy and responsibility,
in line with the European Qualifications Framework. It defines what students
know, what they understand, and what they can do independently after
completing a learning process, regardless of when, where and how these
competences were acquired (European Union, 2011). To date, Bloom’s
changes they might make. These concepts exert an influence on the range
of values students are encouraged to acquire and also aect the steps
taken to achieve them. For learners, assessment tends to be associated
with their grades and their advancement in academic life; later it will
surface in job interviews and promotions, and in their private lives when,
for example, applying for a bank loan. Unfortunately, no emphasis is
put on the aim of assessment, which is to support the learning process
through analysis, armation, motivation, and the identification of gaps.
In developing a modern assessment strategy, the following guidelines
should be considered:
1. We should use assessment mechanisms that prevent students from
focusing their learning strategies on merely obtaining satisfactory
grades.
2. We should perform diagnostic analyses to identify the heterogeneous
cognitive and aective factors of students. We should use the results of
the analysis to plan and organise the learning process together.
3. We should provide continuous and varied assessment opportunities so
that students may reflect on their learning processes more frequently
and meaningfully and have the chance to make any necessary changes.
4. We should provide alternatives to the manner in which a course is
completed – and elective activities accounting for graded assessment
– and allow students to change their strategies during the course and to
retry certain activities.
5. We should store, publish and analyse data from assessments and from
other sources of information systematically, and draw conclusions about
the correction and planning of the teaching-learning process for all
stakeholders (see chapters 4.2 and 4.3).
4. ASSESSMENT 79
teacher and the institution are familiar with students’ prior knowledge
and attitudes, and to collect information on the conditions under which
they are starting the given stage of education. In an ideal case, diagnostic
evaluation can play a key role in determining the content, the methods, and
the modes of assessment (Csapó & Szendrei, 2011). Diagnostic evaluation
is particularly important in constructivist pedagogy, because it always
determines the structure of new constructions in relation to previously
formed constructions.
Based on the result s of the diagnostic survey, a dierentiation strategy can
be developed, and in the case of pair work and group work, homogeneous
or heterogeneous student groups can be established according to the
various criteria assessed. When performed before the actual start of the
learning process, this information allows us to identify students who do
not have the cognitive or aective parameters appropriate to the entry
level. Personalised individual sessions can be started immediately with
them, and the same applies to those who have performed outstandingly.
Diagnostic assessments can be carried out not only at the start of a course,
but also, if necessary, before beginning each topic. These assessments
may not be closely related to each other, and, for example, there may be a
considerable divergence between the preliminary knowledge of individual
students, or they may be influenced by other aective factors related to
the given subject. The use of such diagnostic assessments is also justified
by the peculiarity of higher education in that students and instructors are
generally connected for only one semester. As a result of this, educators
have little insight into students’ abilities and their previously acquired
knowledge (Secolsky & Denison, 2017).
The eective implementation of diagnostic evaluation can be carried
out with digital tools. Learning Management Systems (LMS) are the basic,
hierarchical taxonomy system (remembering, understanding, applying,
analysing, evaluating and creating) is the starting p oint for the definition of the
competency organisation levels of learning results. Furthermore, in order to
dierentiate between dimensions of knowledge, it is worth using the system
to distinguish between the dimensions of thinking, application (social), and
disciplinary knowledge as described by Csapó and Szendrei (2011).
Instructors are not completely free in the definition of goals, so it is a
misconception that students can be fully involved in this process. All the
same, if students are involved in the definition of sophisticated individual
learning goals (sub-goals within the main goals), they will feel that such
goals are their own. One of the development proposals of reform pedagogy
is to involve students in the definition of goals, methods, forms of
attainment and their assessment. If students are appropriately involved in
these processes, their attitude and motivation will be completely dierent
during the whole learning process.
One potential example of the above is the so-called learning
contract, which significantly relies on self-regulated learning and
individual responsibility. With its help, each student agrees with
their instructor on the learning path they wish to follow, the goals
they wish to set, the means to achieve them, and the assessment
tools they wish to choose.
4.1.2. The role of diagnostic assessments and technology-based
assessment tools
Before formulating learning contracts or beginning the learning process, it
is advisable to first perform a diagnostic evaluation of students (guideline
2 above). The purpose of this type of assessment is to ensure that the
80 4. ASSESSMENT
account the fact that the answers will not be evaluated as in a traditional
test – there is no feedback in for students regarding questions that have
correct or incorrect answers. In actual fact, all we will see is which response
options are marked by what percentage of the students.
In the last five years, there has been a marked increase in the popularity
of interactive response systems (e.g Socrative, Kahoot!, Formative, Verso,
Quizizz, Quizalize). We can use these solutions to assess students on their
own ICT devices. The most important advantage of this is that instead of
relying on the infrastructure of the higher education institution, we only
need Wi-Fi and the students’ devices. Mentimeter is actually a presentation
application that allows the audience to be involved in various interactive
activities, including questions (see Chapter 3.1). Interactive response
systems can also be used for all three types of assessment, including
diagnostic.
If our diagnostic assessment focuses on aective factors and
concerns sensitive topics, in the interests of obtaining more
reliable results, data collection can be set to “anonymous”.
In practice, diagnostic evaluation is often carried out only in the form of
oral questions, but that does not allow us to perform comprehensive data
collection among all the students. This is why technology-based solutions
oer a wider range of possibilities.
4.1.3. Development of a diversified assessment system
Following the diagnostic assessment, goals can be refined, methods can
be determined, and forms of attainment can be selected (together with
primary tools for learning support with digital technologies. Their use may
be provided by higher education institutions (e.g. Canvas or Moodle), while
in other cases instructors use them on their own initiative and according
to their individual choice (e.g. NEO LMS, Google Classroom, Edmodo,
Schoology). Since the basic function of learning management systems
is that we can make tests, it is fairly obvious to carry out diagnostic
measurements through these interfaces. As these tests do not have any
impact on the completion of the course, or there will be no good or bad
answers when exploring aective factors such as attitudes or learning
styles. (Therefore, they do not even belong to the category of tests as a
pedagogical concept, but in the software we access these services under
this label. The tools, however, can be used not only for grading, but also for
diagnostic or formative purposes.)
This assessment does not require actual attendance; students
can also do it at home (we can circulate it through our LMS). In
this way we can prepare for our first class with the submitted
information in mind.
If we do not employ a learning management system, we can use a variety
of software for test-based data collection, including measurement for
diagnostic purposes. A wide range of test and questionnaire editors are
also available, from which it is always recommended to look for the right
one based on our individual needs and opportunities. (e.g. Classmarker,
E-assessment, QuizStar, EasyTestMaker or the German Eas.lit). If we use
a questionnaire editing service (e.g. Google Forms), we have to take into
4. ASSESSMENT 81
To use digital technologies to enhance formative assessment strategies, e.g.
using classroom response systems, quizzes, games.
For formative evaluation purposes, we can use interactive clas sroom
response systems by, for example, projecting questions, waiting for
answers to each of them, reflecting on the results, discussing any
shortcomings, and clarifying knowledge. In such cases, it is better
to speak generally on the knowledge of the whole group rather
than highlighting one or two students who did not know the correct
answer. For this reason, when assessment is carried out before an
audience, the preferred mode of data collection is anonymous.
Interactive response software can be used in pairs and groups, and
we can organise quizzes to create a competitive situation.
By its very nature, asse ssment creates a competitive environment in a number
of situations. It would be hypocritical to eliminate this from pedagogical
processes when competition for social goods is an integral part of our lives.
Competitive situations may galvanise motivational energies which can
produce actual learning outcomes. The appropriate methodological attitude
is to encourage and assess both intragroup competition and cooperation
in a balanced way. Students who constantly underperform in competitive
situations can lose motivation and become frustrated, yet the opposite
may be true of those who perform well. It is therefore important to provide
everyone with a learning situation and a form of assessment through which
positive and helpful feedback can be given.
There are countless task editors, worksheet generators, software suites
and applications that check and develop knowledge in a playful form, and
the students). The process of learning begins in dierent ways. During this
process we should use as many diverse assessment techniques as possible,
utilising both the formative and the summative functions of assessment
(guideline 3 above). It is advisable to use the opportunities oered by digital
devices as the target activity prescribed by DigCompEdu states below:
To use digital assessment tools to monitor the learning process and obtain
information on learners’ progress.
In higher education practice, summative assessment tends to be the
predominant type, although formative as sessment can significantly contribute
to the success of learning. The aim of formative asse ssment is to shape, control
and facilitate the learning process. It should express confirmation of work well
done as well as exploring any gaps in learning. It provides feedback on these
things for the purpose of correction, and proposes ways of implementation.
A support and development assessment is successful if we precisely define
what students do and do not know, if the feedback is immediate and specific,
and if the development guidance takes individual characteristics into account
(Astin, 2012).
Pedagogical textbooks usually describe formative assessment as
being verbally implemented. Despite this, the use of digital technologies
is indispensable in this area. In higher education, there is insucient time
and opportunity to provide consistent verbal evaluations to all students,
yet we can perform formative assessments through various digital
platforms regardless of physical proximity. In addition, we can give drills
involving diverse digital solutions, even with integrated automatic feedback
mechanisms. In this way, students receive continuous feedback, for which
the formative assessment type is best suited
.
82 4. ASSESSMENT
Quizlet oers the digital version of printed word cards , which are most useful
in language teaching, but can provide help in mastering concepts or lexical
knowledge in any discipline. The site supports the process of mastering
the word cards; it facilitates learning and, through the tasks, revision as
well. It skips what has already been learned, and makes users practise the
word cards until even the more problematic ones are memorised. The tool
generates multiple task sheets from the words that are entered. In Quizlet
live, two or more automatically generated learning groups compete with
each other and use their smartphones to answer the questions. Giving the
correct solution requires active communication within the group, since only
one of the options given is correct, and it is displayed on the device of only
one member of the group.
Above, we described digital task editing solutions where the software
typically provides automatic forms of formative assessment. ICT tools
can also be eectively used to process the information to be acquired by
instructing students to transform the new material into a digital product
(a presentation, a video, a digital poster, etc.). In order to complete this
task, students must find, understand and process the content selected
for learning, and the products they create can be used not only for course
completion, but for the purposes of practice as well, and we can thus
associate this process with formative assessments.
Tasks should always include the aspects of assessment, but
it is even better if we provide an assessment table in which, in
addition to the grading aspects and criteria, the achievement
levels and scores (weights) are also noted.
with them, students can test their knowledge and collect feedback about
the eectiveness of their learning processes. In this case, we typically turn
to solutions outside the learning management system because LMSs do not
contain such integrated opportunities, or they are limited in their functions.
As an example, a task editor application already widely used in public
education environments is LearningApps (Figure 4.1). As well as oering
many types of tasks and supporting dierentiation, the application has
many other advantages: it is cross-platform and provides a link and a QR
code to the completed task, while also giving an embedded html code, with
which we can integrate the task into our learning management system. We
can create student groups, assign tasks to them, and track their progress in
a table. Another application with several playful elements is WordWall, and
attractive interactive tasks can be created with, for example, Wizer.
Figure 4.1. LearningApps task
4. ASSESSMENT 83
assessment are organically linked. In addition to checking the acquisition
of new information, in this way we also provide interactivity. Students are
not merely passive recipients of the course materials; at certain intervals,
they also perform activities which can confirm that they have properly
mastered the previous course unit or provide feedback on whether their
learning processes need to be adjusted, and where appropriate, they may
be advised to process some additional material. When playing videos,
we can use embedded assessment with Vizia: at a specified moment, the
application pauses playback to ask a question, and if the answer is correct,
the video resumes.
To use digital technologies to enhance summative assessment in tests,
e.g. through computer-based tests, implementing audio or video (e.g. in
language learning), using simulations or subject-specific digital technologies
as test environments.
A third type of assessment not discussed so far is summative assessment.
Summative assessment is the final step in an educational phase and aims
to evaluate students’ knowledge in relation to the given course material.
Students are put into categories based on their performance, and this is
how selection can be achieved, with those students who fail to reach a
certain level being unable to proceed. Since this is the assessment where
there is the most at stake, it is important to evaluate students’ knowledge in
an objective, authentic and reliable way (Secolsky & Denison, 2017).
During assessment we establish a clear association between a grading
scale and the characteristics tested. Assessment is carried out with an
assessment instrument, the typical form of which is the test. In this case, we
distribute exercises in the form of a test and as sess the tested characteristics
Table 4.1 shows a detail of an assessment table for the evaluation of mind
maps. The first column presents the criteria (in this particular case, one of
four), and the next five columns express the expectations and properties for
each achievement level, together with the points available.
Table 4.1. Assessment table for mind maps (detail)
With the help of such a table, students will be able to determine the
targeted achievement level in advance; they will know exactly what goals
they have to set and will be able to assess their own performance during
and after the process.
Learning management systems are best suited for managing tasks:
they provide tools to share tasks, set related deadlines, give formative
and supportive textual feedback related to the task, and in some of them,
evaluation tables can be included, too. Similar services are provided by
individual applications such as QuickRubric, ForAllRubrics orRubistar.
It is important that students encounter one another’s work. This can be
facilitated in the LMS with a folder in a shared cloud, or with an interface
for gathering and presenting student products such as Padlet or Pinterest.
The learning management system can be organised so that quizzes
and tasks providing automatic feedback are placed between the dierent
units of the course material to be learned. Such an arrangement caters for
embedded assessment (Redecker & Johannessen, 2013) where learning and
84 4. ASSESSMENT
applicability of knowledge are missing. Such a scenario is particularly dangerous
because institutional education and the intellectual skills required in the job
market may become separated from each other. Since performing well in these
tests requires mem orisation and accurate recall, students associate learnin g with
this sequence of actions. This phenomenon has become particularly pronounced
due to the trend that tests often contain only closed-ended multiple choice
tasks. Using predefined response options restricts the spectrum of thinking that
is measured (Figure 4.2). If learning progress is determined by whether or not
tests are performed well, what these tests measure and how their expectations
can be met will be considered by students to be of the greatest importance.
and performance based on the solutions. Strictly speaking, tests made by
instructors are not real assessments but estimates because the necessary
statistical tests are missing, and the requirements of measurement
methodology are not observed either (Astin, 2012).
In addition to tests (which account for the majority of summative
assessments), modern directives on pedagogical assessment urge the
use of group projects and production-based tasks as these alternatives
place more emphasis on the application of knowledge and its evaluation.
Nevertheless, it may be pedagogically justified to measure students’
lexical knowledge, and concepts and definitions of a subject, for which the
application of tests can be considered an eective method. The application
of knowledge can also be assessed with the help of tests, but it is necessary
to prepare good test tasks, something which is far from easy (see Haltyna &
Rodriguez, 2013). Developing test instruments is an independent discipline
where eectiveness is accurately verified by mathematical operations.
How should assessment in higher education be viewed?
Gyöngyvér Molnár:
Assessment and evaluation in higher education should be
revaluated, and we should promote the measurement of
the knowledge that students will actually need after they
have graduated.
The main problem with the use of tests is that since most of them expect facts
and substantive knowledge, and are typically not complemented by other
forms of assessment, students associate the areas scrutinised by the tests with
knowledge and erudition. All the additional components of competence and the
4. ASSESSMENT 85
A simple method can help us to determine whether the knowledge
assessed by our tests measures applicability: if the answers to our
questions can be correctly given by a simple search on Google and
“copy-paste” operations, then our test is probably not assessing
thinking skills.
To critically reflect on the appropriateness of digital assessment approaches
and adapt strategies accordingly.
In the light of the above, it is crucial to find the appropriate place for testing
in our assessment system, to use it alongside other forms of summative
assessment, and to be aware of the type of knowledge measured (even if
only approximately) by our tests. It should not be automatically assumed
that students who perform well in tests which explore concepts and
materials actually understand and are able to apply them.
If we build a test or question bank from which the test program
can randomly assign exercises to students, a unique test
sequence can be generated for each student. We should make
sure that the exercises taken from the question bank are of
equal diculty. An alternative is to combine two partial tests of
dierent levels, but the same intrinsic diculty. In this way, one
part of the test will contain the randomly selected easy exercises,
the other the dicult ones.
Figure 4.2. Diagram satirising the loss of the quality of knowledge
required in tests (source: edugog.com)
86 4. ASSESSMENT
performance. In addition to all these benefits, we increase the amount of
interaction between students. We might even be helped by this assessment
taking place before our own evaluation because the errors listed and the
other students’ comments will aid both the processing of information and
the final assessment itself. Of course, the peer assessment procedure itself
can be rewarded and assessed. Learning management systems feature
dedicated services to assist peer assessment. The tasks submitted can be
assigned among students at random or according to the instructor’s choice,
and one student can assess more than one of their peers. There is a fixed
rubric for assessment in which students can provide textual and score-
based evaluation, if need be, anonymously.
Obviously, group assessment is applied in group work and projects,
when the work of the whole group is collectively assessed.
For summative group assessment, we might consider giving
students a total score, and entrust them with the allocation of the
points to each member.
The skill of autonomous learning is one of the most important key
competences. Student self-assessment is organically linked to this
competence, and it can be facilitated by the use of (reflective) learning
diaries. In such a document, students record their learning processes in a
diary format: they cover their performance in a given activity, the things
they were able to recall, the feelings they experienced, and what was or was
not clear for them. The purpose of a learning diary is to enhance learning
and to improve students’ metacognitive skills by making them reflect on
their learning experiences through documenting their experiences and
drawing reflective conclusions. A modern form of the diary is blogging
To use of a variety of digital and non-digital assessment formats and be
aware of their benefits and drawbacks.
So far we have examined three main assessment types (diagnostic,
formative, summative) according to the objective of assessment. In order
to further expand our tools and to employ varied forms of assessment, it is
worth familiarising ourselves with additional assessment procedures.
Innovative solutions are when students compile their test s for themselves
or when they are put into groups and compile tests for each other.
It is advisable to score the compilers of the questions too: if either
everyone can answer the question or no one can, no points are
awarded, as the question was either too easy or too dicult.
Of course, instructor control is necessary both in terms of the
tasks and the scoring. By involving our students in the collective
planning of performance, we can galvanise motivational
forces and eliminate the anxiety associated with summative
assessments, which are responsible for a number of negative
consequences.
There are several ways to implement peer assessment, when students
evaluate each other’s work. This method should be used primarily for tasks
where there are several correct solutions. Students may be puzzled by the
assessment criteria to use, so in this case too, it is important to provide a
suciently detailed evaluation system for the peer assessments and maybe
even append a description of the assessment process.
From peer assessments, students get a better understanding of each
other’s work and ways of thinking, and gain perspective on their own
4. ASSESSMENT 87
of summative assessments. There are dedicated programs for digital
portfolios Mahara, FolioSpaces).
Just like learning diaries, portfolios can also take the form of a blog, or
as a simple website created with online tools (e.g. Weebly, Wix, WordPress).
The URL of each student’s blog or website can be conveniently stored in
a cloud-based spreadsheet (e.g. using Google Sheets). By sharing this
spreadsheet, students can also access their peers’ content.
In this way, they discover the work of others and they can compare
their own performance. They can also add comments and evaluate their
peers, and this may lead to the development of an interactive sharing of
knowledge and experience between the students and their instructors.
What do you think of gamification as an assessment method? How
do you combine this with digital solutions?
Tibor Prievara:
Gamification is an asse ssment system based on clear concept s.
One underlying principle is that it builds up knowledge from
the bottom. Instead of measuring from above what students
don’t know, we focus on what they do know. A second key
element is that gamification trie s to give feedback on the adde d value, never on the
absolute value of knowledge. I’m always interested in the extent to which students
have improved, not what they know now. Thirdly, the system provides an unlimited
number of retry options. So if you have messed something up, you can try again,
just like in a video game.
One of the most eective ways to reform our assessment system is to
gamify it. An example of gamification in higher education is to provide
several options for the completion of a subject. On the one hand, several
(see below). Using digital platforms, students can include photos, videos
and links. By analysing students’ learning diaries, teachers can understand
their diculties and the challenges they face, and make the necessary
adjustments to their own educational strategies. Instructors can help
students be responsible for their own learning activities by explaining the
shortcomings indicated in the diary, sharing good advice on how to achieve
eective learning, and providing emotional support, such as motivation.
Self-assessment can also be performed using assessment tables
in which students must mark their level and describe their
performance in words. Another way to implement this is to make
students create the assessment tables for themselves.
Self-assessments may also be used for summative
assessments. If we treat them as partners in the assessment
process, we may be surprised how clearly our students see their
own performance.
To use digital technologies to guide students through the learning process
with targeted, increasingly challenging tasks, and their assessment (e.g.
with ePortfolios).
Digital portfolios collect and present a student’s work (documents and other
production) throughout a given semester.
They are both a method of learning and assessment. They help in
monitoring student progress, and can even be combined with a learning
diary. In addition to sharing their production, students can also record their
reflections in this format. Portfolios can also support the implementation
88 4. ASSESSMENT
4.2. Analysing Evidence
To generate, select, critically analyse and interpret digital evidence on
learner ac tivity, performance and progre ss, in order to inform the lear ning
process.
The phase of planning the assessment and collecting information about
students is followed by the analysis of evidence. The substantive condition
for analysing and interpreting information is that the data about our
students is sucient in both quantity and quality.
To design and implement learning activities which generate data on learner
activity and performance.
Our assessment system focuses primarily on the assessment of factual
knowledge and cognitive abilities in summative form. The collection of
data on aective factors, or soft skills, is significantly smaller in proportion.
Nonetheless, it has been long known that the labour market prefers soft skills
to hard skills (Robles, 2012). As an important design principle, the values
represented by higher education institutions should be in accord with those
demanded by the employment market. Personal and social competences
are also expected to be the subject of assessment. Personal competences
include, for example, self-knowledge, control of behaviour, and motivation.
Social competences help us to manage our social relationships, the key
skills involved being related to collaboration, communication and conflict
resolution. In order to collect sucient data, we should expand the scope
of assessment to the factors mentioned above, which may be important for
real life but are typically absent in the assessment culture of institutional
education. Of course, this requires the creation of a learning and assessment
task types are oered, so that everyone can choose the form that suits them
best, and on the other hand, the tasks are of various diculty levels, so that
the challenge involved can be optimised. (Of course, this should not prevent
students from proposing other forms of attainment that are acceptable to
us.) Fixed scores should be associated with each alternative so as to make
our entire assessment system score-based. Mandatory and optional forms
of attainment could be combined as well. In such a scenario, we have to make
sure that students can choose any number of optional tasks and complete
each of them several times (within feasible limits). The same mechanisms
apply for games: there are several ways to complete a level, and players
collect scores, which helps them to keep track of their performance. They
know their goal, they know how many points they need to attain it, and they
also know that making a mistake is not a problem, because they can always
try again. This results in a fundamental psychological dierence compared
to traditional assessment systems and the attitude to assessment in general
can finally move away from the atmosphere of anxiety. The technical
background of gamification (for example, by the use of a scoring system)
is an integral part of most language management systems and it is thus not
dicult to put into practice.
The workload we give should be balanced across the semester: tasks
should be always available, with intermediate checkpoints (measurement
points) during the semester, and we can specify how many points students
must accrue before a certain date in order to move on to the next level. Such
an approach might prevent our students from doing everything at the last
minute, hastily and without any real involvement.
4. ASSESSMENT 89
To be aware that learner activity in digital environments generates data that
can be used to inform teaching and learning.
We can use digital solutions to automate assessment and increase its
eciency and variety. Regardless of its purpose, a lot of information will be
recorded through assessment in a digital environment, and even some (or
in certain cases, most) of the traditional formative assessments are stored
in digital format. With the use of response systems, quizzes, interactive
task systems or technology-based tests, results are immediately available
for tasks that do not require manual correction, while in the case of open-
ended tasks, the software systematically stores the tasks corrected by the
instructor. When tasks are shared through learning management systems,
the program records the scores, the textual feedback and the assessment
tables, categorised according to students and tasks.
The logging data generated by LMSs when student activities are
recorded represents an interesting data source and opportunity for
further analysis. Most LMSs perform logging of some sorts, or plug-ins
can solve this task (e.g.
IntelliBoard
, see Figure 4.3). Virtually all clicks
and activity within the system can be recorded by these services. We can
find out when students logged in, what activities they performed, what
content they clicked on, how much time they spent on these tasks, what
tasks they solved, how many attempts they made, what their partial and
overall results were, how actively they communicated, and what forums or
services they used for this.
environment where such abilities can be activated and then assessed (for
example, in a passive, frontal learning environment, we never get to know the
collaborative skills of our students).
To consider, combine and evaluate dierent sources of evidence on learner
progress and performance, to compare and contrast them.
Collecting information can cover smaller or larger units of learning: one
class, a series of sessions, or even a whole semester’s work. As detailed in
the previous section, instructors should try to employ as wide a range of
assessment forms as possible so that they can gather information about the
more general characteristics of students in a broader way.
In addition to the assess ment of cognitive factors, diagnostic assessments
are also suitable for the surveying of aective characteristics (such as
learning habits, motivation, and attitudes to the subject matter of the given
course). One of our sources of information is the observation of the students ’
behaviour during the course. If we develop an activity-based learning
environment which provides opportunities for interactivity, then from class
activity, communication, and the quantity and quality of collaboration, we
will gain valuable information about various characteristics of the students
and about their progress. Such activities include discussion, the Socratic
method of discussion through questions, student presentations, debates,
games, drills, and the creation and presentation of projects, as well as pair
and group work, such as projects, research, and problem-solving tasks.
90 4. ASSESSMENT
In a more streamlined approach, data-rich spreadsheets
exported from an LMS can be expanded with the information
collected with other platforms or even on paper, and other
kinds of administrative information (e.g. absences) can also be
included. Of course, such spreadsheets should be shared with
the students, and by using cell protection, our personal notes
and the data that is not openly available for everyone can be
stored in these documents without student access to the cells in
question. In order to protect their privacy, each student should
be identified by a unique code.
To critically analyse and interpret available evidence in order to inform
teaching and learning.
Our assessment procedures should always be examined with a critical eye.
As in the case of measurements, discussed in the previous section, the
methodology for comparing performance with goals can only be regarded
as scientifically sound (and more than a mere estimate) if it meets the
strictest of requirements. Three basic prerequisites and quality indicators
should be analysed: objectivity, validity and reliability.
Objectivity means that the result of the assessment can be determined
solely on the basis of the properties and characteristics of the item under
consideration, and that it cannot be influenced by subjective factors.
Bias must be prevented during the recording, correction, evaluation and
interpretation of data, and there is no room for errors caused by inattention
or interpretation. No step of the assessment can depend on the persons
conducting it, or on any of their characteristics. In all relevant cases, rules
must be clearly and comprehensively set: the time and equipment available,
Figure 4.3. Data on the use of the LMS system and its user activity
(source: intelliboard.net)
To use digital technologies to record, compare and synthesise data on
learner progress.
Not all assessments generate digital data, meaning that the results of
assessments carried out on dierent platforms cannot be automatically
channelled. Individual programs and systems store their data in a unique
way, for example, extracting data into an Excel spreadsheet is not always
possible. Because of this, instructors often record the information they
collect in unique spreadsheets formatted according to their own logic and
needs and stored in the cloud.
4. ASSESSMENT 91
To analyse and interpret available evidence on learner activity and progress,
including the data generated by the digital technologies used.
If the majority of our students perform a task poorly, the root of the
problem is not necessarily the students – the learning content might have
been incomprehensible, the allocated time might have been insucient, or
the task might have been inappropriate or unclear, etc. The assessment of
student performance draws attention to this issue, and problems should
be clarified with the students during oral discussions (in person or online).
If only some groups perform a given task poorly, an examination into the
factors contributing to this uniformly poor performance is called for. As an
example, in the case of a specific subtask or item, the wrong answer may
have been given because the concept in question was not discussed during
their years in secondary education. With the help of data tables, it is easy to
identify problematic students who lag behind, do not sign in to the LMS, and
do not solve tasks, who additionally fail to communicate on the interface,
and whose absences are also high.
With the help of logging data, we can also identify students who perform
poorly despite being active on the LMS interface both in terms of activity
and communication. Their motivation is presumably strong, but they have
problems with comprehension. If this symptom is recognised in time,
proactive steps can be taken to prevent the student dropping out. Tasks such
as the above are supported by the built-in data analysis modules of the LMS.
Students inactive in the LMS but delivering an outstanding performance in
all activities should be singled out for talent management and they should
be handled with a dierentiated approach (see Chapter 5.2).
In tests, we should monitor the proportion of students answering each
question correctly. In digital testing systems and software monitoring this is
the key to correction, and the individual levels for the interpretation of the
results (Secolsky & Denison, 2017). Automated correction provides a reliable
means of fulfilling the criterion of objectivity.
The measurement of validity is a complex problem; its existence is hard
to prove and it cannot be fully verified mathematically. It is an indicator of
whether we actually assess what we originally intended to. As an example, an
exercise in mathematics should reflect a student’s mathematical knowledge,
not their level of reading comprehension. Even if their mathematical
knowledge was sucient for a given task, if the instructions were phrased
in a convoluted and lengthy way, primary school students might be unable
to solve it because of their limited reading skills (Haltyna & Rodriguez, 2013).
Another relevant question we have already mentioned concerns what to
consider as valid knowledge for a given subject – for example, does the
knowledge of definitions constitute real mathematical knowledge? In the
course of our work, the best way to ensure the validity of our tasks is to collect
expert opinions, that is to say, to consult with our colleagues and have them
check our exercises. This is particularly justified if students perform poorly in
some of our exercises for no apparent reason.
Reliability indicates whether we measure what we want to measure
correctly, and the strength of the correlation between the actual value and
the measured value of the features to be measured. A test with high reliability
produces fewer errors in measurement. Reliability can be estimated by
various mathematical methods (see Muijs, 2010).
92 4. ASSESSMENT
4.3. Feedback and Planning
To use digital technolog ies to monitor learner p rogress and provide s upport
when needed. To provide personal feedback and oer dierentiated
support to learners, and to adapt teaching practices based on the data
generated by the digital technologies used. To provide the data generated
by the digital technologies used to enable learners and/or parents to make
informed choices.
Pedagogical assessment is a cyclical process, and after the evaluation of
student performance, feedback should be provided to the stakeholders.
Consequent to providing feedback, it should be considered whether the
learning process needs to be adjusted or redesigned. This is carried out
continuously during the learning phase itself, and at the end of that phase,
the instructor and all other stakeholders can make use of their accumulated
experience in the planning of a subsequent learning process.
Apart from the instructor and students, other stakeholders may be
involved in the assessment, depending on the level and the topic of the
evaluation. In course exams, possible other stakeholders are the examiner,
the parent, the head of the department or institution, the dean, the rector,
the maintainer of the institution, the compiler of the course exam, and even
the wider public, but everyone is involved in a dierent way. In the light of
this, information and feedback should be provided to dierent people in
dierent forms (Secolsky & Denison, 2017).
Successful feedback has an eect on the education system and all of its
stakeholders, influences its operation, and contributes to the more eective
organisation of teaching and learning (Astin, 2012). To make sure that
feedback achieves the desired eect, we can lay down various guidelines
on the creation of quality feedback. The method, time and frequency of
automated. If many students have given wrong answers to a test item, we
should determine whether or not the quality requirements of assessment
methodology have been met, and whether the teaching ac tivity provided the
students with the ability to answer the question correctly. It is advisable to
store our data from year to year, so that we have more evidence concerning
the dierence between our current experience and previous patterns, the
possible reasons for deviations, and the necessity of any adjustments.
Analysing this data with computers, using artificial intelligence algorithms
is an exciting and forward-looking opportunity.
Two concepts are worth mentioning here: educational data mining
(EDM) and the currently popular field of learning analytics. Both are used
to process and analyse data sets, and they are capable of extracting
new, non-trivial additional information from existing data by recognising
interrelations and patterns. Data extracted from the learning environment
that is submitted to analysis by complex analytical algorithms provides a
deeper understanding of student achievement, and the interpretation of
complex relationships between variables leads to pedagogically relevant
conclusions (Romero & Ventura, 2010). A more comprehensive picture of
the learning processes and the performance of the framework emerge, and
the information might be used for optimisation. Analytical algorithms yield
descriptive, predictive, and diagnostic information. In predictive models the
system draws conclusions from a combination of parameters and events
(indicators), and it is even capable of predicting an expected event (Drivas,
Giannakopoulos, & Sakas, 2020). Depending on the amount of information
gathered, we may also enter the sphere of big data analysis, where we
examine data not only on the level of a specific course, but for the entire
university, including every course and every student.
4. ASSESSMENT 93
The current assessment system in higher education is built around the use of
grades; at the end of the semester at the latest, the performance of the learners
must be expressed in the form of a quantitative grade. The disadvantage of
feedback through grades is that it simply cannot provide enough information
about a student’s learning process. Identical grades often represent dierent
levels of performance, and feedback cannot be personalised and dierentiated.
Verbal and textual evaluation provides the opportunity to give a
thorough and detailed description of the learners’ performance, to indicate
their strengths and weaknesses, and to give advice on their further
work. A fundamental question is what factors to include in a grade, and
whether, in addition to the knowledge elements of the subject, personal
and social competences should also be evaluated. With verbal and textual
assessments, we can easily provide feedback on these aspects and thereby
ensure the possibility of development.
The use of assessments in a gamification type of framework should be
considered here as well. Compared to a few grades during the semester,
continuous assessment reflected in precise scores allows students to more
closely follow their progress. A prerequisite for this is to provide numerous
learner activities suitable for assessment, which, from a methodological
point of view, is a goal in itself.
In addition to scores, we can give feedback with the help of
badges, which also stem from the world of games (Figure
4.4). Badges should be allocated based on unique, special
performances, for example: the most creative solution, quiz
champion, best team player, the most inspiring communicator,
etc. It is advisable to associate extra scores with the badges.
feedback must be determined in the phase of planning. The method of
feedback should be defined by the targeted stakeholders. In what follows,
we focus on the learner and their abilities as defined by DigCompEdu.
To provide personal feedback and oer dierentiated support to learners
based on the data generated by the digital technologies used.
In the sphere of feedback, the question of grading is an age-old dilemma.
In the past, it was generally accepted that formative assessments should be
given as much importance as summative evaluations (or even more), yet
the notion of abandoning graded assessments was never considered. At
the same time, it was emphasised that summative assessments often lead
to situations where students learn for grades rather than knowledge, and
that they create an anxious learning environment. If the quality indicators
for assessments were strictly checked, it could be easily demonstrated that
the practice of grading does not meet the requirements for assessment – it
is generally neither objective, nor valid, nor reliable.
Several pedagogical reform movements and institutions embrace and
implement the elimination of grading. A form of the same intent can be
identified in the exclusive use of textual assessments in the earlier stages of
elementary education, but even some present-day higher education systems
have eliminated grading, and only dierentiate between satisfactory and
non-satisfactory categories (Tannock, 2017).
The advantage of assessment by grading is that it puts students’ results
on a scale, making it easy to interpret and compare learners’ performances
in relation to each other. It provides a means of rating and selection, and it
is much easier to perform than textual assessment.
94 4. ASSESSMENT
How can learner performance be analysed, and what kind of
conclusions do such analyses provide?
Tibor Prievara:
I am most interested in solutions which can give feedback,
evaluate, represent and analyse the process of learning
itself.
To assist learners in identifying areas for improvement and jointly develop
learning plans to address these areas.
Assessment for assistance and development purposes fulfils its positive
role if it is comprehensible, linguistically dierentiated, and personalised
for the student, and if positive and negative phenomena are pointed out
by the evaluator with the clear intent of support (Astin, 2012). Appropriate
feedback helps students to improve their self-assessment skills and to
develop, strengthen and adjust their existing learning strategies based on
the information they receive about the following aspects:
• the errors in learning and thinking that have been made;
• whether their learning method was appropriate for the subject;
• their performance during the semester;
• the skills and factual knowledge they need to work on;
• their position within the matrix of achieved results and requirements
based on their performance in the examined period.
The goals are to provide positive reinforcement, to evaluate the eort
with the original skill levels of the student taken into account, to highlight
Many people believe that badges have no place in higher education. Those
tertiary education instructors who have tried them out, however, clearly
report that they have the potential to boost motivation. Badges can be
easily created with, for example
Makebadges
,
Badge List
or
Open Badges
,
where they can also be collected. Most learning management systems
have already started introducing this service, or we can integrate it with
plug-ins. The badges can also be displayed in learner s’ digital portfolios. Of
course, feedback using scores and badges cannot substitute sophisticated
feedback in the form of verbal or textual assessments and so it is advisable
to use both methods in tandem.
Figure 4.4. Examples of available badges
Tibor Prievara provides an innovative example of using digital technologies
for data collection, and sugge sts ways of providing feedback to our students:
4. ASSESSMENT 95
indicate the aspects of the assessment, but without added explanations,
students will only know which criteria they managed to satisfy, expressed in
terms of points. The reasons for their success or failure will not be revealed.
In the second case, this universal standard of measurement is missing, and
unless precise wording is used, students may not be able to discover the
areas where they should have done better. Therefore, in most cases it is best
to combine the two modes.
Feedback can come not only from the instructor but from other
students, or through self-reflection. Peer assessment is supported by
several pedagogical principles: it develops a dynamic learning environment,
improves pupils’ social skills, and provides a foundation for self-assessment
skills (OECD, 2005). However, in order to carry out eective peer assessment,
students need to be prepared, and typically they do not have the background
needed for this, as they have not necessarily experienced this method in
public education. They need to understand their role, and they should neither
overestimate, nor underestimate the significance of the assessment. In peer
assessment students should follow the same criteria of evaluation that was
previously listed in connection with the instructor’s assessments, and they
must provide constructive criticism with helpful intentions.
As a first step in s tudents’ involvement in grading, they determine
the grade they want to achieve. They then assess their own
progress, and the instructor gives grades only after the students
have graded themselves. If there is a large dierence between
the two assessments, a discussion must follow.
The key to the success of self-assessment is for us to provide students with
varied and sucient prior feedback on their performance (OECD, 2005).
strengths, to motivate, and to oer help, counselling and constructive
criticism. In the spirit of corrigibility, deficiencies must also be clearly
identified and strategies to address and correct these should be developed
(e.g. better time management, new learning methods). Where appropriate,
a common learning plan should be developed based on the available
evidence.
To enable learners to evaluate and interpret the results of formative,
summative, self- and peer-assessments.
Accepting and interpreting feedback is another important question.
That is, we should monitor students’ opinions about the suitability of the
assessment method used, the fairness of the assessment, the relevance and
helpfulness of the feedback, and their comprehension of the content and
purpose of the information provided in the feedback. If these conditions are
met, students can draw profitable conclusions from the assessment, which
may facilitate self-correction.
Hopefully, the degree of comprehension will be sucient if the
aforementioned guidelines for oral or textual formative assessments are
followed. However, there will always be some students who will appreciate
feedback in a dierent manner, form, style or quantity. In addition to
summative assessments (i.e. grades), we can also give textual feedback, and
technology makes it much easier to record and display these.
There are two common types of textual assessment: in one case we
evaluate on the basis of fixed criteria (see evaluation tables) and in the
other case we use our own words. Both forms have their own benefits and
drawbacks, so we should choose according to the subject, goals and the
desired eect of the assessment. Evaluation tables clearly and specifically
96 4. ASSESSMENT
Learning management systems display performance per task and
overall performance as well, and most of them also oer a striking visual
representation of the degree of progress (Figure 4.5).
Figure 4.5. Table representing learners’ performance in the NEO LMS
(source: neolms.com)
To provide personal feedback and oer dierentiated support to learners
based on the data generated by the digital technologies used.
The need for the manual correction of open-ended items is inescapable
and in such cases we should provide personalised textual feedback with
the purpose of learning support. Technology facilitates and streamlines the
administration of the assessment.
Although a learning and assessment program using playful (gamified)
elements cannot provide personalised, formative feedback, it can still
be motivating because of the integration of collecting points, levels to
complete, and reward mechanisms.
To use digital technologies to monitor learner progress and provide support
when needed.
The automatic feedback provided by technology has the advantage of being
instantaneous, and it thus enables immediate reflection and intervention. In
the field of psychology, it is widely known that the eectiveness of feedback
significantly increases if it is provided as soon as possible after the activity in
question has been completed (Astin, 2012). Regardless of the application of
technology, this fact should be borne in mind in every assessment situation,
and we should try to deliver the assessment as promptly as we are able.
The progress of learners should also be represented using visual tools, as
they provide feedback in an easily digestible form, thereby accelerating the
steps needed to address the problem.
Gyöngyvér Molnár also draws our attention to the power of the
visualisation of data:
How can learner performance be analysed, and what kind of
conclusions do such analyses provide?
Gyöngyvér Molnár:
Technology oers the greatest assistance in visualisation.
Students do not need specialised training to interpret the
numbers in the tables, since they can be easily displayed using
relevant graphs and good visualisation.
4. ASSESSMENT 97
In addition to compulsory student satisfaction surveys, we can
also create individual questionnaires asking for information that
is relevant to us. We can use response systems for this purpose,
creating a digital version of exit cards. With the help of these,
even after the end of each session, we can ask how students felt,
what they did or did not understand, what suggestions they had,
etc. Responses may be provided anonymously.
Based on the assessment techniques we utilise and other relevant
information we collect, we should regularly supervise the eciency of
our dierent teaching strategies with dierent types of learners, and we
should both adapt our approach accordingly and develop innovative new
strategies. If we wish to be really successful in this area, we should engage
in critical discussions with colleagues and supervisors, and study the
relevant literature and the resources available on the Internet, as well as
the methodological forums related to higher education. The development
of pedagogical approaches, strategies and tools related to assessment is a
never-ending process, and we should constantly focus on the opportunities
for further improvements.
References
Astin, A. W. (2012). Assessment for excellence: The philosophy and practice of
assessment and evaluation in higher education. Rowman & Lit tlefield Publishers .
Bishop, J. (Eds.). (2014). Gamification for Human Factors Integration: Social, Education,
and Psychological Issues: Social, Education, and Psychological Issues. IGI Global.
Csapó, B., Ainley, J., Bennett, R. E., Latour, T., & Law, N. (2012). Technological issues
for computer-based assessment. In Care, E., Grin, P., & McGaw, B. (2012).
Assessment and teaching of twenty-first century skills. Springer.
Digital tools can also be used to expand the communication space.
Focusing on formative assessment, if we do not have the opportunity (or
time) for a verbal supportive and formative evaluation, or if we do not wish
to do it before the whole group, we can do it with our ICT tools.
Most learning management systems provide a chat function,
but it may be better to initiate an online voice or video call, the
scheduling of which should be negotiated with the student by
email. Another innovative way to use technology in our textual
evaluations is to record them using a microphone instead of
typing them. This saves time, meaning that our assessment can
be more detailed and that we can also provide a more nuanced
assessment.
To adapt teaching and assessment practices, based on the data generated
by the digital technologies used.
Assessment, quality, and quality assurance are closely interrelated concepts
in the practice of higher education. The constituent elements are students’
personal satisfaction, self-assessment of educational activities, and the
documentation of the work they have performed. The use of technological
tools for this may be more eective not only for students, but also for
instructors, too.
The satisfaction of our students must be an important factor in assessing
our own teaching activities. Considering our work in education as a service,
in which our students are our partners who receive the service, is a
constructive and progressive approach.
98 4. ASSESSMENT
Csapó, B., & Szendrei, M. (Eds.). (2011). Framework for diagnostic assessment of
mathematics. Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó.
Drivas, I. C., Giannakopoulos, G. A., & Sakas, D. P. (2020). Learning analytics in big
data era. Exploration, validation and predictive models development. In Kumar
V., Troussas C. (Eds.) Intelligent Tutoring Systems. ITS 2020. Lecture Notes in
Computer Science, vol 12149. Springer.
European Union (2011): Using Learning Outcomes. European Qualifications Framework.
Series: Note 4. Publications Oce of the European Union.
Haladyna, T. M., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2013). Developing and validating test items.
Routledge.
Muijs, D. (2010). Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. Sage.
OECD CERI (2005). Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary
Classrooms. OECD.
Redecker, C., & Johannessen, Ø. (2013). Changing assessment–Towards a new
assessment paradigm using ICT. European Journal of Education, 48(1), 79–96.
Robles, M. M. (2012). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s
workplace. Business communication quarterly. 75(4), 453–465.
Romero, C. & Ventura, S. (2010). Educational data mining: Areview of the state of the
art. IEEE transactions on systems, man and cybernetics. Part C, Aplications and
reviews. 40(6), 601–618.
Secolsky, C., & Denison, D. B. (Eds.). (2017). Handbook on measurement, assessment,
and evaluation in higher education. Routledge.
Tannock, S. (2017). No grades in higher education now! Revisiting the place of graded
assessment in the reimagination of the public university, Studies in Higher
Education. 42(8), 1345–1357.
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 99
chapter aims to provide an introduction to more recent concepts related to
learning and the ensuing methodological innovations.
The fifth competence area of the DigCompEdu model is crucial, and as
it details how to implement and assess the teaching-learning process by
focusing on students and supporting them, it is interconnected with several
other competence areas, in particular learning-teaching (see Chapter 3)
and measurement-assessment (see Chapter 4). Another key requirement
of learning support is the continuous self-reflection of the instructor (see
Chapter 1.3), in which we must consider the way we think about learning,
teaching, our own position within these processes, and our practice, while
evaluating how flexible we are in adapting to altered student needs.
In order to transform higher education in line with the needs of our
knowledge-based economy and society, it is essential to create an
environment conducive to learning, in which the primary goal of educators
is to develop the complex, general and professional skills of students. This
chapter focuses on certain elements of this process that can be eciently
supported by digital tools. Chapter 5.1. Accessibility and inclusion revolves
around the topic of inclusion, making suggestions on how to ensure that all
students have access to learning activities, tools and content that support
learning, while no one is inadvertently excluded. Chapter 5.2. Dierentiation
and personalisation is designed to help in choosing the best response to
students’ needs: personalisation and self-regulation play a vital role in
the learning process; accordingly, this section provides support on the
integration of digital technologies into the learning process with the aim
of adequately responding to students’ diverse learning needs. Chapter 5.3.
Actively engagement learners discusses how to motivate students in the
extended cycles of the higher education process, which tend to provide
feedback only months later, during the exam period, and also examines how
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
Judit Dombi
Introduction
The field of pedagogy is increasingly open towards constructive learning
theories, which regard eective learning as a constructive, self-regulating,
situational process, served by teaching (Golnhofer, 2002; Nahalka, 2002;
Richardson, 2003). In recent decades, the need to understand learning as
a cognitive process has increased, while helping and supporting learning
has gained an equally important role in dierent approaches to teaching.
However, the achievement of these goals is hindered by a number of
obstacles, as the received and still widespread practice is largely based
on learning conceived as the reproduction of knowledge. This is especially
true in higher education. The system of higher education basically operates
with a structure that is not conducive to learner- and learning-centred
education because it measures and judges the excellence of institutions
and the success of students mainly through their performance in dierent
subjects. At this point, it is important to mention a legitimate dilemma of
many instructors in higher education: their need to become learner- and
learning-centred in their methods is a growing expectation, but the training
and outcome requirements of higher education still demand extensive
academic knowledge from students. By presenting examples of the use of
ubiquitous twenty-first century ICT tools for learning support, the present
100 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
based on compensating for dierences. Pedagogical inclusion can be defined
as a process of achieving equal opportunities, in which the goal is to create
an inclusive environment. However, an inclusive approach should appear not
only at the level of educational organisation, it should also be represented in
the content of education: in inclusive pedagogy, true access must also appear
in terms of content. This pedagogical process begins with the recognition of
individual social, cultural, and cognitive dierences between students; with
a complex examination of these activities, taking them as a starting point
and building on them, we must construct an inclusive environment where
learning can take place. A rapid and eective response to uniqueness and
changing personal needs is the essence of inclusive pedagogy (Kalocsainé
& Varga, 2005). Co-learning and individual learning need to be coordinated,
and the targeted, conscious use of ICT tools in learning support can help
educators in this. Used properly (see Chapter 3.1), such tools contribute to the
equal participation of students in the teaching and learning process.
In what follows, the theoretical background will be complemented with
practical advice, but these brief examples only serve to demonstrate practices
of supporting learning which can be implemented along each guideline.
digital technologies that are very close to the age group in question and
the corresponding lifestyle can become a continuous source of motivation.
ICT as a means of supporting learning is not only a motivating force, but it
also closely involves learners in forms of work requiring their active role,
and encourages them to actively participate in the process. The whole
chapter relies heavily on generational research, with a particular focus on
sociological and psychological research concerning Generation Z (e.g. Howe
& Strauss, 2000; Pais, 2013; Tari, 2011), as it sheds light on the defining
characteristics of today’s students.
We interviewed the experts Dr. Éva Bodnár (Corvinus University of
Budapest) and Dr. Helga Dorner (Central European University, Budapest)
about the topics in this chapter.
5.1. Accessibility and Inclusion
To ensure accessibility to learning resources and activities, for all
learners, including those with special needs. To consider and respond
to learners’ (digital) expectations, abilities, uses and misconceptions, as
well as contextual, physical or cognitive constraints to their use of digital
technologies (e.g. as concerns font, size, colours, language, layout,
structure).
At all levels of education, it is becoming increasingly clear that inequalities
arising from social or cultural dierences need to be addressed as a matter
of urgency, as no real teaching or learning success can be achieved without
taking into account the diversity of learners. This would require the pursuit of
a form of educational organisation that ensures both equal access to learning
activities and tools supporting learning, as well as an inclusive approach
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 101
To provide equitable access to appropriate digital technologies and
resources.
Instructors mu st bear in mind that instead of deepening existing ine qualities,
the use of digital tools should compensate for them. Whenever we use any
kind of digital technology, we need to ensure that all of our students have
access to the technology in question.
It is not enough to just ask if everyone has the necessary device,
if they possess the necessary data quota, and if a particular
application is available to them, as some students will not openly
report any problems. It is highly advisable to test the feasibility
of the process during the planning phase: we should check the
availability of devices, as well as the ability of participants to
use the planned application, and if they have a working Internet
connection. In an ideal world, institutional devices (tablets,
laptops) would be available for such purposes, but at the time of
writing, this is rarely the case in higher education.
If the instructor has more than one device of their own, they
can be taken to the classroom in case students do not have a
device or it is not working properly. A micro USB charger is not
an expensive device, but we should always have one to hand, as
probably the most common problem is running low on battery.
If there are not enough devices, it can also be helpful to plan the
process in a way that enables students to share their devices (for
example, in pair or group work).
How can digitally-assisted learning support in higher education be
interpreted?
Helga Dorner:
If digital technologies support inclusivity and inclusive
pedagogy, they can be powerful tools and they should
by all means be used. Inclusivity in this context means
accepting that the students and the faculty we work with
are diverse. And this does not necessarily mean a disadvantage. Rather, we
need to figure out the dime nsions in which we dier, where these dimensions
may intersect, and what development opportunities we can use to support
each other in a learning community. If we follow this approach and ask
whether digital devices can support us from that vantage point, we are on
the right track.
Éva Bodnár:
Supporting learning through digital tools can be interpreted
as “capturing” individual learning dierences. For example,
it can oer tremendous help in the transition between BA
and MA courses. Students from dierent higher education
institutions possess completely dierent background knowledge. There is huge
potential in making a variety of preparation materials that will bring them all to
the point which we regard as the entry requirement.
An inclusive educator aiming to develop students with the support of digital
tools is characterised by competence in the following activities:
102 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
As a methodological framework, a useful tool may be the
cooperative approach, which, besides many other advantages,
can also help in the democratic solution of the above problems.
If we prefer group and pair work, we reduce the possibility that
the individual is left out of a learning process due to an obstacle
related to a digital device (for more information on applications
that support digital collaboration, see Chapter 3.3).
To employ digital technologies and strategies designed for learners in need
of special support.
As with other levels of education, teachers in higher education need to
be prepared to provide learning support for students in need of special
attention. Identifying such students and surveying their needs is also
extremely important for the educators, as preliminary diagnosis facilitates
the later planning of the teaching-learning process.
This can be carried out, for example, through an online questionnaire or
form (e.g.
Google Forms, MS Forms) where students can also formulate
specific needs in open-ended items (Figure 5.1).
To select and employ digital pedagogical strategies which respond to
learners’ digital context.
Students are diverse in many respects. This includes their use of devices, and
this fact should always be taken into account during the planning of the use of
ICT tools, as the compulsory transition to digital education during the Covid-
19 pandemic evidenced. In that unexpected situation, instructors had to
realise that students often have access to smart devices only, so for example,
assigning a file for a task that cannot be opened with an Android or iOS device
is ill-advised (see Chapter 2.2 for file conversion options). Although the use of
smart devices is extremely common, it cannot be called universal – there may
be students who do not own a smartphone or other mobile device. We must
not take it for granted that all of our students are able or willing to use such
devices, so it is a mistake to organise learning processes that build on their
exclusive use. Students may also dier in the range of familiar and popular
applications within their personal learning environment (PLE, see Chapter
6.5). This is something which should be mapped at the beginning of the
semester with an online questionnaire (e.g. in
Google Forms or MS Forms,
see Chapter 4.1) asking which their favourite applications for learning
are and which ones they would prefer to avoid. As this is a dynamically
changing environment, the survey should be conducted at the beginning
of each semester.
Other issues that should be taken into account are the dierent
digital competences of the students and their attitudes to and possible
misconceptions about the devices. It is dicult, but not impossible, to strike
the right balance between individual and co-learning that can compensate
for any dierences that may arise from digital device use.
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 103
Figure 5.1. A questionnaire made in Google Forms to survey needs
related to supporting learning
A student with special educational needs is a person with musculoskeletal,
sensory or speech impairments, autism spectrum disorder, or learning,
attention or behavioural disorders. Fortunately, a number of digital
technologies are available to support the learning of these students: the
visually impaired can use reading software, such as the NVDA screen reader,
an open-source, freely downloadable screen reader for MS Windows; or for
Android phones an app called Mobile Accessibility, which has a speech-
based menu system and provides immense help in the interpretation
of text on mobile devices. In addition to the many benefits of this app, it
must be mentioned that it is not free, but due to its practicality, it is very
popular with visually impaired students. Students using devices with an
iOS operating system are assisted by an app called VoiceOver, which oers
similar features. The Amazon Polly service generates life-like speech from
typed text, which can be useful for students with speech impairments.
People with hearing impairments are assisted by a variety of voice-
to-text applications that allow them to read a lecture or any live speech
almost immediately in writing. An example of such an application is Dragon
Anywhere, which, while not free, is extremely popular due to its powerful
features and availability not only on mobile devices, but also on desktop
computers. Similarly popular among hearing-impaired students is the
freemium Speechnotes, which is capable of capturing long lectures, and
is therefore specifically adapted to the needs of higher education (its
disadvantage is that it is Android-exclusive). Students with special needs
are usually aware of these “accessibility” technologies themselves and use
them in their studies, so the task of the instructor is often simply to be open
to these solution and to provide digital assistance technologies for students
with special needs as an alternative, compensatory form in the pedagogical
process, even if that process was originally designed with traditional tools.
As an example, NVDA can be immediately used from a flash drive or
other portable storage solutions without installation. If we know (through a
preliminary survey, see Figure 5.1) that there are visually impaired students
in our group, we should download the program and keep it on a portable
104 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
To consider and respond to potential accessibility issues when selecting,
modifying or creating digital resources.
Fortunately, the access of individual students (e.g. those with visual or
hearing impairments) to digital resources can easily be bridged with digital
aids. In some cases, all we need to do is publish the text we want to discuss
in an extension that matches the software of the students in question.
However, it is not enough to make sure that the extension is the right one:
screen reading software can only use files that have been processed with
optical character recognition (OCR). With this technology, images, scanned
or photographed documents, and PDF files can be converted into editable
and searchable formats. The function is available on most scanners, but it
is not necessarily the default setting. People with reduced mobility can also
find it helpful to choose a source that is accessible online, so they do not
have to go to the library (see Chapter 2.1 for a list of usable digital libraries
and archives). Some resources or databases might be subscription-based
services that are only available free of charge from the network of university
campuses – we should always check this and consult with students so that
they are not disadvantaged as a result.
To employ design principles for increasing accessibility for the resources and
digital environments used in teaching.
It is also very important to pay attention to equal access in the case of
teaching materials, especially regarding their appearance, visibility and
comprehensibility. As a result of the internationalisation of higher education,
there are more and more foreign students socialised in writing systems
other than Latin characters (e.g. Chinese- and Arabic-speaking students).
memory device so that we can oer prompt help to students when they are
not using their own devices.
For students with hearing or visual impairments, Google Assistant may
be of great help. Even if it is not specifically a speech conversion application,
this app has an extremely useful voice recognition function that can
transform speech into text. This can be an important aid in communicating
with students, but also in the teaching-learning process itself: with its
help, we can eciently assign tasks to students with hearing impairments,
while visually impaired students can easily add ideas to a collaboratively
edited document. The great advantage of Google Assistant is that it is not
a specialised application; students without impairments are also usually
familiar with it, and it can greatly contribute to making the teaching-learning
process and collaboration as accessible as possible.
The ability to record a lesson digitally can be a great help for students with
dyslexia and dysgraphia, but the participants’ legal rights must be protected
at all times (see Chapter 2.3). Recordings help suc h students to learn after class
as they can more confidently interpret what is being said through repeated
listening. In terms of the learner’s performance, alternatives can be oered:
instead of handing in essays, they could submit podcasts, as they can express
themselves better orally than in writing. For students with dysgraphia, voice-
to-text applications transforming live speech to written text can help them
with both note-taking and essays. Free applications include
Speechnotes
(compatible with the Chrome desktop browser),
Speechtexter
(also available
for Android), and
dictation.io
.
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 105
To continuously monitor and reflect on the suitability of the measures
implemented to improve accessibility.
Asking for continuous feedback is essential in all teaching-learning processes,
and digital technology renders this more ecient through functions like
anonymous polling and response systems (e.g.
Google Forms
,
MS Forms
,
Mentimeter
; see Chapter 4.1 for more details). Such services allow us to
monitor and analyse student access. Feedback not only helps students
to acquire the ability to reflect on their own learning processes, but can
also help instructors in the subsequent fine-tuning of their pedagogical
strategies. Continuous feedback helps us to assess the adequacy of the tools
and content, as well as students’ access to them, and we can make changes
in the event of any issues. This, of course, also requires some flexibility on
the part of the instructor. We have to accept that inclusiveness – the truly
inclusive environment in which learning can take place – can only be ensured
by bearing individual characteristics in mind, constantly monitoring needs
and quickly responding to them.
5.2. Dierentiation and Personalisation
To use digital technologies to address learners’ diverse learning needs.
To allow learners to advance at dierent levels and speeds, and to follow
individual learning pathways and objectives.
Inclusion is achieved when we genuinely respond to the needs deriving
from uniqueness – ICT tools play a role in this, too, and they can facilitate
dierentiation and the development of personalised learning pathways.
These students need more time to read texts in an unfamiliar
typeface, so it is more appropriate to choose a standard font
(e.g. Arial or Times New Roman). As well as the right typeface
and font size, the colour combination and the layout that appears
on a projected slide can contribute to better visibility and easier
reception; it is also important to pay attention to the use of light-
dark contrast, which is specifically helpful for reading (see Chapter
2.2 on further practical issues of presentation techniques and the
tools that can be used).
By using ICT tools and software with the appropriate settings,
we can ensure equal access. Several applications allow us to
customise the colours, font size, brightness and contrast. If we
are projecting a document, we may wish to make use of these
options because getting these details right is a great help for
students with visual impairments and, over time, all participants
may find the optimised settings more relaxing to the eye.
Specialised accessibility services are also available, such as theGoogle Text-
to-Speech app, which allows other applications on our device to read aloud
the text on the screen.
If we send the slides of the lecture or the handout to those students with
visual impairment or dyslexia, they can easily convert the text to speech
with MS Oce’s built-in Reading feature.
106 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
Although dierentiation is not a new concept in pedagogy (cf. Falus,
1998; Glaser, 1977), the provision of personalised learning pathways is less
common in higher education. Related literature (e.g. Kereszty & Lányi, 2017)
discusses several means of dierentiation, of which the following may be
relevant in a higher education context.
• Dierentiation according to prior knowledge: within the heterogeneous
groups of students typical of higher education, the level of students’
prior knowledge can vary greatly. Some students do not have sucient
prior knowledge to progress in the teaching-learning process; a number
may have no prior knowledge concerning the given topic at all, others
may have a varying degree of deficiencies regarding the required
knowledge. There are examples of the opposite case as well: sometimes
the content to be processed is already known to the student. Students’
prior knowledge should be surveyed through diagnostic assessment (see
Chapter 4.1.2), based on which we can form groups and plan dierent
activities and materials for students with dierent knowledge.
• Dierentiation according to the basic skills: basic skills are the skills that
are necessary to carry out dierent activities. We distinguish between basic
communicative, cognitive and psychomotor skills. As in the previous point,
we typically form groups of students from those with similar abilities and try
to adapt the teaching-learning process to the needs of the individual groups.
• Dierentiation according to the pace of learning: dierent students
need a dierent amount of time to complete the activities. Although
student groups can be formed here as well, this kind of dierentiation
can be solved relatively easily in a more individualised way. Digital
technologies can be particularly useful here, making it easier to manage
the process (assigning a dierent volume of tasks, providing additional
activities for faster users, even on their own mobile devices).
• Dierentiation by area of interest: this can be extremely eective in
higher education as at this stage in their lives, students already have well
defined areas of interest. Building on these interests and accordingly
personalising the learning process can be not only motivating (see Chapter
5.3), but also extremely useful
.
For example, if we use an online questionnaire (e.g. Google
Forms, MS Forms) to assess students’ interests in advance
of a lecture, we can introduce examples of phenomena from
those fields that correspond to students’ interests.
• Dierentiation according to the level of individual work: this takes into
account how much support a student needs while carrying out individual
work. Some students are more independent, some are less so and thus
require more assistance; the latter group might, for example, need more
help from the instructor or their peers in interpreting or completing a task.
If classroom activities are designed so that students better
skilled in individual work can progress at their own pace,
while students who require some d egree of support receive
continuous assistance, then advance planning ensures
that all students learn in the way that works best for them.
In order to facilitate this, it is advisable to produce a task
or a class activity in a “package” which includes a task
description and a clear output goal definition for more
independent students, possibly with external references
and links that make individual work easier. In addition,
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 107
give an oral presentation. Dierent student products pose
a challenge, as we have to develop dierent assessment
criteria, but the extra eort pays o, as the established criteria
can be applied again and again.
Of course, there are varying degrees of dierentiation (cf. Glaser, 1977):
dierentiation according to ability, interests or pace of learning is more
fundamental and easier to implement than methodological or content
dierentiation, which requires continuous diagnostic monitoring, or the
dierentiation of learning requirements that were previously the same for all.
One of the key benefits of dierentiated learning organisation is that
it allows for process design which takes into account the dierent entry
levels of heterogeneous groups, including the adjustment to the level of
both those with special learning needs and those performing better than
average. This type of dierentiation is called quantitative dierentiation.
Another aspect of dierentiation is qualitative: it builds on the previously
mentioned angle, but also extends it. Its purpose is to correspond to
dierences arising from individual abilities, orientations, and interests. The
key to such a personalisation of the learning process lies in the diversity
of the tasks in terms of content and operational level, and this can be
eectively applied to groups of students with dierent levels of knowledge
and skills (Hortobágyi, 1985).
In higher education, both of the above aspects of dierentiation have
their role. The biggest challenge for supporting learning in higher education
is the implementation of quality education tailored to the individual,
although relevant research (e.g.: McQuarrie, McRae, & Stack-Cutler, 2008;
Rock et al., 2008) proves that supporting the learning process delivers the
most added value in the case of students with weaker abilities. As drop-out
opportunities for pair and group work (possibly directed),
and constant feedback should also be provided.
• Dierentiation by intelligence types: Howard Gardner (1983, 1999)
distinguished between eight comprehensive types of intelligence:
(1) linguistic intelligence, (2) logical-mathematical intelligence, (3)
spatial intelligence, (4) bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence, (5) musical
intelligence, (6) naturalistic intelligence, (7) interpersonal intelligence,
(8) intrapersonal intelligence.
As well as trying the tests available online, after familiarising ourse lves
with the theory, we can quickly get an idea about the intelligence types
of our students with individual questions, even during an introductory
lesson. If we take the dierent types of intelligence into account, we
can design a teaching-learning process in which everyone can learn
in the appropriate way (for example, by interpreting graphs, tables,
understanding coherent text, reproducing its content, or understanding
relationships within a system).
• Dierentiation according to learning requirements: the subject-
specific requirements for students do not apply to everyone in general,
but are tailored to the individual.
This can be achieved in several ways: students must meet
the same requirements (tests, essays), but the criteria for
assessment are dierent, depending on the students’ prior
knowledge or basic abilities. Another approach is to let
students choose task types that they are more comfortable
with, so that, for example, someone who is able to deliver
better results in another media should not be required to
108 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
pedagogical approach described earlier, personalisation is also important
as a generational expectation and demand from the students, which is
driven by the increasing prevalence of personalised services in other areas
of life.
As a general guideline, Dig CompEdu defines instructors who dierentiate
with digital tools as having competence in the following activities:
To use digital technologies to address the special needs of individual learners.
As discussed in the previous section, our students dier in several respects.
However, creating an inclusive learning environment is only the first
step in successful learning support. Equally important is the continuous
consideration of dierences – in the planning and implementation of the
pedagogical process , in the organisation of learning to make it personalised,
eective and supportive of individual learning paths, and in the continuous,
dierentiated assessment that complements it. Various digital technologies
can help in these steps.
Students who require increased support can use their mobile devices
to, for example, process a text in a foreign language (using translation or
dictionary applications), while students with dyslexia can watch an online
video (e.g. TED) that complements the literature read by others, so that they
will acquire versatile knowledge deriving from several sources in the course
of group work.
is a serious problem in most higher education institutions, it is important
to look for individualised learning pathways that eectively help those
students most likely to drop out.
Digital technologies are particularly suitable for identifying and
monitoring these students (e.g. tracking absences, monitoring
activities in the LMS, monitoring feedback; see Chapter 4.2).
How can individual learning pathways be provided to students?
Éva Bodnár:
We mapped the courses which students often enrol
on for the second or third time, causing delays in the
study process. In these subjects, we want to introduce
a feedback system where colleagues mark such nodes
in Moodle. The system notifies students that a deadline is approaching
or reminds them that a task is imminent. We do this to try and prevent
them from deferring tasks and interrupting the learning process. So we are
developing conscious support for the teaching-learning process with the
help of the LMS system.
In the same way as it is essential in responding to dierent learning needs,
the incorporation of digital technologies into the learning process is a
realistic solution to the question of compensating for dierences. The use
of such technologies (e.g. digital portfolios), learning management systems
(see Chapters 3 and 4.2), and collaborative interfaces (see Chapter 3.3) not
only allows students to proceed at dierent speeds, but also helps them to
follow an individual, personalised learning pathway. Besides the inclusive
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 109
To devise individual learning plans and use digital technologies to support
these.
Accepting that our students are dierent and that we therefore need
to plan dierentiated teaching-learning processes, we should consider
creating development plans (Perjés & Héjja-Nagy, 2015) and learning
plans in line with individual development goals (Szivák, 2014) (see Chapter
1.3 on professional development plans for educators). Individual learning
plans are personalised set plans that include the individual learning
program, the needs, tasks, available learning paths and goals for each
student. The plan also includes the expectations of the course – in light of
the prior knowledge, opportunities and abilities of the particular student.
ICT tools can be useful in both the planning and implementation phases
of the finished plan.
A learning plan template can be created as a
Google-document
, which
may include the duration of the learning process, goals, and assessment
considerations. We can then share the document with our students, and
they can modify it and add to it. The instructor should also respond to
and reflect on the changes, resulting in the final version of the plan. If
we lack adequate background information about the students, an online
questionnaire (
Google Forms
,
MS Forms
) can be used to map students’
previous learning paths, their existing knowledge and their potential
special needs. The implementation of the learning plan can also be
supported with digital tools: students can be encouraged to create a
Trello-card
, which makes the management of the plan transparent, but a
shared
Google calendar
is also perfect for storing deadlines.
The optimal individual learning plan ae cts not only learning happen ing
in the classroom but any extracurricular independent learning as well. If
To allow for dierent learning pathways, levels and speeds when designing,
selecting and implementing digital learning activities.
In everyday life, students progress at dierent levels and speeds. If the
instructor plans the teaching-learning process according to the time
required by the fastest learner, others lagging behind is inevitable. On the
other hand, if we wait for the slowest student, the majority will quickly get
bored. Ideally, our planning should reckon on an average time, however in
this case, the fastest will still be bored. Digital devices appear here as a
potential source of danger – practically the whole world is hidden in the
pockets of inattentive students: news, entertainment options, even their
friends. Only a similarly personalised learning process can compete with
this highly personalised online microcosm.
For students who complete tasks sooner than the others, we can plan an
extra task that they can work on together in a collaborative interface (e.g.
Google Docs, MS OneNote) while those working at an average speed catch
up. In planning this process, diagnostic assessment (see Chapter 4.1.2) is
given a prominent role: if we are aware of our students’ abilities, we can
assign tasks of a quantity and diculty that allow us to progress together.
Our students may also have dierent interests: if we give them tasks related
to areas closer to their own future profession, they will become more open
to more abstract concepts as well.
The practice of the flipped classroom may be also interesting as it allows
students to proceed at an individual pace in the extracurricular phase, thus
helping them to explore a variety of learning paths.
110 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
stored there, everyone can choose individually from the tasks according to
their preferences. Such thematic task banks can also be created as a result
of instructor collaboration: each instructor does not have to create a large
number of tasks at once, but within a few semesters, a common resource
can be developed from the shared tasks.
Resources for the assignments can also be dierent: we can share texts
for reading in a PDF file, but also podc ast audio files or links to various related
videos, thus providing our students with a wide variety of opportunities to
follow the learning paths that best suit their needs.
If we are open to other student products in addition to the
traditional essays and presentations, we further increase the
chances that everyone will find the learning path appropriate
for themselves. Examples of such products include videos,
animations or infographics (Chapter 2.2 discusses in detail the
tools for the production of digital learning materials, which can
also be used to create student products), task planning and
digital storytelling (see Chapter 6.3), creating a picture gallery
or collage, or possibly producing marketing material, a website
or a podcast.
By encouraging students to make the produced content available to their
peers, they can reflect on each other’s products, and we also support
mutual responsibility for learning.
According to the research of Lestyán and Szabóné (2017), dierentiated
educational organisation also increases student motivation, which is the topic
of the next section.
students know what to expect during the semester – what requirements
they must meet, what to realistically expect from the instructor and their
peers, and how to reach their goals – they will be responsible for their own
learning processes, making them more motivated and probably ending
the semester with a better performance. Such a plan is also important for
the instructor: it provides carefully considered and systematic learning
support for students.
ICT tools can also support the dierentiated implementation of
individual learning plans. The easiest way to provide multiple approaches
to the same content is to use diversified tasks (Moran, Kornhaber, &
Gardner, 2006). With the help of digital technologies, we can provide
students with activities that best suit their interests, competences and
learning needs
.
As an example, if we use a polling application at the beginning
of the class to assess which group would like to deal with
which topic, and students can choose the topics they want to
study and the kind of student product they will undertake, we
strongly support personalised learning. In addition, the regular
use of online polls also delivers meaningful information for the
educator about the students’ preferred learning paths, even
allowing certain trends to emerge over time.
If we create a digital collection of thematic course materials with annotated
tasks of dierent types and diculties (a “task bank”), and share it with
students online (via, for example,Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive) or
through a university-specific system on the institution’s own server, and ask
students to complete three to five individually selected tasks from the ones
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 111
content, considered simply indispensable by Generation Z, can oer invaluable
help in this. The traditional organisation of education that is typical of higher
education is by no means motivating for students who are accustomed to
something completely dierent in their daily life where they avail themselves
of content options, immediate feedback and active, meaningful participation.
How can digital solutions motivate students to learn?
Éva Bodnár:
We are constantly holding frontal classes while seeing
that this generation cannot cope with it and cannot even
tolerate it. It is important to be up to date. A present-day
student cannot accept that I am holding a lesson from
slides made five years ago. This completely challenges the
instructor’s authority regarding knowledge.
Helga Dorner:
Assessment of student work and continuous feedback is
an important part of learning support. Digital devices are
now indispensable in this area.
Digital technologies are fascinating tools for motivating pedagogical
activities. These technologies form an important part of modern students’
daily lives and their use in education thus makes the learning process more
authentic and familiar for young learners.
If students are involved in decisions concerning the syllabus –
for example, if they can choose from certain areas, set texts,
or assignments – and if their interests are taken into account
5.3. Actively Engaging Learners
To use digital technologies to foster learners’ active and creative
engagement with the subject matter. To use digital technologies within
pedagogic strategies fostering learners’ transversal skills, deep thinking
and creative expression. To open up learning to new, real-life contexts
which involve the learners themselves in hands-on activities, scientific
investigation or complex problem solving, or in other ways increase
learners’ active involvement in complex content.
Learning motivation is an attitude that determines a student’s active
relationship to learning – a force that enables them to participate in the
teaching-learning process with sustained activity. It is important to boost
students’ desire to achieve success, which should be a stronger motive
than the fear of failure. Students with a low motivation to achieve success
are typically either failure-tolerant or failure-avoiders (Covington, 1992). A
failure-tolerant student is indierent to performance situations, opting out
of such tasks and viewing them from the outside. This may be due to a lack
of interest. Failure-avoiders try to avoid challenging tasks: if they are not put
into a situation requiring real performance, they escape the risk of receiving
negative feedback, which would be detrimental to their self-esteem.
In addition to stimulating the desire to succeed, it is also crucial to support
students’ performance motivation, for example by providing them with an
individual path of progress (on individual learning plans see Chapter 5.2) and
enabling them to achieve various individual development goals (Héjja-Nagy,
2015).
Based on these observations, we should reconsider our pedagogical
methods and implement diverse forms of learning support which greatly
assist heterogeneous learning communities. Digital devices and multimedia
112 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
The instructor who eectively motivates through the use of digital
technology is characterised by competence in the following activities).
To use digital technologies to visualise and explain new concepts in a
motivating and engaging way.
One of the crucial benefits of current technology is the wide-ranging use
of multimedia. Videos and animations are popular among students: the
present generation is extremely visual. Their favourite applications are
photo and video sharing interfaces, but their digital communication is also
characterised by the use of animated emoticons and GIFs. If we compare
traditional education – a lecture supported by a “normal” slide show – to
such dynamic interfaces, the former may appear dull, lacking in stimuli, and
by no means motivating for students. Fortunately, applications for creating
visualisation (video editors, image editors, animation and infographics
software, such as Canva, Piktochart and other tools and applications
presented in Chapter 2.2) are now available to instructors and they do not
require any special expertise. Quiz games created with dierent online quiz
makers are also remarkably motivating, as they illustrate and synthesise
material in an unconventional way.
It is equally motivating to provide ongoing, personalised
feedback on the learning process, which can also be carried out
through media popular among students.
By incorporating various concept-mapping applications (e.g.
mindmeister
,
Ayoa
,
mindmup
,
Mindomo
,
Coggle
; see Chapter 2.2 for specific practical
suggestions, and similar applications), students can be encouraged to become
when the syllabus is designed, they are more likely to immerse
themselves in it. Anonymous polling applications are excellent
for surveying opinions.
The joint definition of learning objectives and assessment criteria is also
a major motivating force, and collaboratively edited documents (e.g.
Google Docs, OneNote) are a viable platform for making suggestions, even
anonymously.
Can you imagine involving students in defining the goals and
performance requirements of a course?
Helga Dorner:
We can motivate our students by involving them in the
planning and even the implementation of the learning
process. Obviously, an important question is the result we
want to achieve by this.
Éva Bodnár:
Making an agreement with the students at the beginning
of the semester is a psychological contract that can prove
exceptionally useful. It adds a completely new element of
motivation, making students more committed, since we
have jointly agreed about what to do and what their path is.
In higher education, the motivating role of educators is changing: their most
important task is to motivate self-regulated learning, and the ultimate goal
is to make the need for continuous learning a part of a student’s make-up
(Perjés & Héjja-Nagy, 2015).
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 113
completely unrealistic not to build on their digital literacy when planning the
teaching-learning process. In many cases this competence is more advanced
than that of the instructor, but that should not be feared, as the problem can
be easily overcome by cooperation.
How can an instructor use digital tools to eectively support
students’ learning processes?
Éva Bodnár:
There is no need to be afraid of the use of devices. There
is no need to fear that the student will know more about
digital things. B ecause it is a fact: they do know more about
them. If something doesn’t work, ask for help. You don’t
have to think that you must know everything about this technology. What you
need to know is how it aects the educational process when you use it.
Active use of ICT also provides an opportunity to achieve dierentiation and
personalisation (see Chapter 5.2). In terms of motivation, it is important
to dierentiate in tasks: tasks that are too easy or too dicult are not
motivating for an individual.
To select appropriate digital technologies for fostering active learning in a
given learning context or for a specific learning objective.
Digital technologies provide an opportunity for students to actively immerse
themselves in the learning material. As a result of the personalised functions
of these tools, they can learn about a problem or topic from several angles so
that in-depth learning can be realised through active participation. If, during
active in lessons, and brainstorming, note taking and project planning can be
revolutionised. Furthermore, such applications can be used not only individually
but also in a collaborative way (see Chapter 3.3).
To employ digital learning environments or activities which are motivating
and engaging, e.g. games, quizzes.
The experience gained during the introduction of compulsory digital
education due to the Covid-19 pandemic reinforced the belief of many
instructors that learning management systems (e.g. Moodle, Edmodo,
Google Classroom, MS Teams) cannot be a real alternative to traditional
learning environments, and certainly not a replacement for them. At the
same time, however, it also became clear that such interfaces can eciently
complement the traditional learning environment, as their use expands the
range of tools available to educators. These tools provide communication
channels for joint learning and learning support and establish a centralised
location for all information and content, and thus the processing, m odification
and sharing of such material is now extremely simple. The aforementioned
platforms integrate functions that are important to students (e.g. storage,
sharing, tagging, likes and other reactions, polls) and they reflect students’
needs in other areas of life, thereby encouraging their active participation.
To put learners’ active use of digital technologies at the centre of the
instructional process.
Students’ use of ICT is a given: it is their everyday reality. All the information
they require (e.g. the meaning of a foreign word, a bus timetable, opening
hours, etc.) is accessed through their mobile phones, and it would be
114 5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS
towards maintaining motivation. Students must be involved in this process: it is
important to discover what was useful or ineective for them.
How can students be motivated to learn? How can digital solutions
help?
Helga Dorner:
The main principle is probably to plan continuous reflection
on the course, encouraging students to think about what
they have learned, what they have noted, what causes them
diculties, and where they need help. This is supporting
learning. Online questionnaires or polling systems are ideal for this. Being in
possession of the information is a gain for me and I am constantly changing the
process of teaching-learning. This makes students much more involved in the
process.
Éva Bodnár:
Today’s generation is hungry for constant feedback, and the
online environment is ideal for that. A carefully designed
Moodle curriculum, where students receive constant items
of feedback on what they did well and what went wrong,
showing that the teacher really follows the process and gives feedback, is a very
positive and motivating thing
.
The above-mentioned student reflections can be aided by the examples
shown in Figures 5.2 and 5.3.
classes, students see how tools and technologies used in everyday life can
serve learning, they will receive a pattern that they can use outside the sphere
of education as well (about useful digital resources and their storage, see
Chapter 2.1; on creating our own digital learning materials see Chapter 2.2).
As an example, if students learn how to create a mind map of
a complex topic on their phones, they can share their products,
storing them in a specific location accessible to others. When
the learners subsequently work together, asking questions and
making joint decisions, they acquire patterns of active learning.
This process can also help students become self-regulating learners: they
can acquire skills that will enable them to manage their own learning, and
will be able to formulate their own learning goals, contribute to maintaining
their own motivation, consciously and independently choose learning
content, resources and methods, and reflect on these processes (see
Chapter 3.4).
To reflect on how suitable the dierent digital technologies used are in
increasing learners’ active learning, and to adapt strategies and choices
accordingly.
The constant monitoring of and reflection on the pedagogical process we have
planned and implemented is crucial (it may also turn out that the planned
digital technologies are not suitable for the intended purposes). Reflecting on
our past decisions (for more on individual and social reflection, see Chapter 1.3)
and possibly changing our strategy in the light of experience will go a long way
5. EMPOWERING LEARNERS 115
Figure 5.3. Collecting student reflections with digital tools
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6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 117
Standards for Educators, 2017). However, one of the central issues in the
present chapter is how to organise courses for students to develop digital
competence: by organising dedicated ICT courses with corresponding
content, or by treating digital competence as a key competence, preferably
integrated into all courses of the programme. In our opinion, development
should be carried out on multiple levels: in part it would be useful to apply
the so-called add-onto model, in which, independently from disciplinary
training, it is possible to acquire digital competence mainly in the framework
of IT-focused ICT courses. At the same time, there is also a need for subject-
integrated education, where students encounter the practical advantages
and challenges of using digital educational technology in connection with
the teaching of their chosen subject. No research data is available about
the manner and eciency of the implementation of these two approaches
in dierent university courses. What’s more, due to the decentralisation of
higher education, uniform solutions are also lacking. At the same time, it is
more or less clear that in the pra ctice and operation of universities, there is no
one person in charge of the development of students’ digital competences.
The task (especially in the transversal model) is a responsibility shared by
everyone, and every instructor must strive to make digital competence
appear in as many courses and syllabuses as possible, both in the definition
of learning outcomes and, of course, in implementation as well. In addition,
it should be the responsibility of a university’s administration to regularly
review the contribution of each course to the development of students’
digital competence.
Whether we support the acquisition of digital competences in a separate
ICT course or in a transversal way, the five branches of DigCompEdu’s sixth
main area should be taken into account, and the present chapter is organised
according to the same branches. Chapter 6.1. Information and media literacy
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’
DIGITAL COMPETENCE
Adrienn Papp-Danka
Introduction
Fostering the acquisition of digital competences has been on the agenda
since the early 2000s, when the European Council called on Member States
to develop “a new European reference framework of basic skills” to be
acquired in lifelong learning. The European task force formed specifically for
this purpose set up a reference framework which covered eight key areas of
competence in the spring of 2002. One of these areas is digital competence.
“Digital competence involves the confident and critical use of Information
Society Technology (IST) for work, leisure and communication. It is
underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess,
store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and
participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.” (2006/962/EC)
Since 2006, key competences have been a core of all national curricula
in the European Union. Simultaneously with the inclusion of digital
competences in national curricula, ICT-centred courses have emerged in
university education as well, as it is crucial that students, especially those
in teacher training programmes acquire the new competences necessary
to work and teach eectively in the digital world (Smith, 2017; ISTE
118 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
What types of ICT course would you recommend in higher
education?
Gyöngyi Bujdosó:
In my view, the ideal scenario is to have some kind of IT class
with IT instructors in every semester, and to also have a class
in which students learn how to integrate IT into their own
disciplinary subject. If students could acquire the skills to
use digital tools with complete confidence in the courses held by IT instructors,
disciplinary instructors would have less to do – relying on the students’
previously acquired knowledge, they could focus on the use of technology and its
methodological implications in their own courses.
Attila László Főző:
If we look at students’ digital competence and the
opportunities fo r its development in higher education , I think
it is necessary to provide some kind of ICT-type training,
but it is also essential to introduce digital technology as a
transversal opportunity in all other cour ses. Not to do so would be unimaginable
for me.
6.1. Information and Media Literacy
To incorporate learning activities, assignments and assessments which
require learners to articulate information needs; to find information
and resources in digital environments; to organise, process, analyse
and interpret information; and to compare and critically evaluate the
credibility and reliability of information and its sources-
discusses the management of digital resources from the students’ perspective
– from the articulation of information needs, through the organisation of
information, to critical evaluation. Chapter 6.2. Digital communication and
collaboration focuses on how, as instructors, we can inspire meaningful
student communication and collaboration through learning organisation – for
the key to the development of students’ competence in digital communication
and collaboration is the intentional and systematic encouragement of relevant
student activities by the instructor. Chapter 6.3. Digital content creation
primarily focuses on digital student products, with special regard to the
legal and ethical issues in publishing and sharing them (copyright, licenses).
Chapter 6.4. Responsible Use deals with the responsible and safe use of digital
devices, covering the main risk factors that students should be warned about.
Chapter 6.5. Digital Problem Solving discusses the interesting relationship
between digital competence and problem solving.
We interviewed the experts Dr. Gyöngyi Bujdosó, (University of
Debrecen) and Dr. Attila László Főző (Centre for Digital Pedagogy and
Methodology, Budapest) about the topics in this chapter.
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 119
Especially at the beginning of their university studies, students are not
always able to decide if an article found on the Internet is considered a
proper scientific text or not. It is crucial to thoroughly discuss with them
why we should not refer to an article published in, for example, an online
women’s magazine in a dissertation, and why a blog post that does not
include the author’s name can not be considered a scholarly publication.
Everything that has been described in more detail in Chapter 2.1 also applies
to the development of students’ competences:
• learning and practicing keyword search strategies;
• locating (authentic, educational) digital resources;
• searching per copyright conditions.
In addition to developing the students’ critical approach to information
and equipping them with the necessary search methods through targeted
exercises and tasks, the instructor may opt for a methodology where
students are provided with a learning environment featuring authentic
resources related to the course curriculum. This is the case, for example, in
a flipped classroom environment. In such a learning environment, students
do not necessarily have to use their information searching knowledge and
skills, but rather eciently and successfully navigate within a collection of
information.
To create and update personal search strategies. To adapt search strategies
based on the quality of information found.
Online library databases are considered to be among the most reliable
sources of information in the digital environment. However, since the
amount of data they contain is huge, it is essential to develop an eective
Chapter 2 of this handbook oers a detailed introduction for instructors
concerning ways to search for, organise, and store information, and it also
discusses the verification of the reliability of data. The present chapter is
closely related to the above activities of the instructor, but goes further in the
exploration of how all this knowledge, ability, and expertise can and should
be transferred to the students. Students with information and media literacy
skills can be characterised as possessing the following abilities:
To articulate information needs, to search for various data, information, and
content in the digital environment, find them, and successfully navigate
among them.
In many cases, students need considerable help in finding data and
information in the digital environment. We must constantly make them
aware of the proliferation of pseudo-scientific sources, fake news and
unreliable information on the Internet. As a first step, this can be easily
demonstrated to them at the right moment in the course by showing
them easy-to-use, openly accessible fake news generating pages such as
The Fake News Generator or Fake News Creator. We can also do this by
ourselves, creating our own fake news article related to one of the topics
in the course and starting the next lesson by presenting it as if it was true.
In this way, students can be tested to see how many of them are able to
recognise fake news, and we can determine what giveaways they identify.
A similar goal can be achieved with the Factitious website, where the
user must choose whether short articles are fake or real in a gamified
environment. The advantage of the site is that it also gives a brief explanation
as to why the article is fake or genuine. The diculty level of the game can
be freely set.
120 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
To organise, store and retrieve data, information and content in digital
environments. To organise and process information in a structured
environment.
In an online world of unlimited information where the individual must
take responsibility for their own information management activities,
task-facilitating content organisation is essential (Attwell, 2007). Students
cannot be expected to be familiar with methods of consciously organising
information, data or digital content, applying labelling, using bookmarks,
or organising data into thematic folders. In addition to the information they
search for and find, this also applies to the ecient organisation and sharing
of content produced by the students themselves. Accurate and structured
classification is the key to easy retrieval (Vuorikari, Punie, Carretero Gomez,
& Van den Brande, 2016). It is important to raise students’ interest and, if
possible, to achieve openness towards content management, i.e. to make
students willing to improve in this area and to acquire new knowledge and
methods.
Nowadays, most people are already familiar with the two main types of
data storage: the use of physical or cloud-based storage. The former means
the systematic storage of data on a server, the hard drive of a PC or laptop,
or a flash drive or other form of external storage. The latter means that we
use the cloud storage of a service provider. Suitable solutions include, for
example, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and iCIoud. The disadvantage
of using a physical device for data storage is that if the physical device is
damaged for any reason, the files and data stored on it may be lost. The
advantage, however, is that the files are self-owned and inaccessible by
external service providers. Compared to this, cloud-based storage is just
the opposite: files are less vulnerable to loss, but our knowledge about
search strategy within such sites themselves. If students are unfamiliar with
this technique, some courses provide an opportunity to introduce eective
keyword search strategies, either as part of a library lesson or through a
demonstration by the instructor.
To analyse, compare and critically evaluate the credibility and reliability of
sources of data, information and digital content.
The authenticity of digital content can be verified in dierent ways. Students
are often unaware that a specific piece of information may not be authentic
just because of its aesthetically pleasing web design, or because it contains
information echoing their own experience.
In certain disciplines where such a method is warranted (e.g.
economics, science, psychology), instructors often ask students
to bring up-to-date news related to the given subject to each
lesson. The m aterial can come from almost anywhere: a news site,
a scholarly article, or even a video sharing portal. 5-10 minutes
of the lesson is devoted to discussing the news brought by the
student. Identifying the source of the news oers an excellent
opportunity to develop students’ critical attitudes and thinking
about the credibility of sources.
(For more information on this topic, see Chapter 2.1 and the relevant Google
for Education digital lesson.)
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 121
and the added links can be tagged. We simply share the link collection of
the given folder (course) with the students in the form of a single URL, and
they can reach the complete link collection and its subfolders, as compiled
by the instructor. Collaboratively creating a collection of links about a given
topic can be a student assignment on its own, as this is also feasible using
the interface.
Because it is a social link collection service, the collections we create are
public. This even means that the number of views for a given link collection
is also displayed.
Figure 6.1. A collection of links on the subject of integrating ICT tools
in lesson plans, created in Pearltrees
the security of our files and access to them by third parties is limited to
the contents of the privacy policy of the third-party service provider. It is
definitely recommended to store important data in several places, and to
create backups on a regular basis.
Storing files in folder systems is a relatively simple and widespread
method, whether on physical storage or in the cloud. However, it is often
necessary to store links and URLs as well. One way to do this is to use
bookmarks stored in the browser of one particular device, where URLs can
be saved (and organised into folders) and assigned to the digital device in
question. The downside to this is that if we are not using our own computer,
we will not be able to access the bookmarks stored in its browser. It is
therefore convenient and advisable to store bookmarks in the cloud on a
social bookmarking solution (e.g. Diigo, Pearltrees, Symbaloo, del.icio.us,
Pinterest – see also Chapter 1.4).
These apps and sites share the following common features:
• users can add keywords and sometimes a short description of the
content to the bookmarks;
• based on the keyword tags, the service classifies the content, and makes
it searchable;
• bookmarks can be supplemented with personal or public comments;
• additional information is associated with the bookmarked pages (how
many users have saved it and in which collections, how many are using it);
• some services may only be available as a paid feature (this may aect
how much information we can add or what information we can access).
In Pearltrees, we can store bookmarks on an online interface in subject-
specific folder systems, where folders can be structured, for example,
according to courses (see Figure 6.1). The link collection can be freely named,
122 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
organised education. This is especially true in situations such as the Covid-
19 pandemic, where attendance-based training was replaced by digital
distance learning.
Students skilled in digital communication and collaboration can be
characterised as possessing the following abilities:
To keep in touch with each other using a variety of digital technologies.
We cannot influence the way students communicate with each other in
every respect, but there are a number of tools and methods which enable
us to steer their digital communication in the right direction.
One of these is to encourage communication within the learning
management system. The framework of university education basically
allows for two types of communication: one is to send a personal message
that can only be seen by the sender and the recipient. Using this is practical
because the educational work in the system is concentrated in one place,
and not even email is necessary to communicate with each other or with
the instructor. However, the second option is perhaps even more important:
tools that support group communication, typically in an asynchronous
fashion (e.g. blogs, wikis, forums). Forums are particularly useful for the
discussion of questions that can be answered by not only the instructor,
but other students, too. Such questions can be divided into two main
groups: on the one hand, they can be related to course administration
(attainment/performance, tasks, schedules, lesson and exam organisation,
etc.), and on the other hand, they can be related to the course content and
the curriculum. Unfortunately, however, it is true for both types of question
that until the instructor intentionally induces communication in the forum,
students rarely take the opportunity to do it for themselves.
If we want to create a personal collection of links,
Diigo
might be a good
choice – here we can decide whether to share the bookmark with a group,
a specified individual, or leave it entirely private.
6.2. Digital Communication and
Collaboration
To incorporate learning activities, assignments and assessments which
require learners to eectively and responsibly use digital technologies
for communication, collaboration and civic participation.
Familiarity with the various digital communication channels and methods
is one of the most important areas of competence for all digital citizens. It
is essential, among other things, when we cultivate friendships, or keep in
touch with clients and colleagues at work, but it is also crucial in managing
administrative matters and pursuing scholarly activities. At the same time,
awareness of the written and unwritten rules of digital communication and
satisfactory competence in this area can never be taken for granted. We
may run into fundamental communication errors on a daily basis, such as
using the wrong channel for the purpose of our communication, redundant
sharing on various social networking sites, or choosing the wrong recipients
for our email.
All this shows that education plays a key role in the development of the
competence of digital communication. Literacy alone does not guarantee
the success of mediated communication. In the mazes of multiplied
communication interfaces and modes, education should help students,
while digital communication also plays an increasingly important role in
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 123
instructed to use the interface in a shelf-type layout, where the main topics
are noted, followed by a sketch of an idea or information in the form of text
or multimedia (links, videos or images). Comments can be added to the
content posted by others, so that both the students and the instructor can
reflect on each other’s thoughts.
To understand appropriate digital communication means for a given context.
To adapt communication strategies to the specific audience and to be aware
of cultural and generational diversity in digital environments.
According to the traditional division of methods of digital communication,
the following categories are distinguished:
• predominantly textual information (e.g. email, forums, Messenger);
• pictorial information (e.g. Instagram, Pinterest);
• voice-based information (e.g. Messenger, Viber);
• video-based information (e.g. TikTok, YouTube, podcasts).
There are several mixed-genre services among these, which are able to
transmit textual, pictorial, audio, and video information alike (e.g.
Messenger
,
Viber
,
Skype
,
Zoom
,
Google Meet
).
The competence of digital communication is more than simply knowing
what tools are available to us – it also includes the ability to choose
the most appropriate tool for a given communication goal. In student-
instructor communication, we often encounter students choosing the wrong
communication channel, for instance expecting an instructor’s immediate
reply to an instant message, when the answer is more suited to email, a
more appropriate tool for asynchronous communication. Dierent tools
require specific styles of communication, for example, the rules of email and
Despite the above, with appropriate methods, the forum can be
incorporated into assessment. In this case, the instructor can
give an extra point if a student gives a meaningful answer to
another student’s question, and can deduct a point if someone
posts a question that has already been asked and/or answered.
Furthermore, an excellent constructive discussion platform on the
content of the course can be created with the help of the forum.
All we need is a provocative post by the instructor, in response to
which students can start to debate by listing arguments both for
and against the statement.
It must be emphasised that communication in the forum available on the
course interface does not start automatically, and it is necessary for the
instructor to manage it in a planned and consistent way until students get
used to it. Furthermore, it must be accepted that students will always create
a communication interface for themselves from which the instructor is left
out. If, however, we manage to create a well-functioning forum that answers
the questions that arise, then students will be less likely to regularly visit a
parallel communication channel.
On digital interfaces, it is us eful to give tasks that encourage collaboration
and communication – probably the most popular tool for this is a cloud-
based file sharing service (e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive).
Joint document editing, whether in a document or a presentation, is
one of the most suitable tasks to develop students’ communicative and
collaborative skills alike. In addition, there are a number of web-based
applications that also facilitate collaborative editing (e.g. online mind
maps – see chapters 2.2 and 3.3, or Prezi, Canva, Padlet, etc.). As an
example,Padlet can be used to jointly summarise a topic if students are
124 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
To share data, information and digital content with others through appropriate
digital technologies. To use digital technologies for collaborative processes,
and for the co-construction and co-creation of resources and knowledge.
The sharing of information and data has already been mentioned (forums,
learning management systems, communication tools), therefore here we will
focus on the sharing of digital content. By digital content we now primarily
mean material that is related to the subject matter of courses and curricula.
The primary sharing interface for digital content in a university
environment is the learning management system. If we use a dedicated
LMS tool for assigning tasks, students might not be able to see each
other’s assignments in the system, so neither knowledge sharing nor peer
assessment can be implemented.
The problem might be addressed through the use of digital portfolios,
which provide students with insight into each other’s work, and also
encourage an element of reflection. The use of digital portfolios can be
facilitated in various ways. The
Canvas
learning management system
contains an integrated portfolio subsystem which is user-friendly and
meets all the requirements of a portfolio. If Canvas is not our system
of choice, then one of the most reliable applications is
Mahara
. Whilst
Mahara must be installed and may be complicated to use,
Padlet
is a
web 2.0 application requiring no installation. Although the latter is not
specifically a digital portfolio application, it does provide students with
their own “digital wall” where they can place their products thematically
or according to some other order (see Figure 6.2). Padlet digital walls can
be shared with anyone, or optionally with only certain users, and they
provide a simple means for reflection, feedback, and peer assessment.
(For more on digital portfolios, see chapters 3.4 and 4.7.)
Messenger are quite dierent. Students should be made aware of this fact, as
digital communication as a competence is an area to be developed regardless
of the course and training.
A further diculty is that the given physical device can also hinder the
success of communication. While student s are proficient at using smartphones ,
emails and their attachments may cause them serious problems.
One of the best opportunities for practicing digital communication is
when two dierent groups of students come together during their training
to achieve a common goal or the completion of a common course. In public
education, this is known as
eTwinning
, in higher education, it is termed
Virtual
Exchange
(VE). The latter is suppor ted by the European organisation
EVOLVE
(Evidence-Validated Online Learning through Virtual Exchange)
with the aim
of strengthening an innovative form of collaborative international learning.
Support is provided through
training for instructors
, and it also oers
organised partner search services on its website
for the negotiation of
international cooperation between schools. The Virtual Exchange is therefore
an excellent opportunity for students to practice a foreign language, but of
course cooperation between student groups can be carried out not only in
an organised, international arena, but also within one country. If one student
group is connected to another in a dierent institution, some of the lessons
should be organised in the form of a videoconference, while in other sessions
a shared digital classroom could be used for the sharing of information and
content, with the utilisation of other communication tools as necessary. The
only limit to the organisation of joint courses and the connection of student
groups is our imagination.
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 125
Figure 6.3. The virtual learning space of the University of Dunaújváros,
created in
MaxWhere
(source: youtu.be/wTSiZlF3zMM)
To seek opportunities for self-empowerment and for participatory citizenship
through appropriate digital technologies.
The self-empowerment section of DigComp 2.1 – the Digital Competence
Framework for Citizens (Carretero Gomez, Vuorikari, & Punie, 2017)
discusses self-empowerment in the sense that the individual should be
able to recognise the gaps in their digital competence and conduct self-
empowerment accordingly. With regard to students’ digital competence
and their self-development in the area, they should be introduced to the
concept of present-day digital citizenship, and the kind of knowledge, skills
and attitudes this entails. Self-reflection on this topic can be carried out
with the DigComp 2.1 framework mentioned above, which, if shared with
students, will give them the opportunity to assess their own levels in the
Figure 6.2. An example of using Padlet as a portfolio
A relatively new innovation in digital content sharing is the
MaxWhere
virtual space (see Figure 6.3). It is a virtual reality (VR) operating
system that provides users with convenient three-dimensional spaces
(including buildings, gardens, lakes, etc.) where they can create their own
workspaces. There are browser windows within this space where users can
specify the content to be displayed. Documents opened and displayed in
a browser window can be edited and shared, and users can handle them
in the same way as in a shared document editor outside MaxWhere. In this
virtual space, people can work together on traditional shared documents,
yet here they do so in an aesthetically more pleasing customised virtual
environment (Bujdosó, Novac, & Szimkovics, 2017).
126 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
• university alumni communities;
• university or religious communities providing spiritual
counselling and support.
If these or similar university communities do not work eectively
or do not exist, we should encourage students to ensure their
community participation both oine and online, highlighting
the importance and benefits of the personal learning network
discussed above.
To be aware of behavioural norms and knowhow while using digital
technologies and interacting in digital environments.
The etiquette, habits, and behaviour forms related to Internet communication
are known as network etiquette, or netiquette. In the field of education,
there is relatively little emphasis on propriety and the dos and don’ts of
digital communication. Despite this, situations in which a knowledge of
netiquette could provide students with appropriate points of reference are
quite frequent: from the salutations used in emails, through trolling on course
interfaces, to the reckless forwarding of spam.
Browsing the websites of universities, it is clear that they typically define
netiquette guidelines for distance learning and online learning (e.g.
Oxford
University
,
Rassmussen College
). An example of good practice is oered by
the
Lincoln University
, where we see a list compiled by students.
five competence areas on a self-reported, self-assessment basis. When
students identify gaps in their digital competence, they may need resources
that provide an opportunity for self-development. As a primary source,
we should recommend massive open online course (MOOC) sites (e.g.
Coursera, EdX) where one among the countless open courses will certainly
develop digital competence or one of its relevant areas (see Chapter 1.4).
Another excellent means of self-development is for the individual to be an
active and productive member of the appropriate professional communities,
where they can benefit from the information, resources and solutions that
are useful for them. This is called a personal learning network (PLN), and it
focuses on the target of information: the human being. Through our personal
learning network, we also become a part of the network of others, because
the essence of community knowledge construction is to share the knowledge
elements we know with the community so that they can acquire them as
well. If the learner is integrated into an appropriate network (e.g. an online
community during the learning process), they can significantly improve the
eectiveness of their learning by harnessing the benefits of the community.
Knowledge creation can thus become a cycle where personal knowledge
is organised into a network, and aggregate knowledge again becomes an
individual source of knowledge (the “cycle of knowledge development”).
As instructors, we can recommend appropriate communities for
students. Some of the following are likely to be available at every
university:
• mentoring student communities for first-year students;
• student groups in a given discipline on social media;
• students’ scholarly workshops, groups on campus;
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 127
online identities and they ought to be advised that employers routinely
research job applicants’ digital identities. If their digital identity reveals
information that is not considered favourable by the employer, the applicant
may not even be invited for a job interview. It follows that students should
be introduced to the following two practices regarding the management of
digital identities.
If someone maintains a profile on only one social networking site, they
need to be very careful about what they share and who they share it with.
Content that may not be wholly acceptable to everyone should by no means
be publicly shared, but even privately shared images and other content
can be easily saved by anyone, so we need to exercise caution even in
this case. Another viable solution is maintaining a private digital identity
on Facebook, but simultaneously managing an ocial identity on another
profile page. The latter is used to share only professional content, and in
certain cases, it can assist in the building a personal brand. Linkedln, the
dedicated professional community service, is the probably most suitable
place for this.
Digital identity has become a major issue recently. It requires constant
self-reflection and regularly puts the individual in decision-making
situations. Therefore, it has become an important part of the development
of digital competence, even if it is not easily linked to course content, and
the example of the instructor and well-managed profile pages can help
students greatly (see Chapter 1.1).
The instructor should begin the semester’s work with the
students by laying down the rules adopted by the group for
personal and online conduct.
Universities which have not yet done so should consider thoroughly
reviewing good examples, and defining their own netiquette policy.
Another cardinal point concerning interaction in the digital environment
is the “quality” of email addres ses. In our teaching work, we often encounter
students using a foolish, embarrassing email address in a formal context
(e.g. cutey@..., andythedandy@...). Students using similar email addresses
should be warned about the underlying connotations that may result in a
less than ideal representation of the owner of the email address. Therefore,
each student should have a clear ocial address, preferably created from
their own first and last names.
To create and manage one or multiple digital identities.
“We are what we show on the Net. Everything else is mere illusion. We
are what search engines reveal about us, no matter what the reality is.”
(digitalisidentitas.blog.hu) Perhaps this quote is an exaggeration, but
its strong words aim to draw students’ attention to the existence and
importance of digital identity. Digital identity is the set of data available
online that makes people identifiable based on their digital footprints.
Nowadays, thanks to various social networks where we tend to display an
online representation of our oine lives, mixed oine-online identities
are becoming increasingly natural. It is this mixed identity that can cause
problems when someone is not sharing content in the right place or at the
right time. For this reason, students should know about private and ocial
128 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
it should be imagined as a learning process where students are given
guidance on accessing sources for quality an d authentic learning materials,
and then further guidance is provided in the learning environment
organised by the instructor about the type of product or collection of
products that should be created while processing the study material.
Examples of student products include blog posts, reflective
diaries, short films, digital stories, comic strips, podcasts,
glossaries, mind maps (see Chapter 2.2), websites, Facebook
pages, online tests (see Chapter 4.3), and collages. Whatever
type or genre of study material is produced as a student
product, instructor control, involving the monitoring and
assessment of the quality of the work, is essential. Only
high-quality learning materials that also serve the learning
of others should be later shared with the student community.
• A course based on problem solving or a case study describing a real-
life situation
A course can be much more than a simple and linear list of educational
content. It can also be organised around problem-based learning in
which students must resolve a particular issue (Hmelo-Silver, 2004), or
around processing a specific real-life situation as a case study.
• Community organisation and knowledge sharing
As technical tools and an editable web have become accessible to
everyone, we can now build our educational process on community
knowledge sharing, information flow and community productivity. The
goal for a group of students may not only be the planned facilitation of
6.3 Digital Content Creation
To incorporate learning activities, assignments and assessments which
require learners to express themselves through digital means, and to
modify and create digital content in dierent formats. To teach learners
how copyright and licenses apply to digital content, how to reference
sources and attribute licenses.
The creation of digital content from the perspective of instructors has
already been discussed (see Chapter 2.2). This section focuses on the
student’s perspective, but covers only those aspects which have not been so
far covered. Students skilled in digital content creation can be characterised
as possessing the following abilities:
To create and edit digital content in dierent formats. To modify, refine,
improve and integrate information and content into an existing body of
knowledge. To create new, original and relevant content and knowledge.
Students can only take advantage of the opportunity to create and edit
digital content in various formats during the learning p rocess if the instruc tor
creates an appropriate, activity-oriented learning environment.
Activity-based education can be implemented in several ways, which
are, of course, not mutually exclusive but complement each other. Here are
some ideas:
• Students do not receive ready-made educational material, but
produce it on their own.
If we approach the subject from the perspective of pedagogical theory,
constructivist pedagogy comes to mind. From a practical point of view,
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 129
Figure 6.4. Robin’s Convergence Model: Digital Storytelling in Education
(Robin, 2009)
Robin’s study oers a number of good practices and additional
resources. The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling website
at the University of Houston is also highly recommended.
Featuring a collection of digital histories grouped by disciplines
and supplemented with additional resources that can be used in
education (e.g. lesson plans, evaluation sheets, etc.), the website
is a good starting point for those who are new to DST because
the films available there not only make instructors consider their
communication (see Chapter 6.2) – the instructor should also promote
conscious community building and inform ation sharing. This often mean s
shaping student attitudes as well. Many may think that information is
power and, as a result, are not open to sharing it. The aforementioned
way of learning organisation, where students create diverse products
based on dierent sources of study materials, can be particularly well
combined with community knowledge sharing. Students should be
motivated to create quality products as these will serve as a basis for the
performance and accountability for the whole group.
• Digital storytelling
Digital storytelling (DST) as a form of learning management helps
to ensure students’ active and creative participation in the teaching-
learning process. The resulting product is a digital story in a 2-5 minute
video made up of still images and narration, a linear self-narrative
that can become a virtual (social) message when shared on the web.
The technical conditions and pedagogical benefits of the method are
summarised in Figure 6.4.
130 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
The most commonly used copyright license is
Creative Commons
(CC),
which is widely recognised around the world. The idea behind Creative
Commons is the establishment of a simple, flexible, standardised set of
rights (“some rights reserved”) on a wide scale ranging from full legal
protection (“all rights reserved”) to “public domain” (public property).
CC licences provide a means for authors to simultaneously reserve
their rights and allow the use and distribution of their work. Specific CC
licenses are basically made up of dierent combinations of the following
four restrictions: Attribution, No Derivative Works, Share Alike and Non-
Commercial (see Chapter 2.1).
Students should be introduced to copyright issues (not only
because of the attribution of others’ work, but also because of
the protection of their own products), but it is also advisable
to formulate clear expectations regarding the correct use of
dierent reference styles. We also recommend image search
sites where the images can be freely used or where the copyright
information is clearly indicated (see Chapter 2.1).
Let us here mention two of the most commonly used and internationally
recognised reference styles: those of the
MLA
(
Modern Language
Association) an
d the
APA
(American Psychological Association).
Students
are supposed to observe the rules of referencing in written submissions
handed in during their training, and then in the dissertation closing the
training as well. Despite this there is no uniformity as to which of the
above reference styles (or perhaps a third style) should be followed.
The required reference style depends on the instructor, university, or
discipline.
courses in a new light, but also encourage the adaptation of this
material into higher education syllabuses. The good practices at
the end of this chapter (see Chapter 6.6) include more detailed
examples of good practices related to DST.
• Game-based design (gamification)
This method is described in detail in Chapter 4.1.
• Flipped classroom
This method is described in detail in Chapter 3.1.
It is true of all types of activity-based learning organisation concerned
with the creation of the kinds of digital content listed above that their
use results in numerous pedagogical benefits: they lend interactivity
to the learning-teaching process and boost student engagement and
motivation (see Chapter 5.3), resulting in more productive instruction.
To understand how copyright and licenses apply to data, information and
digital content.
It is a relatively common misconception that whatever is on the Internet
belongs to everyone, and that it can consequently be used freely. Instructors
often see that students do not appropriately refer to the intellectual
products of others (if they do so at all), typical examples being the reuse of
text, images, or even blog posts. As an organic part of digital competence
the individual should be aware of the various copyright licenses available,
be able to conduct a search according to copyright status, and be able to
refer accurately to the information they find and plan to use.
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 131
6.4. Responsible Use
To take measures to ensure learners’ physical, psychological and social
wellbeing while using digital technologies. To empower learners to
manage risks and use digital technologies safely and responsibly.
Internet security is by no means a new topic. However, back when neither
the concept of digital competence nor the concept of digital citizenship was
defined in such great detail, for a time these phrases were synonymous with
the topic of Internet security. At that time, responsible use meant nothing
more than setting up a personal password of sucient strength on various
Internet sites. In contrast, nowadays the area of competence for responsible
and safe use of digital devices has expanded to such an extent that it covers
everything from digital health, through cyberbullying, to environmental
protection.
Students skilled in the responsible use of digital tools can be characterised
as possessing the following abilities:
To protect devices and digital content, and to understand risks and threats in
digital environments. To protect oneself and others from possible dangers in
digital environments (e.g. cyberbullying).
The responsible use of digital devices, which takes into account hazards and
risks, needs to be addressed on the levels of data, devices, and personal
security.
Given that the two areas are inseparable, we can discuss personal data
and personal devices together (without the devices, we cannot manage
the data). In terms of both data and devices, the individual is expected to
To plan and develop a sequence of understandable instructions for a
computing system to solve a given problem or perform a specific task.
This DigCompEdu activity may sound alien to the reader, and the idea that
programming should be taught in university courses in a horizontal manner
might give cause for concern. As yet, little of this is reflected in curricula and
university syllabuses, or in the definition of learning outcomes, but there is no
denying that programming has become a skill that is becoming increasingly
important among student competences (see I
STE Standards for Students,
Vuorikari et al., 2016) and among the expectations of the employment market
as well. With the
help of the term
“
computational thinking
”
, it may be easier
to understand and embrace this topic as a competence not specifically related
to programming through software in the IT sense, but as a competence
associated with algorithmic thinking. In many disciplines and professions alike
the individual may be expected to be able to break down a problem, highlight
the essential elements of a conglomerate, process the data using digital tools,
and create new descriptive models. Algorithmic thinking means that the
individual is able to see an activity as a set of unfolding steps, and understand
that these elementary units are causally related to each other. They are able to
plan the decisions and steps needed to implement the sequence of activities to
be performed, and they can predict the consequences of the implementation
of an algorithm and the probability of the successive steps of the process.
Beyond the significance of algorithmic thinking, what instructors need to
gather from this is the importance of attitude – that, as instructors or students,
if we see ourselves as digital citizens, we must be open to basic design and
coding on a user level
.
132 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
How can students be conditioned to conduct themselves safely and
responsibly in the online space?
Gyöngyi Bujdosó:
Students have to be taught about how they can protect
themselves: there is a lot of talk about passwords (i.e.
during university classes), firewalls, various security
devices, or, for example, covering a camera, which is the
only way to protect yourself against being videoed. Then we also have to
know, for example, how to hide apps on our mobile phone or how to locate
hidden software on our phone. Students have to know that whatever they put
on the Internet really is going to stay there forever – they have to know the
implications of this, and also that there are databases that are used to buy and
sell data between corporations.
Attila László Főző:
A responsible and safe presence in the online space is, of
course, a very important concern for everyone, especially
for students. Emphasising this is a never-ending task for
the instructor, as we should always call attention to the
latest phenomena. Personally speaking, an awareness of pseudoscientific
topics and scientific misconceptions is very important. As such things can also
be seen in pedagogy, this is a topic which is on the agenda on a daily basis or
in every semester.
be familiar with security settings such as password protection, anti-virus
and firewall settings, careful use of public Wi-Fi, and so on (for more
information, see the
Student’s Guide to Internet Security & Safety
). Whereas
protecting smartphones with a password and a tracking application is
now a common practice, not all users pay sucient attention to the secure
storage and backup of their data.
It is advisable to draw students’ attention to the above in
situations when they have to store their personal or shared files
related to a particular course. The pros and cons of storing data
in the cloud or on a physical device can be made clear through a
few simple personal examples.
The third area of responsible device use, the issue of personal security,
was primarily brought to the fore by digital harassment, about which
there is now a wide range of literature (e.g. Tokunaga, 2010; Dehue, 2013;
Festl & Quandt, 2013). Any student can fall victim to unsolicited content,
online fraud, threats or cyberbullying, and they should be able to protect
themselves and others from digital dangers.
It may seem alien to a specific discipline, or a university course to
deal with responsible digital device use, yet it is still prudent to think
horizontally about this area of digital competence, and thus topics such
as pseudoscience, cyberbullying or data protection can be a part of any
university course
.
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 133
participants. Activities within a group, for example the peer assessment
of the students’ work, are exceptions to this rule, as communication and
information sharing within the group is obviously not the same as disclosing
personal information and products to netizens en masse.
Most universities have relevant policies governing which sensitive data
of students and faculty are subject to what kind of data management. This
is an especially prominent issue in a distance learning environment, when,
for example, in the case of an online exam, students in front of a webcam
may even have to show the room in which they sitting.
To avoid health risks and threats to physical and psychological well-being
while using digital technologies.
Models of digital citizenship include the competency of digital health, which
can be approached from two per spectives. From an ergonomic point of view,
digital health means the use of devices in a physically and psychologically
healthy manner, and also involves knowledge of the risks of excessive use,
its symptoms, and its treatment (Ribble, 2011). The second aspect is that of
health promotion, which is concerned with how digital devices can be used
for the promotion of health and prevention of illnesses.
One of the key issues in the information society, the competence of time
management, can also be considered to be a part of digital health. In the
information overflow of the twenty-first century, the ability to make the best
use of our time is essential – not only in order to get the right information at
the right time, but also to prioritise, plan and organise our activities based on
a realistic assessment of the length of time required for each task.
To protect personal data and privacy in digital environments. To understand
how to use and share personal information while being able to protect
oneself and others. To understand that digital services use a “Privacy policy”
on how personal data is used.
Every chapter of the present volume contains a myriad of recommended
software and online applications. When a new online application is initially
used, the attitudes of students (and instructors) are usually mixed. Some people
are completely unwilling to go through yet another registration procedure
because they have fears that their data will be abused or that their inbox will
be bombarded with unsolicited mail. Others do not have such reservations – in
fact some do not even care about what personal information they disclose or
how the service provider handles it. One thing is certain, however: every online
application provider must have a privacy policy that allows us to find out exactly
what happens to the email address or Facebook profile used for registration, or
any other information we provide. People are often unaware of these privacy
policies, so it is the instructor’s responsibility to inform their students about
them.
In an educational situation, students may have to handle more than
merely their own data as there may be tasks and situations where they
collaborate on assignments in which they and others appear in either a
photo or a video. This leads to the question of how the personal data of
others should be treated. Of course, before any such recording (image,
audio, video) is made public, all the persons concerned must consent to
its publication. If the consent of even one person is missing, the recording
may not be shared with others. This rule also applies to the instructor, who
may only disclose student products with the express permission of the
134 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
Stay Focusd plug-in for t
he Google Chrome browser might be of help.
With this plug-in, certain web pages can be blocked according to our own
settings. In this way, everyone can control how many minutes they spend
on certain pages which tend to distract them when they are working (this
can, of course, be set to zero).
Time management can also be optimised with a weekly and daily report
on how much time we spend using various applications on our phones. As
shown in Figure 6.6, the user often faces a shocking reality check, and it may
thus be prudent to impose rules on this as well.
Figure 6.6. Screen time as seen on a smartphone
Since this should also be conceived as a horizontal area of development,
instructors should provide students with some methodological suggestions
that can improve time management, as this issue is closely related to learning
and learning methodology. One of the most popular methods of prioritising
tasks is the use of the Eisenhover matrix (see Figure 6.5).
Figure 6.5. Eisenhover window, or time management matrix
(source: https://online.visual-paradigm.com/fr/diagrams/features/eisenhower-matrix-
template)
If we wish to assign time to tasks prioritised in this way, or measure how
much time we spend on them, the
Toggle
application oers a simple
solution. If we need to work in a focused way in front of the screen, the
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 135
To identify technical problems when operating devices and using digital
environments, and to solve them.
This part of digital problem solving is the most device-oriented. In ICT-
supported education, students often find themselves in a situation where
technical problems need to be identified and addressed (e.g. muting the
microphone or turning on the camera during an online video conference,
registering for and installing an application). These are tasks requiring
a certain proficiency in the workings of digital technology and the online
space. In our modern world of smartphones and applications, managing
technology has become extremely simple, but perhaps that is why installing
software onto a computer is more of a challenge for students. Whatever
technical problems they may face, they should be encouraged to search the
Internet for the solution because they may find a plethora of tutorial videos
and explanations concerning almost any issue they encounter.
To adjust and customise digital environments to personal needs. To identify,
evaluate, select and use digital technologies and possible technological
responses to solve a given task or problem.
Closely related to the personalisation of digital environments is the
concept of the personal learning environment (PLE). The personal learning
environment as an approach acknowledges that learning is a process which
should be supported by dedicated tools, and web applications that students
already use with proficiency are always a good starting point (see Chapter
5.1). If we want PLE to appear in a university environment, the instructor
needs to discover each student’s personal learning environment, and then
the instructor and student have to jointly consider how the elements and
To be aware of the environmental impact of digital technologies and their use.
Environmentally conscious behaviour in the use of digital devices means
that the individual is aware of the impact of digital devices on our
environment (Vuorikari et al., 2016), and they are also familiar with the
associated harmful phenomena and steps which can be taken to protect
the environment (e.g. waste management options). It is important that
students are aware of the detrimental eects of digital devices, and are able
to enforce an environmentally-conscious standpoint and mode of conduct
not only in their own microenvironment but also in communities.
6.5. Digital Problem Solving
To incorporate learning activities, assignments and assessments which
require learners to identify and solve technical problems, or to transfer
technological knowledge creatively to new situations.
Before embarking on a deeper exploration of the subject matter in this
section, we should consider for a moment whether it is appropriate to
treat digital problem solving as a separate activity and a subcompetence
of its own. Indeed, if we peruse the present volume, it becomes clear that
students may encounter problem-solving situations in several areas (they
may be linked, for example, to the creation of digital content, collaboration
on digital interfaces, or the responsible use of digital tools).
Students skilled in digital problem solving can be characterised as
possessing the following abilities:
136 6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE
The university learning environment is mostly restricted to the mandatory
learning management system, an undoubted advantage of which is
institutional management and technological security. From a pedagogical
perspective, however, we should rely more heavily on the students’ personal
learning environments, which may also be part of the university’s learning
management system. The important question is not how many dierent tools
make up someone’s PLE, but whether the individual has the appropriate tools
to deal with the various scenarios within learning situations. Even without
naming specific applications, activities and functions can be defined which
students will definitely have to manage in their personal le arning environment.
Examples of such functions include sharing our own products, maintaining
our own digital library, communication in professional and private settings,
maintaining a calendar and an activity list, and media recording and playback
(see Figure 6.7) (Attwell, 2007; Attwell et al., 2008; Godwin-Jones, 2009). A
further benefit of involving PLE in conscious, formal education is that it is one
of the best places to develop a student’s digital competence.
Exploring the personal learning environment is a dicult task
conducted mainly through a survey based on self-report which
takes the form of a preliminary questionnaire, especially with
large samples. But just as we usually get to meet students in
person in the first lesson and ask them where they came from
and whether they have a smartphone to use in class if needed,
we could also ask them about the apps they use for specific
(learning) purposes on their smartphone (or computer). The
hardware and software requirements of the course should be
clarified with the group in the very first session. This practice is
applications it includes can be incorporated into the teaching-learning
process. Through the use of this approach, students acquire knowledge in
a natural learning environment rather than in a compulsory and “artificial”
university learning environment.
Figure 6.7. Graphical representation of a student’s personal learning environment
(source: dancingthroughmeganslife.home.blog)
6. FACILITATING LEARNERS’ DIGITAL COMPETENCE 137
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Dehue, F. (2013). Cyberbullying Research: New Perspectives and Alternative Methodo-
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also important for ensuring equal access. If we find that students
are unable to provide meaningful responses concerning their
personal learning environment because they have not actually
built one yet, then we should focus on self-development.
To understand where their digital competence needs to be improved or
updated. To seek opportunities for self-development and to keep up-to-
date with digital evolution. To support others in their digital competence
development.
It is a cliché that the digital competence of the Internet generation is not innately
high. As mentioned by the experts in our interviews (Chapter 6.2), there are
certain areas where students have good digital competence but that is not true
of some other areas. An additional challenge is when the group of students
is heterogeneous in terms of digital competence and there are dierences
between the students in their skills with digital tools. In a heterogeneous
group, we should consider dierentiation based on the varying levels of digital
compete nce (Chapter 5.2). The method of organising student s into pairs, a well-
known organisational principle in pedagogical practice, may also prove useful
because students who have a higher level of digital competence are usually
happy to support and teach those who need help with using digital tools.
References
Attwell, G. (2007). Personal Learning Environments – the future e-Learning? eLearning
Papers. 1.
Attwell, G., Bimrose, J., Brown, A., & Barnes, S-A. (2008). Maturing Learning: Mashup
Personal Learning Environments.
138 AUTHORS
Zsófia Menyhei
Zsófia Menyhei is a foreign language educator and
senior lecturer in the Institute of English Studies at
the Károli Gás pár University of the Refo rmed Church
in Hungary. In 2016, she received her PhD from the
Doctoral School of Linguistics at the University of
Pécs. Her research interests include intercultural
competence development in the foreign language
classroom and educational technology in foreign
language teaching and learning.
Tibor M. Pintér
Tibor M. Pintér is a linguist and an associate
professor in the Department of Hungarian
Linguistics at the Károli Gáspár University of the
Reformed Church in Hungary. His research focuses
on language pedagogy, translation studies,
language assessment, and data mining. His primary
interest in the field of language pedagogy concerns
second language acquisition.
Adrienn Papp-Danka
Adrienn Papp-Danka is an associate professor at
the Hungarian Dance University and a researcher
for the ICT Centre at the Károli Gáspár University
of the Reformed Church in Hungary. In 2014, she
received her PhD from the Doctoral School of
Education at Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest.
Her research fields are learning and teaching with
digital technologies (EdTech), digital citizenship,
and digital competence.
The research presented in this book was financed by the project Education
informatics in higher education (no. 20629B800), supported by Károli
Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary.
Authors
Ida Dringó-Horváth
Ida Dringó-Horváth is a specialist in language
pedagogy and language educational technology.
She is the head of the ICT Research Centre at the
Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in
Hungar y and an associate profes sor in the institution’s
Department of German Language and Literature. She
received her PhD in 2004 and her habilitation in 2019.
Her research and teaching areas are linked to language
learning methodology and learning and teaching with
digital technologies (EdTech), particularly in foreign
language teaching and teacher training, but more
recently in higher education as well.
Judit Dombi
Judit Dombi is an associate professor of linguistics
in the Department of English Linguistics at the
University of Pécs, Hungary. She received her
PhD in applied linguistics in 2013 and completed a
habilitation process in 2019. Her research focuses
on various theoretical and applied aspects of
pragmatics and intercultural communication. She
has been involved in teacher training since 2011
and her work involves digitally-supported foreign
language teaching.
László Hülber
László Hülber is an associate professor at the
Budapest Business School, Hungary. In 2016, he
wrote his PhD on techn ology-based assessment for
the Doctoral School of Education at the University
of Szeged. His main research interests include ICT
in education and digital content development.
