Five classrooms test new software for EU project

Five Maltese classrooms have been at the forefront of the development of information and communication technology as a teaching tool.

The classrooms, from Birkirkara Primary B, De la Salle College, Little Angels School, Lija Primary School and Stella Maris College, were used to refine an experimental software package created by Maltese and European partners under a European Union-funded project called SAIL - Specialised Animated Interactive Learning.

The Maltese partners are Metis Co. Ltd, Audio Visual Centre and the University's Department of Primary Education and Teacher Resource Centre.

The software will enable pupils between eight and 10 all over Europe - working in groups and taking responsibility for their own work - to research and learn about European cultural minorities.

The freeware will be accessible to schools and teacher training institutions from the project's website, www.studentlearningcentre.org, along with a teacher's manual and other resources.

The five classrooms have just completed the second and final phase of the pilot project.

In this phase, the teachers first divided their classrooms into teams that included pupils with diverse learning needs (rather than students choosing to be with friends).

After being introduced to the software tool, the teams created projects about the gypsies, with the teacher playing as small a hands-on role as possible. Aided by the software, the students were the ones who chose their sources of information, how to put the project together, what to put in it, and who does what in the team.

The teachers then exchanged experiences via the website through questionnaires and active use of a discussion forum.

In this way, the software was "debugged" of any technical and methodological problems, said the project's academic coordinator Michelle Caruana-Dingli.

She said that among the innovative aspects of the software is the way it allows the children to work alone in groups, at their own pace and using their own methods.

Another aspect is that the software is not "prescriptive": each teacher is able to adapt it in different ways, in line with their own approach to teaching.

"The teachers were willing to take risks and engage in a process of change that could only be a result of their confidence, enthusiasm and motivation," she said.

"Another new experience for them was engaging in reflection and sharing their own experiences with the teachers from other schools.

"The activity was a huge success. Teachers and students were motivated, learning took place and new methodologies tried out.

"The teachers felt they were in tune with their pupils and their pedagogical aims and objectives were met. They were not necessarily computer experts but definitely knowledge experts.

"There is a lot of educational software available out there. However, a lot of it is left on the shelf. This project serves as a bridge to making use of it. Our website will offer resources to teachers all over Europe and all they have to do is log on," said Ms Caruana-Dingli.

The project website lists as one of its aims the development of a research mentality through ICT from the early years of schooling. It seeks to encourage students to take responsibility for their own work by giving them control over what, how and when they learn. It allows them to assess their own work and generally helps them to learn how to learn from their own failures and successes. This would make them "more efficient learners for the future".

The software, which is mainly intended for the social skills classroom, also makes it easy and fun for students with diverse needs to integrate and learn together.

Furthermore, leaving the students to work on their own will allow the teacher space and time to look at students at work and assess their personalities and preferred learning processes.

The pupils involved in the project were taken on a tour of the Manoel Theatre.

The teachers will be presenting a paper on their experience at an international ICT conference to be held in Malta between September 2 and 4, organised by Metiseducation.