Ana Marija Rogić, Jasmina Vrkić Dimić UNIVERSITY OF ZADAR ICT AS A LINK BETWEEN INFORMAL AND FORMAL LEARNING Examples from Croatia

CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION 2. DIGITAL MATURITY OF CROATIAN SCHOOLS 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system 3. CONCLUSION: VIEW IN THE FUTURE

1. INTRODUCTION ICT literacy as one of the basic forms of literacy Informal learning as a integral part of lifelong learning Informal learning is a unplanned experiental learning and includes casual, incidental learning (von Felden, 2004). Informal learning also occurs within formal frameworks link between formal and informal learning.

Other learning forms in the future... learning with ICT e-learning m-learning b-learning distance education online education Other learning forms in the future...

(...) 1. INTRODUCTION The advantages of informal learning and learning with help of ICT should support learning in schools and learning in general. All this results in changing working methods of teachers. Now they are expected to be e-competent (Papić, 2011). The fact whether a teacher belongs to the generation that came in contact with the Internet for the first time f.i. during their student days, or after many years of service, plays a certain part. Now all of them are teaching pupils reffered to as the Google generation.

2. DIGITAL MATURITY OF CROATIAN SCHOOLS Croatia has relatively early recognized the importance of buildung ICT infrastructure (Dorotić, 2008): “The Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia – Croatia in 21st Century” (2001) CARNet (Croatian Acedemic and Research Network) created 1991 as a project the Croatian Ministry of Science and Technology. CARNet activities: provision of Internet services, encouragement of development of the information society and education for a new area (URL 1). Target groups in providing CARnet services are pupils, teachers, faculties, institutes, students, professors and member institutions (URL 3).

(...) 2. DIGITAL MATURITY OF CROATIAN SCHOOLS CARNet projects: e-Islands, Schools 2.0, e-Schools... The purpose of the project e-Schools is to create digitally mature schools (URL 5). These schools are on a high level of integration of ICT, both in life and work of the school and in the entire system supporting those schools. That includes not only financial ressources but also adequately equipped classrooms, offices, teachers and pupils with ICT equipment (URL 6). The studies “Survey of Schools: ICT in Education Benchmarking Access, Use and Attitudes to Technology in Europe’s Schools” (2013) and its Croatian country profile (2012) conducted for the European Commission analyzed the use of ICT in teaching in European schools, in which 300 Croatian schools participated.

(...) 2. DIGITAL MATURITY OF CROATIAN SCHOOLS One of many results showed, that there is a visible gap in digital equipment of schools in Croatia. At the high school level, the percentage (82%, 86%) of highly equipped schools is much higher compared to the European average (50%, 55%). But at the primary school levels Croatia (18%, 10%) is below the European average (37%, 24%). There is a trend in Europe and Croatia in general: the older the pupils, the higher the number of computers available (European Schoolnet & University of Liege Psychology and Education, 2012). CARNets analysis show that less than 17% of Croatian schools is at higher level of IT maturity, or may be considered digitally capable or mature (URL 6). It is necessary to put more effort to raise digitalization of schools in Croatia to a higher level.

2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system Project Open Discovery Space – existing digital learning materials, contents, technology and standards for learning needed to be more involved in education, i.e. their implementation into national curriculums needed to be accelerated. CARNet participates in the new e-learning portal with its two existing repositories: skole.hr and moodle.carnet.hr.. It includes 50 schools in Croatia and 2000 schools from all over Europe (URL 8).

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system The national distance learning portal “Nikola Tesla” – system that allows teaching and learning with computers using digital educational contents, E-programming courses for schools, ECDL modules for enhancing basic computer literacy, courses on use of the Internet and tools for the creation of Internet content. Lessons are presented in multimedia with animated examples, audio-visual simulations of tests and experiments and interactive elements (URL 9).

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system These two described projects are examples for using independent informal learning: the pupils can browse and explore new teaching contents or exercise those already covered in school, whereas at home and at their own learning pace. Teachers can use them in teaching, in order to raise motivation or exercise and repetition of already adopted syllabus. But also students who will become teachers can have insight or idea how to include these tools in the planning and preparation of their sample lesson.

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system E-medica (2007) was a project initiated by the Medical School in Zadar. In a telemedicine broadcoast medical and vocational schools across Croatia, two in Slovenia and the Faculty of Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegowina were virtually connected, and were able to watch a surgical procedure which was performed at the Zadar General Hospital. Upon completion of the presented surgeries, the doctor was avaliable for questions of the participants (URL 10). Pupils and students were able to review their previous largely theoretical medical knowledge on a real example. This method of ICT use opened an informal way to connect theory and practice and for the increase of motivation of pupils to attend class.

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system Project iSchool - integration of tablet computers (iPad) in class. The first example is Elementary School in Rijeka followed by the Dubrovnik private gymnasium and the American International School of Zagreb. In 2012 the website ipaduskoli.com was established, where new users can find tips and instructions for the use of iPads in schools (URL 14). According to the teachers the work is much easier, because there is a number of ready-made exercises, powerpoint presentations and applications. Applications allow pupils to submit their homework, which makes everything much faster. It is also easier to monitor each pupil individually and identify the part of curriculum that requires additional work (URL 15).

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system School e-book – digital textbook and didactic materials created with the help of the School portal and e-sphere. It includes interactive materials and provides the ability for teachers to make their own amendments and adapt the teaching to themselves and their pupils even more (URL 16). The e-sphere system does not require an Internet connection and in practice all users can find constant support on the School portal. For teachers it is designed for use in classroom on the computer and the projector or the interactive whiteboard (URL 16; URL 17).

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system The e-manual is created for teachers to support the preparation of class. It is an integrated digital manual with digital textbook and teaching plans and programs (URL 17). The e-learn is intented for pupils and represents a digital textbook enriched with multimedia content, 3D models, animations, video and audio recordings, photo galleries, tasks for repetition and tools to highlight text, create notes and browse through content (Ibid.). Here we can recognize a common characteristic of informal learning and learning with the help of ICT, where it does not have to happen in relation to a specific time and place, as provided for formal learning in the teaching process.

(...) 2.1 Examples of the use of ICT in the Croatian educational system The described examples certainly include the element of „edutainment”, that mainly refers to children's programme and documentaries, which they usually watch in their free time, but can also be adequately used in teaching. The last two examples are related to the two series of historical documentaries produced by Croatian Radio Television: „Insane Roman Emperors” and „Croatian kings”. Historical scenes and locations were shown vividly with help of visual effects and modern computer graphics (URL 18). Croatian and global historians and archeologists were also included here as expert collocutors (URL 19). Due to their entertainment aspect, these television shows can have a motivating effect on pupils of all ages, regardless of their initial interest for the individual subject.

3. CONCLUSION: VIEW INTO THE FUTURE Lately, the efforts in Croatia to modernize schools as much as possible are very presentable, but on the other hand, unfortunately, there are still schools whose work conditions are very bad, so ICT are still underrepresented in most schools in Croatia. The new learning environment imposed with the development of digital technologies will likely seek a broader change of the pedagogical paradigm. It is extremely important to involve pedagogical experts and doctors, together with multidisciplinary teams, in its conceptualization, in order to cover all revelant aspects of application of new technological innovations in education. This would ensure that new multimedia technologies really serve the educational process, taking into account the health of children, and that they don‘t become a new profitable entertainment industry (URL 11). If we want systematic improvement of the education system, then it can certainly be achieved through the linking of formal and informal learning. And precisely one such effective link is represented by the use of ICT.

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