Transcript Didactic principles of e-learning. Initiatives and opinion

Acknowledgement and
Development of e-Learning
in Bulgaria:
Socio-Cultural Perspective
Fe-ConE Project Workshop
October 11, 2007
Lithuania
Nevena Staevsky
Contemporary setting and
challenges
 changes in social and economical
conditions worldwide force new
needs upon the BG education
 “knowledge society of the future”




continuous professional
development,
frequent retraining and
obtaining new competences,
mastering new technologies,
lifelong learning
 the European Union and Bulgaria

improved understanding of the
role of the e-learning in the
development of the information
society
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Common Opinion of Bulgarian
e-Learning
 meets the requirements for more individual and
flexible way of learning
 introduces a number of attractive features

convenient time and space-independent manner
enhance the classroom setting, taking
advantage of new content and delivery
technologies to enable learning
 todo: adjustment of the curricula and teaching
programs to the methods and options of e-learning,
proper training of the teaching staff, new roles as
managers, admins, tutors, motivators
 creating/using untested VLEs to ensure a
courseware to both on-campus and off-campus
students; VLEs’ impact on improving educational
programs is not evaluated
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Pedagogical models
 three pedagogical models of didactic approaches: "pedagogy-neutral“,
"pedagogy-standard“, "pedagogy-driven“
 problems:



current e-learning tools and technologies are "pedagogy-neutral" (no
learning requirements)
hundreds of pedagogical strategies
learning is different from just consuming learning content; one
pedagogical model/strategy is not enough for e-learning researches
and standardization
 Bulgarian e-learning players understand the above problems
 e-learning educational paradigm has to adequately reflect the well-
known didactic principles of the traditional learning, but at the same
time to implement some specific characteristics of its own.
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Didactic principles of
e-learning
e-learning pedagogical technology is based on VLTs and a wide use of
ICT
 communication (openness of the communication forms and tools)
 interactivity (indirect interactions student-student, student-teacher)
 control (strict regulation and management of the activities using ICT)
 flexibility (choice of time and place for learning)
 practical orientation of the content and the activities
 case studies (the interaction during the learning process has dialogical
and case- oriented nature, due to virtual simulators and communication)
 problem-oriented content and dialogical interaction in the learning
process
 module-block principle in the edu programs and the learning activities
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
National programmes and
policies- general education
The policy of education is defined by Bulgarian National Programme
“Modernization of Education” (2004) and the National Employment
Action Plan (2005).
General Education
 Modifications of the basic laws regulating the system of higher
education are made.
 The basic state educational requirements in higher education are
developed. They ensure standards for quality of higher education.
 National Strategy and Action Plan for Introducing ICT in Bulgarian
schools are introduced.
 The Council of Ministers accepted the conditions for social support
of students to access the educational system.
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Initiatives in secondary
“National Educational Portal”
education
project started in 2006-first
crucial step towards the
implementation of elearning technologies in
Bulgarian schools
free access to the learning
content
21 e-learning courses for are
approved by the ME and
published
e-learning content is enriched
by the students’ works in
national IT competitions
and Olympiads
future- the teachers will have a
possibility to develop and
publish e-learning content
of their own
01 2007 the II stage of the
development of broadband
Internet access for the
school
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
National programmes and
policies- vocational education




EU funds and mainly the PHARE programme preaccession funds- basic factor for modernization of the
educ system and support the VET activities for adults.
October 11, 2007

the List of Professions in VET is updated in
accordance to the labour market needs. In
2003 it contained 198 professions, at present
their number is 210
new state educational requirements for
acquisition of professional qualificationdeveloped; 45 state educational
requirements are created and published, the
publishing of the next 10 is forthcoming
The structure of training plans for vocational
high schools has changed; new training
plans are developed for acquisition of the I, II
and III degree of professional qualification;
the number of training hours in computing,
software and foreign languages has
increased
National Strategy and Action Plan for further
training during 2005-2010 was developed
accepted by the Council of Ministers
a new unit with the National Agency for
Vocational Education and Training has been
established to control the quality of training
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
National programmes and
policies- higher education
 the Law of Higher Education has been
modified and supplemented
 new ordinances have been developed
and published in 2005. They are
relevant to issued diplomas and
documents by higher schools, credit
accumulation and transfer system, and
organization of Distance Education at
universities
 the i-University programme in 2004
provided equipment for over 100
computer labs for e-learning at unis
and research institutions.
 The initiative “Bulgarian Virtual
University” was started- the home for
the virtual information center for Ph.D.
students, virtual libraries, etc.
October 11, 2007
National competition for e-courses in all areas of higher
education. At present about 70% of the universities
have e-learning environments with e-learning courses to
support full-time tuition or for distance learning
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
National programmes and
policies- higher education 2
In 2005/2006 a master
program in elearning has been
started in University
of Sofia. This
program will provide
highly qualified
young experts,
which will actively
participate in
development and
application of elearning content.
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Socio-cultural obstacles







finances- The main source of financing is the national budget. The financial support from the
business society is quite limited. The insufficient investments effect negatively onto the quality of
eLearning
technical equipment- needs for a better technical infrastructure to stimulate the development of
eLearning. Initiatives are undertaken for improving and widening the computer equipment,
networks and Internet connections; but still there is a lot to be achieved
publicity- eLearning is not enough publicly advertised. Many people in Bulgaria are not fully aware
of it, because the relevant information is spread mostly amongst the well-educated intellectual
society. Thus, eLearning stays quite unreachable and not assimilable for risky learner groups as
unemployed, elderly, disabled, minorities, etc.
eLearning software- Linguistic and cultural inappropriateness of much of the educational software
available. Lately, there have been lots of Bg researches in the field of VLE, LMS, eLearning
platforms and assessment tools, etc. In many Bg universities enthusiastic professors and students
designed their own VLEs, which provided interface in Bg as well. But in most cases the resulting
software tools are yet in an experimental or prototype stage. Practically, the eLearning in Bulgaria
uses some open sources or own simple platforms that have some limitations in different
directions: operation with content, resources and tools, management of activities and services to
different groups of learners, applying various pedagogical strategies, etc.
professionalism of staff- There is a lack of trainers, who have been specially trained in e-learning
in Bulgaria. Professional staff is definitely insufficient
resistance by the authorities and also by teachers to the loss of control that they may experience
through the introduction of these technologies into their teaching
conflict with traditional ways of transmitting and receiving information
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Socio-cultural accelerators


the admission of Bulgaria to membership in the EU
official recognition, accreditation and validation- 2004 the model of distance
education was legally implemented in the Bulgarian Educational System. eLearning is
really acknowledged by the government. eLearning courses and programs could
receive official accreditation and validation by certificates and diplomas.
 development of the ICT- eLearning is becoming more accessible and natural
 progress in intercultural context- the growing importance of intercultural
embeddedness in the sphere of eLearning has a positive influence on its
dissemination in Bulgaria
 taking part in international projects- a favorable effect on the eLearning in the country.
Training institutions, as schools, high schools, professional schools, universities, and
centres for VET, are participating actively in LEONARDO DA VINCI and SOCRATES
programmes. The transnational cooperation and accumulated experience are used to
enhance the quality, to promote the innovations, and to share the good professional
practices and systems in Europe. The higher schools participate in a great number of
projects with the 6TH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMM. Experience exchange between
senior Bulgarian specialists in the educational field is realized by ARION programme.
In the recent years, serious attention is drawn on learning how to develop projects in
order to apply for resources from the European structure funds.
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania
Thank you for your attention!
October 11, 2007
Fe-ConE Project Workshop,
Lithuania