Fluency in Information Technology — Application of ICT in Subjects (FIT)
Slovakia , 2006 to 2008
Compendium: Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Background
The project aims to prepare teachers for innovative pedagogical practices with ICT in lessons (subject matter) and cross-curricular projects. It includes upgrading of ICT literacy courses and addresses the needs of pedagogical practices at an advanced level using an e-learning environment. The project helps to upgrade teachers’ ability and professionalism towards an international comparable level of information literacy — fluency in IT.
The motivation of the initiative
The Lisbon Strategy goals and the national Lisbon Strategy goals were a crucial motivation factor: providing continuous training in ICT, improving teachers’ ICT competences and providing personal resources for the information society and education sector.
The project was initiated as part of the overall aim of improving Slovak schools and to provide continual education by helping teachers with the use of ICT in everyday pedagogical practices.
Participants
The FIT project is designed by staff at pedagogical institutions led by the Slovak Republic Ministry of Education in cooperation with Universities and IT centres.
Aims and targets
Objectives of the initiative
- To improve key competences and skills of pedagogical staff in active use of ICT in the teaching/learning process.
- To encourage the readiness of teachers of particular subjects to develop innovation in teaching with the support of information and communication technologies.
Target group
40 000 teachers at primary and secondary schools in the Slovak Republic
Methods applied to reach the objective (technological and/or pedagogical)
The technological approach includes construction of an e-learning portal with study materials and assignments. Pedagogically, education is organised on a distance basis for advanced users or face-to-face for less skilled users. The participating teachers have to solve direct assignments and also analytical and creative assignments.
Strategy and actions
Level of implementation
National educational project and partly financed from European funds.
Implementation
Implementation includes:
- Building an educational portal.
- Preparing the methodology for subject matters.
- Training multipliers for each region.
- Information meeting in each region.
- Coordinating the project in cooperation with regional government.
- Different forms of education.
- Conferences.
- Yearbook.
- Portal with participants’ outcomes.
Implementation included training courses, and participation was initiated individually by teachers (online registration) or in groups managed by regional educational offices or regional teacher training centres. Courses can be organised at the request of school leaders. They are informed via the project website, workshops, regional coordinators, etc.
Monitoring and evaluation
Funding/Cost effectiveness
Budget
51 000 000 Sk/approx. €1 500 000.
Sustainability/Transferability
Outcomes/impacts
Achievements
Specific results
- 40 000 teachers are using the project tools.
- New didactical methods for learning using different ICT tools.
- Wide use of e-learning.
- New programme for achieving FIT literacy with the effects of project outcomes assumed to be long-lasting.
- 35 e-learning courses for ICT use in the educational process for different subjects.
- Hundreds of new methodical instruments and study materials.
Success factors
Lessons learnt
The combination of ICT courses and new pedagogical tools has proven valuable. This included eLearning in teaching/learning, electronic communication in project tasks, project education with information systems applications, ICT-based self-evaluation of students, new ways of evaluating teaching/learning activities, enrichment in using multimedia tools and new methods in using presentation software.
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