Comparison of information and communication technology use in the classroom before and after adopted measures due to the first wave of the Covid-19 epidemic

V letu 2020 so ukrepi zaradi epidemije covida-19 od učiteljev zahtevali spremenjen način poučevanja ne glede na njihovo stopnjo digitalne kompetentnosti in predhodnih izkušenj. Poučevanje je potekalo preko medmrežja, saj so bile izobraževalne ustanove zaradi izrednih ukrepov, ki so trajali od marca do maja 2020, zaprte. V raziskavi, ki smo jo izvedli v okviru magistrskega dela, smo želeli ugotoviti mnenje učiteljev o poučevanju z uporabo informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije v šolah in primerjati stanje pred1 in po2 izrednih ukrepih zaradi prvega vala epidemije covida-19. S preučevanjem strokovne literature smo opredelili informacijsko-komunikacijsko tehnologijo, navedli evropska in slovenska prizadevanja za vključitev le-te v učni proces, povezali IKT in opremljenost osnovnih šol, opredelili digitalne kompetence, modele in okvirje za vključevanje IKT v poučevanje v šolah ter znotraj tega podrobno predstavili Evropski okvir digitalnih kompetenc izobraževalcev (DigCompEdu) z izbranimi kompetencami, ki so po našem mnenju ključne za uporabo IKT pri pouku v šoli, in ki smo jih uporabili tudi v empiričnem delu. Na podlagi študija strokovne literature pa smo povzeli tudi predvidevanja različnih avtorjev v zvezi s poučevanjem v prihodnosti. Cilj magistrskega dela je bil pridobiti in primerjati mnenja učiteljic in učiteljev3, ki so v koledarskem letu 2020 poučevali na razredni stopnji, o uporabi IKT pri poučevanju v šoli kot tudi njihovi samooceni digitalnih kompetenc na podlagi DigCompEdu pred in po ukrepih. V zvezi z uporabo IKT pri poučevanju v šoli nas je zanimalo mnenje učiteljev o pogostosti uporabe le-teo programskih orodjih in virih podatkov, ki so jih učitelji uporabljali pri svojem poučevanju in o opremljenosti šol z IKT pred in po ukrepih. Za smisleno uporabo digitalne tehnologije pri poučevanju pa učitelji poleg pedagoških potrebujejo tudi digitalne kompetence, zato nas je zanimalo, na kakšen način pridobivajo znanje o uporabi IKT pri poučevanju v šoli, kako pogosto ga pridobivajo, kakšna je njihova samoocena digitalnih kompetenc (digitalnega stalnega strokovnega spopolnjevanja, izbiranja digitalnih virov, poučevanja in aktivnega vključevanja učencev) na podlagi okvirja DigCompEdu in kako pomembne so jim bile navedene kompetence pred in po ukrepih. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali, da se je po mnenju učiteljev po ukrepih izboljšala pogostost smiselne uporabe IKT pri poučevanju v šoli v primerjavi s situacijo pred ukrepi. Programska orodja in viri podatkov, ki so jih učitelji najpogosteje uporabljali pri poučevanju z IKT v šoli, so (prvi trije najpogostejši) enaki pred in po ukrepih (YouTube, e-učbeniki, Google Drive), spremenilo pa se je število uporabljenih programskih orodij. Po ukrepih so pogosteje uporabljali programska orodja, ki so jih uporabljali že pred ukrepi, začeli pa so uporabljati tudi druge vire podatkov in programska orodja (npr. Padlet, One Note, 1KA, Mentimeter). Ugotovili smo, da so učitelji po ukrepih pogosteje in na različne načine pridobivali znanje o uporabi IKT pri poučevanju v šoli – število izobraževanj se je po ukrepih povečalo skoraj pri vseh načinih poučevanja, predvsem za spletno izobraževanje. Enako je ostalo samo pri izobraževanjih, ki jih je organizirala šola. Zmanjšalo pa se je število učiteljev, ki po ukrepih niso pridobivali znanja o uporabi IKT pri poučevanju v šoli. Za uporabo digitalne tehnologije v učnem porcesu pa je pomembna tudi opremljenost šol z IKT, za katero je analiza rezultatov pokazala, da so po mnenju učiteljev šole po ukrepih bolje opremljene z IKT kot pred ukrepi. Rezultati glede samoocen digitalnih kompetenc (digitalnega stalnega strokovnega spopolnjevanja, izbiranja digitalnih virov, poučevanja in aktivnega vključevanja učencev) so na podlagi okvirja DigCompEdu pokazali, da so učitelji po ukrepih izboljšali tudi svoje samoocene, ki so, kljub vplivu samozavesti učiteljev pri ocenjevanju, približen pokazatelj stopnje digitalne kompetentnosti učiteljev glede posameznih digitalnih kompetenc. To pomeni, da lahko rečemo, da so učitelji po ukrepih izboljšali svoje digitalne kompetence in jim po ukrepih namenjajo večjo pomembnost kot pred njimi. Analiza rezultatov je pokazala, da so tako pred kot tudi po ukrepih učitelji v okviru DigCompEdu pri sebi najslabše (s stopnjo kompetentnosti A1) ocenili digitalno kompetenco aktivnega vključevanja učencev, najboljše (s stopnjo kompetentnosti C2) pa so pred ukrepi ocenili digitalno stalno strokovno spopolnjevanje, po ukrepih pa digitalni kompetenci poučevanja in izbiranja digitalnih virov. Mnenja in izkušnje učiteljev bodo v pomoč pri iskanju načinov za izboljšanje poučevanja z uporabo IKT v šolah ter pri boljši organiziranosti in pripravi na podobne situacije v prihodnosti, ko bodo digitalna tehnologija in kompetence udeležencev za z IKT podprtim izobraževanjem ključnega pomena.In the year 2020, the restrictions due to the COVID-19 epidemic forced teachers to adapt their way of teaching no matter the level of their digital competences and previous experience. Due to the fact that educational institutions were closed from March until May 2020, teaching had to be done online using the internet. Because of this closure of educational institutions, the purpose of this Master’s thesis is to understand and compare the opinion of teachers regarding the changes in educational process with the usage of information and communications technology in schools before4 and after5 the lockdown measures due to the first wave of COVID-19 epidemic. With studying of professional literature, we have defined the information and communications technology, listed the European and Slovenian efforts to incorporate it into the educational process and related it to the level of digital technology equipment in Elementary Schools. We defined digital competences, models and frameworks for incorporating ICT in the educational process in schools and provided a detailed presentation of the Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) with chosen competences which are in our opinion crucial for the usage of ICT in the educational process and were also used in the empirical part of the Master’s thesis. On the basis of professional literature we have also presented the assumptions of different authors about the future of educational process. The goal of the Master’s thesis was to obtain and compare the opinions of primary school teachers which were teaching in the calendar year 2020 about the usage of ICT in the educational process while at the same time obtaining their self evaluation of their digital competencies on the basis of DigCompEdu before and after lockdown measures. In relation to the usage of ICT during the educational process we were interested in teacher’s opinions about: frequency of usage of ICTsoftware and data sources that the teachers started using in their educational process and the level of ICT equipment in schools before and after lockdown. In order to effectively use digital technology, teachers require not only pedagogic competencies, but also digital competencies, which is why we were interested in how they are obtaining new knowledge regarding the usage of ICT in the educational process, how often they are obtaining new knowledge and what is their self assessment of their digital competencies (permanent professional digital development, selection of digitalsources, educating and actively including the pupils) on the basis of DigCompEdu framework. We were also interested in how the importance of the digital competencies has changed for the teachers before and after the lockdown measures. The results of the research have shown that, based on teachers opinion, the frequency of usage of ICT in the educational process has increased after the lockdown measures as compared to the time before them. The three data sources and software solutions that the teachers have used most frequently after lockdown measures has remained the same as before (YouTube, e-books, Google Drive) while the number of data sources and software solutions used has changed – the usage of software solutions for educational purposes has increased after lockdown measures as compared to before (some of the newly used software solutions include Padlet, One Note, 1KA, Mentimeter). We had also concluded that after the lockdown measures, the teachers have educated themselves more frequently in the field of usage of ICT in the educational process. The number of teachers who have not been educating themselves at all in the field of usage of ICT in the educational process has decreased after lockdown measures as compared to before them. For effective usage of digital technology in the educational process, the ICT equipment that the school has is crucial. Our research has shown that teachers believe the schools are better equipped with ICT equipment after lockdown measures as compared to before them. The results of the self evaluation of digital competencies (permanent professional digital development, selection of digital sources, educating and actively including the pupils) on the basis of DigCompEdu framework have shown that the teachers have increased their self evaluation scoring after lockdown measures as compared to before them. This means that we can conclude that the teachers have improved their digital competencies after lockdown measures while also giving those competencies a higher importance than before. Analysis has shown that after lockdown measures, the teachers still perceive to lack competencies in relation to active inclusion of pupils into the educational process. While before lockdown measures, the teachers perceived that their best competencies were in the field of permanent professional digital development, this has changed after the lockdown measures when the teachers believe their strongest competencies are teaching and gathering of digital resources. The opinions and experience of teachers will be helpful in searching for new ways of improving the educational process with the usage of ICT in schools and better organization and preparation for potential future situations similar to COVID-19 where digital technology and competencies in the field of ICT will be essential