O1 will be useful for the improvement of teacher education in a broad sense. The primary target of the pedagogical framework are the teacher educators in HEIs, but it is necessary consider the impact on pre-service and in-service teachers of kindergartens and primary schools in improving their competences in teaching with distance and innovative tools. This framework will represent a guideline in order to implement digital creativity and tangible games using different methodologies in the distance teaching.
TARGET
IMPACT AND RESPONSIVENESS ON COVID-19 SITUATION
O1 has the tangible form of a report, a manual, with guidelines for applicants that intend to have a matrix for understanding what the correct strategies are for and efficacy distance teaching in preschool and primary schools, provide laboratory activities using digital creativity, innovative tools and Tangible User Interface paradigm. This output is a respond on COVID-19 situation because it tackles a concrete problem for teacher educators and teachers itself with strategies for implementing lessons in distance or in blended mode, as performed during the EU lockdowns.
ADAPTABILITY
This pedagogical framework stimulates the development of new courses in Teacher Education boosting distance and blended teaching for children between 4 and 7 years old, something fundamental in response on COVID-19 situation but appliable also in normal periods.
TRASFERABILITY
It has high degree of transferability because will draft a scheme and a pedagogical framework for an easy application in different contexts
(formal and informal) and by different MOOCs’ topics.
All told the expected impact is to:
- Provide a pedagogical framework for course developers aimed at application of Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) and digital creativity in MOOCs
- Provide a specific focus on application for pre-primary and primary teacher education.
INNOVATION
In most training and learning processes by MOOC, the declaratory learning (thus based on theoretical contents) is prevalent and traditionally supported by lessons and didactical materials with a linguistic approach. The methodology will work for the implementation and harmonization with a procedural learning that refers to experience and laboratorial activities that are fundamental in the case of kindergarten and primary schools. The application in distance teaching of tangible exercises is a complete innovation. This is possible thank to the Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) that allow the user (the child) to interact with real objects recognized by a digital interface, allowing a multisensorial learning (simplifying a sort of Montessori 2.0).
It is a complete novelty for MOOCs. There are some preliminary studies that propose solutions for the integration of the mobile learning in the MOOC, in particular detecting divided attention in students. Other studies work on wearables, so the idea is to collect information from these tools (i.e. heart rate) for managing in an efficient way the learning. However, in scientific literature is a complete innovation the application of tangible objects to be used with a sensory approach in the real environment by the students, connected to a classical MOOC. The students by smelling, by touching, could learn by experience, performing exercises drafted by professors, and all the practical exercises are recorded and orchestrated by the digital interfaces.
AIMS
The output will be a handbook introducing the educational framework together with tools and practical hints addressed to teachers, lecturers or trainers. It will give methodological landmarks to rely on the application of innovative solutions using Tangible User Interfaces and digital creativity to be joined with MOOCs, and useful guidelines for an innovative and inclusive methodology.
The aims are the following:
1. Building a comprehensive framework with the following ground-breaking elements:
A) Learner-centred approach to promote distance learning with a procedural approach based on the experience: BLUE ARROW methodology will be based on a learner-centred pedagogy, that supports the idea of an active learner.
B) Inclusive methodology to allow each user to apply these tools that involve more senses and then, are naturally inclusive also for whom has some sensory disabilities.
C) Experiential and Game-based learning for teaching in TE courses.
D) Autonomous learning and distance approach for procedural learning.
2. Design a set of validation tools, in order to perform a concrete assessment of this new way to approach the MOOC learning
3. Produce the methodological background for the development of exercises based on the TUIs and digital creativity paradigms
4. Analyse and implement innovations from previous projects that focused on the TEL applications in the teaching and learning of the language university courses.
5. Impact in teacher education, by creating a concrete case study applying a home-kit for multisensory teaching.