How does teaching work digitally? This question is more topical than ever due to school closures. In this interview, computer science didactics expert Ira Diethelm explains the challenges and opportunities presented by the current situation.
Prof Diethelm, the schools are closed, many parents have their children at home until the Easter holidays. The teachers canöcanonly be able to make contact with their pupils digitally, if at all. Are schools in this country even equipped for this situation?equipped for this situation?
Unfortunately, both schools and teachers are set up very differently when it comes to the digital side of teaching. Not all children have the same level of access to digital devices and parents' attitudes to whether and how these devices should be used vary greatly. That is a problem. Because what schools are supposed to do, namely have a levelling effect, is not being fulfilled at the moment. On this basis, the mission of enabling all children and young people to participate equally in education cannot take place. If anything, the differences are being widened. The right to education is restricted by the current situation. But this can only be the case for a certain period of time.
The situation is of course very special...
Yes, but the federal government, federal states, local authorities and schools have missed out on the issue of digitalisation over the last 30 years. As early as 1987, there was a federal-state commission that drew up recommendations on what basic information technology education all children and young people should have. Back then, this also included how telemedia could be used for education. However, too little has happened since then. This content was "integrated away" into a wide range of subjects and teacher training was forgotten. There have long been recommendations and initiatives to change this, such as the 2016 strategy of the Conference of Education Ministers on education in the digital world and the school clouds of the respective Federal States. The Lower Saxony Education Cloud, for example, is to be made available to all schools from May. However, in my opinion, what has now been announced is not fully developed, mainly because there is a lack of content and children, young people and teachers do not have the skills to use and assess this content. If I buy a steam cooker, I can't automatically cook great food...
What difficulties do you see?
Teachers, for example, don't have any digital devices that they could use for teaching. Such devices are still the private pleasure of teachers. There is also no digital culture to rely on. There are outstanding examples of teachers who organise online lessons in an exemplary manner, such as Bob Blume, Nina Toller and Maria Kruse. They use low-threshold systems such as Jitsi - an open source tool for video conferencing that complies with data protection regulations. The teachers stay in contact with their students via this platform, for example, giving assignments and trying to respond to them and provide feedback. Or they simply talk. Because social interaction is important. But it would be great if many more teachers would take this approach.
It's similar for the pupils as it is for the teachers.teachers - Many may not even have a laptop or tablet that they could use to take part in digital lessons.
It is often said that almost all children have a smartphone or notebook. But if you asked around, you would probably find out: That's not necessarily true. Perhaps there is only one device per household that several family members use. Irrespective of digital media, families are of course also very differently equipped in other respects. Many children and young people don't have their own room to retreat to. For example, older siblings have to look after younger ones when their parents are at work. It's important to remember that school is a space for equalisation and protection.
What opportunities do you see for schools in the current situation?
The advantage is that teachers now have time and a reason to deal with these issues and, for example, try out learning management systems in peace. Schools are required to develop concepts in order to access the money from the digital pact. Many secondary schools and some primary schools have long had servers for communication with each other, such as iServ. But having a situation where everyone has to use this system is the big opportunity. Everyone who has to deal with it for the first time can realise that it's not so bad: It's not so bad. You are forced to get out of your comfort zone. Even heads of government are now realising that they can also take important decisions via video conferencing.
Obviously, the situation shows once again how important digital education is not only for pupils, but also for teachers themselves.
Yes, this should definitely become part of the didactic training. In our DiOLL project (Digitalisation in Oldenburg Teacher Training), for example, we want to develop courses and integrate them into teaching so that future teachers become familiar with the relevant didactic methods. And they should also acquire background knowledge about the technology so that they can use it confidently. Communicating online is something that everyone should have done at some point - teachers as well as pupils. And teachers need to know roughly how the internet works.
What tips do you have for parents and children for learning at home?
Many teachers exchange ideas on Twitter under the hashtag #twitterlehrerzimmer, but parents also get suggestions here. Apart from that, I think it's important to simply go out and look at nature. Especially now in spring, you could look at what's growing and blooming and use an app or a book to identify flowers. My son and I have sown herbs and peas. We take photos of the sprouting plants every day and then want to use an app to create a stop-motion film. What many children also like to use is the free Anton app, which works with a reward system. It offers children in grades 1 to 10 exercises for many different subjects. You could also learn programming - there are lots of ways to get started online. Or simply watch "Die Sendung mit der Maus". For example, the film "How does the internet work?" - It's an older film, but it's still relevant.
Interview: Constanze Böttcher
