The basic idea of the project “E-learning Objects for Innovative Science Education” (E-LOISE) is to improve adult education and teachers´ skills and knowledge in using interactive objects in all types of science education, as well as providing inspiration for new ideas in teaching. One aim of the project is to explore how to utilize the many opportunities for adaptive and self-paced learning, how to take advantage of the newest ICT-technologies to create more tailored, differentiated and individualized material to accommodate modern students need for targeted feedback and how to develop tools giving teachers the opportunity to easily create resources on their own. In summary the objectives of the project are: to produce at least 3 templates for adaptive E-learning objects for science education. These reusable tools serve teachers to design their own E-learning with little or no help from technicians. to produce at least 25 E-learning objects for science education using these or similar tools. to explore the state-of-the-art of E-learning pedagogy and didactics in adult and higher education to share methods and knowledge with the partners to develop didactic approaches relevant for the new generation of adaptive E-learning to produce a MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)on how to use interactive learning objects in natural science teaching The activities closely linked to the objectives will include 6 transnational partner meetings with pre-assigned topics corresponding to the E-learning products being produced and the didactics of new E-learning methods. In E-LOISE we will develop objects in a sustainable,i.e. reusable, quality. The partnership consists of 5 partners from Scandinavia, Central, Western and South East Europe. The institutions have had very reliable and productive partnership experiences before encouraging them to intensify their exchange of ideas, concepts and experiences. We can build on different traditions and experiences and on previous European collaborations. Our experience is that sharing, along with catalyzing new ideas, also helps us think “outside the accustomed frame”. The project is based on trust in existing qualities of the partners, their good reputation and on their experience and expertise. The most important criteria for choosing were their motivation and the urgent need to improve didactics. All the partners have a long experience in producing E-learning material and of critical implementation. Moreover, all have a substantial stake in adult education and lifelong learning, but in E-learning the entrance points are very different: KVUC: Offers courses at secondary school levels for adult second chance learners, and E-learning as one of many demanded alternatives to classical classes. BKS: Berufskolleg Senne offers courses for adult vocational and academic training. It faces a fast growing demand for E-learning modules to fit individual learner’s needs in courses for adults. UC, CLL and EUC: The Universities have a strong focus on researching the different aspects of E-learning and on theoretical didactics. But all of the Universities in this project also offer E-learning courses and are in the need for new types of objects to improve those. Cooperation between the partners will be secured by setting up work-contracts on concrete objectives and tasks/roles based on this application and new ideas coming up during the project, by creating activity plans for the time between the meetings, by discussing agendas for the meetings well before the date. A steering group will be responsible for collecting relevant information, for checking task-related progress, for evaluating the activities and for collecting results from testing the materials. The project results we hope to get, besides the E-learning objects for science, are a stronger awareness for E-learning didactics and how to transfer this into different learning environments, ie. E-learning in other subjects, in blended learning environments, in Flipped Classroom teaching and in students’ self learning. The material produced during this project will be used in MOOC’s provided by the participants. The objects, templates and other products will be freely available after the project period. This, enhanced by the quality of the material, will provide the opportunity for strong impact in the partner institutions as all have a strong strategic and practical need to modernize their pedagogical tools. The expected longer term effects are difficult to foresee, but the aim is that all the objects gain relevance to existing and coming E-learning offers in the participating institutions. This will of course have an effect on the students sharing those courses or activities. As all the institutions have an impact on how E-learning is viewed in their countries, the impact on the partner institutions will in turn have effect on the practice of other institutions collaborating with the partner institutions.
The basic idea of the project “E-learning Objects for Innovative Science Education” (E-LOISE) is to improve adult education and teachers skills and knowledge in using interactive objects in all types of science education, as well as providing inspiration for new ideas in teaching. One aim of the project was to explore how to utilize the many opportunities for adaptive and self-paced learning, how to take advantage of the newest ICT-technologies to create more tailored, differentiated and individualized material to accommodate modern students need for formative and targeted feedback, and how to develop tools giving teachers the opportunity to easily create resources on their own. In summary the objectives of the project were: -to produce at least 3 templates for adaptive E-learning objects for science education. These reusable tools serve teachers to design their own E-learning with little or no help from technicians -to produce at least 25 E-learning objects for science education using these or similar tools -to explore the state-of-the-art of E-learning pedagogy and didactics in adult and higher education -to share methods and knowledge with the partners to develop didactic approaches relevant for the new generation of adaptive E-learning to produce a MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) on how to use interactive learning objects in natural science teaching The partnership consists of 5 partners from Scandinavia, Central, Western and South East Europe. The institutions have had very reliable and productive partnership experiences before encouraging them to intensify their exchange of ideas, concepts and experiences. We can build on different traditions and experiences and on previous European collaborations. Our experience is that sharing, along with catalyzing new ideas, also helps us think “outside the accustomed frame”. The project was based on trust in existing qualities of the partners, their good reputation and on their experience and expertise. All the partners had a long experience in producing E-learning material and of critical implementation. Moreover, all have a substantial stake in adult education and lifelong learning, but in E-learning the entrance points are very different: KVUC: Offers courses at secondary school levels for adult second chance learners, and E-learning as one of many demanded alternatives to classical classes. BKS: Berufskolleg Senne offers courses for adult vocational and academic training. It faces a fast growing demand for E-learning modules to fit individual learner’s needs in courses for adults. UC, CLL and EUC: The Universities have a strong focus on researching the different aspects of E-learning and on theoretical didactics. But all of the Universities in this project also offer E-learning courses and are in the need for new types of objects to improve those The activities closely linked to the objectives include 6 transnational partner planning meetings. The topics of the meetings were the didactic discussions we needed to adress in order to produce the E-learning products. In E-LOISE we believe we have produced objects in a sustainable,i.e.reusable, quality. All the products can be found and are described on our web-page: https://projecteloise.wordpress.com/ The project has produced a number of templates for teachers to use when planning interactive learning activities (O1). We have chosen to work with four themes: - Learning to study texts - Learning with video clips - Learning with simulations - Learning to use digital collections of scientific resources Planning of learning activities have a number of common features, like how to implement prior knowledge and evaluation. For these features we have a separate template. This basic template we have named: - Enhancing learning using interactive resources It introduces several elements to make up a common core, introducing how to build an environment around the scientific themes from the first four templates. Using these templates we have produced 25 learning objects (O2) in the form of lesson plans for short units. We have chosen to provide plans for lessons to make them easier to incorporate into any LMS, thus making the products more sustainable. The didactical discussions during the project are mirrored in the MOOC (O3) we have produced to describe how to utilize especially the templates - using several of the 25 learning objects. The MOOC is self-paced and of course free, and will introduce anyone interested to the objects produced in E-LOISE. In addition to the objects produced, we arranged and held a conference in April 2017. At the conference we introduced the participants to our products and to some of the didactics behind E-LOISE objects. As all the institutions have an impact on how E-learning is viewed in their communities (countries), the impact on the partner institutions will in turn have effect on the practice of other institutions collaborating with the partner institutions.