THE ROLE OF THE FACILITATIOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS’ ICT COMPETENCE Nóra Tartsay Németh Andrea Kárpáti ELTE University, Budapest

Mentoring research issues 1.What special roles do facilitators take in on-line teacher-training courses? 2.What impact has the facilitator on the successfulness of the participants in the on-line course? 3.How does the course structure (blended learning, face- to-face meetings, etc.) influence the role of the facilitator? 4.How do the participants` individual characteristics (training, ICT skills, teaching style, age, foreign language skills, etc.) influence the role of the facilitator? 5.What special training do facilitators need: technical, pedagogical, psychological (coaching) ….

ICT in Hungary 1999 (Tót, 2001) 14913,6%60,4%38%28%10%? Sulinet Digital trolley Sulinet Expressz SDT Interactive whiteboard 2006 (Hunya, 2007) 3718 Less than 1 % 92,5% 32% 28% 10% Number of participants Reject ICT PC at home PC for administration PC for communication PC in class PC at school out of class

EPICT THE EUROPEAN PEDAGOGICAL ICT LICENCE In-service teacher training program studied: EPICT (European Pedagogical ICT Licence) Development of ICT competencies Planning for ICT use in edu. Usage of digital tools, teaching aids and resources School management and communication All themes of the course have a pedagogical rationale on the role of ICT in the realisation of new educational paradigms

EPICT THE EUROPEAN PEDAGOGICAL ICT LICENCE Assessment of ICT competence in EPICT: documentation of learning scenarios Team of teachers completes 8 modules - 8 learning scenarios (with the ICT skills of a particular module) –Facilitators challenge the team to surpass skills level Pilot evaluation in Hungary: factors influencing the development of educational ICT skills of teachers –Background variables: age, discipline, professional rank, personality traits –Evaluation tools: ICT Attitudes and Use Questionnaire California Personality Profile Test Evaluation of communication within the distance learning environment Digital Portfolio for Groups

EPICT THE EUROPEAN PEDAGOGICAL ICT LICENCE Correlation analysis of CPI and ICI findings, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, show personality features that are associated with success and failure to acquire ICT skills on a level sufficient for educational use Some of these variables may be affected by specially targeted mentoring methods, teaching environment course content (best practice examples) custom-made skills training. Based on our results, in-service training of teachers may be improved to suit not only the initial level of ICT skills but also the mindset and personality of teachers.

Teacher training online (Salmon, 2000)

Roles of facilitators in on-line courses Paulsen, 1995 Mason, 1995 Berge, 1995 Anderson 2001 Hootstein 2002 Organizational Organiza- tional Managerial Instructional design and organization Program manager SocialSocialSocial Facilitating discourse Social director IntellectualIntellectualPedagogical Direct instruction Instructor TechnicalTechnical

Facilitators’ Roles in EPICT-Hungary  Instructor  Explain  Assist  Observe  Give feedback  Evaluate  Manager  Set target  Control time  Organise meeting  Manage forum  Social worker  Community builder  Group leader  Problem solver  Intermediary  Participant in group procedures  Technician  software operator  password manager  virus killer

Roles of facilitators - e-learning levels 1.Access and motivation: 1.Access and motivation: social worker, manager, technician 2.Online socialisation: social worker, manager 3.Information exchange: instructor, manager, technician 4.Knowledge construction: instructor, technician 5.Development: instructor, technician

Stages 4 and 5 especially relevant for in/pre service teacher education: Knowledge construction and development  Participants collaborate  Facilitator’s role shifts to summarizing, suggest alternative approaches or introduces new topics for discussion  Participants construct knowledge from discussion of course material  Open the system for outside materials Dominant facilitator roles: instructor, technician

Training based on analysis of facilitating interactions  Teaching presence : „... the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes” (Anderson, 2001, p.2) „... the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes” (Anderson, 2001, p.2)  Unit of analysis: messages  Typology  Ratio of message types  Individual mentoring characteristics  Effects of mentor / mentee personality on on- line instruction

Results of the EPICT for Calibrate Training Study (2006/07)  Lack of distance learning strategies of participants: facilitators have to teach / model learning-to-learn skills  Individual coaching not enough - online collaboration of students to be promoted  Evaluation of module assignments as groupd results increases responsibility  Face-to-.face meetings not necessary for facilitation but inevitable for group cohesion („secret encounters)  Facilitators have to be trained to cope with individual psychological / learning style differences