4.1 Module 4 Introduction

Welcome to Module 4. This is the very last module in our course, so you’ve done

really well to get this far. We really appreciate the time, effort and commitment it

takes to be involved in a course like this so thank you again for your participation.

Module 3 was all about existing online assessment tools to help improve teachers’

technology-enhanced teaching competence. We explored the Norwegian self-

reflection survey as well as the Greek certification tool, both aiming at improving

teacher’s pedagogical use of technology.

It was really interesting to read your various comments, reflections and suggestions

with regards both the Norwegian and Greek tools, especially the Norwegian Teacher

Mentor, which stimulated a lot of discussion. Many of you commented that you found

the Teacher Mentor interesting and worthwhile, and most of you felt that although it

has limitations, it is a useful tool for teachers to start reflecting on their technology-

enhanced teaching. Others commented that the feedback you receive on completing

the survey isn’t specific or detailed enough to be of any real help. It was encouraging

to read some teachers’ responses to this which included suggestions to nevertheless

use the general feedback provided by the tool as a useful starting point for you to

then discuss further with your colleagues.

A lot of you said that you are not aware of any such tool in your own countries, but

thanks to the contribution of some of our Finnish participants, such as Tiina

Sarisalmi, we learned in the padlet that Finland has a similar tool called Opeka, which

is also available in English. Opeka is an online tool for teachers and schools to

measure and analyze their use of ICT for teaching and learning. You can find out

more at the following address (http://opeka.fi/en/presentation/index).

Some of you, such as Manuella Borghs from Belgium, mentioned it would be great to

build on the existing national tools to develop a new tool at European level, which

could be of use to teachers across countries. This is exactly what we are doing in the

MENTEP project, of which this MOOC is an integral part. To develop this new tool we

are working with the Norwegian expert you heard from in Module 3, as well as other

experts involved in the design of the Finnish tool. The European MENTEP tool will be

ready in 2018 and available to all teachers in the project’s partner languages which

you can see now on the screen (English, Czech, Estonian, French, Finnish, Greek,

Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Slovenian, and Spanish). As you know, we are using

your valuable feedback during this course to feed into the development of this new

tool; so thank you for your contributions and make sure you keep them coming!

In this final module I interview our expert, Professor Diana Laurillard of the UCL

Institute of Education, about the Learning Designer tool she recently developed with

her team. The tool allows teachers to design lesson plans in an online structured

environment which gives them tips and tools for creating effective learning designs.

In a second interview, we discuss the benefits of peer assessment and what added

value it can bring to self-assessment. Diana shares with us her top tips to guide

teachers in carrying out good quality peer reviews, and highlights the important role

peer assessment will play in the new assessment tool being developed in the

MENTEP project. Each of these interviews is followed by two teachers’ very insightful

commentaries on their own use of the Learning Designer and their personal

experiences of being peer reviewed as well as being a peer reviewer.

This week’s learning activity is the most substantial one in the course, as it’s the final

one in which you really get the chance to put everything you have learned into

practice, so make sure you set some time aside to do this as it will be really

worthwhile.

For the final learning activity we would like you to design a lesson plan incorporating

elements of technology-enhanced teaching. To do this we’d like you to use the

Learning Designer tool which was presented to you in the course introduction. Make

sure you take the time to watch the demo video in section F. of the course

introduction, to familiarize yourself again with how to use the tool.

Then it’s your chance to use your creativity and pedagogical skills to design a

technology-enhanced lesson plan or learning activity. Remember that you are free to

create any learning design you like, on whatever topic, and for whatever age group –

the idea is for you to design a learning activity that suits your particular students’

needs and your specific school and learning context.

The full learning activity will allow you to practise your learning design as well as peer

assessment skills. It can be broken down into the following steps, and more detailed

instructions are provided in the learning activity section of module 4.

Step 1: Design your lesson plan or learning activity using the Learning Designer, and

once complete, submit a link to it, where indicated on the Academy platform.

Step 2: On submission of your learning design, within 24 hours you will receive the

links to 3 learning designs from other course participants.

Step 3: Review the 3 learning designs using the guidelines provided.

Step 4: Choose one of the learning designs you were asked to review, and adapt it

using the Learning Designer, so that it becomes a lesson plan or learning activity

which suits your particular students and teaching context. This means that at the end

of the process you will have two useful technology-enhanced lesson plans to use in

your future teaching; the one you originally created yourself, as well as the second

one you adapted on the basis of a participants’ contribution.

Enjoy watching the videos in module 4 and good luck with this week’s final learning

activity! As usual, remember to take the time to read other participants’ learning

diaries and to be constructive in your exchanges and feedback. We’re really looking

forward to seeing your learning designs and really hope you will find the final peer

assessment activities useful and rewarding. Best of luck, and many thanks for your

participation.