E-Textbooks

E-učbeniki

Alenka Lipovec, Margareta Vrtačnik, Jože Senekovič, Samo Repolusk, Boris Zmazek

Povzetek delavnice

E-učbeniki (in posebej interaktivni učbeniki) so novost na šolskem področju v smislu zmožnosti vizualizacije in dinamičnih prikazov obravnavanih konceptov, poudarjene interakcije med učenci in vsebinami, didaktične svežine, prilagojenosti mladim, dostopnosti … Te in ostale navzven morda prikrite lastnosti bomo predstavili v pričujočem prispevku in na predstavitvah, s čimer bomo pogledali v samo bistvo vsega, kar bodo i-učbeniki ponujali uporabnikom. Odkrili bomo ključne elemente i-učbenika, po katerih je le-ta dobil svoje ime.

Predstavljeni bodo naslednji trije vidike uporabe i-učbenikov: (1) komu so i-učbeniki namenjeni, (2) kako se lahko učimo in poučujemo z i-učbeniki oziroma njihovimi manjšimi, smiselno zaokroženimi deli, ter (3) kakšna je vloga in katere tipe interaktivnih gradnikov smo vključili v i-učbenike.

Tako kot običajni, tiskani učbeniki, tudi i-učbenik sledi zahtevam učnega načrta (UN). Interaktivne možnosti i-učbenika omogočajo le-temu nekatere bistveno drugačne pristope. V predstavitvi bomo prikazali različne možnosti pristopov k obravnavi vsebin z nekaterimi poudarki iz UN. Eden izmed poudarkov UN v OŠ so vzorci. Učenci v različnih situacijah odkrivajo pravila, po katerih so zapisana števila (členi) v zaporedjih ali narisane slike v zaporedju slik. V predstavitvi bomo prikazali tudi uporabo i-učbenika pri reševanju problemskih nalog. Skozi i-učbenik učence sistematično spodbujamo in usmerjamo k aktivnostim v zvezku (načrtovanje, rezanje, oblikovanje modelov), uporabi pisnih gradiv in sodelovanju s sošolci (delo v dvojicah, skupinah) ter učiteljem. Sistematično razvijamo uporabo informacijsko komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT). 
Uporaba i-učbenika bo omogočila poglobljeno individualizacijo in tudi diferenciacijo pouka, kar jim je omogočeno prav zaradi interaktivnosti in diferenciranih, tudi generiranih nalog.

Zraven vsega omenjenega izpostavljamo, da smo skušali i-učbenik za kemijo, z ustreznimi vizualizacijskimi orodji, kar najbolj izkoristiti za nazorno predstavitev kemijskih pojmov in procesov, ki se že v OŠ uvajajo na treh ravneh zaznave: makroskopskem, submikroskopskem (raven gradnikov) in na abstraktnem nivoju (simboli, formule - kemijski jezik). Razumevanje pojmov in sposobnost njihove uporabe zahteva od učencev in dijakov povezovanje teh treh ravni in prehajanje med njimi. Vključevanje posnetkov eksperimentov, animacij procesov, navideznih 3D modelov molekul in kristalnih struktur pri predstavljanju in razlagi kemijskih pojmov, predstavlja ključno dodano vrednost i-učbenika pred klasičnimi učbeniki kemije. Vsebine i-učbenika so vodene, tako da dijak sam ugotavlja določene zakonitosti preko interaktivnih elementov.

Predstavljeni bodo tudi empirični rezultati pedagoškega eksperimenta, ki je bil izveden pri predmetu matematika na vsebini Obseg v 5. razredu (N=50). Čeprav sta bili eksperimentalna in kontrolna skupina na inicialnem preizkusu znanja izenačeni, se je na finalnem preizkusu znanja pokazala občutna prednost v znanju učencev, ki so uporabljali i-učbenik v primerjavi z učenci, ki so ob istem vsebinskem sklopu uporabljali tradicionalni učbenik.

Abstract

E-textbooks (and especially interactive textbooks) are a novelty in education in terms of their visualisation features, dynamic demonstrations of concepts, focus on the interaction between students and content, methodological freshness, adaptation to young users, accessibility … These and other, sometimes less obvious, features will be presented in the article and during the presentation. We hope to provide an insight into the very essence of what i-textbooks can offer to their users. At the same time, we will explore some of the elements that give them their name.

Three aspects of using i-textbooks will be discussed: (1) who are i-textbooks intended for, (2) how to learn and teach using i-textbooks or parts of i-textbooks, and (3) what is the role of interactive elements and what types of such elements are included in i-textbooks.

Similarly to the traditional, printed textbooks, i-textbooks, too, follow the requirements of the curriculum. However, their interactive features enable some fundamentally different approaches. The presentation will show various approaches to delivering content, while also highlighting some requirements of the curriculum. For instance, one such requirement in primary schools is the detection of patterns. In different situations, students are asked to deduce the rules behind the ordering of numbers or pictures in a sequence. The presentation will also demonstrate the use of i-textbooks in problem-solving tasks. I-textbooks are used to systematically encourage and direct students to complete the activities in the notebook (planning, cutting, designing models), to use written materials and to collaborate with their classmates (pair work, groups) and the teacher. In this way the use of ICT is systematically developed as well. The use of i-textbooks allows a high degree of individualization and differentiation of learning and teaching by enabling interaction as well as automatic differentiation and generation of tasks.

We will also discuss the use of a chemistry i-textbook and its visualization tools to present chemical concepts and processes on the three levels of perception required in primary schools: the macroscopic level, the sub-microscopic level (elements) and the abstract level (symbols, formulae – the language of chemistry). In order to understand various concepts and to be able to use them, students have to establish connections between the levels and acquire the ability to move from one level to the other. The videos of experiments, the animations of processes and the virtual 3D models of molecules and crystal structures that are included in the presentations and explanations of chemical processes represent a key added value of i-textbooks in comparison with traditional chemistry textbooks. I-textbook content is devised in a way that enables students to explore certain rules on their own with the help of interactive content.

Also presented will be the empirical results of an experiment that was conducted in a fifth grade math class studying the topic of circumference (N=50). Even though the experimental and control groups were initially on the same level, the final test showed that the group of students who used an i-textbook was much more successful than the students who had to rely on a traditional textbook to learn the same content.