Learning for tomorrow: Cloud 6 lecture

On Jun 13, 2023, Cloud 6 has hosted a guest lecture and invited Prof. Marijke Kral and her colleagues Dr. Mariola Gremmen and Dr. Pierre Gorissen from HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. With participants from five different countries, we discussed the integration of ICT in education. Prof. Kral and her team have conducted various empirical research about digital education such as teachers’ digital competencies in higher education. A comprehensive framework for digital competencies of lecturers was developed in 2022. For schools that have intention to measure the digital competencies and provide corresponding training, this framework is strongly recommended. You can find it at the link below:

A framework for digital competences of lecturers - iXperium

Based on it, Pierre Gorissen together with other colleagues from HAN have developed some behavioural indicators for teaching and learning with technology in higher education, aiming at leveraging personalized and flexible learning using technology. More information can be found in the following link:

Behavioural Indicators for Teaching and Learning with Technology in Higher Education - iXperium

The empirical research findings from Prof. Kral’s team showed that students tend to perform lower on the following aspects: (a) computational thinking, (b) understanding the internet and the digital world, (c) taking care of safety of devices and protection of personal data, and (d) visualizing data in tables and graphs. According to Prof. Kral, students are not only knowledge receivers, but co-owners of own learning process, and school needs to provide personalized education that matches students’ learning needs, interests and capacities. Doing so requires an integrated strategy to combine new working practices, resources and a focused shift in school. Prof. Kral has shared their infographics regarding the roles during organizing personalized learning, see Figure 1.

figure1


Figure 1. Roles during organizing personalized learning (Kral, 2023)

In the discussion, participants proposed various questions about personalized learning with ICT such as the increasing application of ChatGPT and the assessment of digital products. If you have interest to continue the discussion, welcome to join the spotlight session of Cloud 6 in the coming EAPRIL conference at Belfast.