Pre-Planning

Why encourage online dialogue?

From our experience of working with over 2000 children and young people in schools across Europe, we have identified that the lack of a meaningful voice from children and young people within their school and community life acts as a barrier to inclusion, leadership potential and personal progression. Giving children and youth a voice is a crucial and yet often marginal aspect of their learning. This does not only mean allowing them to express their needs, ideas and wishes but also to be able to having meaningful conversations both on and offline. Teacher and educators have an important role as facilitators of these conversations and we have learnt from them that they often need guidance for facilitating online dialogues. This guide will aim at providing support to teachers in this respect and ultimately enhancing children and young people’s capacity of taking action and influencing change in their schools and wider communities.

Connecting CEPNET spaces- classroom and online

This Online Dialogue Guide is a practical tool to support teachers and educators in facilitating meaningful online exchanges between their students and peers. It aims to address the challenge of ensuring lasting, active and collaborative online interaction and participation between students over time despite availability of many online tools.

It will provide guidance on how to plan and facilitate online exchanges and use tools most effectively to achieve rich interaction and dialogue between children and young people online, especially within an international dimension.

This document is the CEPNET Online Dialogue Guide, which can be used separately or as part of the overall CEPNET approach for primary schools. We have tested this approach in parallel with the CEPNET Classroom Handbook by linking the participating schools in online dialogues that complement the activity in each school. We recommend using both approaches and sets of resources alongside each other, but both can be used as standalone guides- one for classroom based work and this one for supporting online discussions between children and young people.

These resources have been structured around an analysis and discussion of the situation in each of the participating schools and the previous experience that the teachers and learners have had with online interaction such as debates and dialogues and virtual mobility activities to ascertain the degree of readiness and the needs in each context. The analysis has also explored students’ online engagement strategies within and outside school environments to identify the most relevant aspects for primary European schools.

Considering practical issues and contexts

By speaking with primary school teachers regards their online experience and needs as well as those of their students we discovered that both are in need of developing good ICT skills, having good and reliable internet connection, updated equipment and lots of time to be able to work well online. Covid 19 pushed many children in Europe to spend more time online and are subsequently now more familiar with communication tools in addition to the online games, which they were playing before. They are generally more confident in using devices and have developed more skills to be online, although these skills are not always used appropriately and need guidance. Teachers have also pointed out the need to improve language skills, especially English, which is often the language chosen in exchanges. They all recognise online exchanges and the possibility of creating and/or accessing a broad network of deepened and well-structured knowledge as an immense resource for children’s learning.

What lessons have we learnt and are we learning from Covid 19?

The way schools use the online world has dramatically changed due to the pandemic and is demonstrating the need to accelerate a process of digital transition, particularly in our education systems. Schools have been forced to quickly make use of online and blended learning approaches and many of our teachers have pointed to challenges in providing sufficient levels of support.

The pandemic massively reinforced pre-existing educational differences and inequalities. Children and young peoples’ mental health have been affected; feelings of anxiety, fear and isolation have become common. As the crisis unwinds and the impact of the forced digital transition is becoming better understood, students and teachers are telling us that they need more empowering and effective approaches in order to engage with digital platforms and tools. Such methods require a commitment to inclusivity to ensure that young people with fewer opportunities are not further excluded. The pandemic has also had significant effects on families – especially mothers who were often left unsupported to reconcile schooling, work and family life.

The digital transition will also have stronger outcomes where the approach is working to promote meaningful and active participation in democratic life. Our initial needs analysis work with teachers has emphasised these key issues:

Dealing with the Covid-19 crisis has opened the potential for new behaviours and new digital ways of working within and outside of the classroom. Children thrive by learning from each other.
Teachers and students both need to be fully engaged in a meaningful and inclusive manner in order that this potential can be maximised.
Students and teachers need to be supported and empowered to have a voice in shaping this digital transition in their school communities.

This set of resources will take on these indications and lessons learnt in order to provide teachers with the support and preparation needed to facilitate meaningful online exchanges.

Know yourself and know your groups

As a teacher, facilitating online moments, whether they are classes, debates, exchanges or other activities is NOT the same as being in the classroom. Recognising this as well as knowing that you are a good teacher/ educator, who can make the transition to teach/ facilitate online, are the very first steps needed to prepare for an online dialogue. As a teacher you will need to assess your skills (including the gaps) in order to integrate meaningful online moments in your teaching.

Thinking about teacher self-evaluation

A useful starting point to address your skills is the European Digital Competence Framework which brings together several international and national frameworks, self-assessment tools and training programmes for educators. By browsing through the website and framework you can explore 22 different competences organised in six areas. The focus is not so much on technical skills but aims to detail how digital technologies can be used to enhance and innovate education and training. The teacher self-assessment tool will, however, also allow you to identify your training needs and offer targeted training.

Below is a synthesis of the DIGCOMPEDU Framework, which clearly illustrates the six areas under three target group headings: 1) Educators’ professional competences 2) Educators’ pedagogic competences and 3) Learners’ competences. In order for teachers and educators to facilitate effective online dialogues and exchanges they should mainly focus on the middle circle which focuses on strengthening Teaching and Learning, Empowering Learners, Assessment and Digital Resources.

Reflecting on the above mentioned digital competences could mark the start of the teachers’ self-evaluation and pinpoint which skills need reinforcing. The European School Education Gateway’s Teacher Academy is a useful place for teachers and educators to visit in order to further their professional development with online and on-site courses, webinars and teaching materials. It could be helpful to participate in one of the many courses available to strengthen any digital competences, which you feel less confident about.

Thinking about student learning in online spaces

As a teacher you DO know your class and being aware of your students’ learning needs and styles will help structure creative engagement online just as it supports you in class. Not all students learn in the same way both offline and online. According to Howard Gardner, we have multiple intelligences and these affect the ways we learn. Gardner’s analysis took place in a pre-digital society and recent studies show that his theory is even more pertinent when applied to digital learning. With the tremendous options and continual transformations available, educators must appraise instructional techniques, specifically the use of technology, with consideration to various learning styles and intelligences in order to engage students in their learning and also to reinforce learning in various ways (Statti, Torres, 2020)

Learning online is very different from being online, which young people and the adults around them sometimes struggle to differentiate. Your students may need information and media literacy before moving on to other online activities and it is important that this knowledge and relevant skills are known by the teacher. You may find different ways of assessing your students, such as through a baseline survey or quiz, by setting an assignment to be done online in class, by discussing these skills in groups. Having said this, your learners are probably digital learners as they have been born in a constantly changing digital society and may have other, complimentary digital skills that can be shared amongst the learning group(s). Giving value to the diversity of the class will enrich everyone’s learning.

It is equally important for you, as a teacher, to know the characteristics of the group your students will be interacting with online. As co-facilitating teachers, you will need to exchange info about your groups before they meet up online. Do not underestimate this as there are many factors, which influence your learners as a class: number of students, gender mix, special learning needs, significant personal backgrounds, socio-cultural contexts (if relevant), behaviour and attitudes, etc. Plan to speak together as teachers before bringing your groups together to share all the relevant information and discuss any specific issues.

Gauging where your students are at

Covid 19 has taught us some important lessons about children and young people having been forced to learn online including the need to honour students’ emotional states when being and exchanging online. Your online exchanges may occur with you being together with your class or with your students being at home/elsewhere. There are some activities that can help you manage your students’ emotions wherever they may be such as:

The need to create space for learners to acknowledge their emotions before starting the online exchange, during the activity or at the end if necessary. This can be done by asking students to show and share how they feel in different ways such as: using a symbolic image, using an emoji, expressing a number between 1 and 10 that represents whether they feel sad (1) or happy (10) and then asking for feedback, using music or other stimulus, which can represent a feeling and then asking for feedback. (see chapters 3 and 6 for further ideas)
Becoming familiar with checking in. This is an important habit for the teacher to establish as it helps you to welcome everyone, recognise their presence and any significant issues as well as creating a safe and comfortable online space. It can be done by asking simple questions to each student, playing calm or upbeat background music, sharing an image or video, asking the group how they feel (see previous point) etc.
Model grace and patience. The digital world is a fast one but digital learning needs time just as all learning processes. As previously mentioned, not all students learn in the same ways and this needs to be respected. Do not rush your students and support them at all times.
Use frequent breaks. Time in front of the screen should be limited to approx. 30/40 min depending on the age of the learners and activities being done. Students can be asked to move away from their screens and preferably avoid other devices for 5 minutes, to move around physically if they can, they can also be asked to simply close their eyes (with videos off) and breathe deeply, listening to a guiding voice or music. Teachers can also use one of these breaks to check their learners’ emotional states if needed (see above). If you are together with your class, break from the screen together.
Be aware of gaps. There may be learners in your group or the group you’re interacting with who have learning, technological, social and or emotional difficulties or indeed a number of other challenges. Again, model patience, discretion and understanding offering support at all times. If you see that one of your students is in difficulty, try talking to them if you are with them or sending him/her a neutral message via chat.

How can we make use of existing platforms?

This guide has intended to provide teachers and educators with ideas, practical support and tools in organizing, preparing and running online dialogues between groups of students. Suggestions have been made throughout to help make these learning moments effective, motivating as well as fun for all.

The eTwinning programme offers schools across Europe the opportunity to meet and work together in a learning community and this guide should be seen as an extra tool, which can enhance these exchanges. It can provide teachers with some insights to strengthen their collaboration and hopefully to overcome some of the difficulties that they have faced. Technical, linguistic and cultural barriers are just some of the common issues, which inhibit teachers and their students to gain the most from meeting with others from another country. Many aspects of the potential learning and skills developed are weakened as a result. This guide sets out to turn this around and strengthen teachers’ readiness to co-facilitate online exchanges that are meaningful, inclusive and enjoyable.

The School Education Gateway is an online platform for schools as well as for researchers, policymakers and other professionals working in school education where it is possible to find information, resources and courses for those working in education. This guide will be shared as much as possible with different members of the wider education community, including on the School Education Gateway as a resource for schools and other education professionals. It can also be used as an additional support in relevant online courses.