AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Figure 1. Model of the Key Competence Development
The scheme in Figure 1 presents the educational model which
consists of the basic attributes of the teaching/learning activities
of both subject (teacher) as well as object (student) of these
activities, based on the work with interactive whiteboards
(IWB). In relation to the application of IWB aimed at the
development of the mentioned competences, we specified
following key factors of our model:
Sharing information on IWB is a prerequisite for effective use of
information, motivation, maintaining students` attention and
activity. As a result of the information sharing, students discover
new, often hidden dependences, which help them to seek and
create new original forms of the problem solving.
A subsequent factor for student interaction is the use of oral and
written communication in the teaching/learning activities
supported by the IWB applications. Students are given a
possibility to write, fill in, draw, circle the answers and at the
same time they express their opinions, lead discussions and
evaluate results of their work.
Another advantage of the work with IWB is that these means
enable object manipulation. Due to different activities at which
the students practicably turn the objects in a plane, order
different geometric (2D) figures in the given area, change their
mutual positions the students learn to manipulate with the
objects. They acquire the relevant abilities and at the same time
through them they develop also their spatial imagination, visual-
motor coordination, shape perception and the ability to recognize
objects in general. In addition to these skills and abilities the
students also develop their technical imagination and become
familiarized and accustomed to the use of technical terminology.
Notion visualisation (as well as notion imagination) plays an
important role in the process of the notion fixation.
Consequently students` technical (technology) thinking is
developed in practical tasks (learning activities) in solution of
which the students apply the acquired knowledge.
The most dominant factor of the model is the factor of the
multimedia support related to the teaching and learning
activities. At the work with IWB this factor means mainly
possibilities of interaction and influence of students in a multi-
sensory way (acquiring of information repeatedly through
different sense-organs, e.g. a student at first hears the
information and then s/he reads it). This multi-sensory repetition
of the information is typical for multimedia, the application of
which increases the possibility of catching, understanding and
long-lasting retaining of the information (Oblinger, 1991;
Bohony, 2003).
Further factor of the model is the dynamics of the interactive
environment of the IWB. This dynamics enables to present
different movements and developments of the investigated
phenomena. The dynamics changes the static attitude towards
the presented matters to a dynamic response possibility. A
teacher´s objective, when working with an interactive system,
should be an active participation of students in the ongoing
activities. Particular activities within the model of the key
competences development are designed to enable the students to
process and select information, formulate answers and construct
meanings. Students remain active throughout the whole teaching
process due to various different activities such as reading,
writing, discussion, desire for success, self-evaluation etc.
Despite the above-mentioned factors of the presented model, in
the process of the key competence development the teacher still
plays the most important role. As a guide and organizer,
preferring open communication with the students, the teacher
helps the students to be independent and active, helps them to
seek new available information, to use and apply the acquired
knowledge and supports their activity, responsibility and self-
assessment. The teacher`s task is to manage the teaching process
with a maximal use of the IWB and teaching materials
developed and elaborated with the respect to the designed model.
2.3 Implementation of the designed Model of the Key
Competence Development
Investigation of the possibilities to implement the designed
model of the key competence development into the lower level
of secondary education and verification of the possibilities to
develop the students` key competences by the means of the use
of the IWB within teaching school subjects of STEM (natural
sciences, technology, engineering and maths) became the intent
of a national research project carried out with a financial support
of the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of
Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic
during the period of the years 2013 – 2015. At the project
experts from three Slovak universities were involved in. One of
the expert teams was from Constantine the Philosopher
University in Nitra (Faculty of Education) and its responsibility
was to verify the possibilities to develop the students` key
competences by the means of the use of the IWB just within the
school subject Technology. The other two expert teams were
from University of Prešov (Faculty of Humanities and Natural
Sciences) and Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica (Faculty
of Natural Sciences). These expert teams were responsible for
verification of the created model in relation to the school subject
physics and mathematics.
So the task of our expert team (Constantine the philosopher
University in Nitra) was to develop a teaching strategy model
aimed at the development of the key competences of students
within the school subject Technology through IWB and to verify
whether the proposed model and teaching strategy applied in
certain topics of the subject Technology in selected grades of the
lower secondary schools will create conditions which will
contribute to the development of the key competences of the
students. The main objective of the research was to confirm the
suitability of the teaching materials designed and elaborated with
respect to the constructed model for teaching Technology, to
verify the draft of the teaching model using the IWB means and
to observe possible impact of the relevant teaching/learning
activities based on the use of IWB means on the development of
the students` key competences.
3 Methodology of the Research
3.1 Description of the designed teaching materials
The first step of the research was development and elaboration
of the teaching/learning materials for Technology teaching with
respect to the created model of the key competence
development. The relevant materials were elaborated in focus on
the (curricula) topics and consisted of IWB presentations,
methodological guide (workbook) for the teacher, worksheets for
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