Gál Ferenc College has recently published a study assessing the transition to digital education in schools in Békés County. The college has transitioned to a digital work schedule in several faculties, as well as in its educational institutions maintained in public education.
Szarvas Teacher Training Primary School and Kindergarten of Gál Ferenc College used to be loud and noisy from children. Even in the current situation, the educators of the institution try to effectively educate and support the children.
To answer questions that arise on a daily basis in digital education, the college organized an operational working group that provides day-to-day answers to situations that arise in higher education and public education. Gyula Bíró, the college's director of training development and college master teacher, said: their basic principle was to help students and teachers work more simply, but more effectively.
- Supporting the institutions in its maintenance, the college began teaching through the Google Classroom interface. In practice, this meant that from Monday, March 16, after the declaration of the emergency, the children had already received teaching materials and could take part in live contact hours with teachers, the principal said.
Gyula Bíró added that the maintainer provided all primary school students with a tablet for home study. In higher education, the curriculum is handed over to students on the Neptun and Moodle interfaces, as are online test systems being continuously developed for examinations. Graduates can upload their dissertations to the college’s online interfaces, where reviewers will be able to evaluate them.
Chapters from the digital experience of Covid-19 distance learning
Dr. István Thékes, college associate professor, has been researching the impact of the introduction of infocommunication technology (ICT) tools on education for many years. Following the announcement of the emergency, the researcher compiled an online questionnaire, which was sent to the heads of Békés County schools. Forty-four principals answered questions about the transition to digital education. The first chapter of the study entitled Chapters from the Digital Experiences of Covid-19 Distance Learning is available online.
- On the one hand, this is a huge opportunity, and at the same time a responsibility for those Hungarian professionals who have been pushing for the large-scale integration of ICT tools in education in recent years. On the other hand, the situation posed a great challenge to those who were even more adherents of the traditional pedagogical, herbartic, frontal methodology. The third and largest group of educators is those who have so far fluctuated between traditional and 21st century school and educational models and methodologies. Now they have the opportunity to test the knowledge, ideas and good examples of digital pedagogy learned in further trainings, online platforms and smaller workshops - says dr. István Thékes on the purpose of the research.
The researcher recalled that in the middle of February this year he gave a lecture on digital pedagogy and the importance of its introduction at the TEDx event in Békéscsaba.
‘It was Feb. 15, then even I wouldn’t have thought that the methodology we’ve talked to a lot with my colleagues over the last half-decade would be sharpened and introduced so suddenly and so suddenly’, the associate professor said.
Continuing the research, István Thékes will ask teachers and then students about the transition to digital education.
Source: BEHIR
