Matija Lokar

A New Interactive Computer Science Textbook in Slovenia

Informatics is only a mandatory course in the first year and elective in the remaining three years in Slovene general secondary schools (grades 9–12). The course curriculum lists 100 learning objectives for all four years, but it does not specify the ones for the first (mandatory) year. Although this gives Computer Science teachers the freedom to choose the topics to be covered, they usually choose the ones covering digital literacy. One of the reasons is that this is the most important topic in the eighteen-year-old textbook that is currently used to teach Computer Science. In this paper we discuss a new interactive textbook that was introduced and the areas of knowledge it covers. We also discuss e-textbooks as a technology in general and give some feedback from teachers after the first year of using the new textbook.

Activation of Computer Science Teachers in Slovenia

The paper describes an approach of improving Slovenian Computer Science Education in general secondary school by forming an active and sustainable Computer Science Community of Practice (CS CoP). In project NAPOJ three systems teachers use in teaching programming are combined: CS e-textbook, LMS Moodle and TOMO, automatic assessment system for learning programming. Group of master teachers were selected, who prepared the initial set of in-class resources and material at a half a week workshop. This was followed by the regional workshops for other CS teachers throughout the Slovenia and run by master teachers. Development of CoP was observed and analyzed through various data gathering tools, such as questionnaires, discussions and observations, and preliminary results are highlighted.

Baselines for the Preparation of Electronic Textbooks

Baselines for the Preparation of Electronic Textbooks The NAUK group (Advanced Learning Blocks group; http://www.nauk.si) is engaged in the development of theoretical and practical concepts of ICT use in all levels of education. Recently, the proposed introduction of electronic textbooks (e-textbooks) has become a major topic nationwide in Slovenia. There are multiple dilemmas to be solved, e.g. what a modern e-textbook is, what it should include, in what way should it differ from conventional textbooks, what tools and technologies should be used for its creation, etc. This paper attempts to make recommendations, which we believe should be followed by all the authors of e-textbooks.

CALIBRATE and CAS/DGS resources

The CALIBRATE project was initiated by the EU with the goal of expanding the use of ICT in education by increasing the amount of available learning resources via resource exchange. Although CAS/DGS can be used to easily create high quality learning resources which are also easily adaptable across national boundaries, such resources are difficult to find at CALIBRATE portals. We believe that this is due to CAS/DGS still being rather exotic to most of the people as well as with the common problem of finding existing appropriate resources. A possible solution is for CALIBRATE portals to properly equip existing and forthcoming CAS/DGS resources with suitable metadata and to provide some integration with CAS/DGS tools, enabling both beginners and power users to create and exchange CAS/DGS resources.