METASCHOOL - ea · 3 Pedagogical Approach 13 3.1 Aims 13 3.2 Training Modules 13 3.3 Training Kit & Collections 16 3.4 Methodological approach 17 3.5 Cycles of implementation-Timetable

METASCHOOLGuide Of Good Practice

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EditorsChristian Reimers, Monika Moises, David SmithBMUKK (Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, The Arts and Culture)

Riina VuorikariEUN (European Schoolnet)

Sofoklis Sotiriou, Argyris TzikopoulosELLINOGERMANIKI AGOGI

DesignSylvia PentheroudakiELLINOGERMANIKI AGOGI

No 141942-LLP-1-2008-1-GR-COMENIUS-CMP

METASCHOOL project in funded by the European Commission and more specifi cally by the project No 141942-LLP-1-2008-1-GR-COMENIUS-CMP, Lifelong Learning, Tranversal Programmes.

This document refl ects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This is project deliverable D5.2 “Guide of Good Practice”

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Metaschool:Guide Of Good Practice

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Table of contents1 Introduction 71.1 METASCHOOL Project and Service 71.2 Scope of the Document 71.3 Open Licenses for Content 82. Initial Concepts 92.1. Defi nition and general characteristics-needs 92.2. Teachers needs 102.3. The METASCHOOL Project 112.4. How METASCHOOL project corresponds to teachers needs 113 Pedagogical Approach 133.1 Aims 133.2 Training Modules 133.3 Training Kit & Collections 163.4 Methodological approach 173.5 Cycles of implementation-Timetable 184 Technical Platforms – Web 194.1 METASCHOOL Portal 194.2 Training Platform & Tools 295 Exemplary Practice 355.1 Training framework 355.2 Training Activity Examples 365.3 Implementation in schools 436 FAQs 456.1 General 456.2 Pedagogical subjects 456.3 Technical subjects 477 Future Direction / Implementation 497.2 METASCHOOL User Communities 507.3 Connection to other projects 507.4 Affi liated Online Repositories 517.5 Affi liated School Networks 52

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7.6 METASCHOOL Affi liation Package 527.7 Selection of national Dissemination tools 537.8 Recommendations for future actions 54References 57Appendices 59Appendix A: Repositories 59Appendix B: Key Tags 63Abbreviations 67

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1 Introduction The METASCHOOL Guide of Good Practice sets out the necessary guidelines and recommenda-tions for the development of teacher training programmes on the use of digital content. The guide describes the developed pedagogical approach, the web based platforms used to deliver educational programs, recommended educational practice and possible future directions for this METASCHOOL approach. A primary aim underpinning the development of this guide is that it is informative, systematic, practically useful and directly applicable for school teachers and school ICT staff . It is anticipated that having such a resource will encourage and motivate school person-nel to persist with training programs and further integrate technology into their teaching practice.

1.1 METASCHOOL Project and ServiceThe METASCHOOL project aims to link available learning content by utilising a user-centered ap-proach through a program of in-service training of school teachers and school ICT staff . The in-service program will focus on topics related to the organisation, sharing, use and re-use of digital learning resources that can be accessed through online learning repositories. The main focus of the METASCHOOL project’s service will be an innovative training programme on the pedagogical approaches teachers can use to integrate web-based digital content with core academic content in lesson plans and thereby increase student participation in the classroom. The programme will be based on techniques that teachers can utilise to motivate their students with real world learning activities that develop problem solving, collaboration, and eff ective com-munication skills.

1.2 Scope of the DocumentIn chapter 2 the aims of the pedagogical approach are listed as well as the developed train-ing modules. Chapter 3 presents the technical infrastructure and supporting technologies like LeMill and Slideshare that will be used to form the online learning platform. In chapter 4 some exemplary practices showing how modules can be combined and integrated in a training course are described. Outcomes of the METASCHOOL project are listed in chapter 5 as well as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section that the collaboration believes will be valuable to teachers wishing to acquire the basic skills to use digital content in their teaching. Questions with short but succinct answers concerning pedagogical and technical subjects will be collected in this FAQ section. The future direction and implementation of the METASCHOOL approach will be outlined in chapter 6. The conclusion provides a summary of the aims and objectives of this guide as well as some assumptions about the possible impact of this resource. A list of existing European re-positories and key tags related to digital content is given in the appendices.

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1.3 Open Licenses for ContentThe content published in the internet, especially educational materials, ost en has an open license, e.g. CC (Creative Commons). These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they re-serve, and which rights they waive for the benefi t of recipients or other creators.The METASCHOOL project and corresponding educational materials are provided under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike public license in the version 3.0 (http://creative-commons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).

This means you are free:• to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work• to Remix — to adapt the workUnder the following conditions:• Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specifi ed by the author or licensor

(but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).• Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting

work only under the same or similar license to this one.With the understanding that:• Waiver — Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright

holder. • Public Domain — Where the work or any of its elements is in the public domain under ap-

plicable law, that status is in no way aff ected by the license. • Other Rights — In no way are any of the following rights aff ected by the license:

- Your fair dealing or fair use rights, or other applicable copyright exceptions and limitations;- The author’s moral rights;- Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as

publicity or privacy rights.• Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of

this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.

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2. Initial ConceptsToday’s teachers need to be prepared to provide technology-supported learning opportunities for their students. Being prepared to use technology and knowing how that technology can support student learning have become integral skills in every teacher’s professional repertoire. Teachers need to be prepared to empower students with the advantages technology can bring. Schools and classrooms, both real and virtual, must have teachers who are equipped with technology resources and skills and who can eff ectively teach the necessary subject matter content while incorporating technology concepts and skills.

2.1. Defi nition and general characteristics-needsThe evolution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) creates numerous opportu-nities for providing new standards of quality in educational services. The Internet is increasingly becoming one of the dominant mediums for learning, training and working, and learning resources are continuously made available online in a digital format to enable and facilitate productive on-line learning. Online learning resources may include online courses, best practices, simulations, online experiments, presentations, reports, textbooks, as well as other types of digital resources that can be used for teaching and learning purposes. They may cover numerous topics such as computing, business, art, engineering, technology and agriculture. They are off ered by various types of organisations in diff erent languages, at diff erent cost rates, and aim at diff erent learning settings. In general, the potential of digital resources that can be used to facilitate learning and training, and which are available online, is rapidly increasing (Friesen, 2001).Digital learning resources were initially conceived as a tool to make distance education effi cient, by easing teacher’s re-use of self contained chunks of educational material (reff ered to from now on as teaching & learning resources/objects) for course construction. They were subsequently recognised to have the potential to be helpful for education in general, since into learning re-sources repositories teachers may fi nd innovative proposals to improve their educational practice (such as materials to carry out problem-based activities), as well as simple technological tools (such as Java applets for simulating complex scientifi c phenomena) whose implementation might be beyond their competence. However the diff usion of digital learning resources has been slowed down as a sequence of the fact that computers, despite having been introduced into schools from the eighties, are not yet deeply integrated into school activity. Moreover, research has highlighted a number of diffi culties that still hinder teachers’ appreciation and actual use of digital learning resources in school, such as the scarce information on the re-sources quality and the limited congruence of the metadata standards with the current indications of the learning theories. There is also a problem of context: an educational resource suitable for teaching in UK schools may be unsuitable for supporting the teaching of the National Curriculum in a school in Greece. Recent approaches to e-learning have largely focussed around the reuse of

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resources to develop economies of scale and thus partially address the low usage of ICT. As Mayes and Fowler (1999) pointed out, one problem in focusing on educational resource reuse is that teachers tend to plan their ICT based activities around ‘instructivist’ learning models, which focus on single learners accessing content. Thus, it does not help bridge the gap between modern peda-gogical theory and implementation. Recent developments in technology allow us to go beyond resource reuse and support implementation of recent pedagogy, in particular social-constructivist learning processes. Interoperable, networked technologies have the potential to support students’ collaborative activities, allowing them to source, create, adapt, integrate and store resources in a variety of formats. These new possibilities and aff ordances of e-learning tools mean that it is becoming easier to use technology to support social-constructivist methods of learning, such as collaborative learning through learning communities (Koper, 2004). These learning methods focus on the process of learning and on the learning activities students carry out in order to gain knowl-edge of concepts.

2.2. Teachers needsThe digital resources that are developed to support teaching and learning activities must be easily located and retrieved, as well as be suitably selected to meet the needs of those to whom they are delivered. But there are a number of factors constraining the development of reusable learning activities and based on sharable teaching resources:a) Teachers frequently do not have the skills to develop activities based on a range of educa-

tional models. This results in a gap between application of pedagogy and the eff ective use of tools and resources. Ost en teachers and learners view technology in terms of how it will help them manage resources rather than supporting learning (Timmis, O’Leary et al. 2004).

b) Any inability to engage with educational taxonomies through unfamiliarity with the relevant metadata and vocabularies makes it very diffi cult for teachers to search for generic learning activities from various subject disciplines. Teachers would probably have to browse through resources and activities, accessing and viewing each one of them in order to understand their potential for supporting eff ective learning. While browsing could be an eff ective strategy for a single collection of a small number of activities, it would be diffi cult for wider searching.

c) e-learning practice is moving towards the reuse of generative resources (e.g. resources devel-oped during learning tasks). This means that the outputs from learning activities should also be considered for reuse. However, most teachers do not have the required e-literacy skills (for example to archive activities) to allow for eff ective reuse of learning resources and activities.

d) Any focus on the development of ‘defi nitive resources’ can lead to the production of infl exible materials that do not cater for individual learning contexts. There is a need for tools that allow the teacher to customise generic components to provide a tailored learning experience (Thomas and Milligan 2004). However, there are currently few tools available to allow teachers to support learning activity sharing and sequencing (Britain, 2004).

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e) Although eff orts for collecting teaching & learning resources in learning repositories have long been deployed (Tzikopoulos et al., 2007) school teachers have yet to prove their competence in taking advantage of their full potential. Partially, this is also due to the fact that only recently a complete initiative aiming at the creation of a common European virtual space for resource sharing and reusing has been deployed (and adopted my Ministries of Education around Eu-rope): this is the Learning Resource Exchange (LRE, lre.eun.org) of the EUN. The potential from the way it interconnects various school repositories in order to facilitate the formulation of teacher communities around Europe, and the uploading, sharing and reusing of teaching & learning resources, has yet to be exploited.

2.3. The METASCHOOL ProjectMETASCHOOL (Towards Teacher Competence on Metadata and Online Resources) is a collabora-tive European project funded by the Comenius programme and focused on improving the in-service training of school teachers and school ICT staff on topics related to the organisation, sharing, use and re-use of digital learning resources that can be accessed online through learning repositories across Europe. It is a multilateral project of 24 months duration, which started in November 2008.In general, the project aims to improve teachers’ practice in all areas of their work, combining ICT skills with innovations in pedagogy, curriculum, and school organization. It is also aims at teach-ers’ use of ICT skills and resources to improve their teaching, to collaborate with colleagues, and perhaps ultimately to become innovation leaders in their institutions. The main output of the META-SCHOOL project is an innovative training programme on the meth-odological approaches on how teachers can integrate digital content available on the web with core academic content in lesson plans and increase student participation in classroom activities. In addition a portal was also developed which acts as the main “hub” of all the training resources and training scenarios. The portal serves as distributor of information giving access to large databases of educational content, organizer of suitable didactical activities.

2.4. How METASCHOOL project corresponds to teachers needsThe results of Work Package 1 on user needs and the state of the art provided a solid background to tasks in WP2 related to the METASCHOOL training framework. Deliverable Needs Analysis Re-port with teachers identifi ed clear needs, while, European state of the art, considered implementa-tion prospects, enablers and barriers in partner countries.The Needs Analysis Report included reports from workshops with teachers in Austria, the Czech Republic and Greece, revealing that the skill levels of participating teachers was probably higher than those of the average teacher in those countries, and the teachers were positive about ICT

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and more motivated to learn. The most commonly used tools before training were PowerPoint, Moodle and linked repositories, Google and Google Maps. Despite being relatively e-skilled, teach-ers had a low knowledge of Web 2.0. metadata tagging and learning systems, although some used wikis passively, but not publishing information themselves. Nevertheless they wanted to know more about Web 2.0, if only because it attracts their students.In general teachers wanted to:• Be able easily to fi nd relevant, concrete materials on a portal about their subject prepared by

professionals in their own language and with a cultural focus on their own country (videos, im-ages, data – particularly geographical data, lesson plans);

• Use systems easily – a high priority was simplicity of use• Have structured and relevant information • Access scientifi c repositories and new information.

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3 Pedagogical Approach

3.1 AimsThe aims of the METASCHOOL approach are• To off er technology-supported learning opportunities• To introduce and integrate learning resources for classroom use• To introduce learning repositories to teachers• To motivate teachers to inform the remaining teachers in their schools about using reposito-

ries, content, metadata• To make quality educational content more attractive to both teachers and students

The pedagogical approach of the METASCHOOL training modules enables teachers to achieve the levels of technical and pedagogical competence required to make eff ective use of the resources available.

3.2 Training ModulesThe developed training modules are divided into several categories for diff erent purposes and dif-ferent levels and target groups. Generally the 21 training modules are divided into the following categories:

- Introduction- Learning resources / repositories- Metadata- Social Web- Hands-on session- Technical

The trainees are primarily either teachers or ICT staff at schools.The following table shows how the modules fi t into the METASCHOOL training framework and ad-dress user needs. Additionally, the diff erent ways to interconnect these modules are shown from beginners who only access resources for beginners to a more incremental programme starting with beginners’ modules and then modules for intermediate learners.The 21 modules enable teachers, particularly those teaching science and agricultural topics, to:• Find digital learning resources on the web;• Get ideas on how to integrate these resources into lessons;• Adapt existing digital content to suit diff erent curriculum and learning requirements;

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• Learn about metadata and how it can help every teacher;• Discover how to share content using social networking tools;• Increase the learning and teaching impact through ICT-based science activities

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• Learn about metadata and how it can help every teacher;• Discover how to share content using social networking tools;• Increase the learning and teaching impact through ICT-based science activities

Training outcomesBy the end of the training programme, it is expected that teachers’ digital competence will have increased and the majority of the 21 specifi c learning outcomes achieved – 18 aimed at subject teachers and three at IT support staff :1. Understand the educational benefi ts of the worldwide web2. Be able to search eff ectively using the World Wide Web3. Understand the concept of learning objects (LOs)4. Understand the concept of sharing resources 5. Be familiar with the concept of learning repositories and communities6. Know how diff erent learning repositories work and what they contain7. Understand the concept of metadata8. Be familiar with COSMOS9. Understand the concept of social metadata such as tags10. Understand how Web 2.0 tools are used in education11. Be familiar with popular Web 2.0 applications12. Appreciate the benefi ts of using digital resources in the classroom13. Grasp how LOs can be used in teaching and learning14. Be able to add metadata to learning resources and upload them to a repository15. Be able to use Organic Edunet16. Be able to use COSMOS17. Be familiar with searching school resources through the LRE portal18. Be able to share resources through tags19. a) Be familiar with Confolio as a teacher b) Be familiar with e-portfolio20. Be able to set up the Confolio system (ICT support)21. Be familiar with the technical interconnection between Confolio and LRE (ICT support)

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3.3 Training Kit & CollectionsThe METASCHOOL resources are part of the METASCHOOL training kit for teachers. Together, there are 21 modules available that discuss learning resources in general, about searching, us-ing and sharing them. The modules can also be accessed through thematic collections. There are 6 collections that can be accessed either in a chronological order or through themes. It is worth noting that some modules are aimed at beginners, other for advanced teachers, whereas the last thematic collection is only aimed at technical personnel.

CollectionsA. Introduction to the use of digital resourcesB. Learning resources and repositoriesC. Introducation to metadataD. Social WebE. Hands-on sessions with learning resources and repositoriesF. Technical session (for ICT staff or teachers)

Components of CollectionsA. Introduction to the use of digital resources1. Introduction to ICT and WWW for educational uses 2. Strategies for searching information online, online resources and repositories3. Introduction to the concept of learning objects B. Learning resources and repositories 4. Introduction to sharing learning resources Learning resources and copyright (Hans Põldoja)5. Introduction to learning repositories and learning communities6. Review and demonstration of popular learning repositories with school resources Creating educational resources with LeMill and Web 2.0 tools (Hans Põldoja)C. Introducation to metadata7. Introduction to educational metadata and metadata-based searching8: Introduction to tools to describe resources with metadata (COSMOS and NatureNet) D. Social Web9. Social metadata and Web 2.0 tools (folksonomies and social tagging) 10: Web 2.0 tools in education

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11. Popular social tools (e.g. delicious, Flickr) and scenarios for their use in the classroom 18. Supporting teachers in sharing resources though social tagging in LREE. Hands-on sessions with learning resources and repositories12. Pedagogical strategies and best practices for using digital teaching & learning resources in the classroom13. Practical demonstration of learning objects and their classroom use: “The organic garden content and learning objects”14. Practical examples of learning resource descriptions with metadata 15. Hands-on session working on resources related to organic agriculture & archaeology (use of Organic.Edunet) 16. Hands-on session working on resources related to science 17. Searching learning resources through the LRE portal LeMill Tour (Hans Põldoja)18. Supporting teachers in sharing resources though social tagging in LREF. Technical session (for ICT staff or teachers)19. Introduction for teachers to set up a portfolio and connect to the outside world 20. Introduction for ICT support to set up the Confolio portfolio system (including setup of reposi-tory) using Confolio tool and connect to the outside world 21. Connecting educational repositories, e.g. Confolio and LRE as an example

3.4 Methodological approachMore specifi cally, METASCHOOL mainly carried out the following activities: • Adapted, developed, tested, implemented and disseminated a new training framework (including

an appropriate curriculum, training activities that include good in-school practices, as well as a variety of supporting material) that supports the in-service training of (mainly) teachers and (also) ICT personnel of school staff on topics related to metadata, learning resources, and learn-ing repositories.

• Adapted, developed, tested, implemented and disseminated strategies and best practices for or-ganising favourite/useful learning resources into personal portfolios of digital resources, as well as setting up and using learning repositories on a school or regional level.

• Suggested and tested a variety of teaching methodologies and pedagogical strategies for using digital learning resources in the classroom, for two particular subject areas: science education and agroecology.

• Focused on promoting the creation of a European virtual space for interconnecting school reposi-

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tories and exchanging/sharing teaching resources, based on the Learning Resource Exchange (LRE) initiative of EUN.

• Organised pilot training and validation activities of both teachers and ICT staff (where possible) from schools all over Europe, exploring suggested methods & strategies on how they can take benefi t from organising learning resources in personal portfolios and learning repositories, as well as from exchanging resources and teaching strategies with other teachers around Europe.

• Finally it involved organisations that are active in school education and that particularly work on the promotion and best use of digital learning resources in the classroom on a European level.

The development of the proposed training program is based on the adoption of a user-centred ap-proach.

3.5 Cycles of implementation-TimetableThe implementation of the training program included extended cycles of school centred work. Teachers continuously gave feedback to the academic team about their experiences gained in the classroom. This not only increased the motivation of the teachers, and gave weight to their practical experiences, but also provided the necessary cross-links between theory and practice. Upon suggestions of the teachers, the academic team performed the necessary adjustments to the training approach. Finally the METAS-CHOOL consortium delivered a structured & reusable set of guidelines and recommendations which will further support the development and assessment of teacher training programs on the use of digital content and online resources for teaching and learning. The whole process of the project was documented and the outcomes are described to the main out-come of the project, namely the METASCHOOL Guide of Good Practice. The teacher training activi-ties of METASCHOOL were implemented in selected pilot schools from Greece, Austria, and Czech Republic, during the project.

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4 Technical Platforms – Web

4.1 METASCHOOL PortalThe starting point for the METASCHOOL training kit is the METASCHOOL portal, reachable over the link http://lreforschools.eun.org/METASCHOOL (Image 1). Here you can fi nd more information about the METASCHOOL project in general as well as METASCHOOL training collections.

At the top of every page, there are two main navigation menus - one on the lest hand of the screen beneath the Learning Resources Exchange icon, and one on the top right corner.

about the METASCHOOL project in general as well as METASCHOOL training collections.

Image 1: The METASCHOOL portal

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Using shortcuts to quickly and easily navigateOn the lest you’ll fi nd three links providing you with a quick way of going to the home page, your favourites, and to the help section.

If you want to go back to the home page of the site, click on “home”.Check your Favourites? Click on “my favourites”.Click on “info and advice” to get help.

Check or modify your accountOn the right you’ll fi nd links providing you with a quick way of logging in or out, editing your profi le, and to provide feedback on the site.

Once you are logged in, you will get a message under the navigation on the lest -hand side saying welcome, and that you are logged in.If you click on “edit profi le” at the top right hand of the screen, you can modify aspects of youraccount such as your general and logon information.Finally, if you want to close your session, click on “logout”.

How to fi nd a learning resourceNeed to fi nd learning resources and learning assets?The lest -hand column is there to help you fi nd the resources you want. There are three search boxes.

If you want to go back to the home page of the site, click on “home”.

Once you are logged in, you will get a message under the navigation on the lest -hand side saying

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a. You can search by keyword by entering terms under“fi nd resources”. If you wish, you can refi ne your search by specifying the language or the subject of the resource.of the resource.

a. You can search by keyword by entering terms under“fi nd resources”. If you wish, you can refi ne your search by specifying the language or the subject of the resource.

You can also browseb. by clicking on a tag in the tag cloud or entering your own tag in the jump to box. You can open out the tag cloud and see more which have been used by clicking on “see more tags”

c. by clicking on a subject heading listed under “fi nd by sub-ject” box A tag cloud works by increasing the size of the tag by how ost en the tag has been used. This way you can see which terms are the most popular. Clicking on the “Travel Well” tab on the home page will enable you to browse re-sources that have been specially selected by users as those that “travel well” and that have the potential to be used by teachers and learners in diff erent countries or even by users that have limited knowledge of the language in which the resource has been created.

by specifying the language or the subject of the resource.

You can also browseb. by clicking on a tag in the tag cloud or entering your own tag in the jump to box. You can open out the tag cloud and see more which have been used by clicking on “see more tags”

by clicking on a subject heading listed under “fi nd by sub-c. by clicking on a subject heading listed under “fi nd by sub-ject” box A tag cloud works by increasing the size of the tag by how ost en the tag has been used. This way you can see which terms are the most popular. Clicking on the “Travel Well” tab on the home page will enable you to browse re-sources that have been specially selected by users as those that “travel well” and that have the potential to be used by teachers and learners in diff erent countries or even by users that have limited knowledge of the language in which the resource has been created.

more which have been used by clicking on “see more tags”

c. by clicking on a subject heading listed under “fi nd by sub-

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How to use COSMOS PortalCOSMOS portal is an experimental laboratory for students and teachers, aiming to improve sci-ence instruction by expanding the resources for teaching and learning in schools and universities, providing more challenging and authentic learning experiences. Join the COSMOS educational community and explore new ways of teaching science.

Create a new accountThis section explains how you can cre-ate a new user account in the COSMOS Portal. By being a registered user of the portal you gain access to the COSMOS Repository and the COSMOS Tool-Box.In order to create a new account, in the fi rst page of the portal click to the “Create new account link”.

This section explains how you can cre-ate a new user account in the COSMOS Portal. By being a registered user of the portal you gain access to the COSMOS Repository and the COSMOS Tool-Box.In order to create a new account, in the fi rst page of the portal click to the

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This will lead you to the reg-istration form. There, fi ll in the fi elds you like and provide a valid email address. To con-clude registration click the “Create new account” button at the bottom of the form.From this point on, when you visit COSMOS Portal, fi ll in your user name and password in the respective fi elds to gain access to the portal.From this point on, when you visit COSMOS Portal, fi ll in your user name and password in the respective fi elds to gain access to the portal.

This will lead you to the reg-istration form. There, fi ll in the fi elds you like and provide a valid email address. To con-clude registration click the “Create new account” button at the bottom of the form.From this point on, when you visit COSMOS Portal, fi ll in your user name and password in the respective fi elds to gain access to the portal.From this point on, when you

user name and password in the respective fi elds to gain access to the portal.

From this point on, when you visit COSMOS Portal, fi ll in your user name and password in the

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B. How to fi nd a learning resource Ast er the user registration and authentication, one is able to search through the COSMOS Reposi-tory and download the material of his choice.In the COSMOS Repository one can search for Educational Content and Learning Activities follow-ing the respective links in the Explore COSMOS section of the COSMOS Repository.

There by using the provided user interfaces you can fi nd the material you are looking for. You can also browse through the top rated material in each category.You can download the fi le from the provided link and also you can view and download the xml fi le containing the metadata record of the material.

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How to use Organic.Edunet PortalThe Organic.Edunet Web portal has been developed in the context of the “Organic.Edunet: A Multi-lingual Federation of Learning Repositories with Quality Content for the Awareness and Education of European Youth about Organic Agriculture and Agroecology” Targeted Project of the eContent-plus programme (http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/econtentplus/index_en.htm#)

Today, the Organic.Edunet Web portal provides access to 10605 resources, from 11 institutional collections and 2 user communities.

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A. How to create a new accountIn order to create a new account, in the fi rst page of the portal click to the “Create new account link”.

This will lead you to the registration form. There, fi ll in the fi elds you like and provide a valid email address. To conclude registration click the “Register” button at the bottom of the form.

From this point on, when you visit Organic.Edunet Portal, fi ll in your user name and password in the respective fi elds to gain access to the portal.

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In the Organic.Edunet Web portal, users may search or browse for educational resources on Organic Agriculture and Agroecology us-ing fi ve diff erent mechanisms: Text-Based Search, Browse, Semantic Navigation, Tag-Based Search and Search for educational scenarios:

Semantic Navigation: allows users to search for resources according to an ontology of Organic Agriculture concepts, providing results that are related to the particular concepts in the ontology. Users can directly ask for resources that are related to a particular concept in the ontology. For a more elaborated search, users may defi ne a number of interest points upon the ontology, and ask for resources that are related to them.

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Browse: works by allowing the user to browse through all the educational resources in the federation in a multi-faceted way. Browsing can take place depending on the existing Re-source Types, File Formats, Resource Languag-es, and Educational Levels in the federation.

Text-Based Search: works in a typical text-b ased searching way. It looks for the keywords that the user is typing, into the title and description of all the educational resources in the federation. To facilitate limiting down the results, the Text-Based Search interface also allows users to fi lter the returned results according to their Learning Resource Type or their targeted Educational Level.

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Tag-Based Search: allows users to search for resources according to the way other users have annotated (e.g. tagged or rated) them in the past. Users can either search for resources that have been tagged with a particular word (using a 2-D or 3-D interface), or can see which resources are most popular to other users (i.e. the ones that have been rated highly). For registered users only: when logged-in, registered users have access to more advanced search functionalities related to social navigation, such as receiving recommen-dations about interesting resources that match their profi le.

4.2 Training Platform & ToolsThe METASCHOOL training modules, as well as being a collection, are hosted by the internet platform Le-Mill, which is confi gured to present learning resources in a structured way. With the platform it is possible to include interactive content such as videos and slide shows that enrich the learning resources with added value and are visually appealing and informative for the learner. The training platform LeMill and the Web 2.0 tool SlideShare for sharing slide shows in a website are presented in the following sections.

4.2.1 LeMill

A) GeneralAll METASCHOOL training modules are hosted by the internet platform LeMill, which is a web com-munity for fi nding, authoring and sharing learning resources. Starting with learning resources, you can use the resources you fi nd in your own teaching or learning. You can also add your own learn-ing content to LeMill. You may edit your content and combine larger sections of learning resources from individual media pieces. If you wish you may also join some of the groups producing or editing learning resources. In LeMill the content is always easily found where and whenever you need them1. Therefore LeMill is used in the context of the METASCHOOL training programme to:1. Search for content like modules2. Make collections3. Create your own content easily

1. http://lemill.net/content/webpages/lemill-faq

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B) Collections (Image 3)

The collections you canB1) Download as PDF booklet, HTML (zip) package or SCORM packageB2) Embed, e.g. insert <iframe>-tag in your own website or Lerning management system

4.2.2 Slideshare

A) GeneralSlide shows are embedded in the METASCHOOL training modules by using SlideShare. SlideShare is a business media site for sharing presentations, documents and PDFs. SlideShare features a vibrant professional community that regularly comments, favorites and downloads content. Individuals & or-ganizations upload documents to SlideShare to share ideas, connect with others, and generate leads

B1

B2

Image 3: METASCHOOL training collection presentation in LeMill

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for their businesses. Anyone can view presentations & documents on topics that interest them.2

B) How to use the (embedded) SlideShare content? Following functions are provided (Image 4):B1) Next button/areaB2) Previous button/areaB3) Share Presentation (Email, Twitter, etc.)B4) View FullscreenB5) View direct on slideshare

2. http://www.slideshare.net/about

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If you will view the slideshare presentation directly on slideshare use the link and you will be redirected to the slideshare site. There you have much more features additional to the functions just mentioned above for the direct embedded slideshare version. Following functions are addition-ally provided (Image 5):B6) Save to favourites (you have to login)B7) Download slide presentation (see section C below)B8) Embed the presentation with a <div>-tagB9) Add the presentation to a Group or Event (you have to login)

C) Slide presentation download and modifi cation

On the bottom right corner of the embedded SlideShare content you can fi nd the image .If you click on this you are forwarded to the slide show hosted by SlideShare (Image 5). Then you have further options, e.g. to download and modify the slides. For this you have to follow these steps:1. First, you have to login or signup at slideshare to download the fi le.2. Request for permission, allow slideshare to

Includes name, profi le picture, gender, networks, user ID, list of friends, and any other information I’ve shared with everyone.- Send me emailSlideShare may email me directly - Post to my WallSlideShare may post status messages, notes, photos, and videos to my Wall- Access my profi le informationAbout Me, Interests, Groups, Events, Birthday, Hometown, Current City, Website, Religious and Political Views, Education History, Work History and Facebook Status

3. Enter your SlideShare credentials: Username, Password or click “I don’t have a SlideShare account”.

4. Then the slide show should be downloaded.

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The usage rights of the slideshare presentation is given by the Creative Commons (CC) Attribution-ShareAlike License .

Image 5: Slide presentation on slideshare

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5 Exemplary PracticePractice that typifi es high quality learning is provided for instructors and teachers to act as a guide. This practice serves for teachers and instructors to follow in their own professionalism as well as acting as a template for the development of further scenarios and frameworks.

5.1 Training frameworkThe training framework contains 21 self-contained learning modules. These could be used in the form of a Α. Online course, where trainee uses them independently in their own spaceΒ. Face to face workshop/course

It is possible to use one of the pre-existing training collections, as listed in section 3.1. But teach-ers or ICT staff could also select specifi c learning modules and design their own training. The organisation of the training is up to the schools teachers or ICT administration staff , which would like to learn the specifi c topic by themselves or teach it to other teachers or ICT staff .

AeLearning Online Courses

To use existing training platforms

B

Face to Face Workshops

Five Categories:

1. Teachers only (diff erent schools, colleagues-same school)2. teachers and pupils (from diff erent schools)3. teachers, pupils and institutions, representatives from museums, private companies,

etc. (diff erent schools)4. teaching in regular lessons: teachers and pupils (directly in the school)5. pupils for pupils

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5.2 Training Activity ExamplesEach METASCHOOL training module has a similar structure (Image 2) and comprises an instruction part, a practical part as well as a set of additional embedded learning materials and further links.

The training modules utilise the following structure. But some of the modules may deviate from this structure according to the modular design of the training programme.

Image 6: Example of METASCHOOL training module in LeMill

Details

The module starts with a small paragraph presenting the subject and the main aim of the training activity. The pur-pose of the module is revealed while the main aims of the activity are presented in this section.

Pedagogical objectives

The theoretical background is illustrated here by clearly presenting the pedagogical objectives of the module. The objective is typically a course of study, lesson plan, or a practical skill.

Processa

Each module is going to include a section presenting the tasks that must be done by the trainees, the certain refl ec-tion needed by the trainees and the time framework of this refl ection.

Evaluation

Suggestions for evaluating the training procedure that teachers will follow.

Follow Up

Suggestion for further personal and “user centered” study are given here with specifi c focus in section of interest within books, training material documents, etc.

Links

Suggestion for websites that can be used for this module.

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Training modules and educational materials are primarily packaged into six METASCHOOL train-ing collections with following main topics: A. Introduction to the use of digital resources B. Learning resources and repositories C. Introduction to metadata D. Social Web E. Hands-on sessions with learning resources and repositories F. Technical session (for ICT staff or teachers)

You can choose one of these METASCHOOL training collections to learn or teach the respective topics, or you assemble your own training collection out of the 21 training modules, which you could fi nd in a table via the link “Welcome to METASCHOOL Training modules - general description”.

In the following we will present an example of a training collection regarding to the social web:

This training collection compounds four METASCHOOL training modules:

9. Social metadata and Web 2.0 tools (folksonomies and social tagging)

Details: This module presents the teachers with the concept of social metadata using social bookmaking as an example. Bookmarks based on a tag can facilitate searching and sharing, and can further be collected through web-feeds to learn-ers’ and other teachers’ blogs or websites. The module will introduce Web 2.0 vocabulary and describe the advantages and risks of Web 2.0 in education. Teachers will be presented with characteristic examples of social metadata and then they will have the opportunity to provide social metadata themselves. Information is provided in Module 20 that illus-trates (describes) how teachers can use folksonomies and social tags within existing educational repositories.

Pedagogical Objectives: The teachers will gain experience with the concept of social metadata through an ex-ample of social bookmarking. They will have the opportunity to provide social tags for their favourite websites or learning resources themselves. In this manner teachers will create their own collections of learning resources with metadata that is meaningful for them. This allows participants to complement their knowledge from prior modules on the whole the process of creating metadata for a resource, and will make a diff erence between the conventional learning resource metadata and social metadata.

Process: The teachers will be presented with the basics of social metadata and Web 2.0 tools that are available. Teachers will fi rst watch a fi lm (3min 25sec) called “Social Bookmarking in Plain English” and then listen to the presentations, in which concepts such as folksonomies and social tagging will be made clear through appropriate examples. Once these concepts are fully understood, the teachers will have the chance to provide their own social metadata for their favourite Websites and educational resources in order to create their own collections of learning resources with meaningful tags that can be easily shared.

Collection Training Modules

D. Social Web 9. Social metadata and Web 2.0 tools (folksonomies and social tagging)

10. Web 2.0 tools in education

11. Popular social tools (e.g. delicious, Flickr) and scenarios for their use in the class-room

18. Supporting teachers in sharing resources though social tagging in LRE

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Content:

Follow-Up: Social metadata that was provided by the teachers can be compared to the ones provided by their col-leagues on the same resources. In this way, teachers will get the chance to compare and contrast opinions and fi nd out that social metadata heavily depends on the personal characteristics of the person providing the metadata (thus called social).

Links: Social tagging for Teachers

• http://info.melt-project.eu/ww/en/pub/melt_project/how/folksonomies.htm

• http://info.melt-project.eu/ww/en/pub/melt_project/how/social_tagging.htm

• http://www.slideshare.net/vuorikari/etwinning-and-educational-resources

• http://www.slideshare.net/vuorikari/social-tagging-for-teachers-159732

Social Networking Technology in Education:

• http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Social_Networking_Technology_in_Education

Additional vocabulary: Teachers are encouraged to study the following vocabulary

See Appendix B

10. Web 2.0 tools in education

Details: This module elaborates further on the contents of Module 9 by focusing more on the Web 2.0 tools rather than social metadata. Examples of existing Web 2.0 tools will be given and the use of wikipedia in classroom will be shown. Also blogs will be demonstrated as a collaboration tool or as a refl ective tool.

Process: Teachers follows the slide show below. The fi rst set of slides gives a general view over number of 2.0 sost -ware applications. The second set of slides includes an in-depth description and examples of Web 2.0 technology. Make sure that you follow up the references to relevant links.

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Content:

Follow-Up: The teachers will be encouraged to use the Web 2.0 tools to upload their content, to cite articles, to create content from scratch, etc. Openness and sharing of material will be encouraged through this module and the progress of the teachers with the use of the tools described will be evaluated.

Links: • Flickr – http://www.fl ickr.com • Youtube – http://www.youtube.com• Delicious – http://delicious.com/Related sites:• http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Slideshow+Tools• Blog post: Guidelines for educators using social networks• http://www.fullcirc.com/wp/2009/08/12/the-social-media-i-use

11. Popular social tools (e.g. delicious, Flickr) and scenarios for their use in the classroom

Details: This module will provide a description and examples on popular social tools and their usage. Specifi c sce-narios will be described and their use in the classroom will be showcased to the teachers. Such tools will include: Flickr, Youtube, Delicious, Furl, Technorati, etc.

Pedagogical Objectives: The teachers will be able to use prominent Web 2.0 tools and take advantage of their capabilities in education. Specially designed scenarios will provide teachers with actual evidence of the educational value of using such tools inside the classroom. The overall pedagogical objective is to familiarise the teachers with the use popular social tools.

Process: Teachers will fi rst read the example scenario and then go through the presentation with examples. It will provide examples of social sost ware and explain the use of the aforementioned social tools (and others) in the class-room. By studying an example scenario below, as well as the others given in the presentation, the teachers will be asked to use them as a basis to produce their own that will cover the topics they are teaching.

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Content:

Possible scenario: A teacher organises a collection of links with pupils on a given topic. For example, during a history lesson on Napoleon, pupils are asked to spend 20 minutes searching on the Web, and to fi nd relevant links related to Napoleon. A common tag, i.e. keyword, is agreed upon, all the sites with relevant content will be tagged by “Napoleon_history_5”. Pupils start searching the Web in groups of 2. They fi rst log-in to their delicious account. Group 1 fi nds old historical maps from Napoleon era, saves it in delicious and adds tags “Napoleon_history_5” and maps. Group 2 fi nds sites from Napoleon museums in diff erent places (e.g. France, Belgium, Corsica) and saves them using the same tag, always adding additional tags that are meaningful for them. Ast er 20 minutes, the teacher asks pupils to stop search-ing. She goes to delicious.com and makes a search for the tag “Napoleon_history_5”. A common list of websites from all the groups is presented. Each Group will present one of their sites. Teacher further assigns a relevant homework to pupils. Some more scenarios are available here.

Follow-Up: Teachers can present (in a few slides) their initial scenarios before implementing them into the classroom. Ast er the implementation, teachers can take some time to prepare a short presentation describing the way that the scenarios where implementing and maybe pointing to some specifi c obstacles that the came across or some oppor-tunities that they identifi ed.

Links:• More scenarios: http://info.melt-project.eu/ww/en/pub/melt_project/how/social_tagging.htm• Social Networking Technology in Education: Introduction to Social Networking Tools (presentation Dr. Anna

Zoakou, Researcher at Ellinogermaniki Agogi) • Introduction to social networking tools; google groups, edublogs, slideshare and del.icio.us. ; hands on activity

whereby teachers are asked to create their own blog and upload educational material)Some links to tools:• Delicious – http://delicious.com/ • Slideshare – http://www.slideshare.net/ • Writeboard – http://writeboard.com • Google docs – http://docs.google.com • GeoHra/GEoGAME geohra.kraj-lbc.cz, http://apps.esdi-humboldt.cz/projects/geohra/ • http://apps.esdi-humboldt.cz/projects/geohraen/• Vitejtenazemi http://vitejtenazemi.cenia.cz/

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18. Supporting teachers in sharing resources though social tagging in LRE

Details: In this module teachers can learn how to share resources though social tagging when using the Learning Resource Exchange (LRE). The LRE is a service for schools to fi nd educational content from many diff erent countries and in many diff erent languages.Tags can be used for searching purposes, but if you wish to share your resources with other teachers, you need to create your own Favourite collections of learning resources with tags. This allows sharing resources easily with your pupils and other teachers, but also makes it easy to fi nd your favourite resources easily again. To learn how to use the LRE portal, look at this modul

Pedagogical Objectives: Teacher knows what are tags and what are they used for. They also learn how to add and use tags on the LRE portal to fi nd and share learning resources.

Process: In this exercise, you will fi rst watch the video “introduction to the MELT project” where the use of tags is discussed. Then, continue to read the presentation “Networking learning communities: Open Educational Resources to learn more about the importance of tags to build communities of teachers across the borders in Europea. To fi nnish the exercise, watch two interviews with teachers about why and how do they use tags. Last, use the tutorial video of the LRE portal to learn how to search the LRE portal using tags and how to add your own tags.

GlossaryTAG = Tag is a type of metadata that is created by users. The tag is associated with the object, in this case with the digital learning resource. The tag helps you to fi nd the resource easily again through the tag cloud. If many users add the same tag, e.g. “brain”, to learning resouces that they fi nd on that given topic on the portal, they can create an easy collection of resources. To share these resources is easy, only to click on this tag on the tagcloud.TAGGING = Collaborative tagging is regarded as a democratic metadata generation, i.e. rather than an individual like a librarian controlling the metadata, it is generated by both the creator and consumers of the content.SOCIAL TAGGING/BOOKMARKING = Social bookmarking is a web-based service to share Internet bookmarks (like the ones that you can save on your browser) and a popular way to store, classify, share and search links through on the Internet or Intranet. TAG CLOUD = A weighted list in visual design, can be used as a visual depiction of content tags used on a website. More frequently used tags are depicted in a larger font or otherwise emphasised, while the displayed order is gener-ally alphabetical. Thus, both fi nding a tag by alphabet and by popularity is possible. Selecting a single tag within a tag cloud will generally lead to a collection of items that are associated with that tag.

Content:

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5.3 Implementation in schoolsA sample training course for teacher training/support is provided in this section. The duration of the course or workshop and the workshop structure could be adapted according to the specifi ed purpose.

For example you select two or three METASCHOOL training collections for this one and a half day training course. You should also evaluate the skills of the participants before you fi x the procedure of the training course. If there are participants with diff erent skills relating to the topic of your planned training collections, it could be preferable to divide the participants in diff erent working groups, where they can learn and do the hands-on examples of the training in groups with a simi-lar knowledge and skill base.

Duration: 1 ½ Days

Venue: Schools with appropriate facilities

Activities/Modules: <Select any training modules and/or collections>

Plenum & Keynotes: • Presentation of Best Practice Examples• Presentation of other EU projects

Working groups: • Testing LOs on project Portals• Content for Repositories• eContent Providers, Committee, Evaluation, Enrichment• Learning Scenarios & Didactical Conceptions• Searching in WWW, Repositories, Learning Platforms• Media Right & Copyright, Standards: IMS Standards

Documentation: All activities have to be documented by participants on a web platform (e.g. ProjectCare at http://pc.bmukk.gv.at, BSCW at https://fi t-bscw.fi t.fraunhofer.de/pub/, or a Moodle/Edumoodle instance e.g. http://www.edumoodle.at/moodle/); All teachers and ICT staff from participating schools have access to this web platform.

Standardised forms The following forms are available and must be used by participants:Invitation / Moderation / Programme / Minutes / Documentation

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6 FAQsIn this chapter questions concerning general, pedagogical and technical subjects are collected and answered.

6.1 General

6.2 Pedagogical subjects

What is the METASCHOOL training programme ?

The METASCHOOL training programme provides in-service training of school teachers and school ICT staff . A train-ing kit with several training modules and collections are developed following a well defi ned pedagogical structure to provide informative, assistive and practical instructions for training the use and handling of web based content.

What about copyright ?

Copyright is defi ned as the exclusive right of an author to his or her work. Copyright protects certain cultural intel-lectual creations, called works, for example literary or academic texts, musical compositions, sound recordings, paintings, photographs, theatre staging, fi lms, radio broadcasts, buildings and sculptures. In some contexts it is referred to as intellectual property. Copyright does not have to be registered. For most online educational content as also for METASCHOOL content the copyright rules of the Creative Commons licence are used. Creative Commons is a non-profi t organisation which makes available a variety of standard licence agreements on the internet which are used by authors to grant exploitation rights to the public for their works e.g. texts, pictures, music etc. Unlike the GPL known from free sost ware, these licences are not customised for an individual type of work, but for any work. In addition, there is a strong grading of rights: from licences which reserve almost all rights to the author to licences which make the work public domain i.e. the authors waive their rights (see also section 1.3 in this guide).For further informations about copyright please visit the following site of the INSPIRE wiki of the Virtual School Austria: http://virtuelleschule.bmukk.gv.at/wiki-inspire/index.php/Copyright

Where can I fi nd existing training collections ?

On the website http:///www.lreforschools.eun.org/METASCHOOL you can fi nd six thematic training collections which includes appropriate training modules which follows the METASCHOOL training programme scheme.

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Can I fi nd other educational resources easily on the METASCHOOL portal ?

Yes, following the description “How to fi nd a learning resource” in section 3.1.3 you can also fi nd educational resources on the LRE (Learning Resource Exchange) platform easily beyond the METASCHOOL training modules and collections.

Can I provide my own training module or collection ?

If you writing a training module which is conform with the METASCHOOL training module structure (see section 4.2) it is possible to add this module ast er a review phase to the existing list of METASCHOOL training modules.If you are writing more than one training modules (each conform with the METASCHOOL training module structure, see above) about a specifi c topic it could be packaged in a METASCHOOL training collection and added to the exist-ing list of METASCHOOL training collections.Please contact the European Schoolnet (EUN) for your contributions.

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6.3 Technical subjects

How should I design my own training module or collection ?

Please follow the common METASCHOOL training module structure, which is described in detail in section 4.2 and give proper information and examples and provide also videos, slides and links according to the topic of your train-ing module. For module examples visit the METASCHOOL portal or look at the examples given in section 4.2.

How could a training framework look like ?

In principle a training framework could be used in the form of an online course, where trainee uses them indepen-dently in their own space or a face to face workshop/course (see section 4.1). An example for the implementation of a face to face workshop/course in schools is given in section 4.3.

Why can I not download the slideshare presentation ?

First, you have to login or signup to slideshare to download the presentation. The process is described in detail in section 3.2.2.

Is it possible to include/embed a slideshare presentation in my website/teaching platform ?

Yes, you can use the <div>-tag as given on the website of the slideshare presentation as described in section 3.2.1.

How could I include/embed existing training modules in my website/teaching platform ?

For embedding a METASCHOOL training collection you can use the <iframe>-tag as given on the website of the collection as described in section 3.2.1. It is just copy-and-paste to your website or teaching platform. You also can copy the URL () as given in the internet address fi eld of your browser and give a link (with the <a href=””>-tag at your website or teaching platform.

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7 Future Direction / ImplementationThe structure of the training frameworks, pedagogical developments and integrated technologies are all designed to increase the learning incentive for students in schools as well as further the un-derstanding of teachers and training organisations about the implications of using technology with authentically structured learning frameworks. As METASCHOOL is a project born of EU education initiative and it brings together professionals from diverse educational institutions and public and private organisations, it is an aim of METASCHOOL that either separately or in collusion, individuals involved in this project will perpetuate what has been started in their own spheres of infl uence. This section expands on the possible avenues available to the diff erent organisations either involved or associated with this project to expand on the initiatives used in METASCHOOL. It should be noted here that all the METASCHOOL products are available in the project’s web site and web portal and will be available ast er the end of the project with responsibility of the project coordinator and with the contribution of the whole consortium and all the new events-products (Summer Schools, training events, new learning material) of the METASCHOOL project will be published there.

7.1 General At the beginning of the project the METASCHOOL exploitation strategy has been set up in the Exploitation plan in order to facilitate the national training activities and to ensure a long-term implementation of the METASCHOOL Training framework across Europe. As illustrated in the fi g-ure below the main exploitation activities focused on:• The establishment of a METASCHOOL User- and Community, and the Setup of Clusters• The organisation and conduction of METASCHOOL Training activities with the primary target

groups (teachers and ICT-staff )• The development of the present METASCHOOL Guide of Good Practice

Image 7: METASCHOOL Exploitation Structure

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7.2 METASCHOOL User Communities The following image demonstrates the main exploitation target groups, addressed by the METAS-CHOOL Project. The following image shows that the main aim of the METASCHOOL Project is to build a bridge between the diff erent teacher user communities and the current, existing education-al repositories through a didactically valuable, an innovative METASCHOOL Training approach.

The METASCHOOL programme is implemented at the same time at the most innovative schools in Europe (ENIS members), where the use of ICT and digital content supports the qualitative upgrade of teaching and learning, as well as tos mall rural schools ost he Rural Wing network, where the use of digital resources is more than necessity fort he delivery of the basic education.

7.3 Connection to other projectsBuilding upon the experience of successful research and development projects (such as COSMOS, Organic.Edunet, LRE, explora), the METASCHOOL consortium brings together signifi cant exper-tise from the fi elds of teachers training programmes and curriculum development, content and web repositories organisation and teachers performance evaluation and assessment attempts to develop a practical training framework for improving the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom.

Image 8: METASCHOOL User Communities

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7.4 Affi liated Online RepositoriesCOSMOS (http://www.cosmosportal.eu)

COSMOS portal is an experimental laboratory for students and teach-ers, aiming to improve science instruction by expanding the resources for teaching and learning in schools and universities,

Organic.Edunet (http://www.organic-edunet.eu)

Organic.Edunet aims to facilitate access, usage and exploitation of digital educational content related to Organic Agriculture (OA) and Agroecology (AE).

LRE - The Learning Resource Exchange Portal for Schools (http://lreforschools.eun.org

LRE from European Schoolnet (EUN) is a new service that enables schools to fi nd educational content from many diff erent countries and providers.

Learning with ATLAS@CERN (http://www.learningwithatlas.eu/

ATLAS@CERN is an experimental laboratory for students, teachers and science museum visitors. I It ams to improve science instruction by ex-panding the resources for teaching and learning.

OSR (http://www.osrportal.eu/)

OSR develops an innovative solution for metadata handling of digital sci-ence education objects and to propose a roadmap towards a standardised Science Education.

Scientix (http://www.scientix.eu/)

Scientix collects innovative teaching materials and research reports from European science education projects.It aims to acilitate regular dissemi-nation and sharing of know-how and best practices in science education across the European Union.

xplora (http://www.xplora.org/ww/en/pub/xplora/index.htm

xplora is the European gateway to science education. It is aimed at teach-ers, pupils, scientists, science communicators and science educators.

PATHWAY (start in January 2011)

Pathway promotes the eff ective widespread use of inquiry and problem based science teaching techniques in primary and secondary schools in Europe and beyond.

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7.5 Affi liated School Networks

7.6 METASCHOOL Affi liation PackageAll affi liated METASCHOOL partners and interested organisations/individuals receive the affi lia-tion package and are informed about project developments, invited to share project results and to participate in future exploitation events. The project information, its objectives and outcomes are made available to the network.

METASCHOOL Affi liation Package• METASCHOOL Logo• METASCHOOL Project Presentation in English• METASCHOOL Brochure in English (cp. D 5.4. Final Dissemination Report, Annex)• Link to the the METASCHOOL Portal http://lreforschools.eun.org/METASCHOOL• Link to the METASCHOOL Project Web site http://www.ea.gr/ep/METASCHOOL/• Invitation to future METASCHOOL Training Events• METASCHOOL Guide of Good Practice

EUN (http://www.eun.org/)

European Schoolnet (EUN) is a network of 31 Ministries of Education in Europe and beyond. EUN was created more than 10 years ago with the aim to bring about innovation in teaching and learning to its key stake-holders: Ministries of Education, schools, teachers and researchers.

RURAL WINGS (http://www.ruralwings-project.net/

Rural wings is a school network that includes 130 schools in rural areas of 13 countries. It aims to bring e-learning services and broadband internet to schools in rural areas across Europe.

eTwinning (http://www.etwinning.net/)

eTwinning is a Network of European partner schools. It off ers online tools to fi nd each other, meet virtually, exchange ideas and practice examples, team up in Groups, learn together in Learning Events and engage in online-based projects.

ENIS (http://enis.eun.org/)

ENIS is a network of innovative shools in Europe. The schools are selected by the Ministries of Education and aim to use new communication and e-learning technologies in their every-day teaching

VIS:EU (http://www.virtuelleschule.at)

The subject oriented portals makes digital learning materials, learning scenar-ios by subject freely available to the Austrian teachers community. It aims to encourage transdisciplinarity teaching and is a networking tool for teachers.

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7.7 Selection of national Dissemination tools In Austria, several national dissemination tools have been developed and made available at the Virtual School Platform: http://virtuelleschule.bmukk.gv.at/projekte-international/eu-projekte/METASCHOOL/info-folder/

Image 9: METASCHOOL Fact sheet and Poster in German

Image 10: METASCHOOL Facebook Site in Czech: http://www.facebook.com/pages/METASCHOOL/

Image 11: METASCHOOL Wiki-Handbookin German: http://www.virtuelleschule.at/wiki

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7.8 Recommendations for future actionsThe recommendations for connecting school and research in the areas of pedagogy, organisation, and technology recommendations are given in sections 6. 9.1 to 6.9.3.

7.8.1 Pedagogical RecommendationsAmount of resourcesProvide a signifi cant amount of training modules to increase the awareness of science, improve the science teacher education program, promote science education in schools and therefore en-courage more students to undertake a career in natural science.

Quality of training resourcesThe pedagogical materials and resources should consist of professional development mate-rial, lesson plans, activities and projects, which are conceptional and content checked by ex-perts. The METASCHOOL Modules should be translated to the national languages to increase teachers´motivation to use them.

Continuous extension and improvement of the METASCHOOL training frameworkThe quality and the topicality of the METASCHOOL Modules need to be critically reviewed. New training content, relating to new and up-to-date standards of meta-tagging in affi liated online repositories should be integrated into the Training Framework. Recommendations on the develop-ment of additional training modules, such as a METASCHOOL module for the practical application of Learning with mobile applications, should be ongoing improvements.

Integration of tools, handbooks and guidelines from other projects and repositoriesInteractive Tools and information databases should be either utilised from past projects or specifi -cally created in terms of usability (language, implementation for teaching, etc.).

Increase the motivation of target groups to develop, and share training materialsThrough the organisation of ongoing METASCHOOL training events, teachers shall become more familiar with the METASCHOOL Training Framework and be empowered to upload their own con-tent to the METASCHOOL Portal.

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7.8.2 Organisational RecommendationsCommitment to continuing contributionPartner organisations should commit to continue their contribution, e.g. in• organising and conducting METASCHOOL Trainings• providing educational outreach activities for the METASCHOOL Training framework through

events• improving teacher education courses by including a focus on the pedagogical practices• in fostering Closer collaboration with scientifi c research institutions, and science centres• promoting particle physics research at future conferences • submitting papers to various journals aimed at the various range of interests

Support and provide access to information and resource databasesPartner organisations should support and provide access to information and resource databases that foster innovative practice in science education. Support the established communication networksPartner organisations should support the established communication networks that promote ex-emplar practice and learning. Use the METASCHOOL Training Framework as training tool to facilitate trainings in other projectsThe training frameworks build an ideal basis to introduce new repository users to the respective content and metadata structure.

7.8.3 Technical RecommendationsProvide state-of-the-art web portalThe technical infrastructure should provide a state-of-the-art web portal including e.g.• Innovative search functionality• Actual news sectionInclude new technological standards to the Training FrameworkLearning with mobile applications and related trainings such a module on the creation of QR codes should be incorporated to the METASCHOOL Portal.

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ReferencesA. Tzikopoulos, N. Manouselis, R. Vuorikari, “An Overview of Learning Object Repositories”, in P. Northrup (Ed.) Learning Objects for Instruction: Design and Evaluation, Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 29-55, April 2007 [http://infolab-dev.aua.gr/fi les/publications/en/1185188742.pdf]

J. T. Mayes & C. J. H. Fowler (1999) “Learning technology and usability: a framework for under-standing Courseware”. Interacting with Computers 11, 485-497, 1999

R. Koper (2004) “Use of the Semantic Web to Solve Some Basic Problems in Education”, Interac-tive Media in Education, 2004 (6). Special Issue on the Educational Semantic Web. ISSN:1365-893X [www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/6]

R. Thomas and C. Milligan (2004). Putting Teachers in the Loop: Tools for Creating and Custom-ising Simulations. Journal of Interactive Media in Education (Designing and Developing for the Disciplines Special Issue), 2004 (15). ISSN:1365-893X [www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/15]

S. Britain, (2004) A Review of Learning Design: Concept, Specifi cations and Tools, A report for the JISC E-learning Pedagogy Programme, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/ACF83C.doc

S. Timmis, R. O’Leary, E. Weedon, C. Harrison, K. Martin, (2004). Diff erent Shoes, Same Footprints? A Cross-Disciplinary Evaluation of Students’ Online Learning Experiences: Preliminary Findings from the SOLE Project. Journal of Interactive Media in Education (Designing and Developing for the Disciplines Special Issue), 2004 (13). ISSN:1365-893X [www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/13]

Ν. Friesen (2001). What are Educational Objects. Interactive Learning Environments. 9(3). [http://www.careo.org/documents/objects.html]

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Appendices

Appendix A: Repositories1. aBard, http://www.a-bard.org2. Agricultural Learning Repositories, AgLR—TF, http://aglr.aua.gr3. Agriculture and Agroecology,

http://www.organic-edunet.eu and http://www.virtuelleschule.at/organic.edunet4. ALPHATRAIN, http://www.ea.gr/ep/alphatrain/5. Armonia, http://www.armoniaproject.net6. Bio-/Gentechnik-Demonstrationslabor der Mittelstufe,

http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/de/forschung/proj/detail.php?id_obj=544597. Bio-/Gentechnik-Demonstrationslabor,

http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/de/forschung/proj/detail.php?id_obj=239878. BIO@GRO: Demonstration of an online Multilingual Biological Agriculture eServices System

for Organic Farmers, Traders, Institutions and Citizens, http://www.bioagro.gr9. BIOHEAD: Biology, health and environmental education for better citizenshi,

http://projectos.iec.uminho.pt/projeuropa/10. CALIBRATE - Calibrating eLearning in Schools, http://calibrate.eun.org/11. CELEBRATE: Context eLearning with Broadband Technologies, http://celebrate.eun.org 12. COLLAGE - Collaborative Learning pLAtform using Game-like Enhancement,

http://www.ea.gr/ep/collage/ and http://collage.virtuelleschule.at13. COMCULT, http://www.eduvinet.de/comcult/d/index.htm14. CONNECT: Designing the classroom of tomorrow by using advanced technologies,

http://www.connect-project.net/15. CONVERGENCE, http://www.dep.u-picardie.fr/convergence/en/index_en.php16. COSMOS: An Advanced Scientifi c Repository for Science Teaching and Learning ,

http://www.cosmos-project.eu/ 17. DAF, http://www.daf-netzwerk.org/18. Development Youth Prize, http://www.dyp2006.org19. DISCOVERY DAYS - Advanced Technology meets Science and Culture,

http://www.ea.gr/ep/discoverydays Discovery Days Austria, http://www.virtuelleschule.at/discovery-day

20. DiscoverySpace, http://www.discoveryspace.net21. Drogenfreie Schule (Drug Free Schools),

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http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/de/forschung/proj/detail.php?id_obj=3999022. D-Space, http://www.discoveryspace.net/ Career Guide, http://www.career-guide.eu/23. eColours*, http://ecolours.eun.org24. E-Commode, http://www.e-comode.com/25. eMapps, http://www.emapps.com/26. Emires, http://www.emires.net27. Emotional and cognitive aspects of learning,

http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/de/forschung/proj/detail.php?id_obj=2468328. ENIS School Network, http://www.enis.eun.org29. Entrepreneurship Action in AUA: Support of Entrepreneurship Activities, Innovative Applica-

tions and Vocational Courses for the Students and Alumni of the Agricultural University of Athens, http://meli.aua.gr/pythagoras/Static_content/project6/index.php

30. EPICC , http://www.epiccproject.info31. eSchola 2003, http://eschola.eun.org/32. eTwinning, http://www.etwinning.net33. European Quality Observatory, http://www.eqo.info34. EVDOXOS, http://www.ea.gr/ep/eudoxos35. Green Week Competitions for schools 2, http://greenweek.eun.org36. Green Week Competitions for schools 3, http://greenweek.eun.org37. Green Week Competitions for schools 4, http://greenweek.eun.org38. HAICTA 2008, http://http://infolab.aua.gr/haicta/conf/39. Hand on & Brains on, http://www.heureka.fi 40. iClass, http://esw.eun.org41. INLET, http://www.ea.gr/ep/inlet/42. InLOT (In the Lab of Tomorrow) – A business case of using wearable computers and intel-

ligent sensors in science education, http://www.ea.gr/ep/inlot/ and http://www.virtuelleschule.at/inlot

43. Insafe plus, http://www.saferinternet.org44. Inspire, http://inspire.eun.org45. Inspiring Science Learning in Science Museums and Science Centers,

http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/de/forschung/proj/detail.php?id_obj=5508346. LeMill, http://lemill.net/47. LIFE, http://life.eun.org48. MELT - Metatadata Ecology for Learning and Teaching, http://melt-project.eun.org

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49. MoTfAL, http://www.ellinogermaniki.gr/ep/motfa50. http://www.ellinogermaniki.gr/ep/motfalMUSE, http://www.ea.gr/ep/muse51. NaturNet, http://www.naturnet.org52. NEMED, http://www.nemed-network.org53. OIKOS: Originating Innovative methods to learn and teach Knowledge, http://www.e-oikos.net54. On the Edge, http://www.ea.gr/ep/ontheedge/55. Organic.Edunet: A Multilingual Federation of Learning Repositories with Quality Content for

the Awareness and Education of European Youth about Organic Agriculture and Agroecology, http://www.organic-edunet.eu

56. P2P, http://p2p.eun.org57. P2V, http://p2v.eun.org58. Pathway, http://www.ea.gr/ep/pathway 59. Pencil, http://www.xplora.org/ww/en/pub/xplora/nucleus_home/pencil.htm

PENCIL: Permanent European Resource Centre for Informal Learning, www.xplora.org 60. Prelude, www.ea.gr/ep/prelude61. Prolearn, http://www.prolearn-project.org/62. Read it easy, http://www.readiteasy.org/63. Reformation of studies programmes - Expansion of higher education: IRAKLEITOS,

http://www.aua.gr/gr/heraklitos/64. Rural wings, http://www.ruralwings-project.net/65. RuraLEARN, http://www.ruralearn.eu66. Rural-eGov: Training SMEs of Rural Areas on Using e-Government Services,

http D://rural-egov.eu67. SCHOOL FORESIGHT, http://www.school-foresight.org/68. SCIENCE TEACHERS TRAINING ACROSS EUROPE, http://www.ea.gr/ep/pathway69. Sky watch, http://www.ea.gr/ep/skywatch 70. SPREAD, http://www.reu.pub.ro:9080/spread71. Spring Day in Europe 2004, http://futurum2004.eun.org/72. Spring Day in Europe 2005, http://futurum2005.eun.org/73. Spring Day in Europe 2006, http://futurum2006.eun.org/74. Spring Day in Europe 2007, http://www.springday2007.net75. SWEET WATER, http://www.ea.gr/ep/sweet-water/76. Teleaccess, http://www.teleaccess.org/77. Triangle, http://www.qualityfoundation.org

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78. Umweltbildung zur Förderung umweltspezifi scher Handlungs- und kognitiv-emotionaler Kompetenzen: Erfassung und Modellierung der Kompetenzstruktur, http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/de/forschung/proj/detail.php?id_obj=52297

79. UNITE, http://www.unite-ist.org/80. Vemus, http://www.vemus.org/81. V-scout, http://www.education-observatories.net/value-scout82. WEBTV, http://www.ellinogermaniki.gr/ep/webtv 83. Winsoc, http://www.winsoc.org

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Appendix B: Key TagsGlossary

BOOKMARKED ITEM , ALSO KNOWN IN MELT AS AN ITEM PUT IN FAVOURITES • This is a website, a learning resource or any other digital object that the user has made a virtual

link to by using a bookmarking service. Usually a bookmarked item is also given a keyword that facilitates its fi ndability again.

BROAD FOLKSONOMY • A collaborative tagging system where many people tag a few items (i.e. the scope of people tagging

is “broad”).

CONTROLLED VOCABULARY • Controlled vocabularies are used in indexing schemes, thesauri and taxonomies. These schemes

mandate the uses of predefi ned, authorised terms that have been pre-selected by the designer of the controlled vocabulary.

EXPERT INDEXING • In MELT, indexing of resources can be done by two diff erent groups: experts who are teachers or

other professionals with profound knowledge of indexing, and by teachers. Expert indexing referrers to the fi rst group.

FOLKSONOMY • A folksonomy is a user-generated metadata used to categorise and retrieve Web pages, photo-

graphs, Web links and other Web content using open-ended labels called tags. Typically, folkson-omies are Internet-based. A well-developed folksonomy is ideally accessible as a shared vocabulary that is both originated by, and familiar to, its primary users.

METADATA • Metadata is “data about data.” It can generally be thought of as information that describes, or

supplements, the central data and helps its indexing and retrieval.

NARROW FOLKSONOMY • A collaborative tagging system where a few people tag items that they have created themselves (i.e.

the scope of people tagging is “narrow”).

THE RT RELATIONSHIP, RELATED TERM, RT • A relationship between terms which are not members of an equivalence set; neither are subordi-

nated or superordinated to another, but are mentally associated to such an extent that it is useful to make the link between them explicit. The RT relation is a not-hierarchical, mutual and symmetric relationship, that is: If A is a RT of B, then B is a RT of A.

etb.eun.org

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SOCIAL BOOKMARKING • Social bookmarking is a web-based service to share Internet bookmarks and a popular way to store,

classify, share and search links through the practice of folksonomy techniques on the Internet or Intranet.

SOCIAL SOFTWARE • Social sost ware is defi ned broadly as any web-based sost ware tool that supports or fosters group

interaction. It enables people to connect and collaborate through technology-mediated communica-tion.(Wikipedia, March 2007). There are many genres of social sost ware: communication tools, col-laborative tools like groupware and wikis, and social network sites.

SOCIAL CONTENT • Social Content is any information that people create about themselves to share with others such as

preferences, blog postings, manifests of relationships.

SOCIAL CONTEXT • Social context centres on a person’s heterogeneous social networks; people are known to have a

variety of networks. It can be used to explain the ways that applications attempt to create networks imitating the way real-life social protocols work.

TAG • A type of metadata, generated by users and creators of the content, involving the association of descrip-

tors with objects. The tag is associated with the object, in this case with the digital learning resource. The tag helps you to fi nd the resource easily again through the tag cloud. If many users add the same tag, e.g. “brain”, to learning resouces that they fi nd on that given topic on the portal, they can create an easy collection of resources. To share these resources is easy, only to click on this tag on the tagcloud.

TAG CLOUD • A weighted list in visual design, can be used as a visual depiction of content tags used on a website.

More frequently used tags are depicted in a larger font or otherwise emphasised, while the displayed order is generally alphabetical. Thus, both fi nding a tag by alphabet and by popularity is possible. Selecting a single tag within a tag cloud will generally lead to a collection of items that are associ-ated with that tag.

TAGGING, SOCIAL TAGGING, COLLABORATIVE TAGGING • Collaborative tagging is regarded as democratic folksonomymetadata generation, i.e. rather than an

individual controlling the metadata or tags about an article or other content, metadata is generated by both the creator and consumers of the content.

See our page on examples of social tagging tools.

TAXONOMY • Taxonomy is the practice and science of taxonomic classifi cation. Taxonomies, which are composed

of taxonomic units known as taxa (singular taxon), are frequently hierarchical in structure, and com-monly display parent-child relationships.

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THESAURUS • A thesaurus, which is designed for indexing is a list of every important term (single-word or multi-

word) in a given domain of knowledge; and a set of related terms for each term in the list.

USE-UF, THE INTRA-LANGUAGE EQUIVALENCE • The intra-language equivalence is used in thesauri to facilitate the access to documents that were

indexed by the documentalist diff erently from what the end-user may think. A descriptor, which is a thesaurus term, can have many non-descriptors, i.e. words related to it that help users who use free natural language to better search. etb.eun.org

VISUALIZATION • Visualization in MELT is used to describe a variety of techniques that use images, diagrams, or ani-

mations to display relations between resources, tags and people.

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AbbreviationsADL Advanced Distributed LearningADL/SCORM ADL/SCORM (http://www.wast2000.de/xml/standardisierung/adl-scorm/index.htm)ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange

CMS Content Management SystemCSS Cascading Style Sheets

DOM Document Object ModelDTD Document Type Defi nition

EML Educational Modelling Language (http://www.wast2000.de/xml/eml/index.htm)

HTML HyperText Markup Language

IEC International Electrotechnical CommissionIEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersIEEE/LOM IEEE/LOM (http://www.wast2000.de/xml/standardisierung/ieee-lom/index.htm)IMS Instructional Management System (http://www.wast2000.de/xml/standardisier-ung/ims/index.htm; http://www.imsglobal.org/)IMS LD IMS Learning DesignIMS CP IMS Content PackagingISO International Organization for StandardizationITU International Telecommunication Union

LMML Learning Material Markup Language (http://www.wast2000.de/xml/lmml/index.htm)LMS Learning Management SystemLOM Learning Object Metadata

MathML Mathematical Markup LanguageMetadata

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PDA Personal Digital Assistant

SCORM Sharable Content Objekt Reference ModelSGML Standard Generalized Markup LanguageSMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration LanguageSVG Scalable Vector GraphicsSVML Semantics Visualization Markup Language

UCS Universal Character SetUTF Unicode Transformation Format; auch UCS Transformation Format

VRML Virtual Reality Modeling Language

W3C World Wide Web ConsortiumWML Wireless Markup Language

XHTML eXtensible Hypertext Markup LanguageXML eXtensible Markup Language (http://www.wast2000.de/xml/xml/index.htm)XSL eXtensible Stylesheet Language

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