The need for training in technological resources by primary and secondary school teachers became glaring when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out two years ago, when many of those dedicated to teaching had to accelerate their learning in new technologies to meet the demands of an educational reality that was evolving at a breakneck pace.
In this context of accelerated searches for digital media and didactic resources through virtual platforms, the European E-DUCATION project came about, in which the University of Cordoba participates together with universities, research centers and groups of Primary and Secondary Education Schools from other points in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
The UCO researcher and the coordinator of the Cordoba project, Víctor Manuel Pavón Vázquez, explained that "if we were already suffering from a shortage of online resources for primary and secondary school teachers, the pandemic magnified this need, so we had to react to seek solutions".
The work currently being carried out by the Córdoba team, comprised of professors Carmen Ramos and María del Mar Sierra, together with Pavón, is based on the selection of schools to participate in the study of the technological tools they are using, both in the classroom and in online training, to teach their students. Based on the contributions of these schools, the UCO team will carry out a diagnosis, evaluating the quality of the usage of these methodologies and teaching resources at a total of 50 schools. To carry out this diagnosis the research team analyzes the document with which the schools regulate the use of digital media, and evaluates the characteristics of these resources and their usage. The Cordoba team is collaborating with the University of Granada and the International University of La Rioja on this project.
The UCO team has also been charged, together with the Creative Technology Center of Italy, with designing a platform consisting of a website and an app that will host videos on good practices in the use of digital tools, in addition to information and training videos as a repository to help teachers who detect weaknesses related thereto when teaching.
The UCO will also develop a tool to assess the quality of the educational resources. In this regard, elements will be identified and assessed to certify whether they are being used properly. In addition, plans call for the launch of a digital application that will allow for coordination between members of the educational community to overcome the digital divide.
For the Cordoba team, participating in this European project has allowed them to discover that the difficulties encountered by Spanish teachers when it comes to applying digital tools "are very similar to those faced by their European counterparts, as well as their very high capacity to overcome these challenges, and that they have imaginative capacities, despite the educational deficit detected."
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects 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.