Teacher Attitudes to Professional Development of Proficiency in the Classroom Application of Digital Technologies


  •  Štefan Karolcík    
  •  Elena Cipková    
  •  Ian Kinchin    

Abstract

The paper deals with research focused on the opinions and attitudes of biology teachers on the application of digital technologies in the process of learning and teaching. The respondents were teachers, who participated in the national project called “Modernization of the Educational Process in Elementary and Secondary Schools” realized in Slovakia between 2008–2013.

We briefly describe the course and the contents of individual modules, which were focused on the development and acquisition of specific skills in the field of effective use of modern educational technology. The key role in the methodical preparation of teachers was played by the 3rd module, which aimed to present the teachers with the examples of meaningful and methodically well prepared application of digital technologies in the teaching process, especially in connection with current digital educational contents and the curriculum of biology subject.

The second part of the study includes analysis of satisfaction among the course participants with the content, level of expertise and difficulty level of the course, as well as the analysis of their opinions and attitudes on usability of created and available model methods in the real school practice. In conclusion, we present suggestions which could, facilitate improving the quality of biology teaching in schools, in order to reflect the real needs of society.



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