B1-Level ICT Teacher training constitutes an introductory 36-hour training course on issues of educational exploitation of ICT and addresses primary and secondary school teachers of all disciplines and specialties.

Prerequisite for the participation in an Introductory Training program for the utilization of ICT in school (B1-Level ICT teacher training) is the certification of basic ICT skills (A-Level ICT skills), with the exception of teachers of Informatics, as well as of the A-Level ICT teacher trainers who are included in the relevant records of previous teacher training projects regarding basic ICT skills1.

The aim of the Introductory Training program for the utilization of ICT in school (B1-Level ICT teacher training) is the acquisition of knowledge and skills for classroom use and exploitation of:

a) digital infrastructures developed for and delivered to schools through actions and projects of the Ministry of Education, such as certain educational platforms and repositories for the distribution and sharing of digital material, platforms which support the teaching and learning process at the level of the 'class', interactive teaching systems etc. as well as
b) modern general purpose tools and the Internet (including Internet safety issues), through examples and practices, which will make use of all of the above.

According to the objectives of B1-Level ICT teacher training, as it was updated and enriched during the 2nd Phase of the project from 2022 onwards, teacher trainees will be able to:

  • make educational use of the possibilities provided by educational platforms and repositories for distributing and sharing digital material,
  • become familiar with the characteristics, the functions and the efficient use of  educational environments which support and facilitate the functioning of the school community for communication, distribution and sharing of materials, assignment and development of educational activities etc. (e.g. e-me, e-class),
  • become familiar with the characteristics, the functions and the efficient use of interactive teaching systems and methods in the educational process,
  • become familiar with contemporary generic tools as well as the Internet through its new and expanding dimensions, including awareness about safety issues,
  • be informed regarding technological developments and emerging technologies (Virtual Reality - VR, Augmented Reality - AR, Internet of Things - AI, etc.) in connection with modern pedagogical approaches (STEAM etc),
  • get to know the key principles of teaching interventions with the use of ICT, through relevant examples,
  • understand the prerequisites and the possibilities of using digital technologies at school to upgrade the educational process.

The content of the training includes: introduction to ICT educational use, open tools - environments that encourage collaboration and participation in the learning process, environments which support and facilitate the functioning of the school community, educational social networks, environments for presentations,  modern general purpose software, internet safety and digital citizenship issues as well as activities leveraging all of the above.

B1-Level ICT teacher training programs take place outside school hours, with the responsibility and support of Teacher Training Support Centres (TTSCs) all around Greece, in groups of teachers of “related” specialties - disciplines (“clusters” of teachers’ disciplines) by B-Level teacher trainers in ICT.

During the 1st Phase of the B1-Level ICT teacher training program (2017-2019), four main clusters were initially foreseen, which included all teacher disciplines, including special education, and were realised as shown in the following table:

 

CLUSTERS B1 – Level ICTCluster TitleSpecialties – disciplines of trainees
CLUSTER B1.1 Theoretical Sciences and Arts philology-language teachers, theology teachers, foreign language teachers, teachers of music, arts etc.
CLUSTER B1.2 Physical Sciences, Technology, Physical Education and Health physical sciences teachers, domains of technology, professions of land, physical education and health, home economics etc.
CLUSTER B1.3 Mathematics, Informatics and Economics - Management mathematics teachers, informatics teachers, Economists, Administration etc.
CLUSTER B1.4 Primary Education primary school teachers, kindergarten teachers

 

 

Since 2022, for the 2nd Phase of B1-Level ICT teacher training, it has been established that both the method of implementation and the content of the program is upgraded in order for the training to be offered in more clusters, following the organization of the B2-Level teacher training, through an equal number of distinct courses as shown below:

 

CLUSTERS B2 – Level ICT        Cluster TitleSpecialties – disciplines of trainees
CLUSTER B2.1 Philology                                                                                          Philology-language teachers, theology teachers
CLUSTER B2.2 Physical Sciences Physical sciences (Physicists, Chemists, Biologists, Geologists, Physiologists)
CLUSTER B2.3 Mathematics Mathematicians
CLUSTER B2.4 Informatics Teachers of Informatics and other ICT related specialties of technical education
CLUSTER B2.5

Primary School Education - Teachers

Primary School Teachers
CLUSTER B2.6 Primary School Education - Teachers Kindergarten Teachers
CLUSTER B2.7 Foreign Languages French, English, German, Italian, Spanish Language Teachers
CLUSTER B2.8 Arts and Music Teachers of Music, Arts and other relevant disciplines of technical education (Graphical Arts, Photography, Decoration, Maintenance of Artwork etc.)
CLUSTER B2.9 Physical Education and Health Physical Education and Health related specialties/ disciplines of technical education
CLUSTER B2.10 Educational Engineering Engineers and in general, Technological specialties/ disciplines of technical education
CLUSTER B2.11 Economy, Management and Social Sciences                                                  Economists, Business Administration Teachers, Accounting, Law - Political Science Teachers, Sociologists, Political Economy Teachers, Teachers of Home Economics etc.
CLUSTER B2.12 Professionals working with Land                                  Agronomists, Vegetable and Animal Production Teachers, Forestry and other related specialties/ disciplines of technical education
CLUSTER B2.13 Special Education Teachers of Special Education in primary and secondary education

 

 

B1-Level ICT teacher training has got a duration of 36 teaching hours and lasts for about 12 weeks (in average one lesson per week, i.e. one training session of 2-3 teaching hours, accompanied as the case may be by asynchronous activities). In the context of the asynchronous activities, which constitute a complementary and integral part of the training process, in-between training sessions, trainees carry out small tasks - activities assigned to them by their teacher trainers.

All training material for the B-Level ICT Teacher Training is being made available through the B-Level ICT Teacher Training e-Learning Platform (moodle). The platform is also being used for the development and delivery of educational activities and other relevant project work on behalf of the trainees. It is also being used for communication purposes between the trainees as well as between the trainer and the trainees.

In the implementation of the programs, a flexible blended learning model is being applied to facilitate the participation of teacher trainees and teacher trainers/ educators as well as to allow the coverage of specific training needs (e.g. teachers from remote areas, areas with a small number of potential trainees or with a shortage in teacher trainers/ educators, as well as teachers who serve in Greek schools abroad etc).

 

Project: “In-Service Teacher Training in the Utilization of ICT in the classroom”, Measure 1.2 of the InfoSoc Operational Programme and
Project: Training of Primary and Secondary School Teachers in acquiring Basic ICT skills for educational purpose” (A-Level ICT Teacher Training), 3rd CSF / EPEAEK II