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In one of the last sessions we talked about a project conducted by the “Medienzentrum Kassel“. It is called ”digital schoolbag”. In the following paragraphs, we want to give a brief summary of what is meant by the term “digital schoolbag”. We will also discuss advantages and disadvantages of the project.
What are Digital Schoolbags?
USB pen drives have established themselves as a medium which is already often used by students. However, it is usually employed in order to save personal data, e.g. word documents or presentations. USB pen drives are also the central medium of the digital schoolbag project. However, in this approach, USB pen drives do not only have the function of a data storage, but they also contain software. In other words, digital schoolbags are a collection of software which is free of charge. Students and teachers only need UBS pen drives on which they can download portable versions of a variety of software programmes. All the software is for free so that you only have to pay for the USB pen drive. With this software package, teachers are well-prepared for lessons in which they want to work with the new media since the digital schoolbag offers a great variety of programs for several purposes (writing texts, internet research, preparing presentations, learning software etc.). These programs should run everywhere, too, so that teachers and students should not encounter any technical difficulties.
The digital schoolbag contains:
- Artweaver
- Firefox
- Open Office
- VLC- Media Player
- Audacity
- Deepburner
- Skype
- etc.
Advantages of the Digital Schoolbag
The digital schoolbag offers teachers and students a variety of advantages. First of all, the students can use the software at home, as well, so that they are not required to have all the programmes used at school at home, as well. Usually, students have different versions of word processing programmes or presentation software at home so that technical problems might occur when they start working on a text at school, send it to their e-mail address and want to finish it at home. If they do not have the matching programs at home, they might not be able to access their documents and continue working on them. What is more, it is easier if they can use the same programs school and at home, because they are familiar with these programs and the teacher can help them more easily if they have any technical questions or problems. Additionally, the computers at school do not need a big storage since all data can be saved on the portable device. Even more, complicated installation processes are avoided so that the distribution and updating of software becomes easier. Another advantage consists of the fact that the students are not required to have a computer at home. Theoretically, they can use the programs whenever and wherever they like. If they do not have the chance of working with a computer at home, they can for example, work at a computer in a computer room of the school. In other words, a huge advantage of the digital schoolbag consists of its flexibility. Even more, the digital schoolbag also has advantages for the children’s health: They might be able to leave some books at home, e.g. by using electronic texts from the internet. Nevertheless, this does not mean they students do not need any books any more. Of course, teachers should find the right balance between traditional and new media. Another advantage consists of the fact that there are two different versions of the digital schoolbag, namely one for elementary school (years 1-4) and another one or older students (years 5-13). Consequently, students can work with software that matches their age. Finally, you do not encounter problems with any licenses, either.
Disadvantages of the Digital Schoolbag
However, there are also some disadvantages. First of all, although the software is free of charge and USB pen drives have become really cheap, there might be some students whose parents still cannot afford to buy the portable devices. Schools might solve this problem by offering the chance of borrowing USB pen drives or by looking for sponsors who pay for the devices of children who cannot pay for them. What is more, it would be a good idea if the students did not have to buy the portable devices privately, i.e. individually, but if the school would buy a large number of them so that they would become even cheaper for the students. Furthermore, it would also be important that the school ensures that students who do not have a computer at home, have the chance of working at the school’s computer labs. Maybe they could arrange an extra room where students can work individually (often schools only have computer rooms which can be used by entire classes or courses).
Conclusion
The digital schoolbag is a very useful device that helps teachers to integrate the new media into their lessons more easily. It makes the lessons more flexible because tasks can easily be completed at home. Although there are many advantages, schools must make sure that each student- regardless of his financial background- has the chace of using the digital schoolbag and of working in the school’s computer labs if they do not have a computer at home.
Do you have any experiences with the digital schoolbag? We are interested in your comments 
Hello everybody,
in last week’s session we talked about the question of how to realize e-mail projects with year 5 students of English. First of all, we discussed some possibilities of facilitating e-mail writing in English and came up with the following ideas:
Preparing an Email Project
- You can offer vocabulary that helps the students (e.g. vocabulary lists, dictionaries)
- You can provide them with typical phrases.
- You can teach them how to introduce oneself so that they have a good starting point for their first e-mail.
- You might choose a partner group that also consists of beginners (e.g. English learners of German). They will have similar problems in writing German e-mails so that your students do not have to be afraid of making too many mistakes since their partner will not write perfect e-mails, either.
- You should offer a topic so that your students know what to write about.
- You might decide to have them write e-cards because in e-mails short texts look quite lost. In e-cards, your student can also write shorter messages and also design them in a more personal way.
- You might want to use e-mail templates which the students to find an appropriate structure for their e-mail.
Finding a partner group
Afterwards we talked about the question of how to find an appropriate partner group for your class. Here are some websites that might help you:
We used the first website. It is quite uncomplicated to find a partner group there because the groups are listed according to topics they want to deal with. Consequently, you can easily search for a group that talks about a similar topic. We were asked to choose something that corresponded to the following topics from the Hessian curriculum: Living – Leisure Time – Family and finally came up with the topic “pets”. We found a Greek class that was suitable as an imaginary partner group for our class.
Lesson plan
Finally, we designed the following lesson plan on the topic pets for year 5 students (first year of English).
First phase
The topic of the first session is introducing oneself and getting to know each other. For the e-mail project the class is divided into groups of 2 or 3 students one of which must have a pet. We assume that the students have already been provided with e-mail lists and typical phrases before starting the actual e-mail project. In the first session they write an e-mail in which they introduce themselves as well as their school, city and their class. They are encouraged to use pictures and other material as well. The partner class is expected to do the same. Since our imaginary partner group is a Greek one it makes sense that both groups write in English. If the partner group was an English-speaking one, it would be a good idea if they wrote their e-mails in German.
Second phase
In the second session, there should be a kind of research phase. The groups should collect information about their own pets (what pets do the students have, where do they live, collecting pictures or videos showing the pets, maybe also virtual pets). They should structure the information and write an e-mail to their partner group introducing their pets to them. The partner group is expected to do the same.
Third phase
The third phase consists of a comparison. The students compare the pets of their Greek partners to their own pets: What pets do the Greek students have? Do they have the same pets or completely different ones? How do pets in Greek live and how are they treated, there? The students are expected to create posters summing up their results and present them to the other groups. The posters are put up in the classroom so that the students can always look at them. The Greek partner group should, again, do the same. The German and Greek groups should exchange e-mails in which they write about their results. They should also send a picture of their posters to each other.
Fourth phase
The fourth phase involves a discussion. After presenting their posters to their classmates, the students should discuss the results of the different groups: Did the groups have similar results or did they vary? Differences between boys and girls? Etc. The partner group does, again, the same. The students might write an e-mail summing up the result of the discussion.
Fifth phase
In the final phase, the students draw a conclusion from the e-mail project. On the one hand, the students should sum up the most important things they learned from the project. These results should be put down in a final Power Point Presentation created by the entire class as a common result. On the other hand, there should be a reflexion about the project: How did the students like the project? Did they find it interesting/helpful? Do they have any suggestions of how do improve future projects? The class should write a joint e-mail to the partner class summing up their final results. They should attach the Power Point presentation to it. Furthermore, the groups should write personal “good-bye” e-mails. They should, of course also have a look at the Power Point presentation created by their partner class.
How do you like our lesson plan? Do you think it makes sense to conduct such a project?
Hello everybody! We are going to visit the Alfred-Wegener-School in Kirchhain next week. This school is quite advanced as far as the use of new media is concerned. Therefore, we hope to get some insights into the teachers’ and students’ experiences with the new media. Here are some questions concerning the use of the new media that we might ask the teachers. If you can think of other interesting questions, feel free to write a comment!
- How long have you been working with the new media?
- How many computers do you have at your school?
- Are the new media used in all subjects/ in which subjects are they applied?
- At what age do the students start to work with the new media?
- Are there special subjects in which the use of the new media is taught?
- Does your school cooperate with other schools or institutions, e.g. via email- friendships with students in foreign countries?
- Are the parents involved? Do you also offer courses for them so that they might be able to help their children (especially in younger grades)?
- What type of training in the use of new media do teachers receive?
- Are there “virtual sessions” which supplement the normal in-class sessions?
- How do the students like working with new media?
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