The 9th International Scientific Conference eLearning and software for Education Bucharest, April 25-26, 2013

The 9^thInternational Scientific Conference eLearning

and software for Education Bucharest,

April 25-26, 2013 

10.12753/2066-026X-13-052 

THE IMPACT OF ICT ON THE VISUOMOTOR PRECISION OF STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY 

I. INTRODUCTION 

The omnipresence of technology in everyday life has led to the concept of learning through ICT, which is performed even outside formal educational environments. Although currently ICT is used in the classroom less than one would have anticipated, it definitely represents an equalizing factor because for many persons with disabilities technology can serve as a cognitive support to overcome or compensate for difficulties experienced in the learning process. ICT may help with creating conditions for equal opportunities in learning and access to the curriculum. The role of ICT as an equalizing factor for students with special educational needs is confirmed by the remarkable diversity of multimedia materials that were developed to meet the special needs of children. Magazines and online stores offer an impressive range of devices and programs that cover all areas of the curriculum and all kinds of learning disabilities. 

It seems, though, that the Information Age brings with it not only opportunities for children with special needs - but also many challenges. On one hand technology may provide for the chance of involvement in some aspects of society that would be normally inaccessible to people with disabilities, but on the other hand it can create new barriers that would require special efforts to be overcome, deepening social exclusion. Those who do not enjoy equal access to information are thus losing one oftheir most important rights. If ICT is inaccessible to people with disabilities or information is processed so that certain groups of people with special needs can not be allowed to access it, for these persons ICT can become a source of frustration.

In the educational context, ICT plays a critical role in providing high quality educational experiences for students with various disabilities. ICT was introduced in the teaching-learning process in an attempt to improve quality, to support curricular changes and to promote new learning experiences. It is thus possible to address the special learning needs of different groups of students with disabilities. Although specific applications of information and communication technologies are highly diverse and varied, they can be grouped into the following three main categories as mentioned by Florian (2004):

- compensatory use in the sense that technology can somehow counterbalance and compensate for the deficiency.Students with special needs can participate actively in the process of interaction and communication, for example if a person has a motor disability, technology may be employed as support in the writing process - or if a visual impairment exists, as a support to the reading process.

- teaching use : allowing access to a variety of teaching and assessment strategies for students with special educational needs, ICT tools are thus suitable for the implementation of the concept of inclusive education;

- communication use: a computer is a resource that facilitates and enables communication, allowing a person with communication disorders to prove their skills, to initiate communication, to express certain requests and to exemplify certain needs. Moreover, if the number of available teachers is not sufficient (which can be observed sometimes in the special education area), distance teaching facilitated by ICT can help providing services between students and teachers who reside in different geographical locations.

According to research conducted by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA, 2003), the use of ICT in schools allows students with special needs to communicate, to participate in lessons and to learn more effectively.According to this research the use of ICT has effects on both the students and their teachers or parents:

effects on students with special needs (as per BECTA, 2003):

- increasing independent access to education;

- opportunity to perform their work in a self-paced manner;

- Internet usage becomes possible, e.g. internet usage by children with visual impairments; -increased communication opportunities for students with associated and profound disabilities

- increasing social and school integration

- ICT use motivates students to access the Internet at home both for training and leisure.

- effects on teachers:

o   ICT makes it easier into transform learning materials in accessible resources, one example being given by the use of Braille printing;

o   stimulates professional cooperation between teachers, allowing them to communicate and share experiences with other colleagues.

- effects on parents:

o   the use of ICT encourages parents in having higher expectations about the sociability and the potential participation level of children with special needs.

Therefore, new technologies can provide the means to explore new forms of learning that overturn traditional hierarchies of education and develop real alternatives to the classical, rigid approaches related to the training of children with SEN.

II. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES AND OBJECTIVES

Given the theoretical considerations and previous research conducted on the role of ICT in special education, we have built an investigative study whose purpose was to identify the impact that an educational software adapted for children with special educational needs directly has on visuomotor accuracy.

 

Based on the above declared purpose, we have formulated these research objectives:

- identification of visuomotor accuracy levels in children with mental deficiency, before and after the implementation of the computerized educational program;

- identification of the influence that an educational software application in school activities for children with mental disabilities has on their neuropsychological development.

 

Based on the declared research purpose and objectives, we have formulated the next hypotheses:

- It is presumed that the use of interactive learning systems, in a constructive manner, even by students with mental disabilities, may lead to an improvement in their psychmotor reaction time;

- It is presumed that the use of information technology in a controlled manner cognitively stimulates children, thus contributing to an increased academic performance.

III. RESEARCH RESULTS

In this study a group of 90 students with mild intellectual disabilities (representing the experimental sample group) and a control group of 90 students (also diagnosed with mild intellectual disabilities) took part to an experiment which included interactive media lessons. The members of both groups attend special schools. The participants are boys and girls in almost equal percentages and with the age ranging from 10 to 16 years and an IQ between 50-79.

In order to determine the influences of interactive computer learning environments on cognitive development of children with mental disabilities, we have used the neuropsychological development assessment battery - NEPSY. In this paper, we present only the results obtained at the Visuomotor Precision sub-test.This sub-test assesses fine motor skills (speed) and eye-hand coordination accuracy. In the sub-test, the child uses his favorite hand to draw a line in a given route sketched on a paper. While performing this task, the response time is measured and a time limit of 180 seconds per item is considered. Any route segment which is completed beyond this time limit counts as an error.

We have chosen to test and monitor the improvement of psychomotor development for children with intellect deficiencies by taking into account that they exhibit different degrees of disability depending on IQ and other characteristics. Thus, children with a low or moderate intellect deficiency present as characteristics: a delayed psycho-motor development - sometimes this delay is not so visible, such as the development may even appear as normal - impaired coordination of voluntary motion, gestural imprecision, clumsiness, involuntary unnecessary movements.Sometimes, on an apparently normal display of psychomotricity, disturbances only occur in complex situations, ant they are related to the speed and accuracy of fine movements, but also to the ability to voluntarily relax. Sensory system disorders manifested by children with mental deficiencies negatively influence the level of knowledge and praxic effectiveness; usually they consist of difficulties related to body scheme perception, the perception of space and the understanding of spatial relationships, the perception of time, shortness of motor memory and feedback etc.

But we believe that through the use of information technologies in the educational process motor skills capacity may be improved, patience may be educated, coordination of fine finger movements may be tuned, eye-hand coordination may be increased, control and precision of fine hand and finger movements may be developed.

In the extensive study that we conducted, students were provided with educational software (interactive multimedia lessons). Each interactive lesson is presented and organised in the form of lesson moments called reusable learning objects. These moments are also divided into sub-moments which are created by connecting various learning resources.So these resources are organized in lessons (each lesson containing from 3 to 14 reusable objects) and arranged according to the unit topic.

In this way, the curriculum fragmentation into reusable learning objects creates an advantage, contributing to the flexibility of the teaching process: the teacher can aggregate learning paths which are personalized, adaptable and reusable. The teacher can use resources from other disciplines, may use their own material or extract them from the internet. Depending on the electronic resources available and their potential, the teacher will use the alternative teaching scenario which is the most appropriate for the respective class level, structured so as to foster cooperative learning, individualized

learning, learning through play, self-assessment processes, understanding concepts, operating with the new concepts, strengthening concepts through practice, all this while the teacher maintains and tailors content to the students' level of knowledge.

Interactive multimedia lessons propose a content which is scientifically valid: scenarios are developed by specialist teachers, recognized for professional accomplishments and teaching experience; language used in lessons is the same as the one used in textbooks; the text is easy to read and is written with a simple and understandable approach; vocabulary is adapted to the needs of thechild; work tasks are presented both as text and sound; lessons contain activities related to real situations and activities; difficulty levels rise gradually and students have some feedback when each task is completed. 

To check whether a statistically significant improvement in visuomotor accuracy is observed in subjects involved in our research, we used a quantitative analysis of the results (descriptive statistics) and the "t" test for paired samples. 

At the Initial testing of the visuomotor accuracy, before introducing interactive media lessons, subjects from both groups obtained scores that were quite close in value. 

During the pretest period, in the experimental group the following scores were obtained: 27 subjects received scores between 4-6 points (equivalent to an underdeveloped capacity), 54 subjects received scores between 7-13 points (equivalent to an average developed capacity) and 9 subjects received scores between 14-16 points (the equivalent of a well-developed capacity). 

In the control group, the pretest phase, we obtained the following scores: 25 subjects obtained scores in the range of 4-6 points (underdeveloped capacity), 57 subjects received scores between 7-13 points (average developed capacity) and 8 subjects received scores between 14-16 points (highly developed capacity). 

Table 1. Results obtained at the initial testing by subjects in both groups – 

Visuomotor Accuracy Test NEPSY 

Score	4-6	7-13	14-16
Experimental group	27	54	9
Score	4-6	7-13	14-16
Control group	25	57	8

 

Figure 1. Results obtained at the initial testing by subjects in both groups - Visuomotor Accuracy Test NEPSY

After placing the subjects in the experimental group in interactive learning environments, the final test results have revealed a change in scores in both groups, but the change is more obvious for the experimental group. 

Thus, for the experimental group 12 subjects obtained scores in the range of 4-6 points (underdeveloped capacity), 69 subjects received scores between 7-13 points (average developed capacity ) and 9 subjects received scores between 14 - 16 points (highly developed capacity). 

Regarding the control group, the following scores were obtained in the post-test phase: 18 subjects were in the range 4-6 points (underdeveloped capacity), 63 subjects scored between 7-13 points (average developed capacity) and 9 subjects obtained scores in the range of 14-16 points. 

Tabel 2. Results obtained at the final testing by subjects in both groups - Visuomotor Accuracy Test NEPSY 

Score	4-6	7-13 14-16
Experimental group	12	69 9
Score	4-6	7-13 14-16
Control group	18	63 9

 

Figure 2. Results obtained at the final testing by subjects in both groups - Visuomotor Accuracy Test NEPSY 

To determine the degree of statistical significance of the differences obtained between the initial and final test results in the two groups in the research, we applied the "t" test for paired samples. 

Table 3. Paired Samples Test for both groups 

Paired Samples Test

Group 

Std. 

Std. 

_MeanLower Upper _{t df}Sig. 

(2-tailed) 

Mean 

_{experimental Pair 1}scortest1 

Deviation 

Error 

_scortest2- .733 .868 .159 -1058 - .409 -4.626 29 .000

control Pair 1

scortest1  scortest2

- .100

.305

.056

- .214

.014

-1795

29

.083

Statistical data obtained shows an improvement in the visuomotor accuracy, both for the experimental sample group and the control sample group. However, progress in the experimental sample is statistically significant, compared to the control sample, where progress is limited. In descriptive terms we can say that using multimedia lessons in special education and educational games adapted for children with special needs can lead to a stimulation on various cognitive levels. 

IV. CONCLUSIONS

In the present study we have sought to verify whether the use of ICT for children with special educational needs may have an effect on fine psychomotor skills. The recorded results statistically confirm the observations we made during the research. 

The importance of ICT in special education is a consequence of numerous innovations that have led to improving and expanding the ways in which technology can support children with special needs. The special education system from Romania has started to integrate an increasing number of software packages adapted for children with different difficulties or disabilities, such as Commnunicate in Print (for creating communication materials and books), Communicate Symwriter (for beginner students in writing) or By Choice software for children with very severe disabilities. All these software are commonly used in special schools throughout Romania and have contributed to facilitating the recovery of these children; meanwhile, the range of software development is expanded, so that it covers a larger spectrum of disorders: speech therapy software, software to facilitate the communication of various emotions and the use of emotional language etc. 

REFERENCES

[1] Florian, L.; Hegarty, J. (2004). ICT and special educational needs. A tool for inclusion. Open University Press, Maidenhead, England. 

[2] Radu, I. D. (2000). Educația psihomotorie a deficienților mintal. Îndrumător metodic, Bucureşti, Editura Pro Humanitate. 

[3] BECTA ICT Research. (2003). online: http://www.becta.org.uk/page_documents/research/wrts_ictsupport accessed on 17 of January 2013.

PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PBL)

 

1. Introduction

Project-Based Learning (PBL) has become one of the most influential student-centered methodologies in contemporary education. It is defined as an approach in which learners acquire knowledge and skills by working over an extended period on a meaningful task, usually a real-world problem or an authentic question.

This method situates learning within complex situations that require investigation, decision-making, creativity, and collaboration.

As a result, PBL encourages students to take an active role in their own learning and to construct knowledge through experience rather than passively receiving information. International organizations such as the OECD, UNESCO, and the European Commission consistently highlight the need for pedagogies that foster 21st-century skills. In this context, PBL emerges as an essential methodology because it aligns naturally with competence-based curricula, supports deeper learning, and prepares students for the social, technological, and economic challenges of the modern world.

 

2. International Frameworks Supporting PBL

2.1. OECD and the development of transformative competencies The OECD’s project “The Future of Education and Skills 2030” emphasizes that education systems must equip learners with transformative competencies such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, resilience, and responsibility. These competencies are necessary for participating in society and navigating an increasingly complex world. According to OECD conceptual documents, PBL contributes to these goals by placing students in interdisciplinary situations where they must integrate knowledge from various subjects to solve real problems. This methodology is also closely connected to the OECD Learning Compass 2030, which describes learners as active agents capable of shaping their own learning paths and contributing positively to their communities. Because PBL creates opportunities for students to investigate authentic issues and make informed decisions, it is considered an effective tool for putting this vision into practice.

 

2.2. The European Union and the Key Competences Framework The European Union’s Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2018) represents another important reference point. This document identifies eight key competences that all citizens should acquire throughout their lives, including digital competence, multilingual competence, social and civic engagement, entrepreneurship, and cultural awareness. The European Commission consistently promotes active learning approaches as the most appropriate way to develop these competences. Among these approaches, PBL stands out because it encourages students to communicate, collaborate, think critically, manage information, and take initiative. Teacher-training materials produced by the Commission frequently describe PBL as a methodology that creates authentic learning experiences, connects classroom activities with real situations, and fosters autonomy and responsibility.

 

2.3. UNESCO and the promotion of 21st-century skills UNESCO, through its Education 2030 agenda, argues that traditional, transmission-focused pedagogies are insufficient for the demands of contemporary society. Instead, UNESCO advocates for experiential learning models, including PBL, that allow students to explore global issues, engage in inquiry, and develop skills necessary for sustainable development and peaceful coexistence. Reports and case studies published by UNESCO show that PBL can be especially effective when supported by digital tools, helping students to collaborate across contexts, explore authentic data, and construct meaningful knowledge. These studies also demonstrate that PBL increases student motivation and strengthens the connection between curriculum content and the challenges and questions that shape today’s world.

 

3. National Frameworks

The Spanish Case (LOMLOE) In Spain, the LOMLOE establishes a curriculum model based on competences and aligned with European and OECD frameworks. The official curriculum documents for Primary Education (Royal Decree 157/2022) and Secondary Education (Royal Decree 217/2022) indicate that teaching should be organized through active methodologies that promote meaningful learning and the application of knowledge in real contexts. Although the law does not always refer explicitly to PBL, the definition of “learning situations” corresponds closely to the characteristics of project-based work. These learning situations integrate different types of knowledge, encourage collaboration, focus on the production of meaningful outcomes, and relate content to authentic contexts. Therefore, PBL is considered one of the most appropriate methods for implementing the competence-based curriculum established by LOMLOE.

 

4. Empirical Evidence on the Effectiveness of PBL

Scientific studies and international reports provide evidence that PBL can generate a variety of positive outcomes. Research conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation, for example, indicates that well-structured PBL programs produce modest but consistent improvements in academic performance, especially in subjects such as science and social studies. Additional evidence shows that PBL encourages deeper understanding, supports long-term retention, and promotes higher-order thinking. Studies also point out that PBL develops transferable skills, including communication, teamwork, planning, and informed decision-making. These skills are increasingly valued in professional and social contexts. However, the literature emphasizes that PBL is most effective when combined with explicit instruction at strategic moments, ensuring that students have the necessary conceptual foundation before engaging in complex tasks.

 

4.1. Research findings in the Spanish context Studies conducted in Spain reveal similar trends. PBL appears to be particularly effective when implemented over sustained periods, allowing students enough time to investigate, experiment, and revise their work. Research also highlights the positive influence of PBL on the development of executive functions, including autonomy, organizational skills, and collaborative problem solving. Despite these positive results, Spanish research also points out that successful implementation requires adequate teacher training, careful project design, and assessment methods aligned with competency development. Without these conditions, PBL may lose its effectiveness or generate an excessive cognitive load for students.

 

5. A Scientific Synthesis

Why PBL Is Important Drawing on official international frameworks and empirical studies, several reasons explain the importance of PBL in contemporary education. First, PBL is naturally aligned with 21st-century competencies. It creates situations in which students must analyze information, collaborate with peers, communicate ideas, solve complex problems, and make decisions. These abilities are at the core of the OECD Learning Compass, UNESCO Education 2030, and the EU Key Competences Framework. Second, PBL promotes deep and meaningful learning. Instead of memorizing isolated facts, students engage with real problems, make connections between concepts, and apply knowledge in authentic contexts. This leads to higher retention and understanding. Third, PBL supports interdisciplinary learning because real projects rarely fit into a single subject. This approach reflects the interconnected nature of knowledge in the real world and helps students see the relevance of what they learn. Fourth, PBL fosters motivation and engagement. Students often feel more committed when they work on projects that have purpose, real audiences, and visible outcomes. Finally, when properly scaffolded, PBL can contribute to equity. It allows learners with different strengths to participate actively and to demonstrate their understanding in various ways.

 

6. Conditions for Effective PBL

Implementation Research and official guidance agree that PBL requires certain conditions to be successful. These include clear project design, a combination of inquiry and direct instruction, ongoing teacher training, and evaluation systems that acknowledge the development of competences rather than only the memorization of content. When these conditions are met, PBL can have a transformative impact on both teaching and learning.

 

7. Conclusion

The analysis of international frameworks from the OECD, UNESCO, and the European Commission, together with national curriculum guidelines and scientific studies, demonstrates that Project-Based Learning is a highly relevant methodology for modern education. It reflects the global shift from content-driven models to competence-based systems and prepares learners to participate actively and responsibly in an increasingly complex world. PBL strengthens critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and problem solving, while also providing meaningful opportunities to apply academic content to real situations. For these reasons, it is considered not merely a methodological option but a scientifically supported response to the educational needs of the 21st century.

LESSON 8

 Lesson 8: Presentations of dioramas (1,5 hours).

Objectives: Learning to speak publicly, foster individual and collective reflective thinking, learning to learn awareness 

Key competencies: Characteristics of plants that allow their classification in relation to their adaptive capacity to the environment: obtaining energy, relationship with the environment and perpetuation of the species. Digital devices and resources according to the needs of the educational context. 

Materials: computers and the plant video game.

When each group is done with their project, they will have to present it to the class. 

To finish the project based learning, the students will reflect on what they learned about the plant's life cycle, which stages they found most interesting, and why. They will have to write about it individually in their own blogs or they can make brainstorming maps and put it into the blog. This way, the teacher and the students themselves will get to notice who understood most of the content and who didn’t. 

 

At the end of the class, students will be able to explore a video game that consists of taking care of a cress plant during its life cycle (alimentation, growing and processes), in that way students will review the content of the learning situation. (1 hour)

LESSON 7

 Lesson 7: project based learning about the life cycle of plants 2,5  hours.

Objectives: Understand the growing process of plants. Develop creativity, fine psychomotricity and visual learning. Learn the differences between plants in different stages and recognise them. Develop cooperative learning through the creation of a model. Work on oral expression though a presentation. Reflect on what they have learnt. 

Key competences: Personal, social and learning-to-learn competence, citizen competence, entrepreneurial competence, and linguistic communication competence. 

Material: Craft supplies (total freedom) some examples may be:  clay, paper, wire, cardboard, pictures, coloured pencils, etc.

In the next activity, once students have finished their drawings (class 4) and have information about the different stages of plants’ life cycles (class 5) we can move to a bigger project:

After introducing what is about to be done (10 minutes) students will create groups (10mins) and work on a diorama or 3D model of the plant’s life cycle using craft supplies. Each group will be in charge of representing a different phase of the plants´ life cycle. The phase assigned to each group will be chosen randomly by the teacher. (10 minutes). Each group will have freedom to develop  their creativity and create a proper 3D model without strict guidance, which will enable the children to see different styles of working and creating models when they show them in class. However, the plant represented should be a cress. 

 

The teacher will revise what the students are doing all during the process, so he or she can check they are working in an appropriate way and reaching the objectives. 

The rest of the class hours will be dedicated to start developing and working on the project (2h).

LESSON 6

 Lesson 6: Plants are important! 

Objectives: Creation of a common newspaper with everybody’s articles

Key competences: Personal, social and learning-to-learn competence, cultural awareness competence and expression and linguistic communication competence.

Materials: Flipsnack and video: can you imagine a world without plants?. See annex.

This class will be dedicated to the importance of plants and the process of photosynthesis.

First, the teacher will play a video: about how the world would be without plants and another one about the importance and uses of plants. The first video (material 6, in annex 1) shows different drawings of children, so children can feel identified. 

Right after this, the students will be told to create a newspaper article individually for a newspaper about the importance of plants. For doing that the students will use “Flipsnack” (material 7, annex 1), which is a website that provides free editable newspaper templates in a large number of formats.The article should not be too long, so they will have 30 minutes to write it. Once they have finished, they will upload its article to google classroom. The last 15 minutes will be dedicated to teach them how the newspaper is going to be organized, to choose together the title of the newspaper.

The next day, the teacher will collect all the articles and show them the eco-friendly newspaper they have created.

LESSON 5

 Lesson 5: Buzzing through the plant cycle: 

Objectives: Consolidate knowledge about plants life cycle through drawings and the creation of presentation.

ACTIVITY 1

Key competences:  Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering, digital competence ,social and learning to learn competence.

Materials: tablets, Canva and a app that enable them to draw (such as Drawing Pad)

A growing plant will be observed by the students during a week. Each day , they should draw in the tablet the life stage of the plant using Drawing Pad. Once the plant life has finished , they will be organized in groups of 5 to collect all the pictures of each member. After that, each group will create a presentation in which they should classify their pictures in the different plant life cycle ‘‘stages’’and include a brief description of what happened in each tier.

ACTIVITY 2

Key competences: Linguistic communication competence, digital competence, personal, social and learning to learn competence.

Materials:  Podcast and filling gaps worksheets

The teacher will give the students an explanation about the process of

photosynthesis the teacher can develop the explanation with this website Illuminating Photosynthesis | NOVA | PBS(15 minutes) .In order to consolidate the knowledge, the teacher will play a podcast (material 8, annex 1)  about photosynthesis. While listening to it, students will receive a paper on which they will have to complete sentences filling the gaps by writing down key words (material 3, annex 2). The podcast will be played twice. This way, we can guarantee not only that students are paying attention, but also that they are comprehending the process. (30 minutes).

After that, students will have to complete a crossword puzzle (material 4, annex 2) on their computers (15 minutes).

Photosynthesis Lab Gizmo | ExploreLearning Gizmos on this webpage students can try much oxygen the plant can make in different conditions

CHILDREN´S LEARNING DIGITAL COMPETENCES

This learning situation is designed as a PBL, it is the best way hoe to develop skills and key competences in children. All activities are designed to help children memorize fact actively, be creative, collaborate and think critically, highlighting 5 competences areas:

 

1. Communication:

It is ability to express, interact and interpret ideas through facts, feelings in oral or written form. It also incudes listening, writing, speaking, reading and adapt conversation to different audience.

- Oral communication: In lesson 3 students present orally their seasonal poster and in lesson 7 they present 3D models.

- Written communication: In lessons 1, 4, 8 students prepare their portfolio, which include written parts. And in lesson 6 whole class prepare newspaper so everybody must write one or more newspaper article.

- Digital communication: These students improve in lesson 1, where they share brainstorming tool like Mindnode. Or in lesson 4 class use Paddlet to improve collaboration in digital environment.

 

2. Creativity:

It is a capacity to generate original ideas or ways, how to look at problems. Students try new approaches to get thing done.

- Creative Tools: In lesson 3 students use Canva to stimulate interest and creativity. Students also generate AI image in lesson 2. It improves their imagination, because they must enter the exact specification of how the image should looks like. Also, if students prepare poster about seasons in lesson 3, they need to think creatively to engage the rest of the class.

- Original Products Design: The most significant creative task is in the lesson 7, where students design diorama or 3D model of the plant’s life cycle. In this activity have groups freedom to develop their creativity.

 

3. Collaboration

The skill is about working in group or pairs, to share ideas. It requires flexibility, compromise and responsibility as a team member.

- Mandatory Group Project: Almost all projects in this learning situation are designated as group work, for example in lesson 2. 3, 5 and 7. Students must work in group collaborate to achieve a common goal; they will learn how to manage time and divide tasks.

- Cooperative learning: All tasks are structured to develop cooperative learning; each group is responsible for different part of plant’s life cycle in lesson 7.

 

4. Critical thinking

It is about analysing, evaluation and think about information, that we read or hear. It includes questioning and searching for true.

– Information Evaluation: In lesson 4 students do research about Life cycle, students are instructed to use AI and then to contrast the information with reliable source.

- Metacognition and Reflection: in lesson 8 students improve their individual and collective reflective thinking. They must analyse what they learned and write it to the blog. Thanks that they think about their own progress.

 

5. ICT Literacy

It is about responsibility, confident and critical using of ITC for work. It involves using computers and the internet to produce, exchange and present information.

- Digital Portfolio Management: Students have to create their own digital portfolio (digital blog). - Digital Production Tools: The project use different applications for different task- Canva for design the poster, Flipsnack for publishing, Drawing Pad for visual presentation and Kahoot for review.

- Integrated Digital Research: Students use AI, educational app (NAMOO) and digital brainstorming tool (Mindnode), so they don’t use computer just for simple searching.