Crearea „Profesorului digital”, proiect dezvoltat de Inspectoratul Școlar Județean alături de Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași
Parteneriat între învățământul preuniversitar și Facultatea de Informatică din cadrul Universității „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași! Inspectoratul Școlar Județean Iași, prin prof. dr. Genoveva Aurelia Farcaș, inspector general, coordonatorul activității, a apreciat implicarea și disponibilitatea mediului universitar ieșean de a se implica în susținerea digitalizării educației, în promovarea unor metode interactive prin care profesorul să faciliteze învățarea și să ghideze elevul pe un traseu al dobândirii de competențe în mod creativ și personalizat
Parteneriat între învățământul preuniversitar și Facultatea de Informatică din cadrul Universității „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” (UAIC) din Iași pentru formarea competențelor digitale ale profesorilor ieșeni. Aici, prof. dr. Genoveva Aurelia Farcaș, inspector general, coordonatorul activității, a lăudat implicarea și disponibilitatea mediului universitar ieșean de a se implica în susținerea digitalizării educației, în promovarea unor metode interactive prin care profesorul să faciliteze învățarea și să ghideze elevul pe un traseu al dobândirii de competențe în mod creativ și personalizat.
Săptămâna trecută, Inspectoratul Școlar Județean, prin Centrul de Formare pentru Educație Digitală, a organizat webinarul „Metode și instrumente digitale alternative”, eveniment din proiectul de succes „Profesorul digital – oportunități de formare pentru noua sa misiune în școala ieșeană”
Activitatea de formare a profesorilor din județul Iași s-a desfășurat joi, 18 februarie, 2021, și i-a avut ca invitați pe prof. univ. dr. Lenuța Alboaie, Directorul Școlii Doctorale din cadrul Facultății de Informatică, și pe conf. univ. dr. Anca Ignat, Facultatea de Informatică din cadrul UAIC. În cadrul webinarului, celor peste 250 de profesori participanți, reprezentând toate disciplinele, le-a fost prezentată, de către prof. Oana Teodora Boghiu, metoda „Flipped Classroom” – „Metodologia Flipped Classroom – alternativa de viitor pentru educație”. Aici s-a evidențiat caracterul integrativ al acesteia, precum și faptul că folosește atât elemente inovatoare, cât și moderne pentru a propune un model de învățare individualizată. „Metodologia Flipped Classroom” poate avea o influență pozitivă asupra experienței elevilor atunci când este introdusă și folosită corect. Elevii se pot bucura de beneficiile unei percepții îmbunătățite, a unei implicări mai active și a altor beneficii care nu sunt prezente în educația tradițională.
Software intuitiv care oferă posibilitatea atât cadrelor didactice, cât și elevilor să creeze caiete pe care să le îmbogățească cu animații 3D, video-uri educaționale, imagini și exerciții din biblioteca sa media sau din calculatorul utilizatorului
Partea a doua a evenimentului – „MozaBook – program de prezentare optimizat pentru tablele interactive” – a avut în centru aplicația informatică MozaBook, prezentată de Anca Teutu, Business Development Manager Quartz Matrix. Participanții au aflat astfel despre un sistem educațional digital destinat în principal lucrului la clasă, pe table inteligente, care se poate utiliza însă și pe calculatorul propriu. Un software intuitiv oferă posibilitatea atât cadrelor didactice, cât și elevilor să creeze caiete pe care să le îmbogățească cu animații 3D, video-uri educaționale, imagini și exerciții din biblioteca sa media sau din calculatorul utilizatorului.
MozaBook completează instrumentele uzuale ale procesului educațional prin simulări care acoperă întregul sistem educațional
MozaBook completează instrumentele uzuale ale procesului educațional prin simulări care acoperă întregul sistem educațional, curriculumul tuturor disciplinelor predate la clasele 1-12. Informațiile transmise în acest fel ajută la înțelegerea fenomenelor, a noțiunilor sau proceselor prezentate, iar aplicațiile integrate dezvoltă competențe și ilustrează fenomene prin intermediul laboratorului virtual, stârnind interesul elevilor și facilitând predarea noțiunilor respective. În finalul evenimentului, a fost lansat un ghid de utilzare a acestor metode inovative „Abc Ghid Rapid Moza”, a cărui realizare a fost coordonată de prof. Emanuela Pădurariu, inspector pentru Informatică din cadrul ISJ Iași.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași
Condiții de cercetare de înalt nivel în domeniul științelor vieții la USAMV Iași
Cercetătorii și doctoranzii de la Facultatea de Horticultură din cadrul Universității de Științe Agricole și Medicină Veterinară ”Ion Ionescu de la Brad” din Iași (USAMV) vor avea la dispoziție cadrul potrivit pentru cercetare științifică de înalt nivel, odată cu reorganizarea și amplasarea într-un nou spațiu, modern și cu o infrastructură de excepție, a Centrului de Cercetări Horticole al facultății.
Centrul de Cercetări Horticole a fost înființat în anul 2001 și a fost dotat, în decursul timpului, cu aparatură și echipamente performante, cu ajutorul cărora s-au efectuat cercetări în cadrul tezelor de doctorat și a temelor de cercetare contractate.
Noua locație a Centrului de Cercetări Horticole
Spațiul inițial al Centrului de Cercetări Horticole, devenit limitativ, în timp, pentru valorificarea potențialului infrastructurii de cercetare existente, pentru activitatea de cercetare în cadrul unor echipe extinse și pe direcții de cercetare diferită, a impus atribuirea unui nou amplasament. Acesta este situat la parterul clădirii TPPA, cea mai modernă a USAMV Iași și beneficiază de o suprafață amenajată de aproximativ 250 mp, reprezentată prin trei laboratoare distincte și spații anexă destinate activităților didactice.
”Noua locație a Centrului de Cercetări Horticole permite acum diversificarea activităților de cercetare, accesul unor echipe extinse și valorificarea optimă a infrastructurii de cercetare achiziționată în decursul timpului. Activitatea Centrului a fost re-organizată pe trei laboratoare cu direcții de cercetare distincte – Biologie moleculară și micropropagare in vitro, Studiul stresului abiotic la speciile horticole și Studiul compușilor bioactivi la speciile horticole – laboratoare care sunt coordonate de cercetători ai Facultății de Horticultură cu expertiză în domeniile respective.
Centrul de Cercetări Horticole este destinat activității de cercetare efectuate de cadrele didactice, cercetătorii și doctoranzii Facultății de Horticultură, precum și de colaboratori ai acestora în proiectele de cercetare comune. Centrul oferă, prin organizarea și dotarea sa, condiții optime pentru activitățile de cercetare, care vor fi valorificate prin teme din domeniul horticulturii și științelor vieții, obiectivele Facultății de Horticultură în acest sens fiind deja unele clar stabilite”, a declarat prof. univ. Dr. Liviu Mihai Irimia, decanul Facultății de Horticultură a USAMV Iași.
Publicație : Bună Ziua Iași și Ziarul de Iași
Teachers to get sweeping powers to decide exam results in England
Algorithms will not be used again but lack of national guidelines prompt fears of grade inflation
Teachers will get sweeping powers to decide exam grades in England this year, in a move that was welcomed by school leaders but brought warnings of “extremely high grade inflation” because of a lack of clear guidance.
Rules announced by the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, will emphasise “fairness and flexibility” in how each school decides to award A-level, GCSE and vocational grades to replace the summer exams that were scrapped by the government earlier this year. Following a furore last summer, algorithms will not be used.
Instead, teachers will be asked to assess more than 1.2 million pupils in England “on what they have been taught” using evidence of their choosing, and schools will not be required to use previous results as a guide. The approach is an attempt to overcome the sharp disparities in lost learning among pupils, caused by school closures and disruption amid the Covid pandemic.
The Department for Education (DfE) will say that students will have the right to appeal against their assessed grades. The appeals will be free, with exam boards adjudicating between evidence supplied by schools and pupils.
The plan – to be published on Thursday by the DfE and Ofqual, the exam regulator for England – was warmly welcomed by headteachers as a vote of confidence. But the Education Policy Institute (EPI) said the failure to provide detailed national guidelines could fuel a further bout of grade inflation.
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David Laws, the former education minister who chairs the EPI, said: “Without robust mechanisms in place which anchor the overall results at a level which is consistent with previous years, there is a danger that the value and credibility of this year’s grades are seriously undermined.”
Natalie Perera, the EPI’s chief executive, said the government was right to have teachers assess grades but that there was “a significant risk” of schools adopting different approaches.
“This could result in large numbers of pupils appealing their grades this year or extremely high grade inflation, which could be of little value to colleges, universities, employers and young people themselves,” Perera said.
The assessment document follows a public consultation by Ofqual that received over 100,000 submissions, with more than half coming from students, reflecting huge interest in how A-levels and GCSEs would be awarded this year.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents many secondary school heads, said it was vital that results be allocated consistently and fairly.
“This year’s grades won’t be pegged to those of previous years, and grades may end up being higher overall than in normal times,” he said.
“This isn’t surprising because it’s a different system of assessment which takes into account a wider range of work than a set of exams and therefore gives students more opportunity to show what they can do. This seems the fairest approach in light of the huge disruption of the past year.”
Universities also fear that a repeat of last summer, when record levels of top A-level grades were awarded, will make it hard for admissions officers to distinguish between a bumper crop of qualified applicants.
Data for applications to higher education courses starting in autumn already show a surge in demand for places at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as a 20% increase in applications to UK medical schools.
Universities UK, which represents around 140 higher education institutions, said: “University admissions teams will pull out all the stops to make sure that this year’s applicants get the opportunity to fulfil their potential at university. They will continue to be fair and flexible in their decision making including, as in any year, for those who choose to appeal their results over the summer.”
The DfE said schools and colleges will set their own judgments and processes, and algorithms would not be used, a reference to last summer’s debacle using an algorithm developed by Ofqual to award grades that was swiftly overturned after protests.
“Teachers will be able to draw on a range of evidence when determining grades, including the optional use of questions provided by exam boards, as well as mock exams, coursework, or other work completed as part of a pupil’s course, such as essays or in-class tests,” the department said.
Announcing the new rules, Williamson said that asking teachers to assess awards would be “the fairest possible system” for pupils. Simon Lebus, Ofqual’s interim chief regulator, said: “The aim is to make it no harder overall for this year’s students to receive a particular grade than students in other years.”
Because no national standards have been set by the DfE, the only check on grade inflation will be at school level, with exam boards asked by Ofqual to police awards through random sampling and targeted scrutiny of schools with unusual sets of results.
The decision to make tests written by the exam boards optional caused dismay for the NASUWT teaching union. “A golden opportunity has been missed to secure a consistent, reliable and manageable approach to awarding. Warm words about the pressures on teachers and school leaders from the government are scant consolation for this serious error of judgment,” said Patrick Roach, the union’s general secretary.
A-level results will be published on 10 August and GCSEs two days later on 12 August, two weeks earlier than usual to allow more time for appeals by those applying for university places. Vocational qualifications such as BTecs will be announced at the same time. Exams and external assessments will continue in vocational and technical qualifications where they are needed to demonstrate professional standards.
Ofqual and the DfE have been at pains to ensure that unattached students such as home-schooled children are awarded grades, after many were shut out last summer. A full suite of A-level and GCSE exams will also be offered next autumn.
Publicație : The Guardian
'It's broken me': UK students on financial strain in the pandemic
Three students describe the hardship caused by rent and other costs and lack of work
The average student has paid £1,621 in rent for rooms that they have been unable to use owing to Covid restrictions, according to a survey. For many, the rent has added to their financial worries after losing term-time employment or support from their parents. Three students share their experiences of financial strain during the pandemic.
‘Landlords should be more sympathetic’
While many UK universities have offered reduced rent on student accommodation, a majority of students rent from private landlords. Millie, who studies film and television at the University of Lincoln, is prevented from living at her university address by the lockdown but is still charged £88 in rent a week. This has become increasingly difficult to pay since she lost her job in retail in the spring of 2020.
“One of my parents is self-employed and the other is furloughed, so they can’t support me,” she said. “I have an Etsy shop where I sell paintings, but that’s pocket money really.”
When she asked her university for assistance, she was advised to send a letter to her landlord explaining her financial situation. “But mine doesn’t want to know,” she said. “It’s obviously up to them, but landlords do get government support, whereas most students don’t really, apart from our maintenance loan. They should be more sympathetic.”
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A further distraction from her coursework is the cost of her textbooks, which can range between £25 and £100. “The library aren’t ordering these books in currently because of the pandemic,” she said.
Because Millie, 26, is classed as a mature student, she receives a smaller loan – £8,500 a year rather than £9,500. “It’s a big difference under current circumstances. If I wasn’t graduating in June, I’d be in dire straits.”
She also said she would not be eligible for the new government fund for students whose finances have been hardest hit by the pandemic. “I already get a bursary from my university for earning below a certain threshold, but from the sounds of it the new funding they are giving is for students who literally have nothing. It’s not enough.”
‘I’ve had to be very careful what I spend’
Beth, a student at Queen’s University Belfast, has struggled to meet her living costs because the pandemic has led to her own earnings and her mother’s income falling significantly. During term time, Beth can only work 12 hours a week without clashes with her timetable, while her mother, a teacher at an education college, has had her hours cut significantly.
Beth receives a student loan of £1,000 per term, which was calculated on her mother’s income before the pandemic. “The means test for student finance only takes your parents’ situation at the time of applying – the previous tax year – so it doesn’t take into account people being furloughed or losing work,” she said.
Although most of her income is spent on rent, which is £300 a month, Beth has been unable to visit her university house since early December and has been living with her family outside the city. She has had to cut back on “luxuries”, she said, such as subscriptions to Netflix and Amazon Prime. “I have had to be very careful what I spend my money on and I plan each week to make sure, so I can afford bills at the start of every month.”
The student said the pandemic and the resulting financial worries had seriously affected her studies. “Some of my grades are lower. It is a massive struggle to meet deadlines. When I’m at home, we don’t each have a desk or a room to work in, so I am surrounded by people all the time. There have definitely been stresses between us in the family, which can be hard to manage some days.
“[The stress] has completely broken me,” she added. “I never thought, at 21, I would spend so much time worrying and being saddened by these things.”
‘Every month I see my arrears go up’
Abhishek, an international student studying English literature and language at Anglia Ruskin University, has become increasingly stressed and isolated owing to the financial hardship caused by the pandemic.
The 21-year-old, who is now in his final year, supported himself before the pandemic working as a teaching assistant in Cambridge. “I never struggled,” he said. “Sometimes I’d pay my bills early.”
But in September last year his hours were reduced significantly, to 12 hours a week. He is now reliant on his parents in India for financial support because he is ineligible for the government’s hardship fund, which only covers home and EU students. “I had to regularly call home and ask my family for money,” he said. “Even they were struggling at the time, so it weighed on my conscience.
“I’ve had to change my whole lifestyle, my diet, everything. I can’t spend the same money on the food I like. I’ve had to reduce my phone bills and calculate everything before I go shopping. Not being able to work had a negative impact.”
Abhishek asked his university for financial help, but he said he only qualified for a small amount. His debts continued to grow, even when the first national lockdown lifted last summer and he was briefly able to work full-time again.
“Here in Cambridge, the rent is a lot for a small room. Whatever money I’ve earned, I’ve used to pay the rent. I tried to have a conversation with my [private] landlord about a discount, but they didn’t entertain it,” he said.
Since he could not afford the £1,000 flight home to India,Abhishek found himself stuck in Cambridge. “I’m mostly by myself, and every month I see my arrears going up.”
Publicație : The Guardian
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