Glossary of Terms

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

OF B-LEVEL TEACHER TRAINING

• A-Level Teacher Training in ICT: this is the common phrase used to refer to training teachers in basic ICT skills, which was carried out throughout Greece for a very large number of teachers (~120,000), during the 2002-2008 time period), in the framework of previous 3rd Community Structural Fund projects. 
• Action/current Action/Project: Refers to the Actions under the general title “In-Service Teacher Training in the Use and Application of ICT in the classroom» which belong to the axes 1, 2 and 3 of the Operational Programme “Education and LifeLong Learning”, NSRF 2007-2013, which are implemented with co-funding from the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and the Greek state.

• B-Level Teacher Training in ICT: this is the common phrase used to refer to training teachers in the educational use and application of ICT in the classroom, which is being implemented under the current project, since it constitutes the natural continuation of the A-Level Teacher Training in basic ICT skills project that was carried out in the context of previous projects. 
• B-Level Teacher Trainers: Teacher trainers that belong to the B-Level Teacher Trainer Registry and who have received certification by the special certification procedure. The majority have been certified after successfully attending teacher trainer training programs at the University Training Centres that cover 350 hours. 
• B-Level Teacher Trainer Registry: The total number of teacher trainers who have been certified after being successful in the B-Level teacher trainer certification examination, the majority after completing attendance of the 350 hours long teacher trainer training program at the University Training Centres. The Training Support Centres must choose teacher trainers for the B-Level teacher training programs that they are implementing, from the B-Level Teacher Training Registry. This Registry is comprised of the certified B-Level teacher trainers and it has received approval by Ministerial Decision within the framework of the Action “In-Service Teacher Training in the Utilisation and Application of ICT in the classroom”, Measure 2.1 of the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training II. The Registry will be enriched with new teacher trainers who will become certified successfully within the context of the current Action. 
• B-Level Teacher Training Support Centre Registry: The total number of Teacher Training Support Centres who have responded to relevant Calls for the Expression of Interest for the implementation of B-Level teacher training programs and who have been evaluated as competent for this purpose, through appropriate certification procedures and technical evaluations. The B-Level Training Support Centre Registry was created within the framework of the Action “In-Service Teacher Training in the Use and Application of ICT in the classroom”, Measure 2.1 of the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training II. It has already been renewed once (autumn 2010), within the context of the current Action. 
• B-Level Teacher Trainer Training Curriculum: This curriculum refers to the B-Level training of teacher trainers, so that they may be in a position to carry out the teacher training programs according to the B-Level curriculum, to transmit to the teacher trainees all the knowledge and skills that concern the pedagogical utilization of ICT and to foster in trainees the triptych of: knowledge, skills and attitudes. The B-Level Teacher Trainer Training Curriculum in its general part covers the basic principles for the pedagogical use and application of ICT (learning theories in relation to ICT, basic teaching concepts, authoring of educational material, etc.), the pedagogical utilisation of the Internet (theoretical background, educational portals, etc.) adult education methodology, blended learning methodology, the pedagogical use and application of generic tools , the pedagogical utilisation of Web 2.0 tools and services (blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS Feeds, social networks, 3D Virtual Environments, e-portfolios, etc.), the functional features of interactive teaching systems and their effective use in the school classroom, general issues of educational software (features, categories, general design principles, etc.), the processing of multimedia material, the development of small applications (applets), learning how to use and educationally make the most of Learning Management Systems, and asynchronous distance learning (asynchronous learning platform ALP), as well as technical support elements for school labs. In its specialised part, which depends on the specific teaching classification of the teacher, the Curriculum covers teaching aspect of the particular knowledge domain of the teaching classification, the learning and pedagogical utilisation of specific educational software, the application and the design of educational activities with the use of this educational software or other digital tools for teaching the particular lessons under the specific classification. The program also includes educational actions/activities for the practical in-class application of knowledge and skills of the teacher trainers (“in-class application”). 
• B-Level Teacher Trainer Training Program: is the implementation of the training of a team of teacher trainers on the basis of the abovementioned Curriculum. Each teacher training program is carried out at a particular University Training Centre, for a precisely defined period of time. The B-Level Teacher Trainer Training Programs are conducted in groups of about 20 people and extend over 350 hours, usually in sessions of 20 hours per week. The program also includes educational actions/activities for the application of knowledge and skills of the trainers in the classroom (“in-class application”). 
• B-Level Teacher Training Curriculum: The curriculum for the B-Level teacher training refers to learning the principles of the pedagogical utilisation of ICT, acquiring and developing skills by teaching classification, for the pedagogical use and application of educational software and generic tools (with particular stress on Web 2.0 tools and social software), interactive teaching systems, etc., as well as the application and design of educational activities using the aforementioned. The triptych knowledge, skills and attitudes that is nurtured in the context of the training, contributes to the utilisation of ICT in the classroom by the teachers, their students for the exploration, research, interaction, collaboration and construction of new knowledge, as well as for the continuing education, personal and professional advancement of the teacher trainees. 
• B-Level Teacher Training Program: refers to the implementation of the training of a team of teachers, on the basis of the abovementioned Curriculum. Each training program is carried out at a particular Training Support Centre and for a precisely defined period of time. The B-Level Teacher Training Programs each involve groups of 10 to 15 teachers and extend over 96 hours, usually in weekly sessions that last for 6 hours per week. The programs generally take place, during the training periods which begin September 1st and are completed on June 30th. A training period is considered as the time period during which the following are included: a) preparatory actions, b) implementation of training actions, c) completion and reflection of the training programs in terms of their actual-physical scope and their finances. To a certain extent blended learning training programs differ from this scheme. 
• B-Level Teacher Training Information and Collaboration Portal / Support website: In the framework of the Action this Support website is operating and maintained on the Internet. Access to this site is given to all those who are involved in the Action, such as the participating institutions/partners, but also the broader educational community. On the Support Website one can find information about the Action and all the important documents of the Action that concern procedures, regulations and agreements. Furthermore, the training material of the Action is provided, information about the material and the certification procedure, reports and statistical data on the Action, as well as additional material about the pedagogical and didactic utilisation of ICT. 

ΝΟΤΕ: The training material itself is provided in the original Greek, but the descriptive information for a selected portion of the material is given in English as well.

The website also supports state of the art communication and collaboration tools, it has a digital library with a large volume of material: educational software and educational activities, discussion fora and classified access to the MIS, etc. 

• Blended learning training activities: The pedagogical foundation of B-Level teacher training puts particular emphasis on the physical contact between the trainer and the trainees, on which rely many important elements of its methodology, for example: Lab teaching covers ~2/3 of the Curriculum, extra training hours support the in-class practice teaching and in-class application, the development of practice communities, etc. However, in some cases, such as remote islands, isolated and hard to reach mountainous rural areas, as well as Education Directorates with a very limited number of interested teachers, or the complete lack of training infrastructures (teacher trainers or Teacher Training Support Centres), it is quite possible that physical contact may not always be feasible. In order to carry out teacher training in these cases special training programs will be set in place following the blended learning model. These programs combine distance learning and a restricted number of face-to-face meetings. The programs will be based on an e-learning platform, which support synchronous and asynchronous learning and the e-course will be built upon this platform.

• Central Coordinating Committee of the Teacher Training Project (CCCTTP): This committee is the instrument for the coordination of the Action “In-Service Teacher Training in the Use and Application of ICT in the classroom” of the Operational Programme “Education and LifeLong Learning”, NSRF 2007-2013, which is implemented with the co-funding of the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and the Greek state, and it includes members from each of the partners of the project. 
• Certification Centre Registry: The total number of Certification Centres which have responded to relevant Calls for the Expression of Interest for implementing Certification programs and who have been evaluated as competent for this purpose, through appropriate certification procedures and technical evaluations. The Certification Centre Registry that was created within the framework of the Actions “In-Service Teacher Training in the Utilisation of ICT in the classroom”, Measure 1.2 of the InfoSoc Operational Programme, the “In-service Training of Teachers of Primary and Secondary Schools in basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills in education” of the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training II and “In-service Teacher Training in the Use and Application of ICT in the classroom”, Measure 2.1 of the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training II, is used for the A-Level and B-Level certification of skills of the current Action. The Registry may be renewed within the context of the current Action, if this is considered necessary. 
• Certification Centres (CCs): The certification procedures of the teachers’ B-Level knowledge and skills (as well as the A-Level certification procedures that are included in the Action in order to facilitate the teachers so that they can fulfil the relevant prerequisite for their participation in B-Level teacher training) are carried out at the Certification Centres that are fully equipped labs at Universities and Institutes of Technology. This ensures the provision of stable high quality training 
• C.T.I. & PRESS “DIOPHANTUS”: Computer Technology Institute & Press “Diophantus”, replacing the older title for the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (RA-CTI), according to law Ν.3966/24-5-2011, Article 22.

• Final Beneficiary: a public or private organisation, body or enterprise, who is responsible for the initiation or the initiation and implementation of actions. For this agreement every reference made by use of this term denotes the Organisation of Teacher Training, initially and since 24/2//2012 it refers to the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) by law Ν.3966/24-5-2011, §25, article 19.

• Help Desk: Refers to the Action’s support service, staffed by an experienced team of operators (e.g. teacher training coordinators, technicians, teachers/educators, etc.), which can be used to ask questions, make requests and receive answers by all interested parties (e.g. teachers, teacher trainers, administrative and scientific personnel at Teacher Training Support Centres, Certification Centres, University Training Centres) that are submitted online by completing a special online submission form for questions or requests. This form is available on the B-Level Information and Collaboration Portal, here

• “In-class application”/Teacher training activities for the application of acquired knowledge and skills: The B-Level teacher training programs are completed with the application of the acquired knowledge and B-Level skills, in the classroom by the teacher trainees, as an organic part of the teacher training process. To be more precise, the implementation of the teacher training process consists of two parts: 

o The first part includes teaching the training material within the context of the teacher training program 

o The second part includes the application in the classroom of the knowledge and skills acquired.

These two parts over time evolve according to the following scheme:

- 1st phase: partial implementation of the 1st part, after the teaching of approximately half of the 96 hours covered by the teacher training program

- 2nd phase: parallel implementation of the 1st and 2nd part, with teaching intervals that cover the remaining hours of the training program, in parallel or interspersed with in-class application activities of the acquired knowledge and skills from the training program (i.e. “interventions” or the implementation of educational activities using ICT in the classroom, with their students), in association with other supporting activities for the teacher trainees (e.g. preparation and reflection support meetings of the “interventions”), with their trainer playing the part of the “mentor”. Therefore, the results and the benefits of the teacher training reach their final targets – the students – directly and large scale. 

• “Iphigeneia” - Educational Activities Repository: Refers to the library of the ICT based educational activities and scenarios, where teacher trainers and trainees of this project “upload” and share with their peers educational activities that they have designed, developed, and used or recommend for use in the “in-class application” activity. “Iphigeneia” is available at the address http://ifigeneia.cti.gr (Note: the content is currently only in Greek) for the participants of the current project. Access to the library is possible by logging in using the codes given for access to the project’s MIS. 
• I.C.T.: Acronym for the phrase “Information and Communication Technology” 
• I.E.P.: Institute of Educational Policy, as this was established by law Ν.3966/24-5-2011 
• Integrated Information System for Data Management of Teacher Training and Certification (MIS): This common system is put to use in order to support the subprojects. It was developed within the framework of the Action “In-service Teacher Training in the Use and Application of ICT in the classroom”, Measure 2.1 of the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training II and it was adapted and upgraded for the needs of the current Action.

• “Multiplier” Teacher Training Program in the Educational Utilization of Interactive Teaching Systems: In the framework of the present Action “In-service Teacher Training in the Utilisation and Application of ICT in the classroom” teacher training programs are also provided in the educational utilisation of interactive in-class teaching systems. To be more precise, this training, which aims to take advantage of interactive teaching systems, firstly concerns a teacher from each school that participated in the P78 program “Program for the pilot introduction of Interactive systems and related equipment into the classroom for digitally supported teaching”. This teacher will act in his/her school as the “multiplier” of the knowledge and skills that he/she will acquire during the training program, for his/her fellow teachers. This training has a duration of 18 hours, which are generally carried out over a period of 3 weeks, after school hours, at the Teacher Training Support Centres that provide the appropriate facilities (e.g. interactive whiteboard), throughout Greece, by B-Level teacher trainers, who have previously attended the corresponding accelerated training.

• NSRF: National Strategic Reference Framework, which for the purposes of this contract refers to the programming period 2007-2013.

• Partners: The Action is executed by a consortium of partners comprised initially of the Organisation of Teacher Training, as the final beneficiary and the Research Academic Computer Technology Institute (RA-CTI) and the Pedagogical Institute (PI), as co-beneficiaries & scientific partners. Already since 24/2/2012 the Action is executed by the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) (successor of the project, after the Organisation of Teacher Training and the Pedagogical Institute, were shut down according to law Ν.3966/24-5-2011), as the final beneficiary, and the Computer Technology Institute & Press “Diophantus” (CTI “DIOPHANTUS”) (this is how RA-CTI was renamed by law Ν.3966/24-5-2011), as scientific partner. 
• PI: Pedagogical Institute 
• Project/Action/current Action: this refers to the Actions under the general title “Teacher Training in the Use and Application of ICT in the classroom” which are included in the 1, 2 and 3 action lines of the O.P. “Education and LifeLong Learning”, NSRF 2007-20013, that are being implemented with co-funding by the European Union (European Social Fund –ESF) and the Greek state.

• Teacher Training Support Centres (TTSCs): These are the bodies that are designated to implement the B-Level training programs. The following may function as a B-Level Training Support Centre: Universities, Institutes of Technology, Regional Training Centres, public and private Vocational Training Institutes, public and private schools, public and private Vocational Training Centres certified by the Ministry of Labour in the field of Informatics, science unions, research institutes and university institutes, the National Centre for Public Administration and the Institute for Continuing Adult Education and Training. The Teacher Training Support Centres are obliged to provide the suitable space with the required computer, network and telecommunications equipment. During the implementation of the B-Level teacher training programs the Teacher Training Support Centres are obliged to provide the required secretarial and technical support, to guarantee that the teacher training programs are carried out in accordance with the conditions and terms that have been prescribed by the Action. The Teacher Training Support Centres are chosen from the Training Support Centre Registry, which is comprised of bodies that have expressed their interest in implementing teacher training programs as an answer to a related call for the expression of interest, subsequent to appropriate certification procedures and technical inspections.

• University Teacher Training Centres (UTTCs): These are the bodies which are assigned with the task to carry out B-Level teacher training programs. The UTCs are university departments a) whose main activity is to provide higher education services which include the use and application of ICT in the classroom and b) which have the capacity to grant, either individually or in cooperation, postgraduate degrees. The UTCs offer the teaching team of the teacher training enterprise and the team consists of university faculty members in the appropriate academic specialization for each teaching classification, as well as educators who are specialized in the pedagogical use of ICT in schools.