Ioanna Komninou, Konstantinos Antoniou, Xanthi Chouliara and Maria Frentzou.

1. The Inter-Orthodox Center of the Church of Greece
(DKEE) online courses using the moodle platform:
presentation of a primary and secondary
education teachers’ training good practice
Ioanna Komninou
Konstantinos Antoniou
Xanthie Chouliara
Maria Frentzou
DKEE- Interorthodox Center of the Greek
Church

2. The Interorthodox Center of the Church of Greece
• was established in 1969
• offers on site teacher training and development courses since
2009
• started developing online courses using Moodle in 2010
• trained over 1000 teachers in using web 2.0 tools, podcasting,
online presentations, blogs and innovative teaching and learning
techniques such as creative thinking
• is working under the supervision of the Institute of Educational
Policy (former Pedagogical Institute) and the Greek Ministry of
Education
• was awarded in 2012 with the “Excellency and Innovation” award
by the Greek Ministry of Education

3. Designing the DKEE Online Courses
Target group: primary and secondary education teachers
Designing took into consideration researches, case studies and previous implementations of
online training of teachers in Greece, Europe and the US
Most of the data was gathered from surveys conducted by the
Greek National Support Service for eTwinners, in 2007 and more
systematically in 2010.
The implementation of the first online eTwinning courses, the online
training in the eTwinning action and the online courses offered by
the European Schoolnet (EUN), have been a valuable experience for the
overall design of the DKEE’s training, since the instructors who
designed the courses for DKEE played an active role in the above
mentioned surveys and implementations of the above mentioned on line
training courses.

4. The ADDIE model was used
• and included the following phases:
- - analysis
- - design
- - development
- - implementation
- - evaluation

5. DKEE aims (1)
- to materialize the vision of "The New School“ to offer
Lifelong Learning opportunities for teachers
- to support the implementation of the “New Curricula”
- to promote innovative practices for the optimal and
most effective classroom teaching

6. DKEE aims (2)
- to familiarize teachers with synchronous and
asynchronus online learning in order to use them in
their everyday teaching, European projects, school
projects and also for their own academic
development.
- to promote technologies already used in schools in
Europe, the US and Australia

7. Instructional Models applied
A variety of educational models were used in these
online courses, taking into consideration the
course content, the needs and the skills of the
participants
The most successful were the social models like LT
(Learning Together) and STAD

8. • Organizing the digital classroom (1)
• - The absence of face to face contact was taken into
account
• - Before participating, all trainees were aware of the
aims and objectives, the required time for completion
of activities, the most important dates, the required
software and hardware and the necessary ICT skills
• - A simple and repetitive structure was selected

9. • Organizing the digital classroom (2)
• Each course was organized into fixed layout modules:
• 1. learning stimulus
• 2. objectives
• 3. presentation of the learning material
• 4. assignments
• 5. reflection
• The repetition of this layout was
easily "recognizable" by participants who felt that there
was a logical sequence .

10. • Technologies (1)
• - they were aiming to give access to all participants
• - the course material was designed to be
accessible even over low-speed dial up services
• Instructors chose the Moodle platform of the Greek
School Network (GSN) which is a free service for all
Greek teachers

11. • Technologies (2)
• Moodle was used to:
- organize the courses on the platform,
- create a digital library,
- plan the activities,
- announce upcoming events
- host online discussions,
- enhance collaborative learning.


12. • Technologies (3)
• The moodle platform offers tools:
• - to create a register
• - to record the progress of learners
• - to post assignments for evaluation
• - to form work groups and allow access to assessment
tests and self-assessment techniques
• - to develop courses for a variety of teaching methods
such as role playing or "competitive" techniques.

13. • Technologies (4)
• Synchronous videoconferences with experts were
hosted on and recorded with "Wiziq"
•
• Rich multimedia learning objects were developed with
"eXe", and "Articulate" (presenter and engage) and
exported in a SCORM format, highly compatible with
Moodle

14. • The role of educators (1)
•
The instructors are experts in online learning and adult
education and undertook several roles during DKEE
seminars
• - They designed and created an interactive learning
environment
• - They promoted interactive networked socialization
• - They were “present” for all participants and set up
the learning pace
• - They helped learners built up knowledge and skills
through workgroups

15. • The role of the educators (2)
• They have the double role of educator and researcher
• The trainers timed all video, audio files and electronic
books or articles the participants had to review
• If participants encountered problems the instructors
contacted them through e-mail or instant messages
via moodle, to help them

16. In the DKEE courses we used a complex
development and evaluation model
• Apart from the model proposed by Laurillard, Scardamalia and
Bereiter (Scardamalia,. & Bereiter, 1994) identified 3
characteristics of such a dialogue of knowledge construction:
1.The center of the learning process are more the problems
and the deeper understanding, rather than the mechanical
reproduction of knowledge.
2. The learning activity is decentralized free construction of
knowledge, with particular emphasis on collaborative learning,
where questions and reflections aim at a deeper understanding.
3. The knowledge affects the wider community and it is not
limited to trainers and trainees.

17. Evaluation Method- Evaluation Model
In the case of the DKEE online courses, we used as
many of the classical methods that could be adapted: ​
- we asked the trainees of the pilot implementation of
the courses to test the platform and its use and to
report their observations,
- we daily checked the trainees activities in the courses
and we gave an online evaluation questionnaire in
each course, using the Likert scale.

18. The Benefits of the DKEE Courses (1)
Regarding all the above, the benefits from this
type of training are sufficient and this was
proven by the findings of the quantitative
evaluation

19. The Benefits of the DKEE Courses (2)
1.The courses corresponded to the needs of the
trainees. 81% of the trainees thought that the
programme corresponded totally to their
expectations and 17% found it quite sufficient.
2. According to the evaluation the instructors, fulfilled
their tasks: 74% of the trainees judged that their
needs have been totally covered and 21% found it
sufficient in a big extent.

20. The Benefits of the DKEE Courses (3)
3. As for the efficiency of the electronic platform
(moodle), 57% judged that it covered totally the needs
of the course whereas 23% judged that the platform
has been quite sufficient for the needs.
4. The educational material has been appropriate for
the needs of the course: 81% said that they were very
satisfied; whereas 17% answered that they were quite
pleased.

21. The Benefits of the DKEE Courses (4)
5. On participants’ time management: 48% managed
their time very effectively, whereas 29% answered that
they managed their time quite effectively.
6. Trainees have been very positive concerning the
attendance of future courses: 88% said they would
definite attend more DKEE courses and 11% said they
would most likely do so

22. Sustainability
• Regarding the re-implementation of the courses for
other teachers, 87% said they would recommend it
by all means to other teachers and 13% said they
would agree to the re-implementation of all the
courses for all teachers.

23. Conclusion
• - Online learning is gaining ground in teacher professional
development
• - Skilled e-learning professionals (instructional designers,
content developers, facilitators etc.) are required to design
and offer high quality online courses
• - The Moodle platform meets all requirements to host a rich
online learning environment
• - The case study of DKEE online courses shows that online
learning can provide high quality professional development

24. Thank you!