Informatics in Education

This study aims to examine the impact of interdisciplinary computational thinking (CT) skills training on primary school teachers’ perceptions of CT skills. The sample of the study consisted of 30 primary school teachers in Istanbul. In this study, where quantitative and qualitative methods were used together, qualitative data were obtained from the teacher identification form. Quantitative data were obtained from the scale for CT skills. After the pre-test was applied to the study group, “CT Skills Training” was applied. During the training, the basic concepts of CT skills and the subskills were covered theoretically and practically. From the quantitative data, the education applied was determined to have had a positive effect on the primary school teachers' perceptions of CT skills. From the qualitative data, it was determined that the participants had a positive opinion about the applied training and thought that they gained skills related to CT.

Notwithstanding the hype surrounding the enthusiasm and rush that characterises the employment of robotics in formal educational contexts, their use is described as nothing less than fragmented. In the circumstances that processes of adoption and application of digital tools are clearly outpacing their accommodation and enactment in formal educational settings, a teacher-training framework for the integration of robotics in primary schools is being proposed.

The paper composes a framework for learning design, using Web 2.0 technologies in teacher training, transferring the advancement in technology to become an affordance in the teaching/learning process, based on Bloom's Extended Digital Taxonomy in order to enhance the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge of teachers. As a case study, it shows how ELTE University tries to develop sustainable innovation of competencies in digital literacy and modern teaching/learning methodologies directly among the teaching staff in teacher training and student/future teachers as well as indirectly within public education in order to transfer innovation there. The complex aims of a specific course Educational Technology are described with detailed explanation of the methodology used in attaining the prescribed aims, giving links to the concrete tools and resources used. The description of course requirements are tagged with features of the nature of the learning design as being transmissive, dialogic, constructionist and co-constructive, illustrating how each element contributes to the adaptation of theory into practice. The role of a newly established T@T Mentoring Network is explained, which presumes sustainability for innovation within teacher training and the network of in-service and practicing teachers.