4 min read
2017/06/23
The Bavarian school system is set to shift from its 8-year advanced secondary school model back to a 9-year model by September 2018. The state will also introduce a new curriculum, LehrplanPLUS, which had already been introduced in primary schools in 2014 and will be implemented in secondary education institutions starting Summer 2017.
Notably, this curriculum has been adapted to fit the needs of the modern digital world. To meet these new requirements, Cornelsen – one of the leading publishers of educational media in the German-speaking world for over 70 years – trusts in Avallain Author.
The focus of LehrplanPLUS
One important goal of the new curriculum is to implement the most recent educational guidelines set forth by the assembly of ministers of education of the German federal states. The changes to both Bavaria’s educational mandate and the goals of the curriculum are heavily focused on modernisation:
- Supporting individual learning in heterogeneous classes
- Imparting both knowledge and skills
- Providing media education
LehrplanPLUS acknowledges that modern learning groups are composed of students whose performance, personal interests and needs may differ significantly. Thus, one stated goal of the new curriculum is to provide individualised education to all students in a diverse learning environment.
The education that students will receive focuses on imparting knowledge as well as skills – Students are expected to not only learn facts but to develop disciplinary and cross-disciplinary abilities as well. For example, they should not only learn when the Battle of Waterloo took place, but also gain the competence to independently research and assess the reliability of such information.
Notably, LehrplanPLUS defines media know-how as a cross-disciplinary skill. Thus, engaging with digital media is considered a skill which can not only be used as the subject of entire classes but one which can also be taught by actively using digital media in school. The Bavarian education ministry has created an incentive to use digital learning materials as an integral part of school education.
Ready for LehrplanPLUS with Avallain Author
A call for teaching materials that relevantly use digital media, imparting both knowledge and digital media skills – at the same time and in a fully individualised manner? For Cornelsen, satisfying all of these requirements as soon as LehrplanPLUS comes in effect is no problem at all.
After all, they are using Avallain Author. Cornelsen’s interactive learning tasks are already up to the challenge as, thanks to the powerful authoring tool, learners have the choice of accessing the tasks either via Scook or through the respective apps and CDs.
With the reform of the Bavarian school curriculum, it has become evident once again that planning for the future pays off”, knows Sandra Hestermann, Senior Product Manager at Cornelsen.
We have started cooperating with Avallain early on to be able to offer digital learning tasks as soon as needed – tasks which are not only easy to integrate into Scook but are also didactically valuable and simply fun for the students”, she says.
As a learning platform designed to be used alongside course materials, Scook offers interactive learning tasks designed using Avallain Author to function as digital additions to printed Cornelsen schoolbooks. The result is well worth viewing (Video), as the numerous features of the program fulfil all requirements of LehrplanPLUS.
Supporting students individually
Avallain Author allows Cornelsen to create learning activities which are perfectly adapted to the abilities and needs of students. Thus, Scook can provide its tasks with multiple degrees of difficulty to choose from, according to student performance. Individual feedback and assistance features are also integral to Avallain Author, allowing students in heterogeneous class environments support on an individual basis.
Imparting knowledge and skills
With Avallain Author, Cornelsen has access to a powerful tool which allows them to take full advantage of the possibilities of digital education. The program not only allows the creation of all-new types of tasks, but it also offers more than 100 standard activity types that can be combined into endlessly varied complex tasks. Thus, Scook can merge Drag-and-Drop, Multiple-Choice and interactive speech elements into sophisticated chains of learning activities. This not only allows Scook to impart knowledge and skills – but the entire learning process is also more exciting for the students.
Training digital media skills
Avallain Author follows an object-oriented approach, which means that learning content is independent of its technological realisation. This gives Cornelsen the freedom to update the technology behind Scook at any time without having to edit the learning content as well. For students, the object-based approach means that they can work on their interactive learning tasks on various devices, from desktop computers to smartphones, experiencing a variety of digital media in a safe environment.
Cornelsen and Avallain – ready for the future
With its focus on digital education, LehrplanPLUS brings the Bavarian educational system up to date. Publishers who have not invested in the digital sphere early now need to put in a lot of effort or risk being left behind by technological progress. Cornelsen, however, can look forward to the future, as Avallain Author is continually being developed further using highly advanced and sophisticated technologies.
