Abstract: According to the UNESCO reports, the health crisis caused by SARS-COV-2 affected more than 1.7 billion students from around 150 countries worldwide this past spring. Teachers at all levels of education were forced to switch to digital resources and tools and were required to transition and adapt promptly to remote teaching. This transition took place also within the Teacher Training Department at the West University of Timisoara. Teachers together with their students had to find pragmatic, technology-based, creative solutions that would allow them to carry out the remote teaching, learning and assessment activities at a level that would ensure the development of the desired skills and the achievement of the desired learning outcomes.

This paper explores the way in which the teaching, learning, and assessment activities have been adapted for emergency remote teaching at the West University of Timisoara. We focus on the first and second levels of the Teacher Training Program offered to future science teachers at this university.

We present the adopted strategies, communication tools, and the applications used to deliver the proposed teaching, learning, and assessment activities. Furthermore, we identify the most common technological and pedagogical difficulties encountered throughout these activities, as well as the future science teachers’ concerns regarding the transition to remote teaching. 

We conclude that the health crisis has had both negative and positive influences on the training process of future science teachers at the West University of Timisoara, providing a unique opportunity that allowed both teachers and their students to jointly discover effective remote teaching-learning-assessment approaches.

Keywords: Challenges and opportunities, emergency remote teaching, preservice science teachers

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Abstract:
The present study deals with the use of a weblog in the further training of teachers at Romanian public schools with German teaching. The question whether an educational blog meets the needs, wishes and expectations of the target group was

investigated using the IMMS questionnaire based on the ARCS model by Keller (1983, 1987). The evaluation results show a positive impact of the blog on the study participants and point out the importance of motivational factors in designing online learning content. This referred to the multimedia narrative presentation and the clear structuring of current psycho-educational topics with practical relevance for the target group.

Keywords: ARCS model, blog, further training, motivational design, online learning

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Abstract: In this article I analyse the discursive context of two classes of students bringing into discussion the concepts of educational knowledge and the organization of teaching-learning activities. Although there is much research that provides nuanced insights into how teachers and students are involved in the social construction of classroom discourses about knowledge, in Romanian literature the issue of classroom interactions has been approached from the perspective of teachers ‘ and students’ perceptions, while school knowledge has been studied only incidentally Therefore, I present a qualitative study, based on a critical discourse analysis that highlights how different versions of knowledge are socially constructed in the discursive space of the classroom, in order to point out ways in which the classroom and school can become spaces in which interactions no longer revolve around knowledge defined only by reference to disciplinary content. Bimonthly observations and audio-video recordings were made in the 2017-2018 school year during language and communication activities, in two classes, from two different schools. The results show that classroom interactions and participation structures differ depending on the purpose of the activities, and student participation is not only based on generally accepted communication rules, but varies depending on the implicit or explicit purpose of the activities.

Keywords: Classroom discourse analysis, curriculum, interactions, school knowledge, students participation

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Abstract:
This study aims to explore the online communication habits and practices of 12-14-year-old 50 students from an urban school. Measuring their answers on the Digital Native Scale of Timothy Teo (DNAS), this study refers to the suggested four-factor by the author, creating a framework for the analysis of their digital native profile: grown up with technology, comfortable with multi-tasking, reliant on graphics for communication, and thrive on instant rewards (Teo, 2013). The results of the study enhance the understanding of digital natives. As we expected, this research shows a high degree of comfort in online communication in their differentiated profile. It is relevant the issue of age when exemplifying digital natives’ skills. Also, it is estimated that there are similar behaviours, related with the debut age of technology use (4-5 years old). The most common actions in virtual space are surfing on the Internet, photographing, communicating, downloading, disseminating, adding to comments on colleagues’ posts. According to this study, the online communication practices of these 12-14-year-old students include in terms of content various symbols, instant bonuses, and feedback elements. From an educational point of view, these can be included in a structured manner of learning. The article proposes, in this view, several ways to integrate usual students’ communication practices in learning activities with the support of digital resources (virtual bulletin boards, online presentations, digital stories so on). The results indicate that students showed the digital native characteristics, that can be successfully used in school.

Keywords: Digital literacy, digital native, online communication, technology

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Abstract: The current context determined by the social distancing has changed the way of carrying out the learning activities which are taught and evaluated at school; during this situation the Romanian and also the global education system faced an unprecedented challenge, namely the transfer of the whole school activity to the online environment. Given this situation, we analyzed data from national and international studies in order to have an overview of the characteristics of digitization and existing digital skills, especially in the Romanian education system. This analysis allowed the understanding of the structure on which this sudden digitization developed and the premises of public policies on which the process was built. The analysis was combined with the presentation of projects carried out during this period, in order to prepare the various school actors in the field of digital education in the form of recommendations to support the empowerment processes in training digital skills of teachers and students in the current context and on a long-term.

Keywords: Digital competences, education and social distance, online school, projects, public policies

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Abstract:
According to Eurostat data, the young NEETs (Not in education, employment or training) rate in Romania is one of the highest in Europe. It ranks 4th in Europe in 2019 (after Italy, Greece, and Slovenia) (Eurostat, 2020), with 11.5% for men, and 27.8% for women (while the EU average is 12.2% for men, and 20.8% for women). In addition, Romania has one of the highest rates of ’other NEETs’, not registered by public employment agencies: only 4.8% were registered in 2018, and received the NEETs benefits (CE, 2018). Recent data show the low performance of Romania in monitoring the school to work transition of youths, in accessing the European funds to support young people entering the labor market, or for offering the Youth Guarantee (Beadle et al., 2020). Even so, Romania, like all other member states, cannot afford to lose the youth capital, while it faces sharp population ageing and outgoing migration.

During the last decade, we saw emerging a strong know-how for understanding and addressing the NEETs issue. Reflecting on the research data from different reports and studies, from various findings in large scale H2020 research and innovation projects on NEETs, the paper elaborates on proactive or remedial integrative solutions for improving the situation of young NEETs in Romania, building up on the good practices in atracting NEETs, at national and European level, while using the theoretical framework of the governmentality studies applied to the youth field (Besley, 2010).

Keywords: Educational policies, educational practices, NEETs, outreach, youth policies, youth ’at risk’

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Abstract:
Under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic, the school activities have moved from the classroom to the online environment. Considering these circumstances, the teachers have made serious efforts to adapt their teaching and assessment methods to the possibilities offered by the virtual space. They have used various educational platforms and digital resources, trying to be in contact with their students, learning “on the go” to make the most efficient use of them in the teaching process.

Being an important topic in education in the current period, we present, in this paper, the results of the online testing for Physics and Chemistry of some middleschool students, realized through the Kahoot educational platform. These results support the opinion that face-to-face school or even blended-learning are, in general, more efficient than online school.

Some advantages of the online assessment were also highlighted, most of them attitudinal; for example, most of the students were excited about the opportunity to participate in this assessment, and some of them returned to the platform and solved some tests twice, so using them for learning. The results of the online assessment have also underlined some components of the school curricula that are harder to be transformed into student’s acquisitions, and for which more time and explanations are needed.

Keywords: Competence-based education, middle school education, online assessment

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Abstract:
The present study focuses on the role, importance and complementarity of science and technology extracurricular activities. The research is based on the analysis of the students’ views on how the science activities should be conducted in Children’s Palaces and Clubs, namely which topics should be explored and how the activities should be organised. An online questionnaire was designed for data collection (N=3945). The research design included opinions from specialized literature. Thus, the success of the extracurricular activities increases in direct proportion to the approached topics, didactic strategies and the community involvement – parents, schools – with relevant experiences in carrying out the activities (Albulescu & Catalano, 2019). And as far as the organization of this type of activity is concerned, the following should be considered: the pupils’ age level characteristics, their psychological needs, and the specific inclinations and interests (Cucoº, 2017). The science and technology activities include the curricular areas involved in a coherent learning paradigm, which is based on practical applications that are used in everyday life (Albulescu, 2014). The current legislation also supports an innovative way of carrying out extracurricular activities.

The findings show us the important role of the technical and scientific extracurricular activities, which along formal education help to improve learners’ results, furthermore, they are complementary for the development of competences in science and technology. This study helps in the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the extracurricular activities, and the results tell us about the needs of the pupils and to what extent the use of the pupil-centered educational strategy will help to achieve better results in education and reduce school dropout. This is a confirmation that complex educational objectives require the combination of curricular with extra-curricular activities (Bocoş & Jucan, 2017).

Keywords: Children’s palaces and clubs, competences, extracurricular activities, interdisciplinarity, science and technology

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Abstract: The paper presents the results from a study involving 70 students in grade 9, from two technological highschools situated in a large town in Romania. In September 2020, the 15 year olds read and answered the questions from one of the released units after PISA 2018, and then reflected on their reading experience in a self assessment sheet. The results show good results in working with information from one article and poor ability in corroborating conflicting information from two sources that focus on a same topic. The students display little familiarity with biased information even if the majority enjoyed the reading challenge of two divergent points of view. The results are consistent with the PISA reading trend for Romania. In order to improve reading comprehension, teachers should renovate the reading practices by challenging students with work on multiple texts and tasks that focus on evaluation and reflection and on the sources credibility.

Keywords: Biased information, PISA, reading comprehension, reading practices

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Abstract: The current analysis starts from a teacher’s experience with cognitively disabled students. In such cases, the management of the teaching-learning process is challenged by the limitations of various activities (generalizations, abstraction or inductive-deductive operations). In these situations, the teacher has to select effective activities for developing the competences in the curriculum. In this context, success could only be obtained if proper attention is given to the individual learning needs of each student. At the same time, an emotional relationship that is based on trust needs to be developed between the teacher and the students and their parents. The communication competence is a priority since it is absolutely necessary for the social integration of students with disabilities as it provides the means to express feelings, needs and views. The challenge to plan adequate

teaching strategies is correlated with understanding the child’s real issue and its timely solution: the more serious the cognitive disability, the later speech develops and remains at a low level in the adult life, generating difficulties in expressing thought and emotion. If the youngsters experience a false disability triggered by the lack of educational stimulation or if they have an authentic cognitive disability, these students need sustained support. The examples of interventions we present in this paper come from our attempts to best value the intellectual potential of these children and, consequently, to find solutions for a differentiated adaptation to each child’s needs by planning competence-oriented creative teaching activities.

Keywords: Adapted teaching strategies, communication competences, (false) cognitive disability

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Abstract:
Teaching using a synchronous and an asynchronous online environment has become increasingly widespread across the education sector and now this process has been accelerated, temporarily or permanently, due to the Corona Virus (SARSCoV-2) pandemic. The mass closure of nurseries, kindergartens, schools, high schools and universities has prompted the rethinking of the teaching and learning processes. Educators were forced to shift to an online mode of teaching overnight even if they did not properly feel capable to do so. Our study seeks to explore the experiences on teaching and learning online encountered by preschool teachers during their work in the context of COVID-19 physical school closure and explore the meaning of such practices in shaping in-service kindergarten educators’ perceptions of digital media and online delivery. The participants of the present study are kindergarten teachers (n=21) with a minimum of three years and a maximum of 10 years of teaching experience. They work with the same age group (three- to sixyear- old children), from 9 public inner-city kindergartens. By making use of a phenomenological qualitative inquiry, data was collected through participating at semi-structured interviews via ZOOM videotelephony software program in June 2020. After the data was recorded and transcribed, three main themes were distinguished. The key findings indicate that all the teachers experienced challenging moments while delivering online, but they were also able to identify advantages in such a stressful context. The results of the study show the need of a modernized approach to pedagogies on educational technologies and media that is driven by research informed analysis.

Keywords: Digital media, ICT, in-service kindergarten teachers, perceptions, young children

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Abstract:
IDELA (International Development and Early Assessment of Learning) is an assessment tool developed following a three-year activity by Ivelina Borisova, from Save the Children, with the help of Vidur Chopra. It allows to evaluate the development and early education of young children (3.5-6.5 years).

The assessment tool resulted after three years of verifying and modifying the instrument, in several locations in 12 different countries. The tool includes 24 items, is easy to translate and manage and presents levels of high fidelity and validity.

When applied in different countries, the instrument has been adapted taking into account the feasibility of administration, the relevance of the instrument and policy at country level, as well as its applicability at international level.

In Romania, the application of the instrument was made face to face during the initial evaluation of 300 children aged 3 -6 at the Kindergarten “Căsuţa Bucuriei” no. 11 from Braşov. The innovative dimension of the application was the final assessment: it was conducted in a “virtual classroom” with 230 children, but adapted to the pandemic context in which the learning took place, either in a hybrid scenario or exclusively online.

Keywords: Early education, face to face class, innovative assessment, international assessment tool, virtual class

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