Empowering Teachers to Evolve Media Enriched Classroom Scenarios

Enriching existing classroom procedures and established pedagogic methods with computers is in no case a question of the number of computers available. In this paper, we present an approach of augmenting traditional structures of teaching at German schools by using innovative technology and collaborative software tools designed for the specific demands of teachers and learners for a certain topic. Starting with an overview of our experiences with the implementation of a computer-integrated classroom in the NIMIS project, we will continue with examples from our project SEED. There, computers were introduced to the classroom without redefining well suited pedagogic methods or changing the learning content at the beginning. Using the computer as a trojan mouse to enter the classroom, we simultaneously tried to empower the teacher to be able to implement change and innovation by using new technology in schools. Together with a community of secondary school teachers we have elaborated on classroom experiments which provide added value for both teachers and learners. For the development process, we brought together teachers, researchers and developers. Thus, we guaranteed that the “product” will cover the expertise of all three groups in a complementary way. We call this process complementary action design.