28.02.2021 08:20
Network teacher Bob Blume criticizes digital teaching in schools
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Offenburg – Bob Blume is on YouTube as a network teacher. His explanatory videos are about text analysis, Goethe’s Faust, the comma rules or clever words for the German exam.
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The teacher Bob Blume stands in front of a bookshelf in his home office. © Philipp von Ditfurth / dpa
In real life, the 38-year-old teaches German, English and history at a grammar school in Bühl near Offenburg. As a blogger, he has been dealing with digital education for years. His record is not good. Digitization is not only in its infancy in Baden-Württemberg, he says.
What is the problem? Pretty much everything, the high school teacher, who has also written books on the subject, is certain. “It starts with the infrastructure, the missing end devices and the immature concepts.” Some schools have certainly already gone ahead.
Education Minister Susanne Eisenmann (CDU), who wants to become Prime Minister in the upcoming state elections on March 14, also sees that there is a lot to do. “We tackled a lot of education in this legislative period, because we found numerous construction sites and unresolved questions for decades,” says the CDU politician.
Digital education had a very high priority. “This can only be seen from the fact that we have currently invested more money than ever before in the digitization of schools.”
When it comes to equipping devices, various federal and state programs would apply. By the end of the year, just under 70 million euros had been approved by the Digital Pact School in Baden-Württemberg, which meant that around 12 percent of the funds were committed. A total of about 93.5 million euros were requested by the school authorities. Around 1,500 schools had submitted a media development plan to show how the devices should be used.
“The figures show that the program is slowly gaining momentum,” says Eisenmann, who, as the CDU top candidate, is promising another 1.5 billion euros for fiber optic expansion in order to connect schools to the very fast Internet.
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Digital education is more than just buying devices
The teacher Bob Blume is at home in his office. He teaches German, English and history and is known, among other things, for producing instructional videos for his students and putting them on YouTube. © Philipp von Ditfurth / dpa
It is not only Blume who criticizes the fact that the applications for the funds require expertise and a lot of time. In some municipalities, the funds are being advanced in order to provide students and teachers with tablets more quickly. But not every city has the necessary funds.
Digital education is also much more than just the procurement of end devices, says Blume. It’s more about multimedia work, independent learning, for example with the help of explanatory videos that you watch before class and then discuss collaboratively.
It is not only the teaching that is about upheaval, but also the role of the educator. Teachers are becoming more and more learning coaches who guide students and teach them how to use digital media.
A research association of the Leibniz Institute for Knowledge Media and the University of Tübingen is currently looking at how these can be used sustainably for teaching. To this end, the researchers in Baden-Württemberg have been accompanying 64 classes from 32 schools for three years.
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The most important findings so far: “Pupils perceive tablets as a support in class,” says Professor Katharina Scheiter, who is working on the study. For example, by using visualization tools for experiments in chemistry classes, you can help students grasp the subject matter.
Weaker students in particular benefited from this. But you have to make sure that the media are used correctly. Like Blume, the expert also says: This is at least as important as the technical equipment in the schools.
“It is nonsense that digital natives can do this on the fly,” says the psychologist. You have to show the students what reliable information is and how they can achieve their learning goals. “The teacher as a coach shows how it’s done and provides assistance.” The role of the teacher must change, away from the information presenter. “This requires training and the awareness that it is time for a change.”
But time is exactly what is missing, says Bob Blume. “So far, a few nerdy teachers in particular have made sure that their schools get ahead.” So chance decides. But more concrete framework conditions are needed, lone warfare must end. And you need more freedom for further training.
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Cover photo: Philipp von Ditfurth / dpa
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