Who uses the online national basic curriculum? What do they use it for?

• In Event: Enhancing access and use of the Guatemala national basic curriculum through online resources

Abstract

This presentation will discuss survey, interview and statistical data about use of the online National Basic Curriculum. It will explore options for further research on links between it and teaching and learning in the classroom.

Teachers are professionals, skilled practitioners of an occupation requiring self-drive, planning, use of evidence, and continuous improvement. Translating the curriculum into effective teaching and learning in the classroom is an area where professional expertise is critical. However, direct evidence is hard to obtain here. Curriculum use is frequently a private activity. Tracking relations between it, and results in the classroom and in learning presents methodological challenges.

Over the last two years, Vitruvian has collected data on use of the online curriculum, including website statistics, user surveys, and interviews with users and non-users. Questions have focused on characterizing users and their contexts of use. These efforts just scratch the surface of what may be possible.

The online curriculum offers opportunities to examine how teachers use resources in their day-to-day work. Operational statistics from the website database and tools like Google Analytics provide detailed information about patterns of use. Relating this to student performance in standardized tests and qualitative analyses of teacher practices offers opportunities to test ideas about links between the curriculum, its use, and performance.

Over the next months we will track indicators to better understand how teachers use the online curriculum in everyday work, how the tool affects teacher training, and eventually also the development of materials and textbooks.

Author

• Evelyn Espinoza, Vitruvian Consulting, LLC