Choosing from a range of e-sources when planning lessons - a challenge for teachers

Abstract

In this article, we report on a qualitative exploratory study in a primary school based on observation in classrooms and interviews with teachers. The aim was to find out what e-sources teachers were using during the mandated distance learning in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and immediately after students returned to school, and how and why they were using them. The results show that teachers are not very familiar with the range of complex e-textbooks and their additional digital support offered by publishing houses. They believe they can find fun and interactive exercises on the internet on their own and in practice they do so, often unsystematically. The teachers' main criteria for selecting resources are attractiveness, fun and interactivity. This exploratory research shows that in the flood of different e-sources that teachers can use, it is even more crucial that the textbook plays a coordinating role. Within it, it is important to offer teachers high quality and goal-oriented resources that they can adapt, combine, and compile according to their own discretion and the needs of their classroom. At the same time, there is a need to focus teacher training on developing competences to work with diverse and fragmented resources.Keywords: use of textbooks, e-sources, teaching resources, primary school teachersIntroductionThe role of the teacher is to constantly consider what educational content to use with students and how to use it. The teacher considers the educational content in relation to the compulsory curriculum, the needs of the students and other contextual factors. He or she usually has both textbooks and other print and electronic learning resources at his or her disposal, which he or she should evaluate and use creatively. Remillard (2005) identified one type of teacher as a teacher who participates with the textbook's text. This approach assumes that the teacher and the teaching resources are in a dynamic relationship with each other, and that the teacher is an active co-creator of the implemented curriculum.We believe that in recent times, when the availability of diverse teaching resources has greatly expanded (e.g., Sikorová et al., 2019), the teacher's "participation with the textbook's text" is a factor that should be researched. This is important for curriculum and textbook developers and teacher edu-cators, who should draw on how teachers work with and modify curriculum and textbooks and support them in being able to find, evaluate, use, and possibly modify different teaching resources effectively.The use of educational technology to support active student learning has intensified in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. It appears (Mhlanga and Moloi, 2020; Palau et al., 2021) that this may be