DIGITAL TEACHING/LEARNING CONTENT IN NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION PROCESS: EFFICIENCY EVALUATION
Authors: Lamanauskas Vincentas , Šlekienė Violeta , Ragulienė Loreta , Bilbokaitė Renata 
Published: May 2021

Over the latter years education practice has changed a lot. New ways, forms and means of teaching “are coming” to comprehensive schools. Even applying common teaching methods and forms, their application algorithm is changing. First of all, it is related to virtual environment. You can find plenty of important material for education practice in the internet.
One of urgent fields is digital teaching/learning content. We can basically assert that digital teaching/learning content is a perspective way seeking to improve education process. However, it is not right to refer only to research works carried out in other countries. It is necessary to assess the context of the country, to accomplish representative evaluations in the population of Lithuanian students and teachers.
Digital teaching/learning content, as research works carried out in other countries show, can be an effective means in the teaching/learning process. Lithuania is short of such research works. Quite often teachers practitioners “are experimenting” in a very limited space and restrict themselves to only individual digital content component creation, e.g., of various computer teaching programmes.
The object of this research is the efficiency evaluation of digital presentations and lesson scenarios for “Nature and man “subject lessons. Digital presentations and lesson scenarios are arranged according to the textbook “In scientists’ footsteps 5”content.
The main aim is to evaluate the arranged digital teaching/learning content. The evaluation was carried out in four main aspects:
• Didactic;
• Technological;
• Usage;
• Need.
The research was going on from the beginning of January, 2011 to the middle of April, 2011. 20 teachers gave experimental lessons and carried out the evaluation of each of them. The evaluation paper was prepared. It contained 34 statements, connected with the employment of digital content. The statements were evaluated in the 5 range scale from “quite agree” to “quite disagree”. Also the teachers were asked to give comments which they considered to be necessary. Experimental lessons were given in the following order:
• IB+PPT (Interactive board +Power Point presentation);
• IB+AcIns (interactive board +Active Inspire presentation);
• S+PPT (screen + PowerPoint presentation);
• S +AcIns (screen + Active Inspire presentation).
One group of teachers (11) were using interactive boards + PPT/AcIns + lesson scenarios in the lessons. The second group (10) were using the screen + PPT/AcIns + lesson scenarios in the lessons. In addition, some teachers tried IB/S + lesson content was given in pdf format.
Research results show, that digital teaching/learning content together with arranged lesson scenarios for the realisation of the latter is undoubtedly, an innovative phenomenon in the educational practice. DTC (Digital Teaching Content) application in education practice is significant, because it directly educates students’ digital literacy as one of the essential abilities. DTC is basically interpreted as a component supplementing and integrating traditional teaching means. It has been stated, that DTC usage makes the lesson more effective regardless of the subject of the lesson (makes it more interesting, diverse, more attractive), develops students’ cognitive and psychosocial abilities, strengthens learning motivation, activates teaching/learning process itself. In addition, employment of DTC plays a supplementing role in education process applying various ICT, e.g., interactive boards, multimedia projectors and other. It has been stated, that prepared DTC in respect of realisation and extent of time is suitable and optimal. Optimal amount of slides is presented, the duration of slide usage in terms of time is optimal, and the foreseen activities are fully implemented. Referring to research results we can claim, that the priority is given to Active Inspire format. We can surely assert that DTC usage together with the other teaching /learning devices solves valeological - ergonomic problems. Time is saved, the usage of time allotted to learning is made more effective, teachers’ work itself is made easier, in this way forming possibilities to solve other important education questions.
Key words: basic school, digital teaching and learning content, evaluation, natural science education.