Since 2008 the EGG has been successively equipped with new media, hereby emphasizing the importance of the use of media in the learning process. For the school year 2013/14 the last of the our houses for the respective year of our lower secondary school (classes 5-10) will be equipped with a mobile web-enabled media-bundle. These bundles each comprise a laptop, a DVD-player, a document camera, and a beamer as projector. With the camera, a multitude of media may be presented, from paper documents and overhead transparencies to objects like e.g. calculators in mathematics lessons. Through the WLAN access, both the internal school web and the Internet may be used. In the Personalized Learning lessons these media bundles are used for research as well as for presentations in the morning circles.
For all of the classes participating in Personalized Learning, additional sources for information material were purchased. Every class was supplied with several wall maps “Germany: physical geography /political structure”, “Europe”, and “World”. With the help of these maps, students are enabled to search for orientation and solutions in the social studies lessons (Years 5/7). The use of these maps is very popular in presentations in the morning circles. An encyclopaedia in several volumes, an animal encyclopaedia in year 5, and additional books of reference supplement the information media.
In the course of redesigning individual galleries for Personalized Learning, every class house received a reversible board. These mobile boards are easily manageable by the pupils and are used especially for presentations in the morning circles. Students prepare their presentation the day before, inscribe the boards, and use them either as source of information or to activate their fellow pupils (quiz!) during their presentation.
In the years 6 and 7, every class uses 5-6 media players for Personalized Learning. In year 6, pupils listen to English texts needed for solving their set tasks. In Natural Science lessons in year 6 an audio play and a video sequence supplement the given material. For music lessons in year 7 there are multiple songs to be examined, and for German lessons the book to be read in class is also available as an audio book. For the subject “music” in Personalized Learning, every class house has a keyboard at the students’ disposition for musical practice.
Personalized learning offers the students multiple opportunities of discovering the use of media in the learning process, thereby contributing to their “basic medial education”.
