Katja Koprivnikar, Zavod za gluhe in naglušne Ljubljana, Ljubljana
The theme of getting to know Slovenias capital city Ljubljana, where our school is situated, has been a great opportunity to broaden our learning environment outside the classroom and to enrich the learning process. We took the pupils of 3rd and 5th grades for a walk around our city. The pupils were responsible for taking photos. The teachers were leading the way. We drew attention to the important institutions and buildings around the city and shared the information about them during the conversation.The pupils themselves chose the parts of the city they wanted to explore according to their interests. A few days after the walk we collected photos, reviewed and edited them in the program for editing photos Kizoa. While viewing and creating photos, the pupils were revising their knowledge of Ljubljana. This was followed by the presentation of Ljubljana by PowerPoint, where we used the obtained information. As the students themselves chose the path and took photos, the information they obtained from the teachers, has been easily memorized, so the presentation was actually just a revision of what was already known. Consolidating the knowledge the pupils and one of the teachers created an online game – Treasure Hunt Map (Ljubljana – my town). 3rd grade pupils were assisted by 5th grade pupils who are more skilled in the use of online tools. Finally we visited the Town Hall in Ljubljana, where we met with the Mayor of Ljubljana, Mr. Zoran Janković and recorded a short interview with him. The interview has been processed by the program MovieMaker and posted on the website of our school. After the visit we ascended to Ljubljana Castle by the funicular, and took a birds perspective of our city.The pupils looked for the sites that had been photographed by them. The pupils were gaining knowledge in a multi-sensory mode, which is essencial for the pupils at the Ljubljana centre for the Deaf and Hard-of-hearing, attended also by pupils with ASD, ADHD, etc. During the learning process the pupils were creative, proactive and relaxed. The knowledge they have acquired is definitely deeper and more settled. By this approach I intended to to encourage my pupils to express their creativity, curiosity and, above all, to realize that the classroom may serve just as a space to create the synthesis of information, knowledge and experience.
