John,

I'll just copy and paste the questions into this message and add my reply under each
question respectively. If you need any clarifications, just let me know.
1. Please tell me about yourself and how you fit into the German education system.
To start off, the German system is somewhat different from the American system in that
after our years (on average) of elementary school, the students are tracked according to
academic potential. There used to be three tracks, i.e. three separate types of
secondary schools, but in many federal states, mine included, there are only two tracks
anymore. Usually only the highest track (Gymnasium) leads to a diploma that allows
students to move on to a university. Students without that diploma have the option to
obtain it later in evening school after they have trained for a job. That rarely happens
though so that generally, if a student wants to attend university, they try to complete the
full 12 years (the other tracks finish with a diploma after 9 or 10 years of schooling).
Increasingly, there are options to go to comprehensive schools that offer 13 years of
schooling and lead to the diploma necessary for university as well. These schools have
kids with all kinds of potential while the Gymnasium usually has the top 30 - 40% of a
year. ultimately it is the parents' choice which school their child will attend, but a kid that
cannot keep up at the Gymnasium can be transferred to another school after grade 6.
Now I work at a Gymnasium, teach English and history grades 5 - 12. There you have
the other major difference, all teachers have to teach a minimum of two subjects and in
all grades. Currently that would be 5th grade English, fifth grade history, 8th grade
history, 9th grade English, 12th grade English (honors) and history, as well as a 12
grade AP history. for me. To be able to teach at a Gymnasium a teacher has to have
M.A. / M.Sc. degrees in both subjects, plus a minor in education. I also have an
additional MA from the University of Maryland. I have been teaching at the school I am
at for ten years now and also do quite a bit of admin work as well as clubs. I will
however transfer to the German embassy school in Oslo in July 2015.
One thing that is relevant to the use of technology at my school is that starting this year

the teachers have their own rooms, like in the US. Normally the students, in class
groups of about 25 - 28, have the rooms and the teachers have to walk to whichever
class they teach next, which made the use of technology harder as you had to schlepp
everything from room to room.
2. How do you feel Germany compares internationally in regards to using instructional
technology (like computers, interactive white boards or tablets) in classes that are not
technology classes?
We are completely in the infancy stages. Tablets are not used at all except in a select
few "experimental" classes in Germany. Computers are used, but usually a school will
have a couple of computer rooms that need to be booked in advance and are hard to
get. Interactive whiteboards are also rare, even though some elementary schools are
starting to use them. Basically we are in the technological middle ages, blackboards &
chalk as well as overhead projectors being the most commonly used tools.
3. What unique challenges are posed by the structure of German education regarding
instructional technology?
Finances, though that is hardly unique I guess. Schools are financed by their districts
and most districts are unwilling to spend. The federal or state governments do not get
involved. Older teachers are often unwilling or unable to use technology and given that
everyone had tenure, there are no useful mechanisms that would prod them into the
right direction. Also the whole "students have the rooms" scenario isn't helpful since you
have to either leave expensive equipment in rooms where you regularly have
unsupervised students, or each teacher has to carry a projector and notebook
themselves.
In addition, several federal states have very strict data protection laws, which makes the
use of email hard, of social media impossible, and the introduction even of a wifi
network that covers the school and is accessible by students and teachers alike nigh to
impossible.

4. What kind of professional development or teacher training is available to the typical

German primary and secondary teachers regarding their use of technology in the
classroom?
There are some classes offered by private institutions that teachers have to pay for
themselves and attend in the evenings or on weekends, which many are unwilling to do,
given the lack of equipment in schools it seems like a waste. Some teacher institutes
(which are responsible for training new teachers on a state level) offer classes. The best
options currently seem to be classes offered by the publishing houses that want to
switch to digital school books.
5. In general, who makes the purchasing decisions for technology in German
classrooms? Who is consulted?
The school requests funds for technology from the district, the local policy makers have
an education committee (usually not experts on education except that they went to
school themselves at some point) that then decides whether the district can or wants to
afford the new technology. In my case, they usually don't want to.
6. What (if any) bureaucratic obstacles exist for teachers or schools looking to use a
new technology in their classrooms?
That they cannot make such major decisions themselves, plus the data protection laws
mentioned above. Parents can also refuse to have their kids use tablets etc. in school.
7. Please add any other thoughts regarding the use of instructional technology in
German classrooms:
A teacher who is willing and dedicated will use instructional technology if they can and
will invest personal funds, the others won't (somewhat understandably). Personally, now
that I have my own room I try to incorporate it as much as possible but can't do a lot
past the digital books via projector. If I were staying at the school I'd lobby really hard for

an interactive white board and since our current principal is open to such technology
might have an outside chance of actually getting one. You might have picked up on my
frustration with the situation
Hope this was helpful, and again, if you have further questions, feel free to contact me
again!
Best, Katharina