Connected Intelligence: Program Assessment

CITD Assessment Report 1999-2000: Executive Summary
Professor Jerry Durlak, York University, wrote a detailed assessment report for the CITD 1999-2000 academic year. The Executive Summary is included here. In addition, the response from the Madeiran Ministry of Education is included immediately following the executive summary.

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The CITD Assessment Report Phases I and II

The CITD assessment report was written in two phases. The first phase was written in early April and examined the formation of the Connected Intelligence Clubs, the selection and training of Associate Teachers, school and teacher demographics, marketing of the CI Clubs, and planning for the July Celebration. The first phase report was also used to assist the CITD strategic planning week that took place in Madeira during the third week of April...

The second phase of the report was written in late September and focused on the different yet complimentary planning processes used by the Regional Secretary of Education and CITD, examined three critical issues that are affecting CITD and suggested possible solutions to those issues.

CONCLUSIONS OF PHASE ONE

1. A systematic plan has to be in place for the selection of Associate Teachers and schools over at least the next two years because this choice has important implications for training, communications and the Network Learning Projects. In order for the CITD program to meet its original business plan, the number of Associate teachers is going to have to increase substantially every year. In 1999 there was a voluntary self-selection process for the Associate Teachers. While this system should continue, there should be also be strategies in place to find alternative solutions such as partnering with certain schools and Associate Teachers in different regions.

2. Another important question is how much CITD training does an Associate Teacher need before he or she can becomes an innovative agent in the school system and what follow up resources and human networks have to be available to him or her? The development of a CITD Forum and Training Resources on the Internet have to be given a high priority.

3. In almost three-quarters of the Cycle 1 schools, access to the Internet for students is either not there or is not adequately serviced. Associate Teachers also have difficulty accessing their e-mail. If CITD is to expand in Cycle 1 schools, the Communications and Telecommunications impediments have to be overcome with the prompt assistance of the Secretary of Education.

4. The software in Cycle 1 schools is not appropriate for the teachers or the students. Elementary school teachers need good word processing, communications and interactive media to be effective. The ability of young children to learn how to use relatively sophisticated software is often underestimated by school boards.

5. There is a very competitive Club environment in the Madeiran school system, and CITD has to do a better job of marketing itself in and outside the system. Better formal and informal strategies are needed to increase the awareness by potential Associate Teachers of the innovative qualities of CITD.

6. The Connected Intelligence Clubs are a crucial element of the CITD process. It is important that CITD as well as the Secretary of Education study these Clubs carefully to determine what makes a club successful. It is essential that long term research on the CI Clubs begins this year, so that there is a baseline that will allow performance measures to be put in place.

7. The Showcase event not only broadens local awareness and support for CITD across Madeira but just as important is the opportunity for children to display their work, have an opportunity to meet each other face-to-face, and begin networking. It also gives the participants an opportunity to better understand the power of the CITD process and system.

8. As CITD increases in size in the next school year, there will be increasing pressure for additional lab, office and instructional space. If CITD is to place more emphasis on Cycle 1 schools there are important training requirements and a need for additional training space.

CONTEXT OF THE PHASE TWO REPORT

The Allocative Planning Model
Most school systems in the world today, including the Regional Secretary of Education of Madeira, are based on an allocative planning model. Allocative planning systems are concerned with coordinating the distribution of limited resources among competing users. An important concern is to maintain a given system in a state of equilibrium or balance. A Ministry of Education has to function adequately under conditions of steady economic and demographic expansion. In this situation, the problem is principally one of adding to existing facilities and of making a series of adaptive changes in those conditions that affect the degree of efficiency in the educational system.

In addition, the Regional Secretary of Education has to meet the educational requirements of the Portuguese Ministry of Education. While the Regional Secretary of Education does have some opportunities to institute change in the Madeira School System, it has to act within the constraints of the Portuguese educational system.

Technology and Change
Concurrently, however, educational planners in Madeira also need to institute major improvements in the performance of the educational system. Over the next 5 to 10 years the same technologies that have forced corporations across the world to remake themselves for e-commerce hold the potential to similarly transform educational systems around the developed and developing world.

The Innovative Planning Model
CITD's mandate is innovative planning. Innovative planning is usually concerned with producing an organic change in a system of societal relations. Innovative planning may be regarded as an approach to institutional development that is expected to produce a limited, but significant change in the structural relations of an existing system. Innovative planning creates wholly new categories of activity that cannot be reached by increments of present activity, but only by initiating a new line of activity that eventually leads to the conceived result.

The Simultaneous Need for Balance and Innovation
While both of these planning methods are discussed in more detail in the Phase 2 Report, it is apparent that the relations between allocative and innovative planning are inevitably in a state of tension. System balances must be maintained, but change in desired directions is also needed. Both forms of planning are generally required. In reality both forms are necessary and depend upon each other for their effectiveness. Pure system maintenance will result in stagnation; pure innovative activity-without the balancing effort made possible by allocative planning-will lead to increasing disorder. With these ideas in mind it is appropriate to review several issues that are emerging.

Critical Issues in the Phase 2 Report
The critical issues include:

1. Attracting a sufficient number of highly qualified and motivated Associate Teachers for the Connected Intelligence Clubs.

2. Developing a process that ensures that the Associate Teachers will take appropriate responsibility for successfully participating in the CITD Program.

3. Ensuring schools that are accepted into the program have the appropriate hardware, software, and technological infrastructure as well as the human support structure to adequately support program delivery and successfully participate in the CITD Program.

Planning for the Future
In planning for the future, it may be appropriate to limit the number of teachers who receive two years of training as Associate Teachers and to consider alternative strategies that offer elements of the CITD methodology to a larger number of teachers over a shorter period of time.

1. The Focus of CITD Training. CITD's focus in the first year on the effective use of communication and computer technology training is an area, in which not only teachers and their students should become knowledgeable, but is a basic network society "driver's license" for all adults in Madeira. The second year focus on the drivers of lifelong learning in a Network Society (Network Learning Pedagogy, Cultural Development and Digital Entrepreneurship) is not only useful for teachers across Madeira, but would also be useful for civil servants and business people.

2. Development of On-Line Resources. During the 2000-2001 academic year, all of the training materials for the Trainers as well as the Associate Teachers are becoming modularized and are being designed to be accessed from the Web. Beginning in the summer of 2001, short courses based on Communications, Network Learning and Entrepreneurship could be offered to teachers and other interested parties on weekends, summer holiday or during other appropriate time periods.

3. Potential Course Locations. The courses could be offered at school sites, at the Space Tech facilities that are being implemented across the country, or at other sites that would have the appropriate software, hardware and network facilities. The Trainers for these courses would be the Associate Teachers who had successfully completed the two years of training at CITD. There could also be a moderate fee for these courses so that the Trainers would receive reasonable compensation for their efforts. The people who received the training would also have access to the on-line resources and would have access to a chat site, e-mail and guest speakers who would periodically take part in the activities.

Quality Assurance in the Connected Intelligence Clubs
A straightforward process is needed that will ensure that the Associate Teachers who are leading the Connected Intelligence Clubs will: 1) take responsibility for implementing the CITD Program, 2) successfully complete their implementation of the Network Learning Projects, and 3) assess the successes and failures of the projects. Traditionally, teachers have had complete autonomy in conducting the clubs and they do not have to meet basic performance requirements for the products they produce.

1. An Associate Trainer Statement. Currently it is not possible to make a legally binding contract with the Associate Teachers. It should be possible, however, for the CITD trainers to develop a one or two page document with the Associate Teacher that describes what he or she will be trying to accomplish in the Connected Intelligence Club and the Network Learning Project. The statement would also include a timetable of when the tasks would be completed. This document could be signed by a representative of CITD and ICCI. A copy of the statement could also be given to the administration of the school.

2. A Review Process. A representative of CITD could meet with the Associate Teacher half way through the year to review the progress and make any appropriate adjustments to the timetable. At the end of the year, the Associate Teacher could meet with a CITD representative to review the accomplishments of the past year. While the document would not be legally binding on the Associate Teacher, the public commitment by the Associate Teacher would be of benefit to everyone.

Technology in CI Clubs
Schools who are accepted into the program must have the appropriate hardware, software, and network infrastructure, as well as the human support structure to adequately support program delivery and participate successfully in the CITD program. This issue is most apparent in the first cycle schools. The Secretary of Education has requested that a larger number of first cycle schools should be incorporated into the CITD process. However, the technological and human resources needed for the successful implementation of the CITD process are only present in approximately half of the first cycle schools that have applied to CITD.

1. Minimal Hardware Configurations. The CITD Network Operations Document states that each associated school should have one computer lab with at least 8 computers (with Internet access) and the lab should be made available to the Associate Teacher at least three hours a week. The school must own licenses for MS Office and for Front Page and also have available materials like floppy discs, a scanner, a photocopier and paper for printing. It is also necessary to have access to a technician who can respond to questions and difficulties within 24 hours.

Without the above technology and technical support, it is almost impossible to implement a Connected Intelligence Club and take part in a Network Learning Project.

Planning for the Use of Technology in Schools
Currently a substantial amount of money, as well as time, energy and resources are being spent on delivering technology to schools. Most schools, however, whether they are first cycle schools or secondary schools with multiple computer labs have not gone through a planning process to determine how the hardware, software and communications technology should or could be integrated within the curriculum of the school.

1. Collaborative Planning for Information and Communication Technologies. CITD has considerable expertise in this area. It might make sense to explore how CITD could write a planning document to assist schools in developing a five year plan for the implementation of computer and communications technology in schools. From another perspective, it might also be useful for CITD to run a seminar or seminars on Integrating Technology in Schools that would be sponsored by the Secretary of Education.

--- End of Executive Summary ---

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SRE Response: Adjustment of Associate Teachers in CITD

In April 2000 the SRE distributed a memo that altered the original requirements regarding the number of ATs in the CITD program. The central part of this document is presented here:

Regional Secretary of Education Response to Assessment Report
In relationship to the question about the objectives that the Regional Secretary of Education pretends concerning to the teachers involved in the project of “Connective Intelligence” we inform that:

1. It was always define that the training should be extend, if possible until the year 2006, to the teachers of the Region, in order to, familiarized them with the methodology of the project, which is a valuable and general outline to teach.

2. These circumstances, however, were never used to support any thesis in regards to the fact that the teachers had to live up to a situation of Associate Teacher;

3. In this specific data that was fixed as an operational objective for the end of the project (2006) an existence of 300 Associated Teachers, in order to assure a continuous grown an consistence with the gradual evolution, it is understood that the number of the Associate teachers should grow in accordance to the below specified:

   Year 2000 – 120
   Year 2001 – 150
   Year 2002 – 180
   Year 2003 – 210
   Year 2004 – 240
   Year 2005 – 270
   Year 2006 – 300

   This represents a change in the original training plan for CITD as articulated in the 1998 contract produced by KPMG Canada that called for the systemic training of 300 different teachers each year through 2006. The original intent was to provide the majority of teachers in Madeira with one year of training in the CITD Program. For various administrative reasons associated with the school system, it was deemed necessary by the SRE to reduce this number in order to provide a smaller number of teachers with more intensive training over a two-year involvement with CITD. In this way a greater level of expertise could be achieved while at the same time reducing some of the costs associated with professional development. The logic of the decision was clear.

This change in the implementation model required immediate changes in CITD. The original program was designed along a one-year scheme and was aimed a greater number of teachers. Changing the delivery of CITD part way through the first full year of implementation came with a number of challenges. The program now required fundamental implementation adjustments to include a two-year delivery model, something that had not previously been considered in a concrete manner.

At the same time, the SRE eliminated the extra payments to teachers for their involvement in the Club structure within schools. Previously, teachers had received an incentive to their regular pay for participating in a Club (i.e. – three hours per week during the school year). Since CITD’s critical linkage to the school system was through the existing Club structure, it had dramatic implications for the recruitment of Associate Teachers into the program. Simply stated, a heavy emphasis was placed on the volunteerism of teachers. This issue is included in Jerry Durlak’s assessment report below that was available in October 2000.

CITD: Current Scenario
In the current year three new CI NLPs were created. The purpose of this was to develop a program strategy that was more clearly aimed at the objectives articulated for education in the Information Age as stated by the European Union. In this way, CI NLPs could begin incorporating teachers and students from other EU member states. To support this, the number of CITD Trainers was increased to 13 and the UNESCO seminar in Cultural Development was delivered to all CITD Trainers. This was also at the same time the delivery of CITD moved out of KPMG Canada and into the newly formed CIIC, SA.

However, the implementation issues revealed in the previous year intensified and are currently under review. Associate Teacher enrolment in CITD declined to 80 teachers from 120 the previous year. The certification and incentive issues were not resolved. And finally, network bandwidth placed serious limitations on the ability for the CITD Trainers to communicate and delivery training on-line to the various schools involved in the projects. The combination of these issues lead to a critical point in the implementation of CITD.

CI NLPs 2000-2001
• 80 Associate Teachers
• 800 Students
• 3 CI NLPs: http://www.madeira-edu.pt/projectos/citd/Nlp/NLP.htm
• Topics: Future of Education, Communications for Tomorrow, Future of Work

To build solutions to these pressing issues within the program, the SRE and CIIC decided to build solutions through intensive collaboration. The results of this collaboration, at the time of writing this document, are not yet concluded. However, it is clear that:

1. CIIC will shift its external expert model to one that builds more fulltime staff within the program. Essential to this strategy is the creation of the CITD Program Manager position. External experts will continue to play a role in the program within this new context, however, the extensive use of seminars will decline in favor of building more internal expertise through other forms of training.

2. The SRE will resolve the certification issues for both CITD Trainers and well as Associate Teachers. CIIC will provide more support for certification as well, especially in the area of Microsoft Office 2000 Professional certification as well as building more internal expertise in the area of web design and production.

3. The future deployment of networking to the schools will be reviewed. Since CITD is a program that leverages eLearning strategies heavily, it is essential that this issue is resolved.

4. The CITD Liaison position created by the SRE needs to be given more formal decision-making authority with respect to internal human resource management.

5. Both the SRE and CIIC will investigate a formal alliance with the University of Madeira in the CITD Program.

Revised Organizational Design
The following section, CITD Organizational Design, provides an overview of the suggested infrastructure changes in order to support the solutions-building process for the program. This infrastructure is not conclusive at this point in the process, but has gained initial acceptance by all stakeholders in the program.CITD is jointly operated by the Centro Internacional de Inteligência Conectiva, SA (CIIC) and the Secretaria Regional de Educação (SRE) .

Staffing of CITD is shared between both organizations. CIIC is responsible for providing the intellectual property and services to drive CINs in the school system. The SRE is responsible for providing the administrative, physical and human resource infrastructure Listed below are the key functions of key roles:

• CITD Program Manager (CIIC): a) Pedagogical Training and Support; b) Project Management; and c) Human Resource Development.
• CITD Project Coordinator (CIIC): a) Administration; b) Management Support; c) Microsoft Office 2000 Manager.
• CITD Liaison (SRE): a) School System Management; b) Human Resource Manager; c) Supervision and Assessment.
• CITD Trainers (SRE): a) Implementation of CINs; b) Associate Teacher Training Program.
• Madeiran School System: a) School Sites; b) CITD Associate Teachers; c) Students.

Both CIIC and the SRE bring external experts and organizations to the CITD Program in response to a variety of pedagogical and other technology training needs. A more detailed discussion about this structure as it pertains to professional development.

---End SRE Response---