EU – IT Pilot Project in the Field of Education Project Steering Committee Meeting Pristina, 23.11.2010.

EU – IT Pilot Project in the Field of Education

Project Steering Committee Meeting

Pristina, 23.11.2010

Contents

TL replacementProgressSustainability DisseminationCrosscutting issuesConclusions

TL replacement

Team Leader resigned in September 2010Despite, the project team accomplished more than it was expectedContinuity on the project activities were not jeopardized

Project Officer and Key expert 2 compensated missing TLKING ICT appointed a new person who helps Project Officer in her activities

The process of searching for a new TL is on its end, it’ll be finished till the end of this month

Cooperation with local stakeholders

MEST – the project has great support by MEST, especially by Mr. OsmaniMCT – the project received comments from Mr. Kukaj for Tender ReviewLocal experts – they have mostly good qualifications for completing project tasks

Progress during reporting period 1/6

Component 1 - Institutional Readiness for use of ICT in learning, teaching and administration in education

Design the methodology for e-readiness assessment;The institutions, bodies and relevant stakeholders from whom to obtain relevant data and information required for the eReadiness identifiedCollect and analyze the overall information of use of ICT based on field assessment,Two focus groups organized with the goal of collecting information

Focus Group meetings

Progress during reporting period 2/6

Component 2 - Technical assistance to prepare for receipt of ICT equipment by the schools and educational institutions participating in the pilot project

list of the potential institutions that will be evaluated for participation in the pilot project gatheredstandard form of the questionnaire and indicators which will be used in the data analysis structuredcurrent state of each individual pre-selected institution related to all relevant factors (communication infrastructure, state of classrooms and computer labs, personnel training etc.) determinedthe list of proposed pilot institutions to the ECLO and MEST prepared together with short report about field researchthe list of pilot institutions together with ECLO and MEST finalized

Progress during reporting period 3/6

Component 2 - Technical assistance to prepare for receipt of ICT equipment by the schools and educational institutions participating in the pilot project

the list of equipment for ideal school classroom in schools prepared, as well as the typical equipment for other pilot institutionsthe needs for equipment for future EDUNet Network Operating Centre analyzedthe draft Tender Dossier for ICT equipment reviewedthe draft proposal of updated Tender Dossier preparedstakeholders about proposed changes consultedthe proposal of the Review Tender Dossier finalized

Statistics about field research

Pre-selection criteriaPreselection on basis of existing databasesAll types of institutions and schools were covered

Primary, Gymnasiums and VET schoolsSpecial schools and minoritiy schoolsDidactic centersMunicipality education departmentsUniversity of Pristina IT CentreUniversity of Pristina, Faculty of EducationAfter school clubs

Geographic dispersionAll regions of Kosovo were coveredUrban and rural schools

Existance of IT equipmentGood or partially equipedNot equipped at all

Statistics about field research

Number of schools and institutions visited - 104Primary schools - 42Secondary schools - 35

Gymnasiums - 12VET schools - 23

Special schools - 3Minority schools - 6

Bosnian - 2Serbian - 2Turkish - 2

Didactic Centres - 5MEDs - 8Afterschool Clubs – 3University of Pristina - 2

Statistics about field research

Number of schools and institutions selected - 40Primary schools - 6Secondary schools - 13

Gymnasiums - 7VET schools - 6

Special schools - 3Minority schools - 4

Bosnian - 1Serbian - 2Turkish - 1

Didactic Centres - 5MEDs - 5Afterschool Clubs – 1University of Pristina – 2MEST - 1

Progress during reporting period 4/6

Component 3 - ICT training provided and capacity building of ICT training institutions delivered

participant analysis and need analysis performed for training of teacherslevel, model and duration of training for training of teachers determinedprograms of training of teachers and train the trainers defined and developedcriteria for selecting trainers developedsome future trainers of teachers selectedparticipant analysis and need analysis performed for “Workshops for principals of pilot schools, MED directors and DC coordinators”level, model and duration of workshop for managers determinedprogram of workshop for managers defined and developed

Progress during reporting period 5/6

Component 4 - Development and piloting of eContent Material for Education

characteristics of e-content material, requirements for pilot testing and to produce repository specifications analyzedexisting commercial and Open Source Learning Object Repositories analyzed based on defined requirements and specifications

Progress during reporting period 6/6

Component 5 - Communication Network for Education pilot tested

proposal on strategies for the EDUNet design and implementation based on actual situation on the field and future expectationsfield visits of two potential places for NOC and reports writtendesign and logical topology of NOC Transmission of Technical TopologyCriteria for Logical designing of LAN, MAN and WANDiscussions on subnetting/VLSM (Variable-length subnet masking), VLANs, IP address schema for NOCMPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) design

Progress after reporting period 1/4

Component 1eReadiness report finished according collected data and analysis in the previous periodPreparatory work done for Action plan creationWork on legal framework started

Progress after reporting period 2/4

Component 2revisit of pilot institutions, to inform them about supply tender contract details and to coordinate preparatory work for equipment delivery to pilot institutions

checking of existing documentationto define the following:

Room intended for eClassroomSpace intended for sitting Wireless Access PointSpace intended for supplementary desktops (for Upper Secondary and VET only)

inspection and documentation (photographs) of defined rooms/specificationsto communicate to the pilot institution rrepresentative the scope of the needed adaptation works and presented him typical PC arrangements in a classroomthe pilot institution representative to nominate a person which will be responsible for maintenance of delivered equipment and responsible for issues related to delivery and installation of equipmentinform the pilot institution representative on security concept that institution has to develop.

Progress after reporting period 3/4

Component 3Selection of trainers of teachers finished (the project team has selected 18 candidates)Train the trainers course delivered to selected trainersPlan for further training of trainers prepared – online course during November and Presentation skills training during December“E-learning Management” training materials finalisedPreparatory work for “eLearning Center” documentation done

Train the trainers program

Progress after reporting period 4/4

Component 4Preparatory work for eContent selection: participants selected and invited, presentation prepared, eContent repository prepared“eContent selection” workshop organised – 16 participants (teachers)14 multimedia lessons from 5 different subjects (mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and English language) selected they will be translated to Albanian, Serbian, Turkish and Bosnian language and adapted for children with special needs

eContent Selection workshop

Sustainability

In order to assure the sustainability, the project team invests lot of time working with local communitiesAll pilot institutions were visited twice by project experts, and they will be visited more times during the project and also invited on project eventsWe faced great level of involvement by local people who work for beneficiaries, e.g. MEST, schools, DCs, MEDs etc., for example 15 teachers were working during the whole weekend in order to select eContent for pilotParticipants of two focus group workshops were also enthusiasticChallenge: local experts are needed to continue activities after the project

Dissemination

The project experts prepared recommendations and comments for MEST eLearning Strategy, as well as Kosovo Education Strategic PlanThe project members actively participated on the conferences in the field: Kosovo Education Strategic Plan and Basic Education, by USAIDThe project cooperate with other projects in the field: SWAP, Curriculum Framework etc.All project success stories will be published on the project web site, soon.

Project web home page

Crosscuting issues

In field research, as well as in selection included minority schools and schools for children with special needsAmong selected pilot institutions are 3 minority schools and 3 special schools, eContent will be adopted for their usage and special needs (language and adaptation for specific need)All training material will be translated in minority languages: Serbian, Bosnian and TurkishMinority representatives participate in focus groups, Bosnian minority representative was present on the first focus group and Serbian minority representative was present on the second focus groupTrainers selected in the manner that they can deliver trainings in minority languagesTraining participants will be selected on the way to have equal gender representation

Conclusions

All project activities are on-going according to the initial plan A few of the activities started later because of later acceptance of Inception report than the project team initially planned.

It was critical for the project to perform field research, pilot institutions selection and tender review, because a lot of future actions are dependent on results of above mentioned activities.Component 5 activities should be more developed as they are at the moment, but this problem will be compensated with appointment of the new Team Leader.In next reporting period, we should concentrate more on project visibility, visual identity materials, as well as the project web site.