OLPC Oceania/Evaluation

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Evaluation

In the initial trials we do not have the means to conduct an in-depth evaluation. However, we can extract what is workable and introduce a simple evaluation component from the start. The indicators need to be tuned to the timescale.

Each country will develop local interpretations of this top-level strategy.

Introduction

Measurement and Evaluation is a key element in any education improvement initiative and particularly with Laptops. An important issue to decide at the beginning of the project is just what are you trying to measure. There have been many studies conducted on ICTs in education with many different results, both positive and negative.

Many of these studies are quite old, dating from around 2000-2004 and the technology and approach to using ICTs in Education has changed quite a lot, so be careful about people quoting research and studies on ICT in Education.

One other key issue to understand is that many of these studies are based on a "Computer Lab" model and not the OLPC approach of every student owning a laptop. Computer labs are usually used for students to learn about computers, not for student to use the computer to learn

The approach to M&E for OLPC may be very different from previous studies. The Solomon's Ministry of Education have drawn up an Evaluation Framework for their OLPC project which may be useful. Please see the following section for information on this.

M & E is a specialist skill and we probably don't have the resources to conduct full studies on the outcomes from OLPC, however, we should evaluate the project in our terms and use the evaluation as a learning exercise.

A couple of things to note about evaluation

• It is a continuous exercise, not just a once off thing at the end of the project

• Evaluation and reflection is core to any learning exercise.

Resource people needed

Evaluation should include as many stakeholders as possible. Examples include

• Teachers,
• education officers,
• independent observers,
• champions,
• community leaders and parents
• volunteers.

In the preparatory consultations, identify and select one teacher and one community representative and train them to collect monitoring data. Also identify an education officer and an independent person (maybe from an NGO with an interest, prepared to resource the process) who will be able to visit the school at key intervals – maybe after 2, 4 and 8 weeks.

Helpful information

InfoDev, part of the World bank and specialising in ICT for development, have a good range of information about ICT in Education

Please refer to the following web page

http://www.infodev.org/en/TopicPublications.4.html

In particular, they have a number of resources on Measurement and Evaluation for ICT projects in Education Their Quick Guide can be seen at

http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.150.html

Note that in section one of this document, there is a very handy section on "Do's and Don'ts in Monitoring and Evaluation"

Results

SPC will publish any M&E results relating to OLPC around the world on this page and we encourage you to place your plans and results here as well. If you are unsure about editing wiki sites, there is a short tutorial available on this site, or SPC will post any material you send to us.

Framework

An example of an evaluation framework from the Solomon Islands trials is shown here

A framework of indicators could include:

Appropriation

• Children
  • How often are they using the laptops, using which activities, on their own and with others
  • What skills can they demonstrate, individually and in groups (measured non-obtrusively) Measurement: Hold a session at school where the children are free to use the laptops on their own or in groups, as they wish, and observe the group dynamics and note which activities are being used. Observe how groups are interacting – for instance, are all the participants involved in the learning and sharing? Allow them to explain what they are doing in an informal setting, without asking specific questions. Some problem solving tasks can be set. The session can be recorded with digital camera, video, and a survey form or template report for the observer to use.
• Teachers
  • Are they learning to use the laptops in their class-work, and if so how, how much, what ideas have they developed regarding integrating the laptops into their teaching. Measurement: (see “educational impacts” below)
• Families
  • What are the parent’s attitudes to the children using the laptops
  • Are other family members using the laptopsMeasurement: Hold a parents evening and hold open discussion. Follow up with simple questionnaire that the parents can take home. The community rep can follow up and help each family complete the forms. Committee can arrange for observers to visit homes, with permission of the families.
• Community
  • What are the community’s attitudes to the laptops
  • Is the community finding the laptops useful, not only in education?
  • Is there any change in the way the community regards the schoolMeasurement: Community meeting

Educational impact

• Have the teachers adapted to more discovery learning / constructivist methods
• Have the laptops helped the teachers directly in their teaching (i.e. access to resources, collaboration / communication, subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge especially regarding constructionist learning....)
• Is there a change to more child-centred approach in the classroomMeasurement: With the teachers’ permission and preferably led by the teacher, observe lessons in practice, non-obtrusively. Follow up with interviews using prepared questionnaires. The teachers can also keep log books of how they have used, the laptops, what ideas they have and other feedback.

Information literacy

• How many children, teachers and families are accessing information on the Internet, and are communicating via email (compared with before)Measurement: Can be included in the questionnaire (see “Appropriation: families”) plus observers can record their observations. Also via tasks set for the group session of children, as described above.

Laptops/technical

• Technical problems with the laptops and how they were dealt with
• Charging issues
• Connectivity issues
• Keyboard issues
• Language issues (some feedback for the localisation program)

Evaluation by teachers and district officials

At Dreikikir (see PNG page) the teachers came up with their own suggestions.

The following approaches were decided by teachers, and agreed with the education officials present:

• Teachers would keep a log book / diary and update it with any feedback on how the laptops are being used, new ideas on classroom integration as they develop, and feedback on student’s uses. Also feedback of problems and issues.
• Every morning, the first lesson is an “oral session” where teachers can discuss the laptops with the children. This session will be used to get daily feedback.
• Parents evenings and staff meetings will also be used to get feedback and share ideas.
• The district school standards officer and education advisor have been trained and fully participated in the deployment. This is very important, as they are available “on the ground” to make evaluations and carry reports from the school to the Province and Department.
• A volunteer to be based at Dreikikir for 2 weeks will provide additional evaluations on behalf of OLPC Oceania. Guidance on this from SPC will be crucial.

Things to look for in an OLPC project

The following is a collection of important things that OLPC projects have noted.

This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, or an evaluation template, however it may give you ideas of things to evaluate during your project.

Education Approaches of an OLPC Project

A core element of the OLPC program, as opposed to the tool of the laptop, is “Learning learning”.

The OLPC program is based on the Constructionalist Education theory, or learning by doing. It is also has a strong collaboration learning approach, encouraging students to share their experiences and learn together.

Some Education ministries are reforming their system to a more student centric approach to replace the teacher centric or instructional approach.

Generally there is a strong belief that the education system needs to change and with today’s affordable technology, especially the OLPC Laptop and Internet, the tools are available. The status quo for education in developed and developing countries is not acceptable.

Several OLPC projects are driven by the need to reform the education system. For example, Peru had tried many times to make incremental changes to their under performing system with no success. Today, they find the Laptop and Internet are transforming the system very effectively.

The degree to which Learning by Doing is being incorporated in the classroom might be the basis of an evaluation framework. For instance, in the Solomons, Learning by Doing is a theme that is being introduced into the primary school curriculum. Such an indicator would be directly linked to policy, as well as to the design characteristics of the XO laptop.

It is up to each country to design such a framework for evaluation, according to their own priorities and policies.

List of possible outcomes

Here are some things that have been mentioned as positive outcomes from an OLPC project. Many of these observations come very early in the project.

This list could also be considered reasons for launching a project.

1. Reduced absenteeism
2. Greater engagement by children
3. Empowerment of teachers
4. Increased esteem of teachers
5. Reduced need of discipline
6. Less disruption by students
7. Increase in self esteem by students
8. Increased “connection” with the world (other cultures, languages, ideas)
9. Increased involvement by parents
10. School becomes the centre of the community
11. Development of a sharing culture (child to child, school to community, teacher to parent)
12. Much better results than with Computer Labs