Prague 2nd Meeting
Present:
Ian Lynch UK, Manfred Reiter DE, Andrei Stoychev BG, Katerina Nevrloa, Catalin Soare Ro, Ana Fernandez ES, Julio Garcia ES, Emaricion ES
Agenda
- Overview of the project, current situation with UK Regulators
- Partner presentations of progress against Workpackages - Any problems?
- Strategies to maximise impact - further project applications.
- Further training for the INGOT methods and using collaborative technologies.
Ian (UK): There has been a delay in getting the Entry Level assessment criteria finalised - this means any work on translating these elements has to be scrapped. In order to transfer the innovation we need to transfer the INGOT 1.0 qualifications from the UK NQF to the QCF because the QCF has been fully referenced to the EQF. Last year we were told that accredited NQF qualifications would be transferred to the QCF automatically but e-skills, the Sector Skills Council did not produce any units for the lower entry level parts of the framework. I am still chasing them to do it 6 months after I flagged up the problem. Until this is finalised, we can't finalise the translations for the certification site the handbook and the on-line training courses. We have to carry on with the Entry e-learning support materials but these will not be a problem because they are broadly supporting the criteria. It is mainly a problem where detail and precision is important, especially translation. I will work with Georgeta and Daniel to improve the technology support for translation and we will do what we can unitl all the criteria are finalised. Silver and Gold have been accredited so now there is no problem with the translations. Once this is complete I will get further qualifications accredited going beyond what was planned in the original application. Now I will go over the web site support again and the pedagogical methods. Manfred: I will contribute to some areas where I have found things I think we can improve. We just need to agree it will be of benefit. I will write them up in my end of phase report. (Training and further dissemination practical session)
Ana: (ES) We have been reviewing the learning web site and working with UK to improve the presentation and content. We think that the site looks better now and some things will be easier to find. We have designed the main brochure and we are working on the handbook and leaflet flyers.
Andy: (BG) The questionnaire is fully prepared and ready to be translated so we can get plenty of data. Please use all your networks to publicise. We have started gathering some information for the Open Source handbook and contacting partners for the research on the sustainability of business in their localities.
Katerina (CZ) The e-learning materials are progressing well. We have reviewed the NWLG materials and in consultation with Manfred (Pedagogical consultant) We think that producing more interactive applications that are relatively in expensive to translate and are accessible to learners to modify as part of the Gold INGOT is the best route. We are reorganising what we produced initially to make translations easier. We will work with Georgeta to manage the translations to get them done as soon as possible.
Catalin (Ro) Translations seem to be causing some problems because of the specific pedagogical meanings.
Ian (UK) I think we need to re-organise things to place greater emphasis on each partner trained in the pedagogy to do the actual translations, particularly for the assessment criteria and guidance. I will talk with Catalin and then everyone to work out how we can do this equitbly and still complete the translations within the planned resources.
Catalin (Ro) We are doing some initial work on the quality assurance and certification trials but we can't initiate the trials until the criteria are finalised and translated.
Ian (UK) This should not be a problem because the schedule for the trials is in year 2. This was deliberate because at the time of application it was unclear exactly how long things like training would take and things like delays with the UK regulators. Maximising impact There is further dissemination going on beyond the scope of the project. I am travelling to Nairobi and Kuala Lumpur next month as a result of web searches that found our web site. We should have pilots in Malaysia and Kenya running which will also provide translations and localisations beyond the initial application. I attended the BETT show in January. This is the biggest educational technology show in the world, held annually in London Olympia. I was given space on the UK Schools Open Source Project stand for a token amount so even though this was very early it has a value for the project. We also have two full-time staff visiting schools, doing mailshots and following up enquiries. This is obviously a benefit to the project and we can feedback the experiences in the UK to Andy to inform the research on business viability. We are committing over 300,000 Euro of our own money to the INGOTs in the UK but that is outside the application in the sense I did not allow for this in terms of the partner contributions since this is mainly targeted in the UK and non-EU countries. I guess it is a bit of a grey area since this is of clear benefit to the project. I have to stress to all partners that we really are committed to getting sustainable businesses on each partner country and that the EU grant is actually a minority of the resources going into this project as a whole.
All partners have expressed an interest in the proposed applications for grant support for Special Needs and OpenOffice.org certification based on the INGOT pedagogical methods. We also have our friends from Holland here too. I will submit these applications to the UK National Agency and we must decide how the WPs will be shared out to make the best use of the expertise.
Of course what we have learnt with the current project will make work much more efficient because we will be building on existing new learning. We have clear demand in the UK for certificating learners with Special Educational Needs and there is no EU frameworks for this. I believe that could be illegal in terms of the inclusion directives that require people with special needs to be treated the same as the mainstream. In the case of OpenOffice.org there is demand directly from the Community and with over 100 million downloads since the OOo project began there is a global market.
Manfred (DE) In germany 25% of desktops now run OpenOffice.org. There is an unfilled training need.
Ian (UK) Ok, so we don't currently have the resources to transfer the INGOT pedagogical methods to these specific problems this is why we need to apply for more grant support. I really believe that the synergy between such projects will accelerate all of the projects to the critical mass required for sustainability.
Partners then worked together on further training activities with support from Ian.
