Meeting Didacta Hannover 17th February

 

Present: I. Lynch, FJ Simons, A. Stoycheff, M. Reiter, L. Lopez-Ruiz, G. Mureanu. Apologies K. Nevralova (Snow) B. Mommenthal (Booth)

 

Focus of the meeting was interim feedback from the National Agency

 

1. Questionnaires

 

All partners have tried to get questionnaires completed. The levels of success have been variable. Even in the UK where the Pscales are well known and over 6000 e-mails sent out, only just over 100 replies were received. The information can be gathered in other ways and partners have had discussions with teachers of learners with special needs and it is turning out that this is a better and more flexible way to get information. 

 

Action - All partners to gather information directly by talking to teachers during the certification trials. Attach results to the Phase 3 or phase 4 report pages as appropriate. Results to be attached to the Phase 4 report page by 30th June 2012.

 

2. National Frameworks

 

The national frameworks feedback was given by each partner based on earlier submissions. It turns out that none of the partner countries  have assessment frameworks specifically for learners with Special Needs and they do not have any national progress tracking sytems similar to the UK Pscales. This has caused more of a problem than anticipated because although there is a great deal of professional interest in the concept, at grass roots level we are often starting from a position of awareness raising with teachers who do not necessarily see a need and fear additional work. It is, therefore, important to demonstrate that the technology enables the complete elimination of paperwork and fits in with other imperatives such as the use of VLEs and e-portfolios.  Subsequent to the meeting with Doris Pack and MEPs we are scheduled to appear in front of the 27 ministers of the EU but no definite arrangements have yet been made. We need to follow this up again since political backing would make a big difference. A further workshop style meeting with the MEPs would be of benefit to give them a more concrete idea of how things work.

 

The main difference is that with Pscales there is a focused reason to use these technologies. TLM has found that the development of TLM Tracker that arose from end-user feedback and was not in the original project specification, is turning out to be vitally important to sustainability.  TLM tracker rationalises up to 3 pieces of software from different suppliers and moves the whole operation from desktop and local network management to the Cloud. In the UK the DfE recently announced that tracking progress with Pscales is mandatory and this provides us with a real opportunity to further establish strength in the UK from which we can develop sustainability that we can then use as a platform to transfer the innovation to partner countries even if getting established there takes longer than initially envisaged. 

 

Action - All partners to continue to raise awarness. TLM to work to secure UK sustainability that will carry the project beyond the funding period. TLM to provide training for all partners in TLM Tracker. TLM to contact Doris Pack's Office with a view to arranging for a presentation. 

3. Feedback from assessor trainers

There was a feedback questionnaire provided as part of the quality assurance workpackage. This is attached to the Phase 3 data collection page. Overall feedback from the assessor trainers has been positive. The main area for developmentis the interpretation of the criteria in different languages. It was decided to go ahead with the current drafts and use feedback from the certification trials to detemine whether or not changes need to be made. 

Action - All partners to identify any specific needs for modification of the criteria in their language during the certification trials and feedback accordingly. Identify these as they arise and make all modifications to finalise the criteria by 31st May 2012.

4. Dissemination

The team is clear about what is needed for dissemination. Mr Stoycheff had a very productive meeting with Dr Kovatchev the Bulgarian MEP who is head of the Bulgarian EPP Delegation and Vice-President of the Union of European Federalists. Dr Kovatchev is very supportive and he wants us to keep him informed of developments and how he might help bring the project to the attention of a wider group of MEPs. We have had a number of very good contacts at Didacta already. Dr Margitta Rudolph of the University of Hildesheim expressed great enthusiasm, particualry for the integrated approach using the Tracker software. She has excellent connections to university education departments in Switzerland, Italy and Russia and has invited us to present in September in St Petersburg at an international conference.  There is a meeting planned with Prof. Luder, Switzerland, an expert in Pscales outside the UK.  Pscales info has been sent to all SEN contacts across Europe via www.european-agency.org. Partners have had some success in getting newspaper publicity. German partners have renewed infomail to all German universities (up to mid-March) and have made contact with the Saarland Ministry of Education's SEN experts. TLM has begun a negotiation for a formal agreement with ASDAN a specialist provider of curriculum materials for learners with Special Needs. ASDAN is a charity established in 6000 centres. These major leads were not possible to predict and together with the links to the MEPs need to have our focused attention because they give us the best chance of long term sustainability. 

Action - DE partner to review the central dissemination strategy to take into account the current picture. Report to partners by 31st March 2012. All partners to up date and attach their planned country dissemination activities to the Phase 3 evidence page by 31st March 2012. IL to maiintain contact with Dr Rudolph and agree joint dissemination by 31st March 2012.

5. New project application and Sheltered Workshops

FJS informed the group that a new project has been submitted to the NL national agency to transfer the results of the project to Sheltered Workshops. MR will contact the office of Doris Pack MEP to see if we can arrange a further meeting to clarify the priorities likely to be attractive to the MEPs. 

Action - MR to contact Doris Pack's office to try and get a planning meeting organised by 31st March 2012. FJS to keep partners informed about the status of the Sheltered Workshops project application. (August 2012)

6. Priorities for the final part of the project 

As a follow up to NA discussions with regard to available resources, the involvement of a Sheltered Workshops dimension has been made the subject of a new project leaving us a little more time and funding to ensure the planned outcomes are realised. No-one had any significant concerns about realising these outcomes. the main one outstanding is the target for numbers certificated in the trials. Partners have identified suitable places to carry out these trials and sufficient assessors are now trained so there should not be any problems in getting to the target. TLM has made a significantly greater partner contribution in developing the TLM tracker system in response to user feedback in the first part of the project. This is a good example of why planning project targets a long time in advance causes some issues. In reality it is often key developments are not foreseeable until things get started and users have time to provide feedback. It is then important to have flexibility in order to respond to the feedback. In this case it is turning out that the entire sustainability of the project depends on this additional work. It has become a higher priority than some orginally planned results and some key results are affected by it eg Assessor training and dissemination. 

Actions - All partners to complete the certification trials by 30th June 2012. TLM to provide training in TLM tracker for any partner requiring it by 31st March 2012. 

7. Current project status - Results completed and those in need of completion

WP1 - Management systems in place - Done

WP1 - Certification Technology in place - Done

WP 2 - Assessor trainer training - Done

WP 2 - On-line assessor support/handbook - Done - still open for refinements

WP3 - e-learning support - Done

WP4 - e-learning translations - Done up to the end of Phase 3 target

WP4 - Brochure translations - Done

WP4 - Criteria translations - Done - Will review and revise, additional to original project specification

WP5 - Quality assurance criteria - Done

WP5 - Gather evaluation data - In progress as per plan with some modifications in the light of experience.

WP5 - Evaluation reports - Up to date only those for Phase 3 and Phase 4 required

WP6 - Market research national frameworks - Done - Final update towards the end of the project.

WP6 - Certification trials - In progress, back on target

WP7 - Exhibitions and conferences - Up to date, partners to provide lists for the final period

WP7 - Project brochure - Done

Additional important results - TLM Tracker implemented, Follow up project application submitted.

 

9. Some photos from the booth in Hanover

The booth

Ian Lynch and Mrs. Rudolph from University of Hildesheim

Bernhard Mommenthal (Germany) & Georgeta Mureanu (Romania)

Ian Lynch with german teacher