Executive Summary Project: Egyptian Education Initiative Achievements June 2006-May 2008

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1 Executive Summary Project: Egyptian Education Initiative Achievements June 2006-May 2008 Enabling Changes After setting the environment towards implementing ICT in education and focusing on prerequisites to quality education, the EEI is coming to a new turn point to help enabling change, a novel step in the Egyptian education process. EEI was launched with a vision that it would act as a catalyst for change; individual as well as institutional, a change that is essential for the education system to cope with the demands of the local, regional and international labor markets. All EEI interventions were conducted with an objective to change the processes of learning and teaching, in the content, and in the activities, with a goal that it would lead to a change in teachers and trainers attributes as well as learners abilities, from an ICT-stimulated learner to a self directed learner, resulting in an active learning community. EEI has a firm belief about the role technology could possibly play not only for the occurrence of this change, but also for the sustainability of it. Seeking globalization and exposure, the EEI started to leverage new technologies in its education process, to better understand the pedagogies and skills required to help both students and teachers to adopt these latest technologies in a fruitful, ethical, and safe ways. The EEI is empowering the educators by training courses for them to experience the transformative potential of social ICT tools to build learning communities and re-envision their personal learning practice. The EEI interventions took place in time when the Egyptian educational institutions, both at the preuniversity and higher education stages, are busy with accreditation requirements among which comes the use and integration of ICT in the education process. The interventions of the EEI in both stages are ensuring many of those accreditation requirements not only under the technology domain, but have extended to pave the way for adequate learning environments and accountable management systems which are essential foundations for quality education. Implementation pilot models are conducted not only to assess the impact of a specific intervention on the overall performance but also to identify challenges that might impede the scale up and sustainability of what has been achieved. Substantial development happens when changes are well-grounded and sustained, when the valueadded is realized and people who contribute to it have the enthusiasm and motivation to continue along this path. There is much need to search for all the factors that might impede progress; individual, contextual or systemic and beat them. All potential challenges need to be realistically approached and studied. 1/7

2 Track1: Pre University Increased IT accessibility PCs: o 2000 schools equipped with additional 8 PCs to bring the total number 13 PCs/lab. o 2000 data shows delivered to 2000 schools (1 data show/school). o 1400 schools equipped with extra PCs (17 PCs/school) to bring the total number 30 PCs/lab. (Total number of PCs delivered to schools is PCs) Modern Classrooms (laptop + data show + trolley): o 1512 schools equipped with 3 modern classrooms each Connectivity: o 1120 schools connected to internet using ADSL, from which 10 schools are wireless (9 WIMAX+1 CDMA) o 59 technological development centers were connected to internet in order to be ICDL certified centers. o Conducting training on ADSL to raise awareness in all schools in 27 governorates. Enhanced education process management Installed a certified software application for on-line management (SMS) in the 2000 EEI schools (a school health care module is embedded in the SMS where each school has the ability to develop the health care profile of its students). Trained 200 IT specialists on SMS (ToT). Trained 4979 educational leaders (from all governorates)on Microsoft Leadership training to use ICT in managing the educational process Improved teaching and learning skills via ICT TOT training for 966 teachers (464 ITTF, 502 JDP) Training of teachers and administrators on digital literacy program Training 67,019 teachers on using ICT in education (MS Innovative Teacher Program / Intel Teach) 633 teachers trained on Think.com 200 trained at Oracle Academy trained on MOS ( Microsoft Office Specialist) 351 trained on Cisco Academies Building the capacity of 7864 parents to use ICT tools (Microsoft Parents Training). Building the capacity of 5368 students on the MS Junior Developer Program. Building the capacity of students on the Intel Learn Program. Improved teaching material delivery A comparative study of local and regional available e-content has been conducted based on international standards. Trained 57 developers from the MoE e-content developing team on e-content development according to the international standards. A Computer Aided Lesson Design (CALD) tool developed by Microsoft in partnership with MoE and MCIT. Built a library of 1250 high quality learning objects with a search engine to be used through CALD for designing the teacher lessons. MoE accreditation of 3 local e-content offered by local partners (PC Lab) and distributed to EEI schools. Piloting CALD in 100 EEI schools in 6 governorates 2/7

3 Peer Coaching training (ITN & CALD) to 15 teachers for 4 days in Mubarak City Drafting Web2 assignments for second term for Social Studies subject WEB2.0 ToT conducted to 14 trainees (9 from MoE & 5 from outreach team) for 3 days. Conducting training in Pharaana school for implementing WEB2.0 technology. The teachers and some students created their blogs. Track2: Higher Education Reducing ICT Illiteracy 3000 administrative staff & faculty members trained on ICT illiteracy (Microsoft DL Program). 200 administrative staff trained on MIS (MS) Improving teaching and learning skills 814 faculty staff members trained on e-content development (Microsoft). Training of 4 professional teams (28 technical) to develop e-content (IBM). Enabling E-Learning in Higher Education 18 e-learning labs (6 PCs + server + LAN) have been installed in all universities (17 public universities + Alazhar university). 20 e-learning labs for students (20 PCs + LAN) accessibility have been installed in all universities and branches. Equipping Faculty of Engineering Ainshams University with a wireless network (Siemens). Equipping Faculty of Engineering Assiut University and Ainshams University with latest technologies of e-learning offered by HP (the 2 faculties of Engineering won the labs in the HP e-learning competition). Developed and inaugurated phase I (1.2 million scanned research pages) of Science and Technology Portal. Multinationals e-content: o The NetAcad curricula of Cisco were mapped to the Technical Colleges Curricula (3 colleges). o Creating a CCNA network in all faculties of Engineering and Computer Science (36 faculties). o Currently studying e-courses from Microsoft and Oracle to be accredited as part of the higher education curricula in all faculties of Engineering and Computer Science (36 faculties).. o Studying MS e-content for disabled (visually impaired/hearing impaired) for TOT training. o Getting new 30 Cisco CCNA bundles to be used in all universities o Multicore was implemented in Cairo University o ICDL was accredited and implemented in Helwan University Improving Faculties of Education Accrediting Intel: Teach to the Future course as an undergraduate course in all faculties of education (26 faculties). Implementation of Intel: Teach to the Future started fall 2007 in 12 faculties. TOT training on Intel: Teach to the Future in all faculties of Education Focused training of 120 Master trainers staff members in faculties of Education on Intel: Teach to the Future Summer training of 7021 undergraduate students from all faculties of Education on MS Innovative Teacher Program. 3/7

4 CALD, Try science, and English accredited to be implemented in Faculties of Education. Exposing students to advanced ICT tools Current training of 3,000 students on ICDL 220 undergraduate students were trained on advanced ICT tools. (Oracle) Trained 500 teaching assistances on advanced ICT tools (Oracle). Currently all faculties of Engineering and Computer Science are joining 2 international academic initiatives offered by Oracle and IBM allowing them to get exposed to more than 1000 technical e-content as well as development tools, aiming an improvement in the software industrial sector at large and e-learning technologies in particular. Enhancing ICT Infrastructure in Higher Education Inaugurating phase I of the Egyptian Universities Reasearch Network (34Mbps to all universities and research institutes, connection to Internet II) Equipping the above network with a video conferencing system interconnecting all public universities + Alazhar University. Equipping the new Cultural Affairs and Scholarships premises with the necessary ICT infrastructure and video conferencing system interconnecting it with 10 remote Egyptian cultural bureaux abroad. Equipping 4 faculties of Engineering and computer science in 4 Universities (Cairo, Assiut, Alexandria and Mansoura) as well as the Information Technology institute (ITI) with Multicore labs, offered by Intel. Track Events Assiut and Einshams universities won 2 awards in the international e-learning competition offered by HP. EEI cooperation protocol between MCIT and MoHE signed. EEI cooperation protocol between 4 universities and Intel signed. Track3: Lifelong Learning Establishing National e-learning Delivery Network 383 Local Academies have been certified as e-learning delivery centers. Several awareness seminars conducted. 732 Leaders of certified channels trained instructors trained on IT Essentials-I & II and BCB course students enrolled in IT Essentials-I & II and BCB course out of which 2050 graduated. Developed with Cisco a new model for the EEI academies; NGOs, IT clubs and universities. 4 instructors (traders) of IEXEC course trained on IT Essentials-I. Developing Life Long Learning Portal Developed a new portal for ELCC Developed a comparative report on the top 10 e-learning portals (report) Activating the e-learning R&D Division at ELCC/MCIT Acquired and trained on the different e-learning development platforms (Siemens, IBM, Moodle, ATutor, Claroline, dotlrn, Ilias, OLAT, Dokeos, Sakai) Trained on the IBM Content Producer Authoring tool Migrated 2 courses between 3 LMS's. 4/7

5 Localizing Cisco Business Essentials Course (IExec) Launched the final version of the localized Business Essentials (IExec) course on November, 10 th Conducted a TOT for 100 masters trainers Conducted a Pilot for 20 SMEs Signed a protocle with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Cairo Chamber of Commerce) to train 3000 trader over 2 years. Developing National e-learning Standards Developed first draft version for the standards. The developed standards where accredited by Cisco Learning Institute (CLI). Developed an e-course for e-learning standards. Track4: E-Learning Industry Development E-Learning educational program Designed e-learning program curriculum, duration, and outline. Graduated 16 students attended the first 9 months training program (E-Learning focus). 4 graduation projects were developed and defended. 6 graduates hired to work for ELCC. E-learning track focus started on 22 nd of Jan 2008 at ITI premises with 48 students.. Monitoring and Evaluation 1- Developing EEI Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy and Work Plan A monitoring and evaluation strategy for the multi-tracked EEI has been developed to serve a wide array of objectives from the monitoring of activities and outputs to the mapping out of outcomes, evaluation of effectiveness and planning for the assessment of impact at certain points in the future. 2- Reviewing EEI logical framework and developing year 2 implementation plan A participatory approach has been adopted in reviewing EEI logical framework and in mapping out project outputs through focus group meetings and workshops with representatives of pre-university and higher education tracks. EEI logical framework served then as a frame of reference in developing year 2 implementation plan to be used in monitoring the quarterly progress of the project in achieving its intended outputs and outcomes. 3- Baseline study In order to evaluate the extent to which EEI will manage to change individual and organizational performances in regard to the use of ICT in the educational process, a baseline study has been designed and conducted in EEI schools to collect data regarding ICT infrastructure, accessibility, usages, and skills level. In addition, the study explores the challenges and difficulties encountered by the schools in making the utmost use of ICT in the teaching, learning as well as school management processes. 4- Formative Evaluation of EEI Interventions. Formative evaluation of programme operations has been adopted to yield the kind of results that would be utilized to improve the design and delivery of EEI operations and 5/7

6 interventions, thus increasing the programme effectiveness. To this end, satisfaction questionnaires has been designed to be administered at the end of each training programme to measure participants satisfaction with training content, delivery, trainer s skills and applicability to workplace. 5- Outcome Mapping Exercise Since outcomes define changes in the behavior, relationships, activities, or actions of the people, groups, and organizations with whom EEI works directly, EEI monitoring and evaluation unit has organized two outcome mapping exercises with representatives from ministries of education and higher education whom EEI interventions reach out to. A list of expected performance changes has been identified as a result of these exercises. These performance changes are now being used as the basis for evaluating EEI effectiveness. 6- Capacity Building in Monitoring and Evaluation: Building the capacity of the system to conduct monitoring and evaluation interventions is at the core of the EEI sustainability plan. As a result, EEI monitoring and evaluation unit has planed to activate the technology development centres (TDC s) in the governorates to undertake the tasks of monitoring and evaluating ICT-related activities and environments in EEI schools. A 30-hour training program has been designed and delivered to heads of technology development centers along with technology specialists located both at the central level and the governorates. PROGRAM PROMOTION The program staff, and the track leaders participated in several conferences, events and workshops to promote the initiative and to present the initiative to the IT community. International Events Workshop on PPPs in Education for All, Paris, France, July 2006 The 2006 Business and Education Conference Global Public-Private Partnerships in Education, September 2006, Washington, D.C. UNESCO/World Economic Forum Meeting/Workshop on Public Private Partnership for Education, September 2006, Washington, D.C. Systems, Munich, October 2006, " Country Briefing Egypt: E-Services in Egypt Towards an Information Society" Systems, Munich, October 2006, " E-Learning in Egypt" A regional conference on " Transforming Learning: Strategic approaches to the effective use of ICT in schools", Feb. 2007, Amman, Jordan. Intel Round Table Discussion "Reviewed Intel programs and explored evaluation strategies", USA, March Innovative Teachers Conference, May 2007, Amman, Jordan. Intel Summit "Orientation on Intel to the Future and its evaluation approaches", Atlanta, USA, June The Scottish Learning Festival, September 2007, Glasgow, Great Britain. Cisco Public Services Summit, 9-11 December 2007, Stockholm, Sweden. Innovative Teachers Conference, April 2008, Morocco. Learning & Technology Symposium, April 2008, Saudi Arabia Global Education Technology Summit, May 2008, Cairo, Egypt. 6/7

7 National Events Cisco Academy Conference, July th International Internet Education Conference, September Egypt's Experience in Using ICT in Education, Closing the Digital Gap in the Mediterranean Region, June Academy Program Orientation Seminar, June,2006 ICT in Education Cascade Training Opening Ceremony,British Council, August Helsinki Process Workshop, 11 th September, 2006., " ICT era in Education in Egypt". 1 st Worldwide Teach Essentials On Line Graduation Ceremony, October Launch of Cisco Academies in EEI Workshop, November nd Junior Developers Conference, November Cairo ICT event, Feb st International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Pre- University Education, April 2007 Impact Assessment of ICT in Education, Helsinki Process Workshop, May 23-24, Graduation of the Oracle Academy teachers, August 2007 Graduation of the s teacher (ITTF), October 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility: Engagement for a Better Future, December 11 & 12, 2007, Cairo. Towards A Competitive Society Vision And Application session, Cairo ICT 2008, Cairo International Conference center, Tuesday 26 th Feb 2008, Moderated By Dr. Hoda Barka. EEI Events First Advisory Board meeting, September 2006 First EEI update meeting on Nov.17,2006. First EEI executive board on Nov. 18,2006. e-content workshop was held on Dec. 18,2006 e-learning Tools and Techniques Seminar was held on March 19,2007 Second Advisory Board meeting, April 2007 Second EEI executive board on Nov. 29,2007. Second EEI update meeting on Nov.29,2007. Work shop with the South Africa's MoE delegation team, MCIT, Smart Village, 12th Feb Awards EEI won the Technology in Government in Africa (TIGA) award in May 2007, Borkina Vaso. The award were handed out by the main sponsors of the event, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Canadian government, in recognition of achievements that have led to changes at national, regional or provincial. EEI won The Project of the Year award of the Cisco Networking Program in October 2007, Istanbul. Awards were made to academies across a number of categories: best local academy, regional academy, instructor and student and academy project. A special award entitled Against all odds was made, the EEI was singled out from amongst an exceptional shortlist to win first place in the Project of the Year category. 7/7