Remote Teaching for Plan Ceibal in Uruguay: a Road to Democratisation

Paul Woods English Adviser

British Council Uruguay

and

Analia Ferraro, Coordinator, AACI

• The context – Plan Ceibal in Uruguay• The Ceibal en Ingles Project – Pilot and

Expansion Phase• Ceibal en Ingles – AACI’s involvement

The Context - bringing digital media to every household Video Clip

What is Plan Ceibal?

• A Uruguayan initiative to implement the “1 to 1” model to introduce ICT in public primary and secondary schools.

• Has delivered over 500,000,000 laptops to all students and teachers in the primary education system and no-cost internet access throughout the country.

• Impact includes increased self-esteem in students, improved motivation of students and teachers as well as active participation by parents (94% approve)

Success is due to

technological innovations

training plan for teachers in primary education

active inclusion of the society, teachers and parents in the project

successful design and implementation of a monitoring and evaluation model

Began during the regime of Tabaré Vazquez as a pioneer project to remove the digital gap

3 principal values:

1. distributing technology,2. promoting knowledge3. generating social equity.

Named after a Uruguayan flower called “ceibo” (Cockspur coral tree). Ceibal = "Conectividad Educativa de Informática Básica para el Aprendizaje en Línea").

OLPC XO computers nicknamed "ceibalitas".

General Aims To improve the quality of education

through the new technological system.

Providing computers to every scholar and teacher of the public education, promote the same opportunities for all.

To develop a culture based on collaboration between children, a child and teacher, teachers with each other, families and school.

To promote a sense of technology in the pedagogical community.

Supply students with XO laptops

Specific AimsTo promote the laptops as a useful

tool in the schools.To offer the teachers suitable

technological and pedagogical training in using the new technologies.

To produce educational resources, with the new technological tools.

To inspire an innovative mind in the teachers.

To assure the development of the project by providing a support system and technological assistance.

To involve parents in the implementation of the project, not only in schools, but also at home

1:1 learning - OLPC classroom devices

“OLPC's mission is to empower the world's poorest children through education” Nicholas Negroponte, MIT

“As the pace of change in the world increases dramatically, the urgency to prepare all children to be full citizens of the emerging world also increases dramatically”.

“What children lack is not capability, it is opportunity and resources. In the first years of OLPC we have seen two million previously marginalized children learn, achieve and begin to transform their communities.”

Motivating factors 1.

Learning can take place anywhere

Motivating factors 2.

Both the teachers and the students are learning together

Motivating factors 3.

Even at a very early age pupils can access the vast range of resources on the internet

Key Findings in Uruguay:

• Internet via school (32% 2006 67% 2008)

• Children take two weeks to

learn to handle the XO. Most learned by individual exploration.

• 50% of teachers use XO at least once a week, 21% almost daily.

• 92% of children use XO for homework.• Browse activity is most preferred • Activities such as Write, Paint, and Memorize less preferred by children in higher grades. • Access to the XO not only closes the gap in access to computers and levels the students who don’t have a computer at home with the ones who do.

How do children use the Laptops outside school?

Hours of use outside schoolHours per week % of children

Up to 3 hrs

3-7 hrs approx

7 – 14 hrs approx

14 – 20 hrs

Over 20 hrs

Not used at home

Total

Hours of use outside School per week

Average: 10 hrs 20 min

Median: 7 hrs

Percentiles:25 - 3 hrs 30 min50 - 7 hrs75 – 13 hrs

A L Martinez: :Plan Ceiba -: evaluación y lecciones aprendidas en la primera experiencia 1 a 1 a nivel nacional

In what way do children use the laptop and with whom?How do they acquire the knowledge?

With help from a teacher Individual self

discovery

In Pairs

Has the child taught someone else to use the XO?

Whom?

Parents: 73%Siblings: 46%Other children: 42%Teachers: 9%

A L Martinez:Plan Ceibal: evaluación y lecciones aprendidas en la primera experiencia 1 a 1 a nivel nacional

Laptops in Use in Schools in the Americas

North America Canada 5,000 OLPC laptops Mexico 50,000 OLPC laptops United States of America 16,500 OLPC laptops

65,000 Apple Mac notebooks25,000 Dell laptops

Caribbean and Latin America Argentina 60,000 OLPC laptops (La Rioja) 1800,000 Intel Classmates 350,000 netbooksVenezuela 500,000 Intel ClassmatesColombia 20,000 OLPC laptops Haiti 13,000 OLPC laptops Peru 870,000 OLPC laptops Uruguay 510,000 mostly OLPC laptopsBrazil 1,500,000 Intel Classmates Paraguay 4,000 OLPC laptops

What are some of the criticisms elsewhere?

Lack of teacher training and ongoing support OLPC gives underprivileged children laptops and "walks

away“: this "drive-by" implementation model was the official strategy of the project. Nicolas Negroponte - "You actually can" give children a connected laptop and walk away

Experiences with self-guided learning in India (Sugata Mitra).

“Laptops are getting opened and turned on, but then kids and teachers are getting frustrated by hardware and software bugs, don't understand what to do, and promptly box them up to put back in the corner.“ (Intern in Peru)

Decision Taken

All children in grades 4 to 6 in state Uruguayan schools would learn English as a foreign languageA competitive invitation to bid was issued by Plan CeibalThree other organisations were involved in the bidding process

Scenario

>2400 state schools but only 145 had English classes taught by trained teachers of English

Not enough human resources within the system

Solution was to teach remotely using telepresence technology

Solution Proposed

Blended Mode English Language Learning

Plan Ceibal Ingles - pilot then expansion phase

English lessons to children in grades 4 to 6 in state schools

Online English course for Spanish-speaking teachers

Implications

Curriculum and syllabus designDetailed lesson planningMaterials developmentCREA Platform - Content Management SystemLessonsForumsMessaging

Culturas’ Involvement

• AACI in Buenos Aires involved from the outset

• The Anglo in Uruguay is one of 5 Uruguayan institutions contracted directly by Plan Ceibal to deliver lessons remotely

• Some initial discussions with Culturas in other countries, including Paraguay, Chile and Peru

2-way video & audio

“This is Uruguay's problem: 40% of children who attend public schools come from the poorest fifth rung of society. And out of this fifth, just 3% makes it to college. Through Plan CEIBAL we decided to take a chance on making a change and to find a way out of this crisis we live in.”

Miguel Brechner, Plan Ceibal

Joint lesson planning

Students with Classroom

laptops

Local classroom:• TV screen showing

remote teacher• Lesson materials

shown via Webex, Promethean software

Joint lesson planning

Local class teacher

managing activity

Remote teacher using video-conferencing

The Remote Teaching Model

Ceibal en Ingles Clip

Thank you for listening!

paul.woods@britishcouncil.org.ar

Aferrarro??????

A L Martinez:Plan Ceibal: evaluación y lecciones aprendidas en la primera experiencia 1 a 1 a nivel nacional