1 Introduction to Ensino a Distância (Distance Education)

Transcription

1 1 Introduction to Ensino a Distância (Distance Education) In the following pages, we introduce Ensino a Distância (Distance Education, EaD), with a brief history of the modality, the characterization of its students and teachers, the support and professional development provided by the Directorate General of Education, the main changes being made in the present school year, a typical day in this school and its strategic goals for History of EaD EaD is an alternative modality of the Portuguese educational system for years 5 to 12 for traveller children or those that for social, health or other relevant reasons, cannot attend, temporarily or permanently, a public regular school. This offer followed the Escola Móvel project, founded in the school year 2005/2006, which after a considerable investment and supported by a specialised resident team in the Ministry of Education, and with a status of school, was discontinued, and transferred to Fonseca Benevides Secondary School (ESFB) in the school year 2010/2011 with limited resources and an unprepared team. By the end of school year 2013/2014, with the legislative act (Portaria) n. 85/2014 of april 15 it finally acquired the status of official modality of education and training in the educational system, besides the regular and recurrent offers. With the legislative act (Despacho) n. 5946/2014 of aprl 28, ESFB became the national headquarters for EaD. Nowadays, this modality follows the Portuguese national curriculum and students can fulfil their mandatory schooling in this way, pursuing then a higher education degree if they wish so. The recent changes, beginning in 2015, in leadership in the Directorate General of (DGE), ESFB and EaD s Coordination brought a new strategic vision for this modality, valuing it as an important mechanism for social cohesion and inclusion of students which, if they hadn t this option, would probably leave school due to the instability of their educational paths in regular schools. 1.2 Characterisation of students in EaD EaD began as a project mostly for Traveller Children, particularly from fairground and circus families, characterised by their high mobility, with the obvious difficulties of social integration and demotivation due to many classes, teachers and schools in the same school year. In the survey made to students in the beginning of this school year, the majority recognised the value of this educational offer with comments such as: 1. EaD helped me a lot, because now I can finish my studies, without missing classes, because before it existed, I would miss many classes due to my parent s jobs. And I would like to great all teachers and I hope they keep up this wonderful work. 2. I love EaD because I am always in the same school. 3. I really like EaD because it gives us the opportunity of staying with our family and keep on doing what we like most, working in the circus. Despite this early focus, Ead has spread to different publics through protocols and partnerships between ESFB and several institutions (Ajuda de Mãe, supporting young mothers, Programa Escolhas, for children from disadvantaged 1

2 backgrounds, from ethnic minorities or from immigrant s descent, Direção-Geral de Estabelecimentos Prisionais, for prisoners) and also by an active demand of families of this kind of educational offer, in situations such as: 1. Children with many retentions, some that have left school for more than one year; 2. Children with health problems; 3. Victims of bullying; 4. Children of temporary emigrants that want to keep the connection the Portuguese educational system; 5. Pregnant teenagers; 6. Roma children; 7. Families of evangelic priests. As previously mentioned, EaD had a survey applied to all students in its 14 classes in the beginning the school year This survey had the following goals: 1. Characterise the publics that opted for this modality; 2. Identity the academic and professional aspirations of students; 3. Identify the study habits in this modality; 4. Understand the perceptions of several aspects of this modality; 5. Characterise some technical aspects in accessing the modality. From 242 enrolled students, 172 answered the survey, with a response rate above 70%. The analysis of the survey is gathered in a complete report but we present next a brief characterisation of those students. Table 1 Number of students by class and total number by the end of the first term of school year 2015/2016 ( Turma Class; Alunos Students) Turma Alunos 12A 6 11A 7 10A 21 9A 20 8A2 18 8A1 18 7A2 20 7A1 19 6A3 17 6A2 19 6A1 20 5A3 19 5A2 18 5A1 20 Total Reasons to choose the modality The majority of the publics in this modality belong to Fairground (36%) and Circus (26%) Families. Ajuda de Mãe, Programa Escolhas and Pastoral dos Ciganos (Roma Pastoral) integrate 22% of these students, with the remaining 2

3 students for reasons of temporary emigration of their parents (6), health (fibromyalgia in 2 cases, in 6 attributed to this motive), families of evangelic priests (5), school phobia and other school problems (2) and Roma families (2). There is a considerable number of students with siblings in the modality (62), corresponding to 38% of students. Table 2 Reasons to choose the modality by class and totals (%) ( Turma Class; Família Circense Circus Family; Família Feirante Fairground Family; Emigrante temporário Temporary emigrant; Outra Other) Turma Other: Família Circense Família Feirante Ajuda de Mãe Emigrante temporário Outra Pastoral dos Ciganos Programa Escolhas 12A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Total Total 1. Evangelic priests (5) 2. Health (6) 3. School phobia (1) 4. Unknown (2) 25 circus were mentioned in the responses: 5. Roma ethnicity (2) 6. Parent s job (2) 7. Problems in school (1) 1. Alan Circus 2. Aquático Show Jorge Cardinali 3. Belly Wien 4. Circus Arena 5. Circus Cardinali Júnior 6. Circus Chen 7. Circus Dallas 8. Circus Dragon 9. Circus Gigante das 3 pistas 10. Circus Landia 11. Circus Luftman 12. Circus Marisol 13. Circus Massimo 14. Circus Mérito - Israel Modesto 15. Circus Nómada 16. Circus Royal 17. Circus Twister 18. Circus Victor Hugo Cardinali 19. Cristian Circus 20. Lian Circus 21. Nery Brother's Show 22. Ruben Circus 23. Star Circus 24. Urien s Circus 25. Wiener Circus 3

4 In the case of Fairground families, the most common activities are sale of hotdogs, farturas, popcorn and sweet cotton (16), carousel (9), sales (7), bar (6), attractions (6), support and installation (4). In the case of Circus families, the most common roles are clown (8), juggler (6), contortionist (5), balancer (4), hula hoop (4), magician (4), tamer of snakes (3) e work with dogs (3) Longevity in EaD Sixty-five students (38%) mention this as their first school year in EaD. The maintenance rate is approximately 62%. In year 5 and 6 classes, this is more evident. The retention rates are expected to be high as the years in the modality and the curricular year they are in (and were expected to be) don t match. It is also noteworthy that there are students from year 9 to 12 who are already in this modality for 6 to 8 years, in some cases having done all their schooling from year 5 in this way. Table 3 Longevity in years in EaD by class and totals (%) ( Turma Class; 1 a 2 1-2, etc.) Turma 0 1 a 2 3 a 5 6 a 8 Total 12A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Total Valuation of schooling by the family In the cases of temporary emigrants and Ajuda de Mãe, all (100%) or almost all (92%) families value schooling. There s a difference of 10% in the number of answers that gave the maximum grade in this item between Fairground and Circus students. In Pastoral dos Ciganos, 80% affirmed that the family values very much their schooling, for personal development and professional reasons. In Programa Escolhas, 73% of students answered that the family values very much their schooling. Table 4 Valuation of schooling by family (%) ( Origem Origin; Valoriza bastante, por razões de desenvolvimento pessoal e professional Values very much, due to personal and professional development 4

5 reasons; Valoriza em parte por razões de ordem prática Values in part, due to practical reasons; Não valoriza Doesn t value; Valoriza pouco Doesn t value much) Origem Valoriza bastante, por razões de desenvolvimento pessoal e profissional Valoriza em parte, por razões de ordem prática Não valoriza Valoriza pouco Total Outro Família Feirante Família Circense Ajuda de Mãe Programa Escolhas Pastoral cigana Emigrante temporário Não responde Total Academic aspirations The academic aspirations of 37% of the inquired are to conclude year 12, and 54% for students in the secondary level (years 10-12). 26% aspires to conclude year 9, 17% an higher education degree and 12% a vocational course. A minority from years 5 and 6 just aspires to conclude year 6 (8 students out of 40, corresponding to 20%). Table 5 Academic aspirations by class and totals (%) ( Concluir o 12.º ano Conclude year 12; Concluir um curso no ensino superior Conclude an higher education degree; Concluir um curso professional - Conclude a vocational course; Concluir o 9.º ano Conclude year 9; Concluir o 6.º ano Conclude year 6) Turma Concluir o 12.º ano Concluir um curso no ensino superior Concluir um curso profissional Concluir o 9.º ano Outro Concluir o 6.º ano Total 12A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Total By students background, in Programa Escolhas there are no aspirations in concluding a higher education degree. In the case of temporary emigrants, most aspire to conclude year 12. Concluding year 9 has approximately the same distribution by most students backgrounds, except for temporary emigrants Professional aspirations Students professional aspirations are, in the case of circus families, mainly of becoming circus artists, (22 out of 45, approximately 50%). There are 14 students that want to become hairdressers, 8 dancers, 7 singers, stylists, actors or football players and 6 fairground people (6 out of 61, approximately 10%) Valuation of learning with technology Most students (91%) enjoys learning with the technologies used in the modality. 5

6 Table 6 Degree of agreement with the sentence I enjoy learning with the available technologies in this modality by class and totals (%) ( Concordo totalmente Totally agree; Concordo Agree; Discordo Disagree; Discordo totalmente Totally disagree) Turma Concordo totalmente Concordo Importance given to tutoring to resolve questions, study, learn to learn, dúvidas, estudar, aprender a estudar, solve overdue tasks, and talk about personal issues Tutoring is a feature of this modality valued by the majority of (95%) resolve questions, study, learn to learn, solve overdue tasks, and talk about personal issues. Discordo Discordo totalmente Total 12A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Total Table 7 Degree of agreement with the sentence Tutoring is important to resolve questions, study, learn to learn, dúvidas, estudar, aprender a estudar, solve overdue tasks, and talk about personal issues by class and totals (%) ( Concordo totalmente Totally agree; Concordo Agree; Discordo Disagree; Discordo totalmente Totally disagree) Turma Concordo totalmente Concordo Discordo Discordo totalmente Total 12A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Total Accesses by country The platform access is made from several continents. Portugal gathers the majority of accesses, followed by United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Cape Verde, Morocco and Iran. 6

7 Figure 1 Map showing world accesses to the EaD platform Figure 2 Accesses by country to the EaD platform Accesses in Portugal and islands In Portugal, accesses to the platform are mostly from the Lisbon and Oporto districts, followed by Setubal and Faro, and from all regions except 3. There are also accesses from Azores and Madeira. 7

8 Figure 3 Map with national accesses to the Ead plataform Figure 4 Districts with accesses to the EaD platform 1.3 School results As was previously noticed, the age of students is typically higher for the school curricular year they are in. This difference should probably be the result of consecutive retentions due to reasons affecting these kind of publics, quite above the retention rates in the country according to the Statistics of Education for 2013/2014 by the Directorate General of Education and Science (DGEEC). The average age in EaD, which spans years 5 to 12, is of 14, with a standard deviation of 2, with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 18. 8

9 Table 8 School results, retentions and transfers in the school year 2014/2015, by class and totals (%) ( Aprovados Approved; Reprovados Failed; Retidos por faltas Failure by absence; Transf/AM Transfers/Registration cancellation; 2.º Ciclo 2 nd Cycle; 3.º Ciclo 3 rd Cycle; Secundário - Secondary) Table 9 School results, retentions and transfers (provisional data, incomplete) in the third term in school year 2015/2016 ( N.º de alunos inscritos Number of enrolled students; Transferidos Transferred; Anulação de matrícula Registration cancellation; Transitados Aprovados Approved; Não transitados Não aprovados Failed; Retidos por faltas Failed due to absence; Excluídos por faltas Excluded due to absence; Taxa de insucesso Failure rate; Abandono escolar School absence rate; Taxa de sucesso Success rate) 9

10 1.4 Characterization of the school team The EaD team gathers a group of 28 teachers from all subjects from year 5 to year 12, a group of 14 tutors (that are simultaneously teachers and), an ICT teacher that provides technical support to teachers and tutors, and a teacher from the Psychology and Guidance Service, that supports students with special education needs. The majority of the team is from the permanent school staff, or from the same school district, and their experience in the modality is between 1 and 4 years. Only part of these teachers also teach in regular classes. Teachers Total School staff School district staff Contracted Tutors 14 Technical support 1 Special education 1 Years in EaD N. of teachers Support and professional development by DGE DGE, since 2014/2015, has supported more closely EaD in 4 ways: 1. Technically, hosting and managing the EaD plataform, that has now an improved infrastructure. The platform software was updated in 2014/2015 opening up new possibilities for teachers, students and tutors; 2. Professional development, offering a certified 25 hours training course to the entire staff, Using learning management systems, synchronous communication and collaboration platforms in distance education and etwinning workshops and training missions; 3. Support, by the technical teams of DGE (ERTE, related to educational technology, EPIPSE, related to promoting students success) and by an external consultant, during the school year 2015/2016; 4. Support in establishing partnerships, such as with Microsoft Education. 1.6 Changes implemented from school year 2015/2016 In the end of 2014/2015, following the end of classes, the school began a collective planning process, to improve EaD. The main changes, to be applied in school year 2015/2016, were: 1. Valuing and stabilisation of the teaching team to create a professional culture and improve specialisation a. Stabilising the teaching staff in EaD; b. Training and support by the DGE during the entire school year; 10

11 c. Creation of the technical support figure for EaD, through an ICT teacher that provides support to the team; 2. Valuing of tutoring as a mechanism of proximity, stability and support for both students and families a. Creation of the tutor coordinator role; b. Creation of a tutor profile; 3. Improvement of administrative and technical aspects supporting the school activities and the quality of teaching and learning a. Reinforcement of partnerships and protocols; b. Implementation of a strict absences control regime; c. Improvement in procedures in using the platform, for teachers and tutors, e.g.. gradebook management, justification of absences, page models for subjects and tutorship; d. Creation of support materials for students and families for EaD, gathered in a support page in the platform; e. Creation of accounts for families to access their students school information and absences, in the schools information management system; f. Reorganisation of the sessions in school in the beginning of the school year, to prepare students and families for EaD; g. Testing of several solutions for an educational resources repository; h. Implementation of an infrastructure for videoconference classes with the support of Microsoft in configuring and using Office Diversification of teaching and learning, assessment and informal activities, emphasising active learning methodologies to reduce students failure and abandonment: a. Systematic use of school textbooks from Escola Virtual by Porto Editora by both teachers and students; b. Pilot of videoconference classes, with audio, video, screen sharing and control attribution to students in 10 out of 14 classes; Figure 5 videoconference classes in the EaD studio, with an interactive whiteboard to support teacher work on a OneNote page, with drawing capabilities c. Videoconference between the special needs teacher and her students, using collaborative documents; d. Pilot of study rooms using videoconference; e. Participation in etwinning and Seguranet projects, with prizes for students; f. Visits ny teachers and tutors to student s reception centres, publishing interviews and photos on the school newspaper; g. Distance field trips (e.g. Nature Park Sintra-Cascais); 11

12 Figura 6 Google Maps with multimedia placemarks to guide students during the distance field trip, together with Skype Figure 7 Panoramic photos associated to placemarks. These can be zoomed in and moved horizontally and vertically (photo sphere, for example h. Streaming of seminars in the school library; Figure 8 Streaming of a seminar on Relativity theory for EaD students using Skype for Business 12

13 i. Virtual exhibitions and thematic videos available on the plataforms frontpage (e.g. Maths, History, Geography); j. Competitions and prizes for students (e.g. Maths Kanguru, Photography); k. Group work using Office Online, allowing simultaneous editing of the same document; l. Practical activities (e.g. with everyday materials, on the effect of vinegar in a eggshell on Chemistry, with students producing a report with photos and sharing them online); Figure 9 Photo in student reporto on the effect of vinegar in a eggshell m. Use of automatically marked quizzes (e.g. Natural Sciences); Figure 10 Quiz made in the EaD platform. Some teachers also use Hot Potatoes or Quiz Faber integrated in the platform n. Interactive demonstrations with a visualizer/document camera. 13

14 Figure 11 Videoconference class with a visualizer, with the teacher showing some fossils (Natural Sciences) 5. Valuing of EaD as unique modality at a national level, and in some aspects, at an international level a. Organization of the EaD day, on march 16, with the participation of students emphasising the different lives of these publics with exhibitions, dance acts, performances, fair, etc.; b. Seminar on the future of EaD, to share best practices and reflect on the future of the modality; c. Participation in etwinning projects (e.g. with a school from Serbia in Science). 6. Monitoring and evaluation a. Students characterisation survey and analytics for platform access; b. Students results monitoring; c. Evaluation survey for the pilot implementation of videoconference classes. 1.7 Functioning of EaD In this section we present a brief description of the functioning of classes in EaD, particularly those in videoconference Daily activities in EaD Resources and activities in the majority of EaD subjects are organized in weekly topics, with goals, summary and tasks followed by educational resources and activities. 14

15 Figure 12 Example of a weekly topic in the EaD platform with resources and activities Teachers and students gather first in an online chat, and after reading the summary and tasks for each class, they begin their activities. Figure 13 online chat in Maths using images Most are of the instructional kind, with the exploration in an online chat or videoconference room of an educational resource, followed by an worksheets later submitted in the platform using forums or assignments, and assessed with quantitative and qualitative scales. 15

16 Figure 14 Gradebook in the platform, showing for each student (line) every grade (qualitative and quantitative) for the activities in the subject course (column) The resources used are adapted from Escola Virtual from Porto Editora, an online portal with digital textbooks from this private publisher (e.g. screen captures of textbooks, videos, animations, audio files, electronic presentations, informative sheets, worksheets). There are also resources from the web (websites, images, Youtube videos, or from Khan Academy) or resources produced by teachers. Figure 15 Example of a video tutorial made with the app Explain Everything Worksheets in Word or Open Office are made available by the teacher in the platform and students can fill them and submit them in the platform as a file or filling in a form (assignment activities or forums). Sometimes teachers require students to photograph their personal notebooks or other materials that are then shared in the platform or sent by snail mail to the school (particularly in Visual Arts). This school year had as a goal testing the diversification of teaching and learning strategies to improve students motivation and the quality of learning. Establishing the videoconference classes infrastructure was key in this change, as it supports interaction with text, audio, video, screen sharing and control attribution to students, favouring their participation. 16

17 Figure 16 Videoconference with screen sharing of OneNote and the Skype for Business window visible As mentioned in a survey in the end of the 2 nd Term to assess the pilot of videoconference classes, students, feel more integrated in a class, they can listen to their colleagues and teacher, feeling less lonely, dropping their shyness, and interacting in real time, asking questions, or sharing thoughts. This work has also permitted a closer contact with parents, in particular those that are living abroad. Students perceptions of this kind of classes is very positive, as can be seen in the answers to the questionnaire: Figure 17 Students responses about the pilot of videoconference classes ( Os alunos que utilizam o Skype estão mais empenhados nas aulas? Students that use Skype are more committed to classes? ; O aproveitamento dos alunos que utilizam o Skype melhorou? Did the school results from students who use Skype improved?; Sim Yes; Não No) The advantages for the different subjects are clear: in Science, it s easier to write mathematical notation (Maths and Chemistry, Physics, Natural Sciences) or by the use of educational software (Geogebra) or the manipulation of objects and materials using a visualizer; in Languages, by the obvious improvement in the training of speaking, 17

18 conversation, interpretation and analysis or the correction of written text. Field trips, streamed seminars can also be easily done with this kind of infrastructure. Figure 18 Teachers responses about the pilot of videoconference classes ( Como avalia globalmente a experiência? How do you evaluate this pilot?; 1 - Excellent 1 Excellent; 2 Muito satisfatória 2 Very satisfactory; 3 Satisfatória 3 Satisfactory; 4 Pouco Satisfatória 4 Not much satisfactory; 5 Não satisfatória 5 Not satisfactory ) In videoconference classes interaction is achieved through screen sharing by the teacher, of resources, websites or a whiteboard in OneNote and screen annotation software (Epic pen). Sometimes the teacher attributes control of his computer to students, and they can then solve exercises or make presentations with their keyboard and mouse, or share they own computer screen, while the class watches. These classes can be made available as PDF or video and published in the platform, so students can watch them again Tutoring The support provided by tutors is given in the timetable moments allocated to this (in practice, classes in the timetable) or by phone. The tutor acts in several domains, as defined in the tutor profile: 1. Communication of administrative information; 2. Support in school work in every subject; 3. Development of transversal skills and study methods; 4. Support in the preparation for formal assessments; 5. Communication with parents. Several tutors visit their students, sometimes in the institutions they are in, such as Ajuda de Mãe or Pastoral dos Ciganos. However, these visits are in their spare time, and without any traveling support. This proximity is valued by students and is crucial in the beginning of years 5, 7 and 10 as a way of building a certain attitude and working habits with these students. 18

19 Figure 19 Visit to Ajuda de Mãe, in a Christmas lunch organised by the girls for the EaD teachers, December 2015 Figure 20 Visit to Pastoral dos Ciganos by a tutor in February 2016 With an adjustment in the timetable and some support in traveling costs it will be possible to encourage this personal contact between teachers, tutors and students, at least in the greater Lisbon Area, close to school, which according to the statistics of access to the platform, includes many of the students in EaD Psychology and Guidance Service (SPO) Students in EaD have the support of the school s SPO, with a Special Education teacher that supports a group of students with Skype since 2014/2015. This work is also done in the platform, with pedagogical support pages for each student and teacher s access to every subject page where her students are enrolled, providing a more contextual support in their school activities. Google Docs is also used for synchronous activities on scanned worksheets appropriate for each student (e.g. dyslexic) where student and teacher interact in real time in matching and gaps exercises. 19

20 Figure 21 Worksheet in Google Drive to support synchronous work between teacher and student 1.8 Strategic priorities for EaD in After a careful reflection by the EaD coordination in the end of school year , planning the measures to implement in the next two school years, the 4 main strategic priorities are: A. Diversify the teaching and learning strategies, emphasising active learning methodologies: B. Develop a culture of proximity, despite the distance, between tutors, parents, students and teachers; C. Consolidate and broaden the educational offer and the number of students in EaD; D. Promote the development and professional appreciation of the EaD staff. In concrete terms, these strategic lines, with the support of all partners, will materialise in: 1. Equipping classrooms and studios in EaD adequate to videoconference classes; 2. Prepare technological kits that support diverse teaching and learning activities, such as interactive demonstrations, practical activities, group work, project-based work, presentations by students, field trips and study visits, participation in seminars and competitions, emphasising active learning methodologies; 3. Integrate web services that support teaching and learning activities with the EaD platform (e.g. Office 365, particularly Skype for Business, Office Online and Onenote with Moodle); 4. Share good practice in EaD with the educational and scientific community, nationally and internationally; 5. Share the educational offer of EaD to students and families that can benefit from its features; 6. Create the EaD Digital Archive, to build the educational resources repository and memory center of the modality; 7. Open a secondary level course on Science and Technology in school year , besides the existing Languages and Humanities offer; 8. Train the teaching and tutoring staff for the particularities of EaD and its publics. João Fernandes v