SUMMARY
Israel's population is projected to double by 2040. The Negev Desert represents 60% of the land area of Israel. Development of the Negev is essential and inevitable as Israel moves into the next millennium.
The amalgamation of Information Technology (IT) and education has created possibilities for bringing Distance Education (DE) to areas remote from urban centers as an impetus to development. It is essential for the development of the Negev and the evolution of the educational system in Israel that the potential benefits of DE be exploited.
This paper describes a pilot project that will explore the use of
distributed collaborative DE in the Negev. The long-term goal is to
meet the two major challenges facing educational reformers:
1. On the didactic level, to form the best models for enhancement of
learning and education through the use of IT.
2. On the organizational level, to form models of processes that will
encourage schools to launch a process of self-transformation to truly
incorporate IT-based learning.
The initial study will consist of an offering of three structured
interactive and collaborative courses over the Internet. These
courses will originate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and be
distributed to several remote sites in the Negev. The Internet is the
preferred conduit since it is ubiquitous and inexpensive to use,
albeit slow. WebCT
from the University of British Columbia is a virtual classroom
program being used for the software infrastructure of the
asynchronous learning network.
The initial course offerings will focus on three subjects basic to the productive use of IT and autonomous living in this era: English as a second language, Introduction to Information Retrieval and the Internet, and Introduction to Inquiry Methods. At the conclusion of the courses, formative evaluations will be conducted to provide information to assist further preparation and correction of course content and delivery.
A study of the use of collaborative education to enhance the learning of Israel's youth has already begun. At Beer Sheva High School, "The School as a Communication Center" project has as its goal the creation of a more flexible learning environment to better prepare students to cope with an increasingly complex world. Interest groups, using the method of Autonomy-Oriented Tutorship, communicate through an asynchronous learning intranet.
This initial trial will help in formulating the best models of using IT for the enhancement of learning and education in the Negev. Further, the trial is suggested as a pilot for an extensive DE study that would accumulate knowledge and experience for the restructuring of the educational system in the Israel through the fullest and educationally most productive integration of IT in education.
Keywords:distance education; Israel; Negev; Ben Gurion University; information technology; www
The educational challenges stemming from Information Technology:
It is commonly accepted now that the newly developed Information Technology (IT) (computers, communication networks, multimedia) has huge potential for empowering learning. This potential stems both from the fact that IT allows various forms and structures of learning and that it caters to the differences in learning styles and interests prevalent among individuals. Also, IT allows various forms of educational programs to reach, through Distance Education (DE) each individual regardless of his/her location.
These facts are the sources of significant advancement beyond traditional schooling which is necessarily limited to specific compelled learning styles and interests and to the resources found within the schoolÕs region. These advantages are especially important to the exceptional studentsÕ population (for example: high or low achieving populations having specific learning needs) and to schools and students located in remote areas which are usually lacking in physical and high level human resources.
Although the above advantages of IT for learning are by now evident, and the technology is ubiquitous and relatively cheap and simple to use, these advantages, until now, have been exploited only to a very limited extent within educational systems in the developed world (including in Israel). One obvious reason to this state of affairs is the unprecedented speed of the development of IT. Almost all the aspects of prevalent IT were developed in the last two decades and society simply needs time to learn how to make the best use of it.
Would it have been the main reason, however, the use of IT in other aspects of life would be slow to the same extent; and this is clearly not the case: businesses, industry, medical institutions, professionals of all sorts make much more extensive and productive use of IT then educational systems and schools. Paradoxically when we need it most (since as claimed above , IT has the potential of solving many of the problems of schools) the propagation and integration of IT have been the slowest. The reason: there is some inherent antagonism between the culture and structure of traditional schools and the culture stemming from the use of IT.
Thus the challenge facing educational reformers is twofold:
1. On the didactic level, to form the best models of using IT for the enhancement of learning and education.
2. On the organizational level, to form models of organizational processes that will encourage schools to launch a process of self transformation in order to truly incorporate IT based learning.
The aims, justification and general framework of the project:
The discussed project is a five years pilot project that will attempt to tackle the two above challenges in a network of three schools in the Negev area in Israel. A large number of Israel's low achievement student population is concentrated in the Negev . Being remote from the intellectual and social centers of Israel, and subjected more than other parts of Israel to unemployment and economic hardships, many of its towns are poor in cultural and educational resources, especially - in creative high-level teachers. Thus it seems that both from the perspective of the special needs of the population and the scarcity or resources, the Negev is the ideal area to start such an pilot project.
Drawing on the complementary skills and experience of Canadian and Israeli teams (to be described in the following section), the project will be based on a Hebrew-speaking intranet (in order to facilitate access to the offered learning processes to the large majority of non-English speaking students and teachers) and will offer programs on the two above levels as follows:
1. First, on the didactic level and directed at individual users, the project will offer three different DE programs ranging in their level of structurality from pre-planned (structured) courses through subject oriented open-ended (semi structured) tutorship groups, guided by young bright scientists, to wholly open (non-structured) forums mediated by the school's students.
2. Second, on the organizational level and directed at schools as institutions, the project will offer the schools advice and guidance to facilitate the structural changes required for the incorporation of the three above programs as integral part of the school activity.
In working on these two levels the project will meet the challenges described above with three programs:
1. (on the didactic level) It will implement different programs suiting the needs and the styles of different learners.
2. (still on the didactic level) It will provide access for students in remote locations in the Negev to the most current content and didactic knowledge and to bright scientific "minds."
3. (on the organizational level) It will facilitate the restructuring of schools to make full use of the huge potential of IT. Thus, the project will aspire to create from the student and teachers population of the three schools, and from young bright scientists functioning as tutors, a dynamic semi virtual learning community with the three above programs as a focus. At the same time, it will aspire to encourage schools to gradually restructure themselves in order to incorporate as many of these activities as possible into their learning activities.
Most importantly, the discussed project is suggested as a pilot for a much larger DE project in the Negev. To this end, the pilot will employ on both its didactic and organizational levels an evaluation team issuing both summative concluding annual reports as well as formative evaluations. This will ensure that the knowledge and experience gathered can serve for the restructuring of the educational system in the Negev and, eventually, in other parts of Israel through the fullest and educationally most productive integration of IT in education.
The evaluation team will attempt to answer questions such as:
1. What are the students/teachers/parents' responses towards each of three first level programs?
2. What are the results of each of these programs in terms of their aims as well as in terms of the empowerment of students' teachers' general cognitive skills, motivation for learning, self-esteem, autonomy, attitude towards school, achievements in other areas?
3. What are the main difficulties in the incorporation of IT in schools?
4. What are the best strategies to overcome these difficulties?
It is suggested that towards the end of the project's fourth year, and on a basis of a detailed report summarizing the experience of these years, the principal investigators will submit their recommendations to the financing body(ies) concerning the desirability of expanding the project's range.
The available knowledge and technological resources:
As indicated above, the pilot project will be directed by two teams of principal investigators and it draws on skills, knowledge and technology acquired or developed by them.
The Canadian Team has practical experience with the incorporation of IT into education. Its activities include computer aided learning, the development of courses administered over the Internet, and telemedicine.
The Israeli Team, with a strong foundation in educational philosophy, has been working in the last four years within a project known as "School as a Communication Center" - with the goal of restructuring the Makif Zain High School in Beer Sheva into a more flexible organization based, in part, on DE and the pervasive use of IT. Within this project the team developed a Hebrew based intranet system which is able to serve up to five thousand people. Students and teachers can connect asynchronously from school or from home. The system can perform all prevailing communication activities (e-mail. conferences, forums, etc.) and information processing functions. The intranet was installed in February 1997 and is now in the first phase of its operation.
At the same time the team has developed:
1. Models of working with groups of disciplinary teachers with the goal of enhancing the use by them of IT and the more flexible, open ended pluralistic didactics required by IT.
2. Models of inquiry oriented learning processes (both IT based and non IT based) followed by groups of interested students, tutored by an interested adult; and the required models of training teachers to function as rational and reflective tutors in such processes.
3. Models of organizing and mediating open-ended discussion forums on the intranet; and the required models of training students to become rational and reflective forum organizers and moderators.
4. Organizational model of a flexible, "dis-engineered" school in which the school functions as a learning organization; and the required models of working with school administrations to transform them into leadership teams that are able to guide schools as a flexible learning organizations able to use the potential of IT.
5. Models of summative and formative evaluations both on the didactic and organizational level
The framework of the specific programs:
a) Pre-planned structured courses.
Contents:
It is suggested that the structured courses will focus on the three subjects most basic to the productive use of IT and to autonomous living in our era more generally: a. English as a Second Language, b. Introduction to Information Retrieval, and the Internet, and c. Introduction to Inquiry Methods.
Potential extension:
Capable individuals, found to be above the levels of the three introductory courses, will be encouraged to participate in other courses offered either in Hebrew on Israeli Internet sites, or in English (when possible) on the Internet at large with the provisos
a. they report periodically to one of the tutors, and
b. submit their reports into the suggested intranet.
b) Tutored interest groups.
Contents:
The activities of these groups will be both chosen by the tutors and suggested by interested students (in this case- on condition that appropriate tutors could be found). The only restraints on the choice of subjects would be that they allow for rational and reflective inquiry and that together they represent a large array of human activities.
Framework:
The framework of the activity of each group and each individual in the group is to be negotiated between the tutor and the group and its members in light of the following guidelines:
1. The activity has to continue for at least three months (with no maximal limit).
2. A schedule of electronic meeting is to be decided between the tutor, the whole group and relevant subgroups and individuals.
3. A face to face meeting between the tutor and the group has to take place at least once every three weeks.
4. Each individual in the group has to undertake upon her/himself (either alone or with other individuals)to perform a certain project with time schedule and evaluation criteria agreed upon by the individual and the tutor.
5. The inquiry process and the project has to be presented to the group and to be documented in a way which will enable all the net users to access it.
We aspire to reach a state of affairs in which at least twenty and preferably thirty( and if possible even more) active groups will function on these lines at each moment.
Method of tutorship:
The method basic to the tutors work will be the method of Autonomy Oriented Tutorship as developed within the project "School as Communication Center" consisting of six autonomy enhancing principles . The first three characterize the learning environment: the maximization of security, freedom and variety of experimentations. The other three characterize the didactics and the desired general outcomes: rationality, reflectivity and meaningfulness.
Method of selection and training of tutors:
In the first stage tutors will be chosen from amongst the brightest, most motivated and most creative young Masters and Doctorate students at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and at industrial and scientific plants in the area. These individuals must be emotionally and intellectually capable of working within the above framework and principles. Thus an important side benefit stemming from the project will be the empowering of bright creative young scientists at BGU and the Negev.
To the extent that teachers at the relevant schools will qualify (which is not highly probable) they will also be trained as tutors. In later stages we will aspire to a situation in which at least twenty percent of the tutors will be involved school teachers (either by intensive work with the most suitable among the prevailing teachers or encouragement of school administrations to recruit new personnel consistent with the above criteria).
Possible extension:
Capable individuals that can not find an interesting inquiry group within the suggested intranet will be encouraged to participate in parallel groups on the Israeli component of the Internet or (if linguistically capable) on the Internet at large with the provisos they
a . report periodically to one of the tutors, and
b. submit their reports to the suggested intranet.
Schedule:
In the first half of the projects preparatory year the framework, methods and contents for the tutors training will be formed. In the second half of this year the proposed tutors will be chosen and trained in a half year process based on intensive one week basic workshops and weekly three hours meetings thereafter.
In the four following years the tutors will have monthly group workshops (at least three hours each) and individual supervision meetings (at least ) once every two weeks (more often if and when required). In the event there will be a large exchange of tutors, the preparatory stage will be repeated for new tutors with old ones serving as guides.
c) Forums
Contents:
Topics are to be chosen by a moderator of an Interest Group if he/she comes from the student or teacher population of that group, or suggested by prospective moderators if enough interested discussants can be found.
Framework:
Open discussion of the topic within the restraints decided by the moderator and in the light of the principles to be referred to immediately.
Method:
As long as a mediator is in charge he/she will assume full responsibility for the formation and operation of the forum. However, a. all moderators will go through basic training and continuous supervision in light of the six autonomy enhancing principles mentioned above: (the maximization of security, freedom, variety of experimentation, rationality, reflectivity and meaningfulness). b. individuals feeling the forum is run inappropriately will be able to appeal to an elected student body.
Method of selection and training of moderators:
Every student willing to organize and conduct a forum will be eligible to become a moderator on condition that:
a. He/she is willing to commit him/herself to the six above principles and to go through basic training and constant supervision.
b. His/her forum will be found to appeal, within a certain period of time, to a certain minimal number of users ( to be decided upon technical lines).
c. There will not be more than three justifiable complaints against him/her submitted to the above elected body.
Possible Extension:
Students will be encouraged to participate in forums in other networks including (if linguistically capable) the Internet, provided they supply the suggested intranet users with periodic reports on these forums.
Schedule:
In the first half of the project's preparatory year the framework and contents for the moderators' training and supervision will be formed. In the second half- the first group of moderators will be chosen and trained in a three days workshop followed by three hours meetings once every two weeks.
d) Consultation to the school administrations
Content:
As stated in the project's introduction, the main difficulty in the introduction of IT into education is the overcoming of the antagonism between school's culture and structure and the requirements stemming from productive use of IT. The only way to overcome this obstacle is with an extended dialogue between an external body and school's management. The aim of such a dialogue is to gradually transform management into a learning educational leadership and the school into a "de-engineered" flexible and learning IT based organization. A protracted and difficult process has to be followed with each school individually, taking cognizance of the school's specific problems, needs and advantages.
Framework:
The ideal framework is one in which the consultant, relying on information constantly gathered by evaluators, takes part in the management meetings with the right to voice his/her opinion (but no voting right) and has regular working/consulting meetings with the principal and other influential figures in school. But even this basic framework is subject to change and negotiation with each school.
Method:
The consultant has to be a professional in organizational theory and organizational change with special knowledge of de-engineering and learning, chaotic organizations, and loyalty to the six above autonomy enhancing principles.
Schedule:
In the first preparatory year the consultant with the evaluation team will launch a school evaluation process aimed at diagnosing the school's readiness and ability to change, and the best restructuring strategy suitable for the school. On the basis of this evaluation, the consultant will start a dialogue with school's administration to determine the best mode for incorporation of the three suggested programs of IT based learning into the school's curriculum. The results of this dialogue will enable the school's administration to lay the ground work for the incorporation of these programs commencing with the second year. The results of this incorporation will serve as the basis of further dialogue and, in a spiral manner, until the end of the five years: a process expectedly leading to the gradual restructuring of the school into a learning IT oriented organization.
Aviram, A. (1992) "Non-lococentric Education", Educational Review, 44: 13-17.
Aviram, A. (1993), "Personal Autonomy and the Flexible School", International Review of Education, 39(5): 419-433.
Aviram, A. (1996), "The Decline of the Modernistic Paradigm in Education", International Review of Education, (in press)
Natalie A. Pass
Instructor
Department of Computer Science
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5
Natalie.Pass@Dal.Ca
©,1997. The authors, Natalie A. Pass, Barry Pass, Roni Aviram, Na'Ama Bar-On, assign to the University of New Brunswick and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive license to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive license to the University of New Brunswick to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM and in printed form with the conference papers, and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web. Any other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the authors.