Transcript Slide 1
Prof. Eliut D. Flores Caraballo, Ph.D.
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
eliut.f [email protected]
1 787 249 4444 Voice / dreliutf lores Skype
Trinidad & Tobago and its Public Schools System
The MOE has a goal and a problem
A systemic solution has been identified
Stakeholders were consulted
Needs were identified
Specific uses have been listed
Best practices worlwide were researched
A technical vision was designed
The project is now in the works…
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Trinidad &
Tobago Facts
Area total: 5,128 sq km
Natural Resources:
Petroleum, natural gas, asphalt
Population: 1,229,953
Languages:
English (official), Caribbean
Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi),
French, Spanish, Chinese
Gained independence from the
UK in 31 August 1962
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Trinidad and Tobago has adopted important strategies
impacting education
Vision 2020
National ICT Strategy
eGovernment and GoRTT
Secondary Schools Modernization Program (SEMP)
The Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC)
The Ministry of Education (MOE) of T&T has
133 Secondary Public Schools with 5,936 teachers
478 Elementary Public Schools with 7,427 teachers
600 Early Childhood Centers with 1,125 teachers
Over 100,000 Public School Students in total
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Vision 2020
“By the year 2020, … All citizens are assured of a sound,
relevant education system tailored to meet the human
resource needs of a modern, progressive, technologically
advancing nation. Optimum use is made of all the
resources of nation”
Trinidad and Tobago’s National ICT Strategy
“Focuses on the development of an innovative, creative
and entrepreneurial society that can excel in today’s
knowledge based society and global economy”
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The MOE has a goal and a
problem
The nation’s population is split
over two Islands
The country is small, but the road
and transportation infrastructure
is poor
Many teachers lack advanced,
specialized, and updated training
Many schools need improvements
Internet and WAN connectivity for
the schools is in the planning stage
for deployment in 2009-2010
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Based on systematic analysis, the MOE decided to use
ICTs to support significant improvements in their
Secondary Public Schools System
MOE WAN
Videoconferencing System
Curriculum modification
Teachers continued
professional and ICT education
MOE engaged Dr. Flores to conduct
research leading to the design of the
videoconferencing system
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Field research was conducted by Dr. Eliut D. Flores
during the month of June, 2008
Research objective:
To interview stakeholders of the Secondary Education
Public School System at the MOE senior level and at the
schools
Methods used:
Executive in-depth interviews
Focus groups
Onsite visits to several MOE facilities and secondary
schools
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The most salient reasons for wanting to use the
videoconferencing system are:
The limited road infrastructure of the country makes
any trip a challenging effort
Difficult to abandon the classroom or Ministry offices to
reach other locations
Going out implies many hours wasted on the road/ship
Tobago constituents have an additional challenge due to the
time and money required to find sea or air transport to and
from Trinidad
Limited availability of teachers in specialized subjects
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We can summarize all respondent opinions around
three major uses for the videoconferencing system:
Learning/Teaching
Specialized lectures by remote teachers
National and international collaborative learning
Virtual Field Trips
Substitute teaching
Continued Education
Increase number of teachers in Certification Program
Virtual Meetings
Schools supervisors, Legal Counsel, HR, Teachers’ mentors
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We conducted a thorough literature review of best
practices for building K-12 Videoconferencing systems.
Among them:
Standards should be adopted for all information and
communication technology purchases
A broadband Wide Area Network (WAN) is a major
component of the videoconferencing system and it
should be connected to a powerful Network Center
Budget high-end, high-definition videoconferencing
systems for the schools, integrating document cameras,
whiteboards, and TabletPC computers
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More Best Practices:
Develop a multimodal learning-teaching strategy
comprising face-to-face, videoconferencing, and
eLearning modalities
Presentations can be boring and ineffective whether
delivered in person or over a videoconference. Use
proper planning and high production values to deliver
best results
The institutional schedule of videoconferencing events
must be coordinated and respected by all members of
the network
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MOE Wide Area Network
3MB+ Metro Ethernet to each school
Routers/Switches optimized to prioritize video traffic
NOC with redundant bandwidth to the Internet
Centralized firewall
Centralized content filtering for Internet access
Access to several IP Networks
MOE
GoRTT
Universities
Rest of the world
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Network Operations Center
Powerful video server capable of supporting many sites
High Definition and Standard definition switching
Point 2 Point
Point 2 Multipoint
Webcasting
Integration with Exchange eMail Server for automated
administration
Streaming server
Capable of recording (i.e., encoding) videoconferencing
events, and other video materials, cataloguing them for
later retrieval using metadata for each asset
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Schools Videoconferencing System
Dedicated room with proper lighting, temperature and
sound proofing
High-Definition IP codec
Dual 42” LCD displays (near/far/collaboration)
Two cameras (students/instructor)
Ceiling Microphones
Sound amplifier and speakers
Tablet PC with Collaboration Software
Document camera
CD/DVD Player
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Detailed technical concept being revised by MOE
RFP will be issued this summer
Schools and MOE WAN in progress
Project adjudication scheduled for the Fall 2009
System might be divided in stages
Stage 1 should be operational by January 2010
Additional stages will follow to complete all secondary
schools and eventually other levels
Curriculum integration and teacher training will be
coordinated accordingly for seamless integration
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Videoconferencing is a useful strategy to overcome
limitations and to pursue achievement in Public
Schools
Careful planning, staffing, support, and
infrastructure of the overall project is required to
harmonize infrastructure, skills and learning
It is preferable to better equip fewer schools than
to deploy deficient installations to more schools
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Prof. Eliut D. Flores Caraballo, Ph.D.
Graduate School of Information Science and Technology
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
eliut.f [email protected]
1 787 249 4444 Voice / dreliutf lores Skype