Dschola a regional school network Eisco Conference 2005

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Dschola a regional school networkEisco
Conference 2005
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Summary

• CSP short presentation
• The Regional School Network
• Goals and actions
• Centers
• Model, background, goals
• In practice
• Ongoing activities
• www.dschola.it
• Hyperfilm

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A short presentation CSP Innovation in ICT
Non profit public-private consortium

University of Turin
Regional ICT utility (Piedmont Region)
Federpiemonte
City of Turin
Unione industriali
Turin Polytechnics
Research Center
Appointed by the Italian Ministry of University
and Scientific and Technological Research (MIUR)
Member of W3C Consortium
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A short presentation CSP Innovation in ICT
Mission the agency for local development of
Piedmont PA

• early 90s Supercomputing Center 1998 ICT
  Research Center, inheriting the acronym CSP
• co-operating with University and research
  centres through 6 thematic labs (Integrated
  networks InLAB, Informatic and telematic security
  - SecureLab, Mobile Multimedia application
  M3LAB, Web Technologies WtLAB, Digital
  Terrestrial Television DTTLab, Knowledge
  Exchange Initiative - KEILAB) running internal
  applied research and with a cooperative work on
  several issues (Open Learning, Reusability,
  Semantic Web)
• working with ICT Industries Vodafone, ASTRA,
  Local and International TELCO and SME
• partecipating EU RD projects
• Further information www.csp.it

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The Regional School NetworkActors and Figures

• What the most important step
• The object Regional project for development ICT
  for, from, inside schools
• The origin Memorandum signed between Italian
  Education Ministry and Local Government (July
  2000)
• The actors
• 2 Bank Foundations ?money
• Local Government ? assets (network, information,
  procedures, expertise)
• Schools ? co-invest in projects and technology
• 2 technological partner CSI Piemonte CSP
  (know-how, project, start-up, management,
  monitoring)
• Where
• North West of Italy ? Piedmont and Valle dAosta
  
• Figures
• Duration 3 years 2001-2003 for the start-up, 3
  years for reinforcing the community
• Target 840 administrative structures, 2.828
  physical structures, 480.000 students, 50.000
  teachers, 8.000 technical assistant, 840
  Principals
• 21 M funding from Bank Foundations and other 8
  M from PA

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The Regional School Networks Goals and Actions
Priority Goals decided

• Transform some isolated school best practices
  into a widespread collaborative system
• Organize a valuable co-operation between school,
  students and families
• Create local facilities to lifelong learning

Main actions related

• Co-finance local ICT school projects
• Universal services for all schools (mail, fast
  network, security, hosting...)
• Put at work support Excellent Centres for
  service, animation and experimentation
• This last action is properly the DSCHOLA project
  managed by CSP

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Excellence Centres model, background, goals

• Approach
• Top-down ? overcome digital divide in schools
• Bottom-up ? promote and enhance initiatives,
  idea, expertise
• stimulate and accelerate the use of ICT
• increase flexible learning, distance working,
  cooperation activities
• Schools for schools ? a special point of view in
  solving technical and organizational problems
• Background
• Human and technical resources
• Context open towards content and technology
  transfer to the school community
• Goals
• Digital literacy for principals, teachers and
  schools
• Increase and dissemination of ICT skills
• Testing innovative application of technologies

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Excellence Centres key actors and policy

• Key actors
• Teachers with technical and didactical background
• Schools with good technical background
• Policy
• Building expanding opportunities for skill
  acquisition
• Synergies between ICT and education
• Synergies between schools between schools and
  their environment
• Wider distribution of educational opportunities
  over Internet
• Transferability in other regions

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Excellence Centres in practice

• 25 schools (with technological and didactical
  excellence) chosen by the Regional Education
  Office
• Plan and activity set up
• Key issues agreed (disability, school drop out,
  multimedia, hypermedia, wireless, quality,
  elearning, microrobotics)
• A contract signed with every school
• Infrastructure provided broadband network
  (2Mb/sec), videoconference, IP phone

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Excellence Centers the activities
Service Technological literacy for headmasters
and school operator Organize and sustain other
schools in services and training Animation Work
shops and seminars on ICT and education Experime
ntation Repeatable and transferable
experimentations
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Excellence Centers ongoing activities

• Experimentation activities related to Centers
  experience and interests ? expertise on
• Networking
• Wireless LAN and WAN (CISCO case study Mountain
  wireless), thin client LAN
• Web-based information system
• School data management applications through
  opensource software
• Microrobotics and microworld
• Teachers training teachers in robots and
  microworld use (primary schools)
• Disability
• Videoconference for temporary disabled students
• Hypertext developed by seriously mentally
  disabled students
• Autistic students communication through
  hypermedia
• Sign language through hypermedia

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Excellence Centers ongoing activities
Cooperative distance work and remote stage ? Web
based platform, document sharing (used by one of
theTOP 100 eSchola www.itismajo.it/chimica) ?
Remote training methodologies through
videoconference, models both for school and firm
involved in the stage Multimedia Learning
objects development related to different
disciplines (astronomy, physics, inter-culture,
music, history, maths, italian literature) ? test
through different learning management
systems EMDL European Multimedia Driving
License Hypermedia Learning object development
through concepltual maps (The Brain) and videos ?
Hyperfilm
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eCommunity www.dschola.it

• Thematic sections Information on school and ICT
• Community services ML, forums, etc.
• MM channel Satellite, video streaming, Hyperfilm
• Open source platform PHP Nuke-MdPRO

Direct contribution by the community members
Language Italian, English and Spanish
Accessibility for disabled people
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eCommunity www.dschola.it
The goal for the year 2004 is to enhance the
thematic channels where topics of interest are
Community, focusing on innovative
project-related activities dissemination
Europe, providing call for proposals alerts and
information concerning EU programmes and
policies Opensource, dealing with the
connections between didactics and free software
Multimedia, providing video-interviews and
streaming didactical materials. Looking forward
to sustaining the innovation in schools, in
2004-2006 Dschola intends to wider its
experimentation framework towards the DTT-digital
terrestrial TV. Moreover, the Dschola experience
has generated an original spin-off, a community
investigating the knowledge representation with
mind and conceptual maps.
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Hyperfilm
 
Software ? result of an EU-IST project Tool ?
enriching digital videos with content references
(text, video,images, hypertext, ) Innovation
? reticular structure and innovative
communication technique Educational use ?
innovative didactical content production ?
support tool for didactics ? construction
procedure vs final realization ? either
individually or in group
Dschola Educational Hyperfilm is freely available
from www.dschola.it
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Network participation and Awards
International conferences Eminent II, Virtual
Educa, EDEN, TIEC, OECR, IADIS, ICNEE, PEG2003,
Digital Communities European Networks Telecities,
European School Net European Awards NetDays
2001 E-week 2002 (Regional Development) eSchola
Best Practice 2003 Selected as one of the Best
15 EU projects in eEurope Awards 2003
(eGovernment projects)
 
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A model for Latin America
 
Alliance for Information Society Integrating new
technologies in school Developing and promoting
core competencies in Argentina, Chile and
Uruguay In collaboration with
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INTEGRA in detalis
The model of the Dschola project is the basis of
the Integra project, co-funded by EU in the _at_lis
framework. The Integra project aims at developing
and improving capabilities of Latin American
institutions (from Argentina, Uruguay and Chile)
to use, manage, and leverage ICTs in teaching and
administration. The Demonstration Project will
create a Network of Innovation Centres (CedeI -
Centros de Innovación) devoted to experimenting
with the use of the new technologies in
educational or administrative activities,
promoting continuous training activities for
teachers and technicians, and providing services
to schools in their area of influence. The
Network's initial core of 20 schools will be
selected on the basis of minimum requirements in
terms of technical infrastructure (hardware and
Internet connectivity) teachers with sufficient
training and motivated to participate in
innovative projects and commitment from school
boards and directors.
 

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Just a minute
 
We would like to make the most reusable the
several and different bricks of the project
towards other Regions and Country. We would like
to bring in our project other reusable bricks
from your projects. Are you interested in?

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IF YOU . CONTACT US

• Eleonora Pantò
• Dschola Project Manager
• ? eleonora.panto_at_csp.it

• Sergio Duretti
• Chief Innovation Officer
• ? sergio.duretti_at_csp.it

www.dschola.it - info_at_dschola.it
Environment Park Via Livorno, 60 10144 Torino
(Italy)
Thank you for your attention