FACILITATION NOTES

These materials are directed toward facilitators of the World Links Organization's Planning for School-based Telecenters workshop.

In preparing to facilitate this workshop, there are a few preparatory actions that you'll need to set in motion (in addition to reading these materials thoroughly). Many of the procedures and suggestions offered emerge from the field test of this workshop, 5 - 9 February, 2001, in Harare, Zimbabwe. Subsequent field testing, in Jinja, Uganda, in September, 2001, resulted in additional changes to the agenda and to the facilitation notes.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The overall goals of the Planning for School-based Telecenters workshop are to enable school leaders and WorLD teachers to:

• Explore the concept of school-based telecenters in relation to their schools and communities

• Connect the operation of a school-based telecenter with the financial sustainability of their WorLD computer lab and their school

• Begin the concrete steps necessary to plan, initiate, and operate a school-based telecenter successfully

In general, the workshop should be as active and interactive as possible. The more time that participants spend discussing, asking questions (of each other or of you) and engaging in the planning process, the more likely they

are to continue these processes after the workshop.

OBJECTIVES

To accomplish the workshop goals, specific objectives can be targeted.

Upon completion of the workshop, participants should be able to:

• Convincingly explain the rationale for a telecenter to their colleagues at school and to their community

• Identify clients in their primary, secondary, and developmental markets

• Identify potential partners and sponsors in their communities

• Plan market research based on interviews and focus groups

• Describe a "service mix" that will address the needs of those markets

• Propose various means of staffing and scheduling telecenter operations in their school

• Propose steps in a marketing campaign targeting their identified markets

• Complete a financial plan that will enable budget forecasting, as well as outreach to community groups and potential sponsors or partners

All of these objectives should be accomplished without losing sight of the fact that the proposed telecenters are to be operated in schools, and that the primary goal of the WorLD program is to increase the quality of teaching and learning in schools.

WHY CREATE SCHOOL-BASED TELECENTERS?

WorLD schools and many others around the world may be the recipients of computer facilities that have been donated, purchased by ministries of education, or otherwise provided for them. These facilities present challenges and opportunities, both of which must be addressed if the initial investment is going to be returned as enhanced learning and education over the course of time.

In brief, there are two major areas of challenge / opportunity that give the concept of the school-based telecenter its importance. These areas span both economic development and education reform.

SUSTAINABILITY

The computer facility, under all circumstances, requires ongoing funding to maintain and operate.

Telephone and Internet costs, hardware and software maintenance, upgrades, increased security, and many other expenses may not be addressed in original budgeting for a computer lab. In many instances, hardware may already be out of date. In all instances, it will be out of date soon enough, and will require maintenance throughout the course of its life.

The concept of sustainability may need to be addressed in concrete terms: In Februrary, 2001, the WorLD schools in Zimbabwe reported that roughly eight of ten computers were functioning at

the time of the field test for this workshop. It's critical to draw participants' attention to their needs, and to the potential of the telecenter to fulfill these.

The school-based telecenter is, chiefly, a means for schools to ensure the sustainability of their computer facilities.

DIGITAL AND EDUCATIONAL DIVIDES

In many countries and regions, the gap between schools and communities is wide. In developing countries, communities themselves may also be cut off from information skills and resources-in health care, nutrition, governance and civil society, employment and the economy-that can improve the lives of their members.

The school-based telecenter has the potential to bridge both of these gaps: to enhance the connection between schools and families, local government and NGOs, even the private sector, and; to make critical information skills and services available to under-served populations.

Ideally, of course, the initial bridges established by the school-based telecenter will lead to increased participation in knowledge-related activities in all sectors of a community, from its children to its teachers to its families and its leaders.

(In the short term, however, teachers and school heads may see the greatest value in using the telecenter to reach "school-leavers," university students, and other populations that are close to their core constituencies.)

WORKSHOP PROCESSES

As an experienced facilitator, you are probably aware that the more you talk, the less they listen. Certainly, when you are dealing with school heads and master teachers, that will be the case (unless you are a spectacularly compelling speaker).

Be sure to maintain a high level of interactivity by making use of the following workshop formats:

• Whole-group discussion

• Question-and-answer sessions

• Brainstorming (by whole groups and working groups)

• Simulations (as in the key informant interviews and focus groups of Module 4)

• Break-out group activities

Bear in mind, however, that working groups require time to report on their progress and achievements-and that in some instances their results are duplicated in group after group. On occasion, it may be possible to ask one or two groups to present their results, then invite other groups to explain briefly how their results differ.

TIME MANAGEMENT

There is a huge amount of material to cover in this workshop. Time management is, for this reason, especially critical. However, different groups will have different needs and interests-because the conditions that affect their management of school computer labs and community

telecenters will be different. For this reason:

• The agenda should remain flexible

• Several modules are identified as "optional"

• Every effort should be made to move swiftly from topic introductions to the activities

The activities-far more than any information that you can deliver-are key to the success of the workshop. When they have been completed, the array of results from the different working groups will be truly impressive. Everyone will feel as though something is accomplished.

In addition, you have the chance, in responding to participants' presentations, to share your knowledge and insight in the most relevant possible ways. If you give away everything that you know in advance (in a "blah blah blah" session), you won't have anything left to say following the presentations.

"FIREHOSE" SESSIONS

One of the challenges in working with a large group arises when it's time to report the results of break-out sessions. It takes a lot of workshop time, and many times the reports are repetitive. This problem is most acute, of course, when participants work in pairs and groups.

Consider introducing the "firehose" session. In this technique, participants are limited to a specific (and brutally short) period of time-say one minute or 30 seconds.

Ask a volunteer time-keeper to keep track, to announce (or hold up a sign) at appropriate warning points, and to cut off the speaker. Assist the timekeeper in keeping order.

Properly done (and in the right circumstances), firehose sessions can be lively and enjoyable. Generally, they should be used when the results of the working group are likely to be repetitive, and when the information is not critical at that point in the planning process.

A firehose session is specifically suggested for activity 5.4: Knowledge Resources, but you may find the opportunity to introduce this process earlier in the workshop.

PRE-WORKSHOP INFORMATION

Detailed information from the country program that is hosting the workshop is essential. Specific information about participants, the school system, and the World Links country program itself, should all be requested at the earliest possible dates. Suggested information should address:

• Participants' level of experience in the WorLD program

• Level of technical knowledge of participants

• Operations, staffing, and organization of WorLD labs (e.g., Are there full-time resource teachers?, etc.)

• Cachement areas for WorLD labs (e.g., Does the lab serve one school or several schools?)

• Other special features of the WorLD program in the host country