Valnet / Itcole – Watermarks project

The Sulinet Programme Office (http://www.sulinet.hu), started the co-ordination of the Innovative Schoolnet projects as one of the institutions of the Ministry of Education in 2003. The global initiative of the European Schoolnet is unique, and acts as a catalyst of the efforts made for the development of computer assisted instruction.

The objectives of the VALNET project (valnet.eun.org), realised within the framework of the European Commission‘s “School of Tomorrow” are very similar to the aims of the Hungarian educational policies and the activities and objectives of the Sulinet Programme Office. The participation of Hungary in the ITCOLE project was one of the first collaborations of the Network of the Innovative Schools, at the same time providing the opportunity for a challenging evaluation.

The ITCOLE project focuses on computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL). The Sulinet Programme Office developed the thematic content of the professional part of the project to be carried out in the innovative schools (ENIS) in September 2003, starting from the discussions that took place in Braga (Portugal).

One of the essential elements of project-based learning and teaching is the formulation of the objectives, the products and the criteria for success. In the implementation process we tried to observe both the guidelines contained in the VALNET project and the particular characteristics of the Hungarian education system.

Ten Hungarian schools belonging to the Innovative European Schoolnet participated in the project. At the beginning, there were 11 schools, but one of them did not do their tasks (Kontyfa Secondary School, Middle School and Kindergarten).

The schools are widely diverse, both as types of schools and as geographical location. Their list includes primary schools, secondary schools, technical and vocational schools. We paid attention to these aspects when making the selection of the schools.

There is a total number of 34 teachers and 130 students participating in the ITCOLE Watermarks Project. Out of these, 29 teachers and 110 students have used the FLE3 collaborative platform.

The major topic of the project in Hungary (like in the case of our Portuguese partners) was water. This is why the Hungarian project was called Watermarks. In the course of implementation of the innovative elements of the project, the professional ground was provided by environmental examinations carried out on water, as well as art and historical works connected to it.

The major elements of the professional aspects of the work:

• The examination of a watercourse in the neighbourhood of the school, during which the students carried out chemical examinations, measuring the pH, the hardness, the nitrate, nitrite and phosphate concentration of the water.
• In connection with the watercourse or lake in the neighbourhood of the school, the students collected curiosities from the fields of arts, history and literature. Then, together with the scientific measurements and observations that they made, the groups of students prepared web based materials. The results were interesting translations, virtual art galleries and interesting stories produced by the students.
• Within the ITCOLE Watermarks project, in connection with the tasks of natural sciences, as well as arts and history, the students used the FLE3 collaborative platform. This software tool provided not only a means of communication, but also the space for joint work and learning.
• Using the materials that were produced (part of which were also translated into English and German) the groups of students prepared a presentation which was shared with the participants in the closing conference of ITCOLE Watermarks in Budapest.

Timeline of the ITCOLE Watermarks project activities

Preparation phase

September 2003

• translation into Hungarian of the FLE3 software and installation in one of the innovative schools, the Business Polytechnic (http://faber.poli.hu:8000/fle3) – testing the software and the Hungarian translation, and preparation of the Hungarian version of the users‘ manual (https://faber.poli.hu/fle_manual/)
• Opening conference and training for teachers, attended by the school directors and some of the participating teachers. At this training, the teachers learnt how to use the FLE3 collaborative software and they became acquainted with details of the Watermarks Project.

Active phase

06–13 October 2003

• Preparation work in the schools, including organisation of the teams. One of the first major tasks of the teachers was to integrate the project work in the school-based vocational education curricula. As it was concluded at the end of the project, this preparation ensured to a large extent the success of the project. In this period, the first questionnaire connected to the research part of the project was sent out, based on which we obtained a first picture of the preliminary expectations.

13 October–12 December 2003.

• The groups of students carried out the scientific examinations, as well as the arts, history and literature-related work. Then it was time to test the FLE3 in the education and to develop innovative methods that can be well included and applied in the daily teaching. In this period, there was a second training session for FLE3 use, which completed the regular on-line consultations on how to use the platform. Between November 27–30, 2003, the Educatio International Educational Professional Exhibition and Fair was organised, where the students and teachers of the ITCOLE schools participated in interactive lessons in the conference room of Sulinet. In this event, the participants included representatives of the following schools: the Ady Endre Secondary School, the Alternative School of Economics, the Cooperative Primary School of Arts, the Kossuth Zsuzsanna Secondary School, the Kölcsey Ferenc Secondary School, the Business Polytechnic, and the Surányi Endre Vocational School.

Evaluation phase

1–19 December 2003

• In the evaluation phase, the schools were given a second round of questionnaires, to be answered by the school managers, the teachers and the students.
• During visits to the schools, interviews were conducted with the teachers and students that took part in the project.
• The teachers that worked in the project signed a contract with us, and we paid them a stipend as a sign of recognition for the professional and organisation woirk they did in the project.
• At the end of the project, the ten schools prepared their reports, and on CD-ROMs they submitted the web pages they built.

Closing phase

6 February 2004

• Closing conference of the ITCOLE Watermarks project At the conference, which was opened by János Sipos, state sub-secretary in the Ministry of Education, and Tamás Könczöl, the manager of the Sulinet Programme Office, the project coordinators and the participants presented their work and experience. The venue of the Conference was the Palace of Wonders (Csodák Palotája), where the students could try out the interactive scientific games and experiments, and as the closing event of the conference, they could watch a spectacular presentation including experiments in physics. The Sulinet Programme Office expressed their thanks to all participants for their collaboration in the project, and made small gifts to them.
• Preparation of the final narrative and financial report.