This section deals with Key Area 1 of the evaluation framework.
2.1 The Expected Outcomes and the training programmes
The NOF training specification
2.1.1 The specification of the New Opportunities Fund training programme underpins all of the ICT training. It can be found in the Red Folder mentioned in paragraph 1.2.4. There are 46 Expected Outcomes of the training, listed under the following five headings:
A. Working effectively with ICT in teaching and learning
B. Evaluating and selecting ICT resources
C. Monitoring, evaluating and assessing teaching and learning
D. Developing ICT capabilities
E. Technical skills and applications
2.1.2 All of the providers have matched their programmes to the 46 Expected Outcomes. It is intended that participants will be broadly aware of these outcomes and conscious of a cumulative coverage of the outcomes through each of the units of their programme. They are not required to have an in depth knowledge of the 46 outcomes. What is important is that they are aware of having covered the five key areas listed above.
Assessment of achievement of the outcomes
2.1.3 A participant's progress through the training can be charted partly through a checklist of training units covered and completed. However, all those involved in assessing the quality of completion of the outcomes, individual participants, school managers, co-ordinators, tutors and providers, should attempt to look beyond this to examine the changes brought about in both professional knowledge and practice. This may be achieved through examination of a portfolio of training evidence and professional dialogue with participants. The final assessment or self-assessment of achievement of the outcomes is based on a professional judgement of improved skills in ICT and appropriately increased professional awareness and knowledge under the five areas of the training specification.
2.2 The function of the training
The achievement of skills and an increase in professional awareness and knowledge
2.2.1 Over the initial period of development of the NOF training initiative, there has been a degree of misunderstanding regarding the purpose of the training. Its principal aim is to assist teachers and school librarians in knowing when and how to use ICT in their professional practice, and when not to use it. The training must obviously include the development of ICT skills. However, in a number of cases, training initially over-emphasised skills acquisition. In these cases, there was insufficient reference to the use of these skills in the classroom or school library or to the development of professional knowledge and skills about the use of ICT in learning and teaching.
2.2.2 In some cases, trainees have entered the programme with an insufficient grasp of basic ICT skills - an essential before commencing NOF training. Trainees who are not at the required basic standard usually have opportunities to acquire these skills before commencing the NOF training.
2.3 The general impact of the programme
2.3.1 Much of the first year of HMIE evaluation was spent examining the potential of a variety of training models and resources, and a range of planned learning approaches and support mechanisms. During the second year of evaluation, attention was turned to the fuller implementation of the training programme, with the focus firmly on the quality of the training experience. Increasingly, as the programme advances, the focus is on the quality of participants' final achievement of the Expected Outcomes and the perceived impact of the training on current or future professional practice. As stated earlier, the aim of this report is not to offer a judgement on the impact of the programme, but to offer exemplification of sound practice in its implementation and management. Nonetheless, early insights into the broad impact of the training are offered below.
2.3.2 Overall, the training programme has had a positive impact on the professional lives of many teachers and school librarians. Many senior managers have reported an increased use of ICT in the classroom, particularly by those who previously had not used such resources. The majority of teachers who have undertaken the training are more:
2.3.3 Most school librarians already had a basic level of ICT skills prior to commencing the NOF training. On completion of the training, the majority of school librarians will have substantially achieved the Expected Outcomes. There was evidence that librarians who had undertaken the training:
2.3.4 As stated elsewhere, issues to do with time for training, problems encountered with hardware and Internet connection and a variable quality of management of the initiative have had an effect on the impact of the training for a significant number of participants. The success of the programme has inevitably also depended on participants' levels of motivation and their time management skills. An equally important factor has been the commitment and energy of key players within the school who have fulfilled a tutoring or mentoring role for their colleagues. This report sets out to promote a range of appropriate strategies to address some of these issues.
2.4 Roles and responsibilities for achieving the Expected Outcomes
The provider and education authority partnership
2.4.1 The training provider has the ultimate responsibility for the quality of its training and the achievement of the outcomes. However, inevitably the provider relies on the professional commitment of individual participants to complete their training programme appropriately. It must also work in partnership with education authority representatives and school managers to ensure that its "agents" in the system provide an experience of an appropriate quality. It is responsible for offering clear guidance to EAs and to schools as to how best to achieve the outcomes of its training, and for providing support where concerns are expressed. Its quality assurance process should include systematic sampling of participants' final levels of achievement, in order to provide evidence of the ultimate success of its training.
2.4.2 In school librarian training, an important component has been the level and quality of communication between the librarians, the headteachers, the education authority's area library co-ordinator and the training provider, to ensure an appropriate understanding of roles and responsibilities.
The role of school managers
2.4.3 The role of school managers in the training programme is critical to its success and to the achievement of the outcomes. The training for both teachers and school librarians has been most effective where headteachers have shown a strong commitment to the programme, have managed it effectively and have offered support to their staff in a variety of ways. It is important for school managers to move beyond a simple monitoring of participant attendance at sessions and progress through units, to gain insights into the quality of achievement of the outcomes and to monitor the impact on learning and teaching. This issue is considered further in Chapter 5.
The professional responsibility of the individual
2.4.4 The training programme is a voluntary one. However, it is a reasonable expectation that teachers or school librarians who make a commitment to undertake the training will accept the professional responsibility to maintain appropriate progress through the programme and complete it to the best of their ability.
This section deals with Key Area 2 of the evaluation framework. It points up the distinction between the overarching Scottish model of provider and authority in partnership and the models of individual training programmes which have evolved since the initiative began.