Intel EDU : Stories of Impact
Positive Perceptions, Engaged Participants
Findings from formal and informal evaluation efforts indicate that participants in the Intel® Education Initiative programs have positive perceptions of program quality.
Teachers report feeling well-prepared to integrate technology and use student-centered instructional strategies after they have participated in the Intel® Teach Program.
Children are enthusiastic and engaged in the learning strategies they are exposed to in the Intel® Learn Program, which is bringing the future within reach for tens of thousands of young people in developing countries around the world.
The program is targeted to young learners in communities with little or no access to computers in homes or schools. This program teaches young people technical skills through hands-on learning in informal learning environments.
While developing these capabilities, learners also master skills necessary to compete in the 21st century, such as technology literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration. To develop the skills in analysis, problem solving, and adaptability, students must use technology in relevant, hands-on learning activities that require higher-order thinking.
Beyond Initial Perceptions: Measuring Impact
For Intel, perceptions of program quality reflected in formal and informal evaluations are instrumental in continuous improvement efforts.
The perceptions are also useful in demonstrating the value of Intel Education Initiative programs to school and district administrators, ministries of education, multilaterals, and even parents and other general community members.
Although these perceptions are, therefore, quite important, Intel's global evaluation commitment extends beyond studying the perceptions of program quality. Intel's evaluation commitment also encompasses the impact of the training on the teacher's ability to effectively integrate technology into the classroom and the student's ability to use the appropriate technology tools to support learning activities.
Telling the Stories of Impact
The international evaluation teams use a wide range of sources, such as surveys, observations, case studies, focus groups, and interviews, to reveal a rich and multidimensional description of the programs' impact on participants.
The stories of program impact revealed through this research, therefore, are best understood as both individual and collective. Data compiled from global investigations provide a comprehensive context for the anecdotes and testimonials collected from individual program participants, and the statements of teachers and students help illustrate the individual experiences that make up the global data set.
What Are the Program Goals for Teachers?
Focused evaluation efforts measure program performance in relation to program goals. The first step in an effective evaluation, therefore, is to ensure that a program's goals are both well-defined and measurable.
The Intel® Education Initiative international evaluation teams use a strategic outcomes model that defines the indicators by which program impact is measured. This model informs the design of the evaluation methods and tools, as well as the analysis of the results.
For the Intel® Teach Program, the primary indicators of program impact on teachers can be grouped into three categories: incorporating new pedagogy, creating a 21st century classroom environment, and increasing technology use.
Is the Program Meeting Its Goals?
Data about one of the core components of Intel Teach, the Intel® Teach Essentials course, indicate that teachers have very positive experiences during the training, and that they leave the training feeling prepared to use what they have learned in their teaching practice.
In follow-up surveys, the data show that teachers use technology in new ways and use new pedagogical strategies in their classroom teaching after their participation in this course.
Technology as Motivator
There is always that one student in your class. Mine came in on a daily basis without his homework; it was a constant issue. His skills began to fall further and further behind because of that.
And here was my motivation. On Friday afternoons, when the kids would be working on a computer project, he was not allowed to work with them.
Every week, he had the same question for me, "Mrs. Smith, when can I work on that project? I really want to work on that project."
That child almost never comes in without his homework now. Technology is such a motivator. - Debbie Smith, Fourth Grade Teacher, Mills Elementary, Austin, TX
STUDENT INPACT
What Are the Program Goals for Students?
Focused evaluation efforts use program outcomes to measure performance in relation to program goals. To optimize evaluation benefits, program goals and the related outcomes must be well-defined and measurable.
The Intel® Education Initiative international evaluation teams use a strategic outcomes model to illustrate the measurable indicators by which program impact can be determined. These strategic outcomes inform the design of the evaluation methods and tools, as well as the analysis of the results.
For the Intel® Learn Program, the primary indicators of program impact on children can be grouped into three categories: increasing use of technology, higher-order thinking skills, and collaboration.
Is the Program Achieving Its Goals?
Children using technology on a regular basis in regions of the world where this access would otherwise not exist at all represents a major effect of the Intel Learn Program.
Evaluation of the Intel Learn Program also confirms that in terms of three main program goals—increased technology literacy, use of critical thinking, and collaboration—the program is succeeding in all areas where it is implemented.
Most students in every country demonstrate that within the instructional and curricular environment of the Intel Learn Program they are able to create digital products that meet and in many cases exceed the demanding rubrics used to assess student outcomes. As they create these digital products, they gain experience in technological literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration.
