Report of an experience of distance learning for Peruvian workers – Part III

III.Results

In this last entry about the project “Sistema de formación para la innovación del desarrollo sindical” we present you the achieved results.

3.1.  Quantitative results[1].

This section is organized in two blocks. The first one presents a table comparing the results defined in the planning matrix and the results achieved during the execution of the project. The second block enumerates some characteristics about the participants and statistics about their academic performance in the formation programs.

3.1.1.        Project results.

3.1.2.        Characteristics of the participation and statistics about the academic performance.

A.      Characteristics of the participation.

In the learning programs, three categories of participation are used: Matriculated, retired and participants.

• Matriculated: All participants registered in any course offered by the program.
• Retired: All matriculated participants who did not realize any of the evaluation activities.
• Participants: All matriculated participants who did realize at least one of the evaluation activities. This category is subdivided in two subcategories:
  • Promoted: All participants obtaining at least the grade “C” (acceptable) as a result (11 in the vigesimal scale).
  • Not promoted: All participants obtaining the grade “D” (insufficient) as a result (10 or less).

A.1. Characteristics of the matriculation.

A.2. Characteristics of retirement.

A.3  Participants.

B.      ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Promotion

3.1.3.        Results concerning the achieved capacities.

In this part, we present you a sample of the testimonials of the people involved in the project corresponding to the qualitative part of the results.

“The participants considered the subject “social dialogue” being very significative. If dialogue doesn’t exist, few changes can be generated. We saw that very few unions did start a strike lately.”(EP9)

“The course has been particularly useful for me, because it helped me to improve my vision of leadership and to make my speech much more technical, much more modern and constructive for the Workers’ Federation” (EP8)

“Now during the meetings [with the union members], I can speak to them in a more technical way, talk to them about the union movement, about our rights and we continued preparing tables”. (TA4)

“I learned to analyze the political situation we are living; I acquired knowledge about labor rights. (…) In the union context it helped me to gain the confidence of my comrades teaching them what I learned; and so they get a little bit more credibility in their union.”  (P2)

“I acquired the knowledge to be able to defend myself in the working context. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have been possible because this specialty doesn’t exist. If you don’t enter in the world of unionism, this possibility does not exist; it’s as if labor rights were a subject taboo (…). But if you know about your rights, you don’t have to fear anything. You will be able to defend yourself, you have the base and the courses can give you this base.” (TA6)

 “Precisely, by means of these courses, many of us leaders understood that the way to canalize the situation of the workers is by managing them (…) and this instrument permits us to get closer and to avoid possible conflicts which could arise using the traditional system.“ (T9)

“First of all, concerning the trainers, we now have at our disposal teams permitting us to encourage the union schools. We already have persons who now know how to prepare a class, how to plan it, how to elaborate its objectives, what to teach, how to measure time, how to use a didactic methodology.” (EP4)

“… [I learned] as a tutor how to work with an adult group of different persons, how to share experiences.” (TA6)

“I’m sure you know that the home workers organized themselves in unions, that they have their own law and that we also registered them to participate [in the courses].” (EP9)

“Now, there are many young people. This evolution took place parallel to the constitution of unions. The majority of the unions have young leaders, very young; they are 18, 22, 23 years old. (…) It´s their first contact with unionism. With the virtual course, they progressed and progressed.” (EP9)

 Nowadays, with the Internet, one can transmit a concern at the instant, and the distance is no longer an obstacle to get to know our claims even to the president himself“ (T9)

 “There are comrades who could elaborate a BLOG which permitted them to contact to the website we have [virtual platform of the CGTP], to support the federation with comments, notifications and subjects concerning the sector”.  (T4)

“… for the purpose of striking, we started to use blogs to be able to communicate ourselves, to put the photos amongst others.” (TA3)

3.2.   Results of the Technical-Pedagogical Advice

The Technical-Pedagogical Advice was created to improve the work of the Departments of Education and to improve their competence to implement semipresencial learning processes. Between the obtained results, we emphasize the following:

• Elaboration of the plan of institutional strengthening (2009 – 2011) of the DNEC and the respective operating plans.
• Revision and actualization of the course offerings of the National Union School “José Carlos Mariátegui” and advice to design cultural events.
• Cooperation agreement with the university “Enrique Guzmán y Valle” – La Cantuta- to promote the union capacitation of the CGTP affiliates; to share human, technological, and infrastructural resources with the aim to maximize the capacities of the participants in the distance learning courses and to support the material design and the Technical-Pedagogical Advice in the framework of the formation courses.
• Improvement of the technical-pedagogical competences of the members of the National Department and of the Regional Departments of Education and Culture of the CGTP to implement a distance learning system.
• Orientation and guide to develop strategies, to elaborate instruments and implement learning programs at a national level.
• Advice to discover the formation needs of the Regional Departments of Education and Culture.
• Elaboration of the design for the database of the National Department of Education facilitating the monitoring of the participants and of the achievements of the program.
• Development of the blog of the DNEC of the CGTP (http://dnec-cgtp.blogspot.com).
• Improvement of the management processes of the DNEC which permitted a better articulation of the learning activities and a better use of the available resources.

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[1] Para mayor información, consulte el documento completo del  “Informe de Sistematización” que encontrará en la sección  “Documentos”  del blog.

Report of an experience of distance learning for Peruvian workers – Part II

II.  IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT.

In this second article, the implementation of the project “Sistema de formación para la innovación del desarrollo sindical” will be presented in four parts: (1) implementation of the learning programs, (2) implementation of a technical monitoring system, (3) monitoring and evaluation activities and (4) factors of success in the implementation.

II.1.    Implementation of the distance learning programs.

The project contains three distance learning programs: “Gestión sindical” (Union management), “Formador sindical” (Union trainer) y “Promotor sindical” (Union promotor). The implementation of these programs is realized in the framework of a formation system in which five components or subsystems are interacting: organizational aspects, tutors, material production, virtual platform and evaluation.

II.1.1.       Organizational aspects.

The subsystem of organization was commissioned to assure the regular development of the learning experience. It consists in two groups: the political group[1] and the coordination group[2]. The first one mainly took charge of the elaboration of the political and educational lineaments of the project and of the evaluation of the implementation of those lineaments just as the obtained results. The coordination group mainly took charge of the execution of the project’s processes and activities and of the implementation of the orientations elaborated by the political group.

II.1.2.       Tutorship.

The tutors implemented the lineaments which have been accorded with the political group just as the orientations of the central monitoring. The idea was that the participants didn’t feel lonely and that they had favorable conditions for their learning process.

In practice, the tutors’ tasks can be divided in two spheres: a logistic one and a monitoring one.

Logistic activities	Monitoring activities
Register the participants to the course. Select the location for the workshops. Enroll the participants as users in the virtual platform of PLADES. Distribution of materials. Award the certificates.	Supervise the students’ participation in the course activities. Guide the elaboration of the evaluation activities. Assist the participants in the use of the virtual platform. Promote the group learning amongst the participants at his or her charge.

The project planned the creation of a team of 8 tutors, one for each involved department (Arequipa, Junín, Piura, Pucallpa, Lima and Cajamarca) and/or sector (Nutrition and Hydrocarbons). While the course was running, the tutor team increased and at the end of the course, it was built up of 25 tutors. The tutors’ profile consisted in the following aspects:

• Being a CGTP activist.
• Having experience as a trainer(of distance learning experiences)
• Commitment to the union.
• Demonstrate leadership and/or representation in his/her union.
• Ability to promote the learning process.
• Having communicative and social abilities.
• Showing a positive and altruistic attitude towards life.
• Having knowledge in computation and informatics.
• Being available to attend the queries of the participants.

II.1.3.       Material elaboration.

The material plays a very important role in the learning experience. It guides the learning process of every participant presenting the contents and transmitting actual information about the course. This importance for the success of the project lead to careful and coordinated work of the PLADES team, the people in charge of the subject at the National Department of Education and Culture (DNEC) of the CGTP and specialists of the union topic. Together, they elaborated educational (self-instructive modules and a CD-ROM) and informative (Participant’s guide and guide of the virtual classroom) material.

At the beginning of the elaboration process, the aims of every program were defined. The existing information was organized and new information selected in its context keeping in mind those perceptions. Later, with help of specialists in the subject, the first rough draft of every module was redacted and put at the disposal of the DNEC (CGTP), the political group and other specialists to revise them and to express their observations, comments and contributions. Finally, keeping in mind the revision, the final text was elaborated. It was edited to make it more didactical, then impressed and distributed.

II.1.4.       Virtual platform.

A virtual platform was created for the course, using the technology JAVA (Spring – Hibernate y Spring MVC), the data base POSTGRESQL, all with the LINUX platform. This platform permitted the participants to access to the digital version of the course materials, to do the learning activities and to communicate with each other and with the other involved groups (that is tutors or specialists. Additionally, this tool permitted to register the participants’ data, to generate a list of the project courses, to generate an Excel document with the passwords and statistics about the participants, amongst others.

The coordination group of PLADES performed the role of administrator of the virtual classroom, that is to take charge of the monitoring of the course activities registering the participants’ data, the project courses etc.

Graphic: Internal monitor showing the virtual classroom

II.1.5.       Evaluation and  accreditation.

We conceive evaluation as a continuing process with formative and summative character , necessary to identify the academic results of every participant just as his or her difficulties in the learning to be able to offer useful feedback.

To evaluate the learning progress of every participant, four factors were kept in mind: (i) Content evaluation, 30%; (ii) Forum/chat participation, 15%; (iii) Informatics exeercices, 15%; (iv) Application work, 40%. The results are communicated via a qualitatve scale. For internal reasons, this scale was completed by a vigesimal one like you can appreciate in this frame.

Cuadro : Quantitative and qualitative evaluation.

Academic result	Qualitative evaluation	Quantitative evaluation
Outstanding	AD	18 – 20
Very Good	A	15 – 17
Good	B	13 – 14
Acceptable	C	11 – 12
Insufficient	D	</= 10

At the end of every course, the effort and dedication of the participants is appreciated, therefore each of them receives a certificate (if its grade is equal or higher than “B”) or a confirmation (if it is “C”). The union formation was moved closer to “academic” formation, that is why the CGTP and PLADES signed a cooperation agreement with the  Universidad Nacional de Educación “Enrique Guzmán y Valle”. The certificates were distributed in the name of the university, the Dutch union confederation (FNV), IESI, CGTP and PLADES.

II.2.   Implementation of a technical advise system.

The objective of the tecnical advise line was to strengthen the management capacity of the DNEC and the regional/sectorial departments of education involved in the project.  Its launch considered activities such as: Capacitation and accompaniment of the persons charged of education in the tasks belonging to their function, implementation of  computer equipments in the national, regional and sectorial education departments involved in the project, launch of a virtual platform, orientation to implement a distance learning system.

The results of this intervention are qualified as positives. There is a consideration of the time “before” and “after” the project appreciating a process of improvement reflected  by the dynamism which represents today the National Department of Education and Culture (DNEC) of the CGTP.

“Before, the union schools didn’t have neither a proposition nor a structure. Now they do have a structure, an organization chart. All comes from the CGTP, the form, the lineaments, the curricula, how the formation proposition of the CGTP will be realized. Precisely, we do have now the course in which the capacitate us so that we matriculate us ourselves to advance in these virtual courses.”(EP9)

II.3.   Monitoring and evaluation activities.

In the project were implemented strategies to revise the success of the results hoped for conforming to the established indicators for every line of action. In this context, successive visits with the political group were planned to inform and evaluate the realized activities just as to decide about the next ones. Similarly, the annual meetings with the coordination group intended monitoring the activities and strengthening the capacities of the tutors.

II.4.   Success factors in the implementation of the project.

The systematisation of the project brings in evidence the following success factors:

• Recognition from the CGTP that union formation is a strategic method and that every action which strenghtens the management of the Education Departments will benefit all associated persons and the own organization.
  • The solidary support of the Dutch union confederation (FNV) which provided the financial ressources for the implementation of the project and assumed all the commitments.
  • Design the project keeping in mind the results of a diagnostic study which permitted to establish the real situation of the CGTP formation, to establish formation profiles and structure a methodological proposition just as a contextual structure of contents.
  • Apply previous experiences PLADES adquired in former union formation projects.
  • Select and form a tutor group based on a profile elaborated in consensus of the political and the coordination group, which was strengthend by continuous formation process.
  • Promote the permanent communication between the tutors in order to exchange strategies improving their actions
  • The management of the coordination group which assumed with professionality, responsibility, commitment and capacity the realization of the project activities.
  • Fast response attending the needs identified in the process of implementation of the project.
  • Permanent evaluation by means of: (i) Monitoring and final workshops to evaluate the activities realized in each course, (ii) Continuous meetings between political and coordination group to evaluate the project activities, (iii) Fluid, continuous and transparent communication between all actors permitting to make decisions in consensus.

In the following article, we’ll inform you about the results of the project and we’ll compare them with the expectatives mentioned in the first part.

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[1] The political group consisted in the Secretary of the National Department of Education and Culture (DNEC) of the CGTP, the secretaries and/or responsibles of the regional and sectoral departments of Education of the involved  officies, the responsibles of the technical advise, the representative of the IESI and the project coordinator.

[2] The coordination group consisted in the PLADES team, the responsible of the technical advise and the tutors.

Report of an experience of distance learning for Peruvian workers – Part I

This report illustrates the principal elements, processes and results of the distance learning experience realized by PLADES (www.plades.org.pe), between November of 2008 and October of 2011, in the frame of the project “Sistema de formación para la innovación del desarrollo sindical”, which has been executed in collaboration with the Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP) and thanks to the support of the Confederación Holandesa de Sindicatos (FNV).

It will be presented in a series of three articles. The first one will inform about the general framework of the project, the second one about its implementation and the third one will report the results and the principal knowledge gained throughout the experience.

I.      GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF THE PROJECT.

In this first article, we’ll point out the general framework of the project, putting in emphasis its background and profile.

1.1.    Antecedents of the projects.

Since 2001, PLADES develops projects of union distance learning with participant groups from different sectors and a different study level. Between 2001 and 2007, the organisation realized the direct capacitation of more than 3600 workers with an average of 30% women and 20% young people using the new technology of information and communication (ICTs). It formed a network of tutor in 9 union centers (32 regions in total) of 7 South American countries[1], it designed and elaborated materials in impressed and digital version to facilitate the self-study and the self-evaluation in the framework of the methodological process of experience – reflection – action and it promoted a capacity propositive and of incidence through concrete initiatives which contribute to the full exercise of labor rights and to the strengthening of the union movement, amongst others.

The project scheme considered also previous experiences. It started with a diagnostic study PLADES realized during the first quarter of 2008 and deals with the educational and infrastructural needs of 10 regional departments of the CGTP (confederation of Peruvian workers).

1.2.   Project profile.

The project aims to contribute to the strengthening of the CGTP as an organization by means of the technical support to the National Department of Education and Culture (DNEC) and through the implementation of a decentral distance learning system. This system benefits directly 960 union leaders and workers belonging to two sectorial federations (ABA /Nutrition and FENUPETROL/ Hydrocarbons) and six regional departments of Education and Culture of the CGTP (Arequipa, Cajamarca, Junín, Lima, Piura and Ucayali). The lines of action were the following:

1. Specialized consultancy to the National Department of Education and Culture (DNEC) of the CGTP,
2. A blended learning program to form union trainers bound to 90 union leaders.
3. A blended learning program to improve the management capacity of 270 union leaders.
4. A blended learning program to capacitate 600 leaders and workers as union promoters.

The (blended)[2] distance learning programs comprehended six approaches[3]:

• Lifelong education as a personal right.
• The concept of constructivism orientated to the development of capacities
• The importance of basic labor rights
• Democratic participation.
• Understanding and changing realities.
• Knowledge related to the organization.

The implemented pedagogical project assumed that “the educational process is centered in the learning person. The focus lies on the individual learning process. Depending on the learning needs of the individuum, it needs at his or her disposal tools, services and institutions permitting him or her to access to his or her knowledge.”  (Majó, 2000, p.81)[4]. Accordingly, the learning process started from previous knowledge and was founded by the exchange of experiences, critical reflection about everyday practice and analysis of significative cases and the promotion of a proactive, participative and cooperative attitude encouraging the integral evolution of the participants and the articulation of knowledge combined with a transforming action. In this sense, the tutor assisted the participants in an affective climate of mutual confidence, helping them to develop capacities.

Characteristics of the methodology:

• The courses begin with a face-to-face workshop[5]. There are also monitoring workshops and final workshops[6].
• The method of distance learning combines individual and group learning.
• During the course, the participants are guided and oriented permanently by a tutor.
• It includes the use of a virtual platform to which every participant can access in the Internet  through a password given at the beginning of the course.

During the execution of the programs, the following media and materials were used: Virtual platform, self-instructive modules, participants’ guide, CD-ROM just as synchronous (messenger)  and asynchronous (forums) communication.

After presenting you the general framework of the project, the next article will develop in a clear and interesting way the principal elements and processes of the implementation of this education experience for workers.

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[1] Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay.

[2] This modality implies the combination of face-to-face teaching with the implementation of the new technologies in virtual teaching (Marsh and others, 2003. (In: García Aretio, Lorenzo. “De la educación a distancia a la educación virtual”, Edit. Ariel, Spain, 2007. Page  83.)

[3] We assume that these approaches should guide the whole educational process, as to say the organization, contents and methodology of every action in relation to the education programs.

[4] García Aretio, Lorenzo and others. “De la Educación a distancia a la educación virtual”.

[5] The face-to-face workshops permit: tutors and participants to get to know each other, to present the methodological orientations to the participants, to hand out the materials and to capacitate them in the use of the virtual platform.

[6] The monitoring workshops permit to communicate with the participants about the course topics, to orientate the development of the evaluation activities and to secure the correct use of the platform. The closing workshops which are generally held by the tutors allow the evaluation of the realized activities and to hand over the certification.

PLADES participates in a pilot project of education for workers associated to IFWEA

The “International Federation of Worker’s Education Associations” (IFWEA) is carrying out a global project with a duration of 3 years (2012-2014). The project is called “Expanding opportunities for lifelong learning in the international labor movement”.

The idea for this project emerged in 2010 when worker’s education organizations associated to IFWEA and coming from 11 countries agreed on accorded to incorporating information and communication technology (ICT) in the education of workers. In June 2011, a survey was carried out, created to allow 80 worker’s education organizations associated to IFWEA worldwide to express their preferences related to topical orientations and the target group of the courses. Based on in the results of this survey, the topics and curricula of the courses starting in 2012 and of for those which will be implemented in the period of 2013 – 2014 were determined.

At the beginning of 2012, following a meeting of the representatives of the participant organizations (DWRC, PLADES, ITF, LRS, LEARN, IFWEA, TSL and SEWA), IFWEA entrusted PLADES with the responsibility to create and to design the virtual platform and to train the tutors executing the pilot courses in the second half of the year. The platform denominated Online Labour Academy (OLA) was completed in May 2012. To facilitate its use, PLADES created a guide for the participants and another one for the tutors. The tutors’ training took place in Stockholm (June) during a three-day meeting of 3 days. The 16 participants learned how to use the virtual classroom and how to upload the course materials.

Some pilot courses will begin in September and others some months later. Every organization is responsible for the execution of its courses and PLADES offers its assistance to the process according to the demands of the organisation. The expectation is that this first stage of the experience will finish in December and that its evaluation will take place in February of 2013. The results of this evaluation will be shared in a future entry.

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[1] India (SEWA); Perú (PLADES); Filipinas (LEARN); Sudáfrica (LRS); Namibia (LARRI); Palestina (DWRC); Marruecos (CDG); Egipto (CTUWS); EE.UU. (Rutgers LSER); Suecia (ABF); Finlandia (TSL).