Maureen W. McClure

with Srebren Dizdar, Karen Fullerton, Lin Ming-Kuen

Global Information Networks in Education (GINIE) Project

Prepared for UNICEF BiH

University of Pittsburgh

June, 1997

This Background Information Brief addressees policy and planning issues for the development of decentralized education professional networks in BiH. The BiH economy remains weak, and there is a critical need for both international and domestic, public and private partnerships for investments in the telecommunications access necessary for education in a decentralized democracy and market economy. Education professionals must work together within and across cantons in BiH to ensure these needs are met. Cooperative technology planning needs to take place on many levels at the same time, from a national education information highway system to pre-service and in-service teacher education.

This paper is divided into three parts. The first part claims that the newly decentralized BiH government and economy makes investments in education technology necessary. The second part argues that technology planning is now a necessary part of education planning. The third part suggests technology can be used in innovative organizational formats for administrative reporting, professional renewal and public communications.

One of the great lessons BiH educators have taught the rest of the world is that basic education is more than teaching literacy in school buildings. It is more than a traditional civil service job with a small but steady paycheck. It is a fundamental moral commitment to the protection of children's futures. This protection lies not in buildings or government mandates but in the civility and resourcefulness of people.

Many of the core ideas in this paper are already being put into place by education professionals in BiH. There is, however, a great deal of variance in access to supporting technology resources across cantons. The BiH economy remains weak, and there is a critical need for both international and domestic, public and private partnerships for investments in the telecommunications access necessary for education in a decentralized democracy and market economy. Education professionals must work together within and across cantons in BiH to ensure these needs are met. Cooperative technology planning needs to take place on many levels at the same time, from a national education information highway system to pre-service and in-service teacher education.

This paper is divided into three parts. The first part claims that the newly decentralized BiH government and economy makes investments in education technology necessary. The second part argues that technology planning is now a necessary part of education planning. The third part suggests technology can be used in innovative organizational formats for administrative reporting, professional renewal and public communications.

The idea of giving priority to investments in technology and resources may be controversial for policymakers who also have to manage such complex educational issues as repatriation. The Obnova National Education Conference Report issued in June 1997 describes the prevailing problems with the education sector's war-weakened infrastructure: teachers' salaries, building rehabilitation, need for books and equipment, as well as problems related to the lingering effects of war trauma on children, teachers and communities. It is increasingly evident, however, that providing students with learning strategies for computer resource use are necessary for tomorrow's workforce.

Education professionals in BiH face three major problems: a) recovery from the war; b) rapid decentralization of the government and the economy; and c) rapid technological change. BiH educators must recover from the war within a new and unfamiliar decentralized political and economic system. They must also learn how to use new technology to ensure efficient communications in this new decentralized government and economy. This complexity will not be easy to digest because the value of pre-war experience is limited. Educators have an urgent need for communications networks to rapidly share professional information and expertise with each other and with colleagues internationally so they can learn what does and does not work.

Traditional models of professional development in BiH through academic certification and long term experience remain vital, but are no longer adequate. Professionals need rapid and continuous access to information and expertise to work rapidly, efficiently and simultaneously with domestic and international counterparts on problems and opportunities created by the war, decentralization, telecommunications technology, and a rapidly changing field.

Decentralization will be difficult in BiH because it creates two serious dilemmas. First, the system financing has shifted to the cantons, while expertise in management and information remains mainly in the federal MOE. Second, decentralization reduces the need for centralized information systems control, but it greatly increases the need for peer networks. For example, education professionals in BiH need rapid access not only to high quality information about state-of-the-art teaching methods, they also need to work with counterparts in other cantons and countries who are struggling with similar issues such as: a) the need for stronger, more visible public commitments to taxation for public education; and b) some people's loss of 'faith' in the power of education to generate either civility or 'good jobs.'

Decentralization is also forcing educators to accept greater responsibility for funding important educational services. Unfortunately, many, if not most educators in BiH know little about the consequences of decentralized governance, tax systems or 'marketing' education. Few have experience with the problem of voters who say that schools are important, but won't or can't pay taxes to support them. Educators also need to learn to use the public media to teach parents, taxpayers and voters about the important contributions that schools in BiH are making to the promotion of a civil society and a sustainable economy in a decentralized state.

UNICEF, USAID and the World Bank have each recognized the importance of decentralized professional networks for rapid renewal and innovation in BiH. They supported projects that created innovative communications networks in professional renewal and democratic governance. These 'break the mold' projects in active learning and participatory planning established mutual support networks composed of multi-ethnic, federal and cantonal educators, and were particularly well-suited for reforming BiH's pre-war centralized education systems in a post-war period.

These decentralized professional networks now need low cost, continuous access to telecommunications systems to keep them active. Education professionals in BiH today not only need telecommunications for 'shared resourcefulness,' they also need to develop new formats for analyzing their information rapidly and efficiently. In the pre-war, centralized economy, information reporting focused on standardized formats to demonstrate compliance to state regulation. These systems of standardized indicators were sometimes cumbersome, expensive and resulted in untimely and incomplete information.

In the post-war period, new decentralized systems need more efficient, more flexible reporting formats that focus as much on rapidly shared learning as on complying with state regulation. The need for standards and standardized indicators in not diminished, indeed, the need for comparative indicators is even stronger. This quantitative approach, however, now needs to be complemented with narratives that can help people better understand the unique educational contexts of each canton. The quality of education may be more rapidly improved by cantonal 'casebooks' which contain 'portfolios' of quantitative and qualitative indicators and narratives that demonstrate how and what children learn, given current conditions.

The Dayton Accords mandates cantonal authority and governance, making efficient and effective peer-level communication systems imperative. Planning for technological communications has become necessary for educators. Daily communication among administrators and policymakers requires telephone lines which are still unreliable. What communication tools and formats are the most feasible solutions for education within and across cantons? The data transfer capacity of these ‘dirty’ telephone lines is limited and may easily be destroyed.

Education professionals in BiH need to consider their options for professional communications. Federal and cantonal MOEs need to contact and work with those international organizations and governments that have experience in telecommunications, computer-distributed communication and instructional technology. The United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) headquatered in Geneva "is an international organization within which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services (http://info.itu.ch/).

There are two basic options for telecommunications systems to link professionals within and across buildings: synchronous and asynchronous communications. Computers can provide live, interactive discussions via text, audio or audio/video. They can also provide time-delayed interaction via e-mail messages, listserv postings and electronic bulletin boards. Using intranets within and between buildings and microwave or low orbit satellite data transfer between buildings can circumvent the wiring/telephone line security issue. In the short term., however, wire and telephone hookups will be necessary. Decentralized planning now makes it important for educators to consider these matters in their budgets.

The expensive way to hook computers together is by using telephone lines. Most people, however, use Local Area Networks or LANs to lower the connection costs and increase the speed and reliability of communications. LANs hook computers to each other, but not directly to the outside world. LANs are connected to the outside world through 'bridges' that connect to external telecommunications systems. LAN technology and expertise is currently available in BiH.

Twisted Pair/Fast Ethernet cable is the latest technology for wiring a local area network (LAN) within a building. These cables now have new network cards which are ten times more efficient than the old ones in terms of its data transfer speed and capacity. For example, the old 10BaseT Ethernet cards transferred information at a speed of 10 Mbps (mega bits per-second). The newer, 100BaseT Ethernet cards increase the data transfer capacity ten times to 100 Mbps. What does this mean? It means that if educators use the newer cards in a LAN instead using a telephone modem, the data transfer will more than 300 times faster than using a telephone modem that operates at a speed of the 33.6K modem. This great speed makes it possible for classroom computer labs to be efficiently connected to each other and to other parts of the building.

Twisted Pair or Fast Ethernet cable is reliable and easy to install and to maintain. LANs need Ethernet cards, cables, hubs, and routers. These parts are simple to install and mostly trouble-free. Technicians can install these parts quickly. The quality of the connection can be checked immediately after the installation by a simple electronic meter. Connecting the computer to the port is just as simple as connecting a telephone jack to a line jack on the wall. Any LANs within a building could be connected together without paying a service fee to the telephone company or to an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Equipment installed outdoors to link buildings within or across cantons may be destroyed and/or stolen, posing a security risk. The security issue is essential because cross-building communications are not only necessary for everyday planning in a decentralized state, these same communications systems can also be used in emergencies such as natural disasters or civil defense. Cost is, of course, another primary consideration. There are three different types of costs to be considered: equipment, maintenance and replacement. Initial costs for wire or wireless equipment and for replacements will be high, so government, business and/or NGO cooperatives for cost-sharing may be necessary. The monthly, semi-annually, or annual maintenance costs for these connections can also be quite high, so educators need a strong constituency of supporters to ensure that schools receive the access they need and are not excluded through high prices in a market economy.

In addition to telephone or other wire connections, educators should also consider the possibility of forming cooperatives to provide either microwave systems or lease time from a private Internet Service Provider (ISP).

A microwave communication system utilizes line-of-sight transmitters and receiver to send radio signals from one site to another. Under the best conditions, microwave systems may require minimal capital investment and relatively low maintenance and security costs. A microwave communication system relies on a Channel Service Unit (CSU) to connect to a LAN. Depending on the demand of network traffic, a microwave communication system can provide from 45 Mbps up to more than 100Mbps, which is much faster than a modem. There is, however, a cost/capacity tradeoff. Greater data transfer capacity and speed (greater bandwidth) will also be more expensive. Landscape is very important. The mountainous terrain of much of BiH may make microwave expensive, because many line-of-sight transmitter/receiving antenna will be needed.

On one hand, for the purpose of internal communication among government buildings, a microwave communication system may be more feasible, efficient and reliable. On the other hand, a private ISP may be a cheaper choice (but less secure from line theft), especially if a private ISP is assured the marketplace will be profitable. In the parts of BiH where no private ISP exists, it may be difficult to attract people from the private sector to manage an education-based ISP business. Similarly, it may be difficult for the education sector (federal and cantonal MOEs, pedagogical academies and institutes, etc.) to manage an ISP business by themselves. Under these conditions, public/private partnerships initiative may be necessary. In Apollo, PA, the local bank, the Apollo Trust Company, became the local Internet provider for the community. In other communities, notably in Latin America, some education development centers became a local telecommunications provider. Community schools have built and maintained their own systems, selling information services (e-mail, Internet access) to local businesses and families.

Education professionals in BiH need to maintain close contact with counterparts, with or without telecommunications technology. Where the technology is available, educators should not use it to support existing activities and reporting systems. They need to create whole new uses and formats for it. If technology is used to reproduce old compliance-oriented communications systems, then much of its value will be lost. The professional networks in BiH need to focus on three priority areas for the next three to five years: a) administrative planning, b) professional renewal, and c) public communications.

The federation and cantonal ministries of education need 'rapid and continuous' access to information and expertise about the conditions and problems they simultaneously face. First, education MOEs need access to information and expertise about certification, standards of pedagogical practice, curriculum and the conditions of education across the federation. Second, they also need rapid access to administrative, legislative and financial information from each other to support both local and national planning. Third, they need credible and timely information about economic and social conditions of communities within their planning scope. This would include demographic, economic and social indicators, for example, housing, income, employment and other information that might affect tax planning. Finally, they need to continuously communicate with the public about the contribution of education to a civil and sustainable economy.

The need to build flexible education information highways for national security and cantonal development in BiH is so important, complex and expensive that it will require solid cooperative planning across ministries, levels of government and sectors of the economy. A national commission that meets regularly to discuss technology planning for education is essential. The commission needs to consider a separate telecommunications tax that is tied to use and fair access. This national project will require low cost access to high quality education information both in and out of schools. Cantonal working groups need to advise the national commission.

A national commission should be established by the federal MOE with representatives from: a) the ministries related to education, telecommunications, finance, defense and commerce; and b) international and domestic, public and private investors and donors in education and telecommunications. Membership on the commission would last three years. The commission would advise international and domestic investors in educational technology. It would establish committees for education for a civil democracy, education for work in a market economy, and education for emergencies, such as natural disasters. Each network committee would consist of members with educational, technological, financial and political expertise.

The commission would meet twice a year and issue an annual report that provides updates and recommends policy and investment for the national education information highway. For example, the commission would debate policy issues such as the investment in the education communications networks through international loans and dedicated taxes on telecommunications use.

Each canton should establish education and technology working groups with public and private representation. These working groups should set canton-funded priorities for investment and make recommendations to the national commission. The working groups should also be concerned with the same priorities: a) education quality for a civil democracy; b) education for work in market economies; and c) education for emergencies, such as natural disasters or civil defense. The cantonal working groups should meet at least three times a year.

Administrators need innovative formats to rapidly share information and expertise. Pre-war compliance-oriented reporting systems still have much to offer, but cannot solve the problems of decentralized planning under complex conditions. No one format can adequately capture this complexity, so a 'portfolio' of formats are needed to share information and expertise across cantons. This portfolio needs to contain a range of formats including quantitative indicators and short narratives. For example, a series of professional 'updates' about local education conditions could be rapidly produced and distributed by fax or e-mail. These updates would be both structured and short, ranging between 50 and 300 words. In addition, professionals could share their 'lessons learned' from professional experiences through longer narratives of up to 500 words.

Finally, the development of federal cantonal 'casebooks' which contain current and credible information about the conditions of education can be used for planning. These new decentralized planning formats can help busy professionals create high quality information in multiple sources and rapidly distribute it to multiple other sources. The casebooks will include directories of organizations and expertise, planning checklists, and short pieces of three to five pages which analyze local conditions. The federal and each cantonal MOE should have its own casebook on a website.

It might be important to pilot a network with the federal ministry and a few cantons. In the first phase, a central server with dial-in lines might make the most sense to give the MOEs time to develop experience and expertise with the systems. In the second phase, each canton should have its own site that 'mirrors' the content of the other sites. In this way, if one server goes down, access to the others would still be available.

In BiH, an imperative strategy for teacher preparation will not only include the provision of knowledge in subject areas, but also the development of an on-going capability to acquire information through other media. Teachers should be ready to adopt new pedagogical tools which will prepare new generations of students for whom computer literacy and proficiency is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Teachers need low cost ways to quickly share their experiences in: a) teaching students still traumatized by the war; b) using new methods to encourage innovation; and c) using instructional technology for local or distance education. They also need low cost international telecommunications access, so they can learn with and from as well as teach teachers in other countries.

The high quality education profession that existed throughout the country before the war has been decimated, and is only slowly recovering. One way to attract and keep high quality teachers is to provide them access to new practices and technologies which they can use either inside the classroom to help students or outside the classroom to help generate needed income.

Access to information for improving pedagogical quality for teachers in schools.

Teachers need to 'learn by doing' so teacher education programs need adequate training and demonstration facilities. In the United States, and some other countries, the Internet has become more and more important in helping school teachers to prepare current, practical and useful instructional materials. With the development of the Internet, especially the World Wide Web, the volume of information and materials available on the web has increased rapidly. There is a variety of educational materials available to teachers, students, and parents. Some materials may be used for teaching in the classroom, while others are for supplemental activities only. Subjects include the basic skills of language as well as quantitative skills as in math, science, and others. Many of the materials found on the web are free to distribute for education use.

In addition, teachers are using the Internet to communicate with each other for professional development purposes. Networks among teachers, administrators and policymakers have become important resources for professionals to exchange their experiences and educational materials, such as teaching plans and materials that they created.

Educational resource centers for pre-service teachers and in-service teacher training.

Educational technology should be emphasized in the design of both pre-service and in-service teacher training programs. In the past twenty years, instructional technology has proved to be an effective pedagogical method to support teachers in the classroom. Improved technologies are increasingly being integrated into the design process for curricula and have become part of supplementary instructional materials. Computer-mediated learning can play a supplemental role for teaching in the classroom. Training teachers in their use of new technology for their instruction has become a priority for teacher training programs.

Education quality requires continuous improvement by professionals. This learning needs to occur across practitioners, researchers and policymakers. Recent articles show that many teachers in the United States have successfully integrated the Internet and their curricula into classroom instruction (Gunaratne & Lee; 1996). In order to train teachers in instructional technology, educational resource centers should be established and equipped with resources in different kinds of educational media. This would include traditional media, equipment, supplies and pre-produced programs. The center should contain a computer network with Internet access where teachers can use computer software to produce teaching materials, classroom management, and student record management. In-service teachers should be provided with this training after school or during weekends, while pre-service preparation programs should incorporate comprehensive skills training in using computers for the above-mentioned purposes.

Teachers should be able to prepare modules that they can later incorporate into their teaching materials for use in their classrooms. These can also be shared and exchanged with other teachers by posting those materials on the computer network. Educational resource centers should support in-service teachers by producing teaching materials and providing a communication network for teachers to share experiences and information through electronic mail and World Wide Web browsers.

International communications will also be essential for professional renewal in BiH. It is important to have a national demonstration center with state-of-the-art telecommunications equipment for Internet use, media production and distance learning, so that BiH education professionals can rapidly learn from and share their experiences with colleagues internationally. This center will be expensive to operate, so partners are needed. Education professionals might share the costs of using the center with other ministries, professions, NGOs and businesses who could also use it for training and production.

Each canton needs access to a demonstration classroom that can be used both for teacher educators and for community development. The classrooms need to be designed with the education professionals who will use them, and should reflect state-of-the-art pedagogical practices. For example, active learning teaching practices encourage students to work in groups and to create their own products. The classrooms should therefore also serve as local communications, training, and media production facilities. Cantons may need to share classrooms for some period of time. These classrooms need to be able to generate at least some self-financing support. Local support can also be generated through annual private or business sponsorship. The use of dedicated cantonal taxes for education technology also should be considered. For example, a small portion of sales taxes, a tobacco tax or a telecommunications usage tax might be useful.

Each demonstration classroom needs instructional technology appropriate to the teaching practices used. For example, classrooms teaching active learning practices need: a) a small library of professional books and materials (teacher-made materials, videos, etc.); b) a copy machine, adequate supplies and access to maintenance; b) a video-camera, tv and vcr, as well as supplies and access to maintenance so that teachers can document and review their practice; c) desktop-publishing equipment, supplies and access to maintenance so that teachers and students can create their own materials; d) communications links (phone, fax, cable/microwave/satellite Internet), supplies and access to maintenance; and e) computers with adequate instructional and administrative software, printers, supplies (paper, toner, etc.) and access to maintenance. Computers might also act as servers for local area networks (LANs) to link the lab to other classrooms and schools.

In places where security is a problem, the facilities might be used twenty-four hours a day, with off-hour use designed to generate money to help maintain and replace equipment. Another alternative might be the use of laptop computers and docking stations so that the computer is always accompanied by some person.

This discussion may be problematic to some in BiH who see much more fundamental priorities such teacher salaries and school construction. Educators are, however, cautioned to plan ahead. For example, schools need to be constructed so that telecommunications cables can be laid within and across buildings. Every construction plan should have a technology plan component so schools do not have to bear retrofitting expenses.

Busy education professionals need to stay current with research and practice in their field so they can continuously improve education quality in their organizations. The creation of multiple source 'themebooks' using a variety of formats allow professionals to rapidly share learning under decentralized conditions. For example, researchers and practitioners both contributed to a themebook on active learning. One format used was short technical papers such as this one, in which researchers share with practitioners their views on a certain theme. A second format is annotated bibliographies which provide brief summaries and analyses of materials related to the theme. These materials should cite where they can be physically located if needed (e.g. pedagogical academy library, Internet, etc.). A third format is 'mini-lessons' which focus on teaching and learning around the theme topic. For example, professionals interested in technology planning may benefit from short lessons (two to five typed pages) around specific needs, such as preparing a technology budget. These papers, annotated bibliographies and mini-lessons should be reasonably 'reader friendly,' easily reproduced and distributed locally, and translated for Internet distribution where possible.

Education in a decentralized state and economy creates a chronic problem of public finance. Before the war, the BiH economy and the state were tightly coupled through a working tax system. After the war, basic education devolved to much smaller cantonal economic bases with weaker tax systems. This breakdown creates a greater need to link education in the public media to the public goals of education: a civil polity and a viable economy. Education needs a high media profile to keep the message of its importance visible to taxpayers, voters and business people and policymakers.

One way of framing these problems is through policy dialogue and public debate. A public forum is needed in the political arena and in the popular media to debate the goals and contributions of education. This forum could take the form of annual or biennial events supported by informal debates in the press, TV, radio, Internet, etc. It should be focused on BiH, but open to the international community. Youth should be encouraged to create imaginative and responsible contributions to this dialogue. Finally, the public dialogue should reach out to attract artists, intellectuals, business people and celebrities so that they can work together to ensure continued public investment in high quality education.

A monthly national television program designed by young people studying media production in high school should present education news, talks and debates. The program could be sponsored by the MOEs, by an education professional association, and/or by a public/private consortium of sponsors interested in supporting the goals of public education.

At the cantonal level, radio and television programs produced by students could be designed to make important visible contributions to community development. Student-run radio program formats like bulletin board and exchange talk shows could provide important community information services. For example, someone with a table and chairs may want to trade them for a bicycle, or someone with electrical skills may want to trade them for access to an automobile for a week. In some places these radio formats are both popular and make an important contribution to community development.

On-going community education activities might also provide: a) free or low cost public access to the Internet in communities; b) youth scholarships that discount the purchase of computers and Internet access; c) community access to and training in technology, desktop publishing and media production at cantonal resource centers.

A combination of highly imaginative high tech (a multi-media website) and low tech (cheap newsletters or a magazine) is also needed to complement the use of television and radio. The website keeps international as well as domestic visitors to the site (professionals, investors, journalists, students) engaged in a public dialogue about education in BiH. Contributions to the website should in both English and the languages of BiH. The website, as well as the newsletter and/or magazine should be created primarily by students interested in media production. The Global Information Networks in Education (GINIE) project has established a website for education in BiH and is providing some on-line technical support for the education professional networks that are currently operating in BiH. GINIE can be reached by e-mail at ginie@pitt.edu or through its website at htttp://www.pitt.edu/~ginie. Inquiries are welcome.

Professional development networks have become a vital asset for BiH because they encourage technical competence, civility and innovation, which are primary sources of social capital. In BiH, their importance cannot be overstated. Many education professionals on all sides of the conflict responsibly balanced their ethnic and professional identities in the protection of children in schools.

Networks of professionals who share information and expertise, even without technology to support them, demonstrate that at its very core, the function of education is to help teachers create safe, healthy and innovative places for students to learn. Buildings, books and equipment are important, but students can learn without them. During the war, it was the relationships of mutual assistance that helped provide safety and encouragement to morally committed teachers and parents. Individual people created safe places for children to learn when all other protection failed.

The national federal and cantonal governments in BiH now need to cooperate to support these networks of committed educators through investments in safe, reliable and low cost access to telecommunications technology. After WWII, the US invested in an interstate highway system to promote national security and sustainable development. Now BiH should consider investing in a national education information highway system to promote a civil democracy and legitimate market economy. This national virtual highway should provide low cost access to world class quality information and expertise about education for: a) a civil society; b) a globally competitive workforce; and c) emergencies such as natural disasters and civil defense. This cooperation is essential for mutual security and economic development within a decentralized BiH.

Internet access in BiH is growing faster in private homes than in public schools. This condition presents important new technical and financial challenges for teachers in public education. It is very important for the public education sector to receive the investment it needs in terms of technology equipment and training. At the minimum each school site needs access to reliable technology that can help build institutional capacity: workable phones, faxes, copiers, and desktop publishing. Without public education's access to competitive technology, the gaps between rich and poor may widen rapidly. The longer socio-economic consequences of these gaps could be significant.

Information highways sometimes start with 'dirt roads' where faxes, e-mail and electronic bulletin boards via phone cables are accessible at school sites. It will be very important, however, for educators to ensure that phone cables carry the 'bandwidth' needed build the highway adequately into classrooms. If education institutions have low bandwidth telephones lines, then professionals many not be able to adequately use the Internet because they will not have adequate access to its graphics and multi-media capabilities.

Education remains a vital national resource because it preserves and enhances critical social capital needed to be healthy, creative and responsible in a complex modern country. The price of a democracy is civility, and the price of a sustainable market economy is legitimate innovation. Both civility and legitimate innovation need to be modeled in schools. Without technological support for education professional networks, the healthy links between a legitimate society and its children may be endangered.

Gunarantne, S.A. & Lee, B.S. (1996). Integration of Internet resources into curriculum and instruction. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator. 51(2), 25-35.