Participating in the ongoing global revolution in education

Can latest achievement in global education influence VET Kazakhstan? I do not know, but, I think, it makes sense to monitor latest tendencies and 2. reflect on ongoing issues in Kazakhstan.
The ongoing issue in VET Kazakhstan is that several hundrets of new teching materials will be purchased within the the State Investment Program. The question one might raise: how this ongoing process is aligned to the task of modernizing? Can it be made more efficient, cheaper and with a better input on learning outcomes, when we consider new developments?

And here is the new event: Flat world Knowledge, world's first publisher of commercial open-source college textbooks, received $8 million in venture capital. It wants to revolutionize the 8 billion US textbook market. Flat World's textbooks are written by well-paid, world-class authors. The new is the businss model: enter a mass market and charge for what the client is ready to pay. This will give a further push to the Open Source Movement.

What could it mean to VET Kazakhstan? Here is my wish list:
1. Publish the tender and the results on the internet. Today this is not the case. Lack of transparency increases transaction cost.
2. Require to put the content on the Internet as well. This can be done free-of-charge, required minimal efforts
3. Qualify the developers to use free-of-charge interactive web 2.0 elements, for example wikis, for improved peer review, better cooperation and communication.

Potential outcomes: higher-quality textbooks, which have better access by the community

Involved risks: existing tradition in copyrights, access to the internet, subject matter experts are notappropriate qualified for the internet.

Arguments against such an approach are: organizational culture, which avoids sharing and transparent decision-making; vested interests; ignorance; probably the most important factor is lack of knowledge about the possibility of the internet and open content

More success factors for a high-quality educational system

Written from an US-point of view, four more factors, influencing the quality of teaching: 

1. Support new teachers (In Norway new teachers are coached 20% of their time)

2. Time spend outside the classroom for mandate mentoring, preparing, meetings with parents etc.

3. Participation in decision-making, curricula as a broad framework

4. Lifelong learning and further qualification, with a clear incentive and stimulus to take courses.  

See also the report on "Professional Learning in the learning profession" 

Success factor: qualification and motivation of teachers

Identifying success factors when curricula are similiar?

Singapure and West Virginia share basic  curricula, but the educational outcomes differ. Singapure is highly successful.  Why this difference?

1. Only the top third of secondary-school graduates in Singapore can apply for teacher training.

2. Each year, teachers take an additional 100 hours of paid professional development

3. Profession is paid as well as science and engineering careers.

 

Google You Tube university

Apple started, now Google follows up: it started youtube edu a video-university. It is still focused on American universities. But, the idea is clear, it is easy, it does not require captial investment:
set-up an inventive system and promote a similar approach to Kazakh educational institutes.
Expected benefit: promoting a modern approach to teaching and sharing, identifying and disseminating best experienece, provding a diverse and high-quality educational resources to the students, raising awareness for the quality of teaching and deep integration of technology to improve educational outcomes.

Success factor: leadership commitment.
Apple announced today that it is expending its services, covering now all kind of knowledge, from museum trous to college lectures. I checked the service, listing to the lecture from Paul Collier about the Bottom Billion, an exciting book about the potential and the limits of aid in our days. 

Success factors in ICT integration

Tony Bates reviews Sangra A. (2008): The integration of Information and Communication Technologies in the university: models, problems and challenges

The analyses covers success factors for ICT integration in 16 univerisities world wide. It seems these factors do not differ significantly to secondary education.

1. embedment of ICT in a overall picture: «use of ICTs was sometimes part of a larger and often hidden agenda to bring about greater cultural change in institutions».

2. Strategic planning is a process: action is often a «bundle of initiatives as a part of smaller or larger projects but not necessarily related to a global strategy»

3. Wide variations in strategies and actions: change management strategies; shared, well disseminated vision and capable leadership; specialised, centralized support unit

4. Common problems: problems of organization, lack of funding, high-resistance to change from front-line staff.

VET Kazakhstan is on the right path to encourage the dialogue between professional education and business on the one hand and to address qualification on-site as the main tool to overcome resistance to change. An objective might be to achieve a crucial level in developing,  formulating and communicating a common vision, covering the realization of the State Investment Program 2008 - 2012.