Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in Education

1. Training Center Penalva e Azurara Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in Education SÓCRATES – ARION : 5 Fev. 2002 5 Fev. 2002 Mangualde – Portugal The role of Schools Association Professional Development Center

2. MANGUALDE The municipality of Mangualde is a region of the interior of Portugal formed by eighteen parishes of plateau, near Serra da Estrela (Star Mountain) and where the granite and pine-grove are kings dominating the slopes. It is also torn by abundant agricultural fields. There are kitchen-gardens, orchards, vineyards, maize-fields, olive trees and abundant grassland for the sheep that the shepherds go on tending. http://atelier.hannover2000.mct.pt/~pr203/ageruk.htm PENALVA DO CASTELO Penalva do Castelo is a transition pole between a not developed area and urbanity, the municipality is on a phase of accentuated economical and social progress, thanks to the use of the resources and to the route followed by the initiative and tenacity of Penalvenses, ( this is the name that is given to the people that live in this towr). http://atelier.hannover2000.mct.pt/~pr420/ingle.html

3. 200 Professional Development Centers (SchoolsAssociation)

4. Based on 1992 law, all the representatives of the town schools of Mangualde and Penalva do Castelo gathered together aiming at founding a Teachers Profession Development Center. Due to this meeting the Penalva e Azurara Professional Development Center was considered legal as a forming identity of schools association. It was decided that the Professional Development Center would have its office in the Secondary school of Mangualde, known as Escola Secundária Felismina Alcântara. These are the aims of this School Association Professional Development Center and its continued learning Plan: Continuous formation school centred in which the teachers, as formation subjects, are linked to the process from knowing the needs to the conception, execution and evaluation of the actions; the Formation Centre will work with them and for them. Continuous formation will not only look for the answers of individual needs, but will also conceive a collective project of development to overcome the difficulty and to solve the problems that appear in daily school life (Formation centred on practice). Continuous formation of completion and actualization of starting formation from the bases, in a permanent educational perspective. Continuous formation that takes into consideration the social reality that stimulates critical attitude, innovation and investigation.

5. But (after all) what is a Schools Association Professional Development Center ? • Should it exist ? • Which was the purpose of the Mangualde and Penalva do Castelo schools when they decided to create the Professional Development Center ? •  The Schools Professional Development Centerintends to answer the teachers, non-teachers staff (and parents) continued improvement of professional skills needs, that is, answer the continued professional development needs.

6. Some numbers Schools / Teachers / Non-teacher staff

7. Statistics of Professional Development Participants

8. Comparative Study Prevision

9. Conference “The Information Technologies at the Education Service” 27/11/2000 Mangualde’s Municipal Library Session nº 1 –“Computers in School: is it or isn't the Solution”. Sessionnº 2 –“The Introduction to Information New Technologies in Kinder and Elementary School garden”. Sessionnº 3 – “The Use of Educational Software in Class”. Sessionnº 4 – “The Information Technologies at the Service of Education: Experiences and Evolution Perspectives”. It involved 160 educators

10. . . . ! ! !

11. Which is the underlying philosophy: That nobody should be exclude from the right to his own professional development by access difficulties: - geographical isolation; - “financial” problems; - ... .

12. Some Numbers 1999 • Course: “Use of Internet in Teaching of Economic Sciences” This course lasted 25 hours (on-line) + 25 hours (off-line) 14 teachers in continued learning • Sent 128 messages to the Forum; • Published 83 individual and group works; • Catalogued 92 WebPages; • Sent several contributions to the Newsgroups; • Exchanged dozens of e-mail messages.

13. This Professional Development Center Due to the great amount of information available in the Net, this Professional Development Center has got its first site in a Nónio web page since 1997. So, we intend to keep on contributing not only for this information as mere consumers but also for its availability. It is our priority that the community could have access to the projects this Professional Development Center has been promoting or by educators from the schools associated to this training centre. According to this, the web site of the Training Centre Penalva e Azurara in the Internet – www.prof2000.pt/users/cfppa - which will be an example of the active participation we want. Besides, the information related to the training courses we also publish on line the projects done by the students. The self-learning is often understood as an option in which the educator works in an independent and lonely way as the trainer is absent. This is a process of self-construction of the person itself and so we consider that the site of this professional development center is a device of self-learning because it contains the projects done by the educators and the sites that support the running of some professional development courses.

14. www.prof2000.pt/users/cfppa 21 625visitors - since 1998

15. Centro de Formação Penalva Azurara Escola Secundária Felismina Alcântara 3530-159 Mangualde Portugal Tel.: +351 232 618386 Fax: +351232 618387 E-mail: cfppa@mail.prof2000.pt Web: http://www.prof2000.pt/users/cfppa José Miguel Sousa E-mail: miguel@mail.prof2000.pt Web: http://www.prof2000.pt/users/miguel