Treffer: Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS

The Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS project covers the whole information grid: education content, management, information services, infrastructure and user training at several levels--schools, school boards and Ministry of Education and Science. Informatization is the maintained process of creating the technical, economical and social conditions for fulfilment of information needs. The initiative started in 1997. The strategy for education content creation for 2001-2004 is to cover all forms of cognition--rational, empirical, emotional and modelling--and several levels of skills for all levels of education. The Current LIIS results as at 2002 have been that: developed teaching aids are being used (workbooks, interactive software, tests etc) (approx. 20% of the total amount of high school programme can be taught using information and communication technologies); about 1000 sites are using LIIS school management software; 66% of all teachers are trained on ICT usage; 97% of schools have dial-up connection to the Internet in year 2002 (44% have a permanent connection); and the number of pupils per computer has decreased from 67 (year 1997) to 20 (year 2002).

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Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS. 

The Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS project covers the whole information grid: education content, management, information services, infrastructure and user training at several levels – schools, school boards and Ministry of Education and Science. Informatization is the maintained process of creating the technical, economical and social conditions for fulfilment of information needs. The initiative started in 1997. The strategy for education content creation for 2001–2004 is to cover all forms of cognition – rational, empirical, emotional and modelling – and several levels of skills for all levels of education. The Current LIIS results as at 2002 have been that: developed teaching aids are being used (workbooks, interactive software, tests etc) (approx. 20% of the total amount of high school programme can be taught using information and communication technologies); about 1000 sites are using LIIS school management software; 66% of all teachers are trained on ICT usage; 97% of schools have dial‐up connection to the Internet in year 2002 (44% have a permanent connection); and the number of pupils per computer has decreased from 67 (year 1997) to 20 (year 2002). Le système d'information LIIS dans l'éducation en Lithuanie Le projet du système LIIS du système information pour l'éducation comme toute la grile: contenu de l'éducation, management, services d'information, infrastructure et fomation des utilisateurs à divers niveaux: écoles, administrtion des écoles, Ministerie de l'Education et de la Science. Ce projet a débuté en 1997. La stratégie pour créer un contenue de l'éducation 2001–2004 doit couvrir toutes les formes de la connaissance traditionnelle, ainsi que émotionelle, proposant des modèles et divers niveaux de compétences pour tous les niveaux d'éducation. Les résultats actuels du LIIS ont été en 2002: Les moyens d'enseignement dévelpppés sont utilisés (livres, software interactif, tests, etc.) (approximaticement 20% du programme total des programmes des écoles seconfaires peuvent être enseignés en utilisant les technologies de l'information); environ 1000 titres utilisant ler software de management des écoles; 66% des maîtres ont été formé à l'emploi de TIC; 97 % des écoles ont été connectés à Internet en 2002 (44% de connection permanente); et le nombre d'élèves par ordinateur a diminué de 67 (en 1997) à 20 (en 2002) Das lettisches Bildungsinformationssystem LIIS Das lettische Bildungsinformationssystem, das LIIS – Projekt, umfasst das gesamte Informationsraster: Bildungsinhalt, Management, Informationsdienste, Infrastruktur sowie Nutzerausbildung auf mehreren Ebenen – Schulen, Schulkommissionen und Bildungsministerien. Die Initiative begann in 1997. Das Konzept für die Erfassung von Bildungsinhalten für 2001–2004 ist, alle Formen des Zugangs – rational, empirisch, emotional, modellierend – und mehrere Stufen von Fertigkeiten für alle Bildungsniveaus zu berücksichtigen. Das gegenwärtige Stand von LIIS (2002) ist: schon entwickelte Lehrhilfen werden benutzt (Workbooks, interaktive Software, Tests usw.) (Ca. 20% des gesamten Highschool‐Programms kann mit Hilfe von Informationstechnologie gelehrt werden); an rund 1000 Standorten wird LIS Schulmanagement‐Software genutzt; 66% aller Lehrer wurden in die Verwendung von ICT eingeführt; 97% aller Schulen haben im Jahr 2002 Wählverbindung in das Internet (36%: permanente Verbindung); die Anzahl von Schülern pro Computer hat von 67 (Jahr 1997) auf 25 (Jahr 2002) abgenommen.

On 13 June 1997, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia and the University of Latvia signed an agreement to create the Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS. The goal of the project was to prepare students of primary, secondary schools and universities for life and work in an information society.

LIIS overview

The mission of the project was to create the conditions for successful continuation of the education systems informatization in following years. The project covered the whole information grid: education content, management, information services, infrastructure and user training at several levels – schools, school boards and Ministry of Education and Science. The project is being co‐ordinated by the University of Latvia. Because the project is very labour‐intensive, the entire educational society is being involved in its implementation, as is any other person who wants to and can provide assistance in the realization of the project.

In 1997, the project entered its pilot phase. In 1998, informatization of regional support centres was carried out. In 1999, educational content was developed and tested, teachers, educational staff and students were trained, and management functions were automated through the provision of at least one computer with a dial‐up Internet connection to every school; computer equipment was purchased and information service products were tested. Between 2000 and 2003, the results of work from previous years will be compiled and, in co‐operation with local governments, there will be all encompassing informatization of the Latvian educational system. After 2003, work will be aimed at maintaining, improving and supplementing products and infrastructure.

Background to the Latvian National 'Informatics' programme

The Latvian National 'Informatics' programme has been initiated according to the order of the Cabinet of Ministers in April 1997. The fundamental goal of the programme is to prepare for an information society in Latvia and to integrate Latvia into Europe. The priorities of Latvia are similar to those of European Union.

The 'Latvian Education Informatization System' is an essential part of the Latvian National 'Informatics' Program. The programme originated in 1996, when the Ministry of Education and Science established the first specialized industry IT Council in Latvia and the strategy of education system informatization was developed. The LIIS project was started in June 1997 as one of the main priorities of the National programme (figure 1). In Latvia, informatization of educational processes was already happening before the LIIS – on the basis of individual initiative and support from several foundations. The most distinguished examples are the IEARN projects and the Soros Foundation‐Latvia grant programmes.

Graph: Latvian education informatization grid

LIIS strategic solutions

Consideration of priorities

The project supports the following priorities for the education informatization system: the first (highest) priority is education, second is management, and the third priority is information services. Through planning the stages of the education system informatization, one principle was taken into account: 'equipment bundled with functional applications for the educated user'. Experience all over the world presents evidence that it is necessary to follow this principle, because placing hardware in the education system without certain functional applications and without training of users significantly delays proper usage of investments.

Use of existing education system resources

The project broadly involves the intellectual resources of the education system and the existing infrastructure. Teaching staff from several higher education institutions, researchers and students (undergraduates, postgraduates) and the broad educational society – teachers, educators and pupils – are taking part in the project. Collaboration projects with corresponding foreign organizations and individuals are created. This approach provides an efficient solution of the problem, because a large group of participants has a good knowledge of various aspects of the education system and its informatization problems. It follows that there is no need to waste additional time and resources to investigate the education system and to understand its functioning. The project makes broad use of the existing education system infrastructure. This made it possible to channel sufficient financial resources during the first stage for development of priority functional applications. It also supports effective usage of the existing infrastructure.

A modern and promising technological solution

The project is supported with promising information technologies such as:

Results of LIIS

Education content

The content of education information has been among the priorities of state‐investment project LIIS from its starting point in 1997. It was expected that following main goals would be achieved through it:

The implementation of LIIS has shown that all these expectations proved correct. Teaching aids cover all forms of cognition: rational, empirical, emotional and modelling. Since the beginning of LIIS in 1997, teaching aids have been developed in an amount equivalent to 92,000 printed pages. Using these materials together with original educational software ensures that approximately 20% of the total amount of high school programme can be taught in a computerized way. In some disciplines – for example, Latvian language and mathematics – this percentage reaches 75% of the whole syllabus.

The following products appear to be extremely popular among high school teachers and students:

Graph: Content informatization products

The LIIS project does not intend that computers will replace teachers in schools. Information technologies are considered as powerful tools for supplying information to teachers and students. They also will serve as effective means of communication within the educational society.

In future, special attention will be paid to interactive forms of teaching aids, including servers for automated learning (also distance education environments). The project will expand the coverage of aids for primary schools and universities. Strategy for education content creation for 2001–2004 is to cover all forms of cognition – rational, empirical, emotional and modelling – and several levels of skills (handicapped, weak, average, excellent) for all levels of education.

Management

The implementation of school management information system (MIS) is based on the fact that teachers in Latvia are paid by the state. This makes it necessary for the creation of a centralized database of teachers, students and financial accounting. Potential users of the system are the persons responsible for management of the education system – from the Minister of Education and Science to clerks of the ministry, school boards and administration of the schools. Present and former or future students, parents and other interested persons must be taken into account, too. The range of subjects covered by LIIS MIS is broad and varies from registration of grades to financial accounting and keeping catalogues of libraries. The main subsystems of LIIS MIS are shown in figure 3.

Graph: School management products

The underlying principle of LIIS is that it must be distributed and cannot be enclosed within the walls of the ministry; therefore, LIIS MIS consists of a number of databases spread over the country. There is one central database in the Ministry of Education and Science, where data from all the country is accumulated. This is a large Oracle database, which is used mainly for queries and reporting. Data is pumped into this database from regional sites. Regional databases are much smaller (they are based on Lotus Notes) and accumulate data from one region. Regional databases are mostly used for gathering and control of data, and only seldom for data input or correction. Regional databases have been installed in technically more capable schools of the regions or in school boards. In most cases, these databases are electronically connected to the central server. This infrastructure is based on the replication mechanism of Lotus Notes.

All subsystems are ready for use; however, during deployment we used a step‐by‐step approach. It is nonsense to talk about financial accounting whilst having no registry of schools, and it is waste of money to introduce an automated timetable planning while there is no registry of students. Therefore, the first goal of the LIIS MIS was to build complete registries of schools, teachers and students. The registers were set up in 1999–2001 and contains information about 2,300 educational establishments, 400,000 students and 50,000 teachers (general, vocational and higher education).

The total number of sites using LIIS software is roughly about 1,000. The first goals have already been achieved, but there are still a lot of challenges and most of them are related to installation, support and maintenance. A long‐term financial support will be necessary to use the system. Educated technical personnel are needed in regions. Teachers, school administrators and ministry clerks must learn how to use the system. Strong and mobile staff of system administrators must be organized in the ministry to solve urgent problems both in ministry and in regions. The tasks for 2002 and beyond include support of exchange of electronic documents; integration with other state level registers, thus enabling e‐management at every education institution.

Information services

Access to information services involves application of the information technologies, which are needed in information services (see figure 4). To informatize information services means systemizing information resources and giving the tools for its use, and the creation and maintenance of information resources for various categories of users.

Graph: Information service products

An essential part of information services is the creation through the unified environment of information resources where users at all levels can access the necessary services. Each particular service is supplied by a corresponding component. It is possible to use the tools that allow the creation of new services.

Training

In 1998–2001, various training programmes were designed, updated and implemented for the regional centres of LIIS. In 2001, these programmes were tied to the content of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL), but taking into account the specific needs of teachers. Results in user trainings are: 22,306 teachers were trained at the end of 2002 and 66% of all teachers in Latvia had basic computer literacy skills. About 190 informatics teachers were trained at advanced level (computer lab maintenance, MS Windows NT administration, database development, MS Visual Basic) and around 300 tutor‐trainers were trained at the end of 2001. In 2002, the emphasis was placed on school network administrator training, teaching to apply computer in subject teaching (including school librarians) and on training according to ECDL content. In 2002 and beyond, there will be an expansion of distance education, advanced teaching of informatics teachers.

Infrastructure

Internet connectivity data of Latvian schools (December 2002) is as follows: 44% of schools have permanent connection while 97% have dial‐up connection. Only 79% of schools have reported real use of Internet (due to the high price of Internet usage, mainly phone costs). In 2002 and beyond, the plans are to provide Internet connections for every school and informatization of all state level subordination institutions (see table 1).

Infrastructure indicators

<table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Indicator</td><td>Year</td></tr><tr><td /><td>1997</td><td>1998</td><td>1999</td><td>2000</td><td>2001</td><td>2002</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Pupils per computer</td><td>67.3</td><td>49.5</td><td>39.3</td><td>32.3</td><td>26.3</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Online Internet connection</td><td /><td /><td>16%</td><td>34%</td><td>44%</td><td /></tr><tr><td>Real use of Internet</td><td /><td /><td /><td>67%</td><td>79%</td><td /></tr></tbody></table>

Co‐operation

Several LIIS products could be of interest internationally:

Also support and co‐operation in the development of informatization processes could be beneficial for both sides in the areas of education of disabled children and the study of foreign languages.

Biographical notes

Professor Janis Bicevskis is the chairman of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Latvia, one of the authors of the national programme and the project director of Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS. In 1998, he directed the 'Integration of National Information Systems (Megasystem) project. Prof. Bicevskis took part in the development of concepts for the Unified Library Information System VVBIS in 2000, for the 'Latvia's Portal' in 2001. Since 1968, he has published more than 50 scholarly papers and participated in a number of software projects related to programming, design, implementation and management.

Professor Agnis Andzans, is the head of the Mathematics Correspondence School of the University of Latvia. He has developed a system of advanced mathematics education for middle and high school students and introduced in the schools of Latvia. He has published 40 research papers, three monographs in modern elementary mathematics, nine textbooks and approximately 100 other teaching aids. He has been awarded The Orden of Three Stars (1996) and the International Paul Erdös prize (1998).

Asst professor Evalds Ikaunieks is author of more than 30 research papers on mathematical computer science as well as school textbooks on computers and programming. From 1990 to 1998, he was the adviser to the Government of Latvia on education, science and research, and information technology. For the LIIS project, professor Ikaunieks deals with investments in infrastructure.

Inga Medvedis is the leader of the school management information system developers' team within the LIIS project. Being an IT practitioner, he has participated in numerous information system development and system analysis projects, mostly in the public sector, since the mid–1980s.

Uldis Straujums graduated from the Latvian State University in 1973 and has been working there since then. He participates in ICT projects by programme testing and debugging system VDS, unified library information system VVBIS and ODL in teacher training. Since 1997, he ahs been a Latvian Education Informatization System LIIS information services manager. His main research areas are e‐learning environments and metadata applications, and he has published 17 research papers and three teaching aids.

Viesturs Vezis is a lecturer at University of Latvia. He has created the teachers' lifelong ICT education system in the framework of the LIIS project. He currently leads the working group developing the standard for school informatics and corresponding exemplary programmes, teaching aids for students and methodical materials for teachers.

By Janis Bicevskis; Agnis Andzans; Evalds Ikaunieks; Inga Medvedis; Uldis Straujums and Viesturs Vezis

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