Resumen Ingles

Let’s Learn [ AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXCEL ]

First Ecuadorean Educational Program for Television Systematization and Self - Evaluation - First Phase (2003-2004) Monitoring Report - Second Phase (2005-2007) ABBREVIATED VERSION

Asesoría Internacional

June 2008

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Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

INDEX

Words of the Mayor

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Presentation

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I. INTRODUCTION

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II. IMPLEMENTATION PHASES OF THE “LET’S LEARN PROGRAM”

7 7 8

III. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

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IV. “LET’S LEARN” PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

10 10 11

V. RESULTS

13 13 18

VI. CONCLUSIONS

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Annex 1: “Let’s Learn” Evaluation Methodology

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• Phase One (2003-2004) • Phase Two (2005-2007)

• Educational and Communicational Dimension • Management Dimension

• Phase One • Phase Two

Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

INDEX

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Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

Words of the Mayor In a knowledge based society the motors of progress are education, training and information, and in this process the educational use of mass communication, especially television, becomes imperative. The complexity of our time demands commitment from all major actors – the state, private enterprise, NGO’s – to develop innovative educational programs and projects capable of taking advantage of the opportunities offered by television to democratize knowledge and further equity and social inclusion of groups challenged with social and economic segregation. If television is viewed as a cultural and educational space that promotes knowledge building and training of rational, creative and cohesive citizens, it becomes an indispensable ally for the development and progress of the society of which it forms part. Carrying out the Program “Let’s Learn: An Opportunity to Excel” debunked the myth that these type of programs would be impossible to develop in Ecuador. Social and civic responsibility demonstrated by several institutional allies like the Association of Ecuadorian Television Stations (ACTVE) – in the First Phase – and eight open signal stations in the Second Phase, the Foundation Ecuador and the Guayaquil Chamber of Industry in agreement with the local Municipality made this possible. Hundreds of people and organizations later joined this effort to contribute to the development of the Program either individually or on an institutional level. Conceiving and setting in motion the “Let’s Learn” Program beginning at the end of 2003, was the result of valuable accompaniment by International Consultancy FORMAR, with broad experience in educational television in Latin America. Similarly, the processes of systematizing and self-evaluating “Let’s Learn” received indispensable technical assistance from the Program Coordination and Project Evaluation of the International Institute for Educational Planning – IIPE/UNESCO in the Buenos Aires Regional Office. During the Second Phase (2005 – 2007) “Let’s Learn” became consolidated in part due to the continuity and commitment of all institutional allies, showing how dynamic Guayaquil is, its capacity to innovate and demonstrate solidarity with the rest of the country. As a result of the courses broadcasted by “Let’s Learn”, all citizens of Guayaquil, in their own words, “regained hope” and decided to multiply their new knowledge by building and taking on responsibility for their own future. They have become part of their own solution in improving the quality of their lives. Jaime Nebot Mayor Municipality of Guayaquil

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Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

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Presentation “Let’s Learn: An Opportunity to Excel”, the First Educational Television Program in Ecuador, has produced and broadcasted eight courses to date that have directly benefited more than 370,000 people. The first volume “Systematization and Self-Evaluation of the First Phase, 2003 – 2004”, summarizes the Program production processes, its implementation and management as well as the results and conclusions of the first four courses that were produced and broadcasted during 2003 and 2004. The second volume, “Monitoring Report Second Phase 2005 – 2007” incorporates and analyzes later accomplishments rooted in a self-monitoring of the Program, with its most salient features. The Systematization and Self-evaluation and the following Monitoring Report have been notably participative, have incorporated multiple national and international perspectives and have implied significant give and take, becoming in itself a demanding and formative process. For the first stage to come to fruition, the consultancy offered by the IIPE/UNESCO Buenos Aires proved particularly valuable as it contributed to building local capacities in project evaluation. It has been no small task taking on a double role of carrying out and evaluating the Program, walk the line between seeing the broad and the fine, discerning between past and present, between reflection and action, never losing sight of the commitment to give an account of the process and its results, conscious of its complexity and thus aiming at approaching inevitably limited and tentative understanding. This version synthesizes the reflections, results and conclusions of both Phases of the “Let’s Learn” Program – an opportunity to excel. We are putting it at your disposal, inviting you to consult the completed documents and in this way accompany us in this enriching process that is “Let’s Learn”.

Marcia Gilbert de Babra Councilwoman of the Municipality of Guayaquil President of the Social and Educational Commission General Coordinator of the “Let’s Learn” Program

Pedro Aguayo Cubillo Executive President Foundation Ecuador

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Roberto Vernimmen Barriga Director of the Social and Educational Unit Municipality of Guayaquil

Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

I. INTRODUCTION “Let’s learn: An Opportunity to Excel” is the First Educational Program for Television implemented in Ecuador. This Program emerged as a component of a wider social intervention strategy of the Municipality of Guayaquil. It responded to the needs of the young and adult population, from urban popular sectors who face situations of poverty, unemployment, exclusion, limited access to knowledge and to quality education. Its purpose is to improve the quality of life, turn the access to information into a more democratic process and facilitate the social inclusion of the inhabitants most deprived. “Let’s learn” is promoted and financed by the Municipality of Guayaquil, within the framework of an interesting and innovative modality of inter institutional cooperation. The participants are the eight private national television channels -all commercial, open circuit-1, whose collaboration is free of cost, the Ecuadorean Foundation and the Guayaquil Chamber of Industry. Since its beginning, on October 2003, until December 2007, the Program, “Let’s learn” benefited, directly, 378.075 persons in the Guayaquil Canton. It did so, through the transmission of eight, at distance, educational courses. Six of these were retransmitted, with an estimated impact of two million televiewers in the whole country. The presentation of all these courses implied the continuous projection of 856 television programs-per channel,-during 214 weeks, with a total of 6848 transmitted programs. Additionally, around 400.000 text books were distributed during this period. One of the pillars that supported the Program was the work with other organizations from civil society and the private sector. This coordination required 662 inter institutional agreements.

II. IMPLEMENTATION PHASES OF THE “LET’S LEARN” PROGRAM • Phase One (2003-2004) The official launching of “Let’s learn. An opportunity to excel” took place on October 27, 2003. Prior to its appearance on the Ecuadorean televiewers screens, no other systematic Ecuadorean televised educational program had ever been created, or documented. 1 Between the First Phase (2003-2004) and the Second Phase (2005-2007) of the implementation of “Let´s learn”, one TV channel retired from the chain, and two new ones joined in. At present, the following channels transmit the Program: Canal 1, Caravana TV., ECUAVISA, E-telerama, Gamavisión, Red Telesistema, TC Television and Canal Satelital. By December 2007, two of these channels expressed their interest in transmitting “Let´s Learn” in countries with a great number of Ecuadorean migrants. Local and international municipalities and one international channel have also expressed their interest in transmitting the Program. The respective definitions for this process are ongoing.

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In its First Phase (2003-2004), with the technical assistance of FORMAR, “Let’s learn” produced four courses: “Childhood Development”, “Small Business Development”, “Sales and Customer Service” and “Hygiene and Food Service”. A total of 111.461 people registered, without any cost. The development of the First Phase underwent systematization and a self-evaluation, process that is presented in Volume I: ”Aprendamos. Una oportunidad para superarnos. Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión. Informe de Sistematización y Auto Evaluación. Primera Fase (2003-2004)”, The implementation of this phase was supported by the technical assistance of the International Institute of Education Planning –IIPE/UNESCO, Buenos Aires Regional Headquarters, whose intervention stimulated the development and strengthening of local abilities in the evaluation field. This Program had FORMAR, the television distance education model from Argentina, as its main reference. • Phase Two (2005-2007) The Program was self monitored from 2005, and its results and conclusions are published in Volumen II: “Informe de Monitoreo de la Segunda Fase (20052007)”. This Second Phase included an ampler period than the First Phase, from December 2004 to December 2007. This was the consequence of the additional time required for the retransmission of the other four former courses and the design, production and transmission of four new courses: ”Computer Education and Internet for All”, “Citizenship: An Opportunity for All”, and “Self Construction and Improvement of Popular Homes” and “A Guide to Family and Community Health”2. The projection of these eight courses stimulated the inscription of 264.419 persons.

lll. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK “Let’s learn” is part of a new conception of Public Management (NPM), based on the idea that what is considered as “state” should be public, flexible, and polyvalent; it should also offer services oriented to the satisfaction of the citizen’s needs, involving, in its implementation all sectors of society. This perspective opens spaces to the ever growing contribution of the third sector organizations and to the consideration, by many authors, that managing that which is “public, but not state” in State management, constitutes a key factor in social life in the XXI century3. It also becomes relevant to think about “Let’s learn” from the complexity of its internal daily management. At such level, one can remark that the Program’s organizational modality has been the result of work in an ongoing construction, characteristic of new social projects without previous references, with a newly formed human team, functioning in backgrounds of uncertainty. These characteristics respond to what Senge4 defines as “learning organizations”. The term applies to those 2 The International Argentinean Consultant, FORMAR, was involved in the advising and production of two of the new courses in the Second Phase: “Computation and Internet for all” and “Citizenship: an opportunity for all”. Two other courses: “Self construction and Popular House Improvement” and “Guide to Family and Community Health” were the responsibility of a local Producer, “Cronos, Comunicación para el Desarrollo”. 3 BRESSER PEREIRA, LUIZ .CARLOS. y CUNILL GRAU, NURIA. (ed.). Lo público no estatal en la reforma del Estado. CLAD, Editorial Paidós, Buenos Aires, Primera Edición, 1998, p. 26. 4 SENGE, PETER M. La quinta disciplina. Edit. Granica, Buenos Aires, 1992.

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organizations that face new tasks for which they have no previous experiences and in so doing they strengthen the capacity of their work teams towards the construction of a shared vision that leads them to the achievement of the intended results. In the same manner, one can also say that while managing the “Let’s learn Program”, a process was developed, very similar to what Mintzberg5 described in reference to the structuring of organizations. In that process, the organizations modify their structures, through coordination mechanism of “mutual adaptation,” by simple informal communication; they then create more complex coordination mechanisms that imply the direct supervision and the normalization of processes, results and abilities that, in the end, revert, again, to mutual adaptation. “Let’s learn” also synchronized to the educational commitment expressed in the Declaration of the Objectives for the Millennium (2000)6. For, even though, education has not achieved the subjective and social transformations that modernity proposed, it is still identified as one of the principal motivators of development in the social, economic and productive environments. Therefore, education for change and social inclusion seeks the objective of improving the quality of life and the development of autonomous, critical citizens, with the capacity to contribute to social changes. Faced with the challenge of inclusion, in its widest sense, the “Let’s learn” Program, intended, from the beginning, to resolve the need of making access, to information and education, more democratic to all. Distance learning was the modality that could favor the inclusion processes of the most vulnerable and segregated groups in the educational field. Although there is a series of definitions of distance learning, the common elements to all of them is that it does not require the presence of the student at a specific location and that it builds a pluridirectional relation, that is mediated with the students7. “Let’s learn” is also near to the concept of public television, in so far as it establishes public service objectives, tending to the needs and demands of vulnerable groups and considering minorities who usually do no evoke the interest of private goals due to commercial considerations8. The educational dimension of the “Let’s learn” Program is also related to two of the key concepts, regarding learning and pedagogy, in the constructivist proposal. These concepts are: significant learning and authentic performance. Learning is significant when the student understands and uses this understanding in a flexible manner, applying it to new and different circumstances; that is to say when authentic or real performances are produced. Therefore, significant learning occurs when it is ultimately interiorized, relating it with the everyday world or with the development of working aptitudes. In the “Let’s learn” model, it is assumed that learning is a complex process, a product of a series of mediations in which others intervene. These mediations, stimulate what Vygotski called “the proximate zone of development”, which refers to those functions that are in an embryonic stage and require assisted learning or 5 MINTZBERG, HENRY. La estructuración de las organizaciones. Editorial Ariel, Barcelona, 1984, pp.25-33. 6 Millennium Declaration, ONU: establishes the objectives, goals and the actions to achieve a significant improvement in the quality of life of the population, with an emphasis on the poorest, most vulnerable groups: women, children and youth. 7 PADULA, JORGE E. Una Introducción a la Educación a Distancia. Fondo de Cultura Económica de Argentina, S.A. Buenos Aires, 2002. 8 PORTALES, DIEGO. Televisión pública en América Latina: crisis y oportunidades. En: “Televisión pública: del consumidor al ciudadano”. Rincón Omar (compilador), Convenio Andrés Bello, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Colombia,2001, pp.105-136.

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specific supports to mature9. In the case of distance learning, there is no teacher as mediator; rather it is the way -in “Let’s learn”, the book, the television, the tutorial- that becomes the mediator of that learning. Precisely for that reason, the Program’s design has been key to being able to explain, ask, relate, and motivate the student so that he develops abilities and competencies.

IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE “LET’S LEARN” PROGRAM • Educational and Communicational Dimension “Let’s learn” intended to place a high quality Program at the disposal of all citizens, but particularly men and women of urban-popular sectors; it had to be delivered at their own home, free of charge, and had to rescue their dignity, self esteem and invite them to excel. The characterization of the main consignees was based on the diagnosis elaborated by the Department of Education and Social Action of the Municipality of Guayaquil. It included, mainly mothers, and young children caregivers, small-business managers, both actual and potential, people involved in client services and in food handling, and consumers. The Second Phase generally maintained the consignees´ characterization of the previous phase, but added high school graduates, young university students, members of community groups, organizations and persons with disabilities, to name a few examples. In general, “Let’s learn” sought to strengthen the self esteem of its viewers by proposing positive and successful characters from the popular sector, recuperate and question previous learning, promote significant learning, generalize technical information to daily and working surroundings and create links between what was learned and the immediate social and working environments. Consequently, the objectives for the course considered three levels of learning: knowledge, attitudes, and practices. In “Let’s learn” the aspects of “how we teach” and “how we learn” refer us to the pedagogic and communicational strategies; these, in turn, contemplate various devices articulated among them. They can be understood in a double dimension: as tools that enable learning (TV programs, books, tutorials and tele-tutorials) and as connectors or connecting points: some obtain meaning in as much as some others exist.

9 VYGOTSKI, L.S. Obras escogidas II. Editorial Pedagógica, Visor, Moscú, 1982.

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Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

The television program was the central device and the student’s principal guide to the contents. One of its main components was the tele tutorials which were conducted by experts, according to each course, and understood as spaces for interaction in which the students could revise their doubts. Each course lasted approximately two months and was transmitted four days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays, and repeated Saturdays and Sundays), in national broadcast, through open circuit, in all commercial channels in Ecuador. The second device, the text book, strengthened learning through articles, activities and self-evaluations; it developed and reinforced different abilities and presented -at the same time that it provided practices opportunities- for the application of the information to daily life, related to the needs of the students in family and working environments. The third -the tutorial- was a service rendered by tutors, who could be reached by telephone, without cost, through a 1-800 number, specifically created so that the students could pose questions. Tutors could also be visited at the Tutor Center. The field tutorials were one of the innovations in the Second Phase. They took place in open spaces and at the Integral Attention Centers of the Municipality, and were available to all the students who wished to clear any doubts. In order that a greater number of persons from out of town could consult the written material in the books, during the Second Phase, links were created in the electronic webs of the Municipality of Guayaquil (www.guayaquil.gov.ec) and of the Ecuador Foundation (www.fe.org.ec) referring viewers to the contents of all the courses. This allowed other users, registered or not for the courses, to access the texts, thus widening the number of persons who benefited from the Program. Furthermore, with the purpose of turning “Let’s Learn” into an inclusive Program, that would diversify its users and provide a more democratic access to information and knowledge, the entire series of courses was audio taped and made available with subtitles so persons with visual and hearing disabilities could use them. • Management Dimension The “Let’s Learn” Program is inscribed in the social and educational policy of the Municipality of Guayaquil, through the application of a vigorous concept of links and alliances, both with private sectors and civil society. These bonds, were created by inter institutional agreements that defined the responsibility of all actors involved. The participation of the different organizations in the management of “Let’s learn”, as strategic allies, was the consequence of a group of factors that had initially motivated them to accept the call from the Municipality. The most important aspects were: a) the leadership and the summoning capacity of the mayor, Jaime Nebot; b) the common vision about the role of citizenship education as a key factor and a priority for human development in the country, c) the opportunity that “Let’s learn” offered, to work in diminishing the existing information gap among the different stratum in Guayaquilean society, d) the possibility of contributing to the social

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objectives of the city through the participation in a massive educational Project directed towards sectors with the least opportunities and e) the professionalism and experience of the international Argentinean consultant, FORMAR. An Inter Institutional Management Unit, made up by the following instances, carried out the First Phase of “Let’s Learn”: • From the Municipality of Guayaquil: the city Councilwoman and President of the Social and Educational Commission, representing the Mayor; the Director of the Social and Educational Unit (DASE), the Social Marketing Coordinator and the Technical Cooperation Coordinator, both also from the DASE. • From the Ecuador Foundation: Its President, personnel required according to the evolution of the Program and personnel hired by the Foundation to manage the “Lets learn” Tutorial Center, within the framework of the agreement with the Municipality of Guayaquil. • From FORMAR: its Director or her delegates from the production team who lived in Guayaquil. Videograph Cronos

The internal organization and the function of this Unit -interinstitutional coordination, general management, budget execution, processes and actions, promotion and communication- were maintained, without major variations, in the Second Phase. The major change in the Second Phase was the insertion of the local team members in charge of the design and production of the new courses, and the person responsible for the permanent monitoring of “Let’s learn”. During the First Phase, the actual functioning of the Inter institutional Management Unit was not without problems and frictions, provoked, most of the time, by non anticipated demands that overwhelmed previsions; by short spans of time for the production of educational tools; by the numerous procedures required to manage disbursements; some changes in personnel; divergent points of view among the different organisms and among the personnel in the two countries (Argentina and Ecuador). Although there were many problems that needed solving, and, therefore, many hours of overwork and tension within the team, its members demonstrated a high level of responsibility and commitment to the Program, thus facilitating the achievement of the proposed goals. The management style that had distinguished itself as extremely democratic, flexible and participative in the First Phase became more systematic in the Second Phase. It did so through weekly meetings for organizing and coordinating; time and theme control in the agendas; major role definition; follow up of all assumed responsibilities and the systematization of processes and procedures. These actions generated immediate benefits such as relying on written information, timely and relevant, for decision making on the go; reducing the weekly meetings to an average of one and a half hours; maintaining all members informed about the unfolding of the Program; sharing the responsibility in keeping commitments. All of these achievements supported the creation of an organizational climate of cooperation to achieve the objectives. The Tutorial Center, administered by Ecuador Foundation, was conceptualized as an “adjustment variable” among the different components of “Let’s learn”. Its main

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Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

function was to offer the pedagogic support named “tutorial”, previously mentioned. In its management dimension, the general functions of the Tutorial Center encompassed the following aspects: registration processes, text correction and validation; text printing and distribution; relations among the registered organizations, support to marketing and communication, management of the data base; exam administration; event coordination for diploma ceremonies; monitoring processes and procedures and coordination of presential tutorials (the last two, only in the Second Phase). As in the other important components of “Let’s learn”, promotional and communication policies emerged from collective reflections within the Interinstitutional Management Unit, with the more active participation of FORMAR –in the initial phase- the Social Marketing Coordination from the Education and Social Action Direction of the Municipality of Guayaquil, and the Production and Public Relations Coordination from the Tutorial Center. One of the first decisions taken in the communication field was the name of the Program, “Let’s learn. An opportunity to excel”. The decision was based on results from research in popular sector communities, through focal groups, in which the participants expressed that the proposal of an educational, television program that would allow them to accede to learnings they had never dreamed of, was ”an opportunity for people to excel”.

V. RESULTS • Phase One

1. Access to Pedagogic Devices As was previously mentioned, in the first phase (2003-2004) ”Let’s learn” produced and transmitted four courses: COURSE Childhood Development Small Business Development Sales and Customer Service Hygiene and Food Service

DURATION November 2003-March 2004 March-June 2004 June- August 2004 September-November 2004

111.461 students are recorded as registered for the first four courses. They represent only a part of those who followed the “Let’s learn“ Program in Guayaquil or in the rest of the country, for the courses were transmitted on open signal, national television and could, thus, be seen in all the provinces of Ecuador. “Let’s learn,” maintained an average rating of 22-23 points, weekly, without considering the rating of those channels that participated in the television broadcast,

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but were not measured by IBOPE10. According to the IBOPE rating analysis, corresponding to the period between April 2004 and February 2005, an average of 87.473 homes in Guayaquil, and 48.482 in Quito, weekly watched the television program “Let’s learn”11. This implied 135.955 homes, considering only the two main cities in the country. If we calculate an average family composition of 4.3 members per home, it is estimated that 584.607 persons, benefited, directly or indirectly, from the program. Based on similar ratings, one could estimate that 100.000 additional homes saw the Program, with an increase impact of 430.000 people, that is, a total of 1´014.800 persons in all of Ecuador. Most of the registered persons for the first four courses of “Let’s learn” were women (an average of 74.6%), within the age range of 26-45 years, living in urban, popular sectors of the city of Guayaquil. The Tutorial Center data base, reveals that for the first four courses, the registered ages ranged from 12 to 90, but the majority (76%) was concentrated between 19 and 45 years.

2. Uses and appraisals of the program from the beneficiaries perspective The television programs became significant to the students because the courses were able to connect with their expectations, their fears and their hopes and were valued predominantly from an emotional logic. Likewise, the stories in “Let’s learn” facilitated the viewers identification with the surroundings and the character’s traits, and elements, which were found gratifying. “We like that the program presented people like us from our neighborhood and economic situation. We are the people who profit most from the program. They use our own language, the same personal experiences; it makes you feel an equal”12 “Another theme that I liked was the chapter that dealt with the couple, from the beginning of the pregnancy, that were very close, shared everything, went to monthly controls (…) even for the baby’s birth they were together. I liked very much that the husband was so attentive to the wife’s needs (…) that usually doesn’t happen”13 In the Television program, the formats were subjected, above all, to the pedagogic strategies. Contents walked hand on hand with the manner in which they were presented. This implied much care on gender selection: if it was too attractive, the viewer could “hook “ himself to the story and not to the learning. “Let’s learn” used various types of TV formats, tightly linked to the strategies and objectives it meant to achieve, such as educational docureality, educational fiction, with testimonial segments, and spreading of educational material with information segments. Formats were almost always combined in the programs, although each course emphasized specific elements. 10 IBOPE is the agency that provides rating measurements in Ecuador, for channels and publicity agencies. 11 The average size family in Guayaquil is 4.3 persons. The homes in poverty condition, average 5.4; homes with no poverty, 3.9 persons. INEC, “Socio demographic and socio economic indicators for poverty conditions”. ENIGHU 2003-2004, p.39. 12 Focal Group at the Centro Artesanal Huancavilca, conducted by “Let’s learn”, 2004. 13 Focal Groups with diverse sectors and institutions, conducted by “Let’s learn”, 2004

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Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

The television programs were appraised as highly positive. Two out of three persons surveyed, graded the courses as “very interesting”, and the rest, as “interesting”. From qualitative approaches, very diverse organizations and people, who participated in the courses, considered that the different genders used: the real cases in the documentary formats, the dramatizations, etc. were very accurate. Some women continued working on their domestic chores as they watched the program and preferred to reinforce what they had seen, on the weekend, when they could pay greater attention; others worked on their chores before or after the program14. “I used to dedicate myself to washing or cooking… so if I was washing, I stopped and sat to watch the program. I returned to work during the breaks. If I was cooking, I returned to cook… ”15 As can be seen in the following table, a very high percentage of persons surveyed, graded the books as “very clear” and “clear”. This confirms that the objective, regarding the modification of material to fit the needs and level of the target groups, was reached. Percentage of registered person who said the book was Very Clear Clear Not so clear Not clear at all Total

Course 1

Course 2

Course 3

Course 4

49.8 45.3 2.9 2.0

46.1 48.7 3.6 1.6

36.6 57.9 4.1 1.4

54.8 41.1 3.6 0.5

100,00

100,00

100,00

100,00

Symbolically, the books were very valued, and as such, were extremely cared for, perhaps due to the scarce accessibility to them in popular sectors. “…some don’t work on the book, so as not to damage it, but when I give them a photocopy, then they work on the exercises”16 A total of 241 institutions participated in the first four courses. They were institutions with different motivations for participating. They also had different levels of involvement and varied uses for of the Program.

3. Other actors and other appraisals The Program also had repercussions among the citizens. A quantitative study17 by the Public Opinion and Social Studies Institute, from June 12, 2004, conducted at the end of the course on “Small Business Development” -that is, almost 14 In each revised focal group, there was at least one member who was registered but declared that he did not watch the programs. Groups had between 5 and 10 participants. Focal Groups, diverse sectors and institutions from courses 1 and 2, conducted in 2004 by “Let’s learn”. 15 LOPEZ, MURTAGH y JIMENEZ. “Descripción y análisis de la recepción y consumo del primer curso Promotor del Desarrollo Integral Infantil del Proyecto de Tele-Educación e Información a Distancia ´Aprendamos´. Una oportunidad para superarnos”. Thesis. Casa Grande University, Faculty of Communication Mónica Herrera, 2004, p. 220. 16 MORENO, MAGDALENA. Coordinator of Asociación de Voluntarias y Afines Sociales, ASOVAS, Interview, 2004 17 It was a qualitative research by Informe Confidencial, in the city of Guayaquil during June 5-13, 2004. The research was applied in homes, to 1.840 persons, older than 18, with validity for the entire Canton, and a 95% reliability, with an error margin of +/- 3%, with a sample method Polistaged/Random Route.

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seven months after the Program’s initiation- pointed out that 70% of the people in Guayaquil had heard about the “Let’s learn” Program. According to the same study, 30% of those who had heard about the existence of the Program considered that it benefited them “very much”, 30% that it benefited them “some”. 68% said they had seen the program at “sometime” on television. Among the ones who said they had seen the program “sometime”, 50% said it was “very good”, 17% said it was “good” and nobody rated it negatively. The innovative nature of “Let’s Learn” has been acknowledged and its social outreach has been positively evaluated. A television critic, with high standards requirements, pointed out in the largest circulation newspaper, both locally and nationally: “The “Let’s learn Program” that the Municipality of Guayaquil and the Ecuadorean Association of Television Channels inaugurated this week is not the first educational program produced by a state Institution, but it is the first production of this nature that inscribes itself in a global educational project, with clear social objectives (…) One good news: it does not resemble anything the State has created in production matters for television so far, which has always fluctuated between direct propaganda, empty rhetoric and boring oficialism (…) The program grabs all the didactic resources that television offers (…) It is agile, versatile, and clear.(…) ”Let’s learn” is an impeccable product for television. It is very difficult to find these levels of excellence in Ecuadorean commercial television18

4. Learning The former information was complemented with explorations of a qualitative nature. It seems that key learnings centered on breaking stereotypes or rendering them relative; on achieving significant learnings; on new performances related with the subjects and the contents approached by the courses. “Let me tell you, I learned a lot: to forgive their mischief, to treat them better, to explain things to them instead of punishing them physically. Because they go through stages, developing, and they start understanding…”19 Jenny R. “And now I am thinking more about how to start my business, in what place, how and in what way I am going to place the tables and do the advertising…that is all written very clearly in the book”20 Bella M. “I have not registered, but we watch it and she has learned to fix some things in the house that I, as a man, used to do. Now she doesn’t ask me”21 Lider S. 18 19 20 21

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AGUILAR, ROBERTO, Crónica de TV. “Forma y fondo de un proyecto de televisión pública”, Diario El Universo, Seccion B, november 23 2003, p. 6, VERGARA, ARTURO. Testimonios 2005. Programa “Aprendamos”. Jenny R, mother and student. “Child Development” Course. VERGARA, ARTURO, op.cit. Bella M. Student, Course “Small Business Development” Testimony. Tutorial Center, may 3, 2007

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From a representational analysis, the Television Program, “Let’s learn. An opportunity to excel,” has been an experiment and an experience, in the best sense of the terms. It explored virgin territory in the country and proposed learning cycles, which compared to national commercial television, seemed fresh and innovative in many ways. One could say that the subjects of the initial courses were “typical”, and that other educational instances had delved on them before. But the way the subject was approached and treated, together with the abundant audiovisual resources, turn “Let’s learn” into a program of professional quality and of much additional value in the field of a citizenship in development22. The support given by the reference groups closest to the students-family, institutions, communities- contributed to learning in the first four courses in the “Let’s learn” Program. “We met with the girls at the office and started answering. We had a tiny television set for watching at the office…”23 The certificates given, when exams were approved, did not always represent an important motivation to participate in “Let’s learn”. The persons, who followed the Program and completed the exercises in the book, then had the option to take –or not- the exam that enabled them to receive the certificate. Some of the reasons to opt for the exam were: self evaluation and confirmation of what they had learned; the certificate itself; and the emotional effect provided by institutions, organizations or businesses when they monitored students registered through an institution. Arguments given for not taking the exam included: “not feeling prepared”, “lack of time”, or “lack of information”. This situation seems to hide a disinterest for the certificate itself, but at the same time, a fear of “interrogation”, fear inherited or constructed in formal learning settings24. “Against wind and tide, we took the final exam and it has helped us to excel, and to have a goal which we thought was not within our reach”25 One of the factors that contributed to learning among the students- and that is directly articulated to the “Let’s learn” model- is the support and the institutional fulfillment of the obligations assumed by the Municipality of Guayaquil and its strategic allies: the Ecuadorean Television Channels Association, the Ecuador Foundation, the Chamber of Industries and the participation by FORMAR. Both, in practical terms and from the users perspectives, the above mentioned factor was evident in the regularity of the televised transmissions; in the production of the good quality texts within anticipated time frames and at no charge; in the accessibility to the registration points; in the availability of the tutorial service; in the support, during the exams and during the ceremonies for handing out certificates. ¨Let’s learn: an opportunity to excel” became a Program one could trust. 22 TUTIVEN, CARLOS. Informe “Análisis de las políticas de representación de los Programas de Televisión de Aprendamos”, 2006. 23 VERGARA, ARTURO, op.cit. Guerdy G. Biologist, school teacher. 24 VERGARA, ARTURO, Testimonios 2005 “Programa Aprendamos”. 25 VERGARA, ARTURO, op.cit. Alexandra M

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• Second Phase

1. Access to the Pedagogic Tools Between December 2004 and December 2007, “Let’s learn” produced and transmitted four new courses and retransmitted six (four from the First Phase and two from the new ones), as can be seen in the following table26:

The 264.419 persons registered for this period, represented, as in the First Phase, only a part of the benefited population in Guayaquil, This was due to the fact that the Program was transmitted through the eight channels of open circuit television, and so its real impact can be estimated in 2´000,000 viewers in the whole country. During the Second Phase, there were some important changes regarding the profile of the registered students. In the new courses, the percentage of women continued as the most representative of the targeted population, with an average of 62% of inscriptions, while 38% were men. With regard to the age of the students, the most outstanding change was the increment of minors-less than 18 years of age-who registered, from 5,40% in Phase One to 16.45% in Phase Two. With regards to marital status, the greatest percentage of persons registered in all of the courses declared themselves “single”. The profile of the students, for the four retransmitted courses also exhibited important variations. The number of women registered, between 26-45 years, decreased from 4.6% in Phase One, to 48,9%. At the same time, the number of total men registered, increased from 25,4% in the First Phase, to 35% in Phase Two. It is especially relevant that the number of registered men for the retransmission of the Promotor of Child Development, increased more than100%. The percentage of registered men and women under 18 years of age was also incremented, from 6,92% and 5,38% (Phase 1) to 22,26% and 17,95% (Phase 2) for the retransmitted courses. On the other hand, the number of women, older 26 FORMAR was in charge of the production of two of the new courses of the second phase: “Computation and Internet for all” and “Citizenship: An Opportunity for All”.

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than 50 years, increased from 5,3% in Phase 1 to 9,34% in Phase 2. The marital status of those registered, was varied and responded to the subject of the course being transmitted. “For lots of people, it has been the hope of being able to study again. Look, I know of dreams-in housemaids who work since they were 15, and are not granted the permission to study. They deceive them, tell them that they will be allowed the permission to study, but when the time comes, nothing. This is very valuable to them. . I even told one of my friends, who just turned 18, to go. We registered with her and so far, she continues…because she expects something more, she is not always going to be a maid, she will do something else. She is only 18”27 The promotional and educational strategy of “Let’s learn” ratified television as the information means through which 84% of the students learn about the courses. “I found out from television. Afterwards, some coordinators walk the neighborhoods, talking about registrations, when they start, and they tell us that we only need an ID”28 A total of 286 institutions of varied nature also participated in the Second Phase of the Program, through signed agreements of inter institutional cooperation. The registration of students linked to these institutions, (35.461) represented 13,14% of total inscriptions.

2. Use and appraisal of the program

from the perspective of the beneficiaries

Data gathered on the study modalities used by the students who registered individually, or through institutional agreements, reveals that most of them watched the courses alone; nevertheless, on certain occasions, they were accompanied by their families, friends, co workers or fellow students. In fewer occasions they were accompanied by a tutor, assigned by the institution. Some of those registered, used two o more study modalities, depending on the course or its schedule. “At the beginning it did not call my attention, but each chapter shown, made me get interested in the care not only of the family, but of citizenship. I always got together with three of my buddies at work to analize each chapter and we always had different opinions and on the basis of each other´s opinion, we put into practice the ideas, so the client would always be satisfied”29

27 Testimony collected at the Tutorial Center. Mireya, September 18, 2006. 28 Focus group with adolescents at a CAMI Municipal Centers of Integral Attention. AE, december 11, 2006. 29 Testimony. Visiting Book. Alfredo, august 21, 2006.

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According to the information gathered at the Tutorial Center, around 98% of the students graded the television program as “very interesting” or “interesting”. More than 90% of those registered, graded the books as “very clear” or “clear”. One of the innovations in the Second Phase was the field tutors, who worked mostly on the Municipal Centers of Integral Attention. One of the course’s tutors reports the following anecdotes30: “One resident from Bastión says that she has managed to install an electric outlet -application of the course-. To understand the socket bit was a little harder, but despite her fear, she was finally able to light the bulb. When she ran her first trial, all her family left the house, afraid that she might cause a short circuit in the entire house.” “In Chongón, a young couple had constructed the sub floor of their house and hoped to watch the program on how to go on to the next stages” In addition to the field tutors, the other modalities were continued by telephone, internet and individual consultation. An average of 47% of students used these means to clear doubts or raise questions. Students also carried out practical tutorials to reinforce their abilities in the use of computational and internet programs. 98% of surveyed students declared that they had carried out these practices, although they had taken place in different settings. The function of the Tutorial Center in the administration of exams and certificates remained the same as in the previous phase. The pedagogic consultation, the grading, the tests´ statistical control, and the publication of results were daily actions carried out by the pedagogic and administrative team of “Let’s learn”. With regards to the certificates, 43% mentioned that they will present them at their work place. 35 % will exhibit them at their home, 13% will use them to improve their curriculum vitae and their self esteem and 7% will show them at their study place. Two results that merit recognition are the Agreements achieved, both with the Health Division and the Urbanism, Valuation and Registration Division (DUAR), from the Municipality of Guayaquil. In the case of DUAR, the presentation of one or two storied house blueprints, inserted in the “Self Construction and Maintenance of Popular Homes” course, allowed the student, who had approved the course, to obtain the permit to begin construction without paying taxes. With regard to the Municipal Hygiene Direction, the Unit exonerates “Let’s learn” students, who present their certificate proving that they have passed the course on “Hygiene and Food Handling”, from taking the obligatory exam required by the Municipality to those who wish to open food selling businesses. 30 CAMBA, Ildelira. Informe de Tutorías del Curso “Autoconstrucción y Mantenimiento de la Vivienda Popular”, may 2007

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3. Other Actors and Appraisals As in the First Phase, “Let’s learn” received a favorable welcome from opinion leaders linked to the media: “The country’s commercial television has been vital to ´Let’s Learn´, which goes to show that when you bet on quality programs, with social and educational purposes, ´where there is will, there is a way”31 …Not all who live in Guayaquil are conscious of the fact that Guayaquil also needs us as citizens. That is why, within the framework of the “Let’s learn” Program, one should applaud the edition of a beautiful publication of the course, “Citizenship. An opportunity for all”. Faced with this project and process, there is only one answer: to participate…”32 Through interviews and surveys, the teams from the television channels also voiced their favorable opinion regarding “Let’s learn”. It is also interesting to note the support, given by the Ministry of Education and Culture, to use the text and video of “Citizenship; An Opportunity for All”, in the senior years of all public and private high schools in the Guayaquil Canton. This agreement implied the inscription of a total of 24.800 students during the years 2006-2007.

4. Learning Information gathered from the students, revealed that during this Second Phase, “Let’s learn” facilitated the acquisition of new information, practices and attitudes, in accordance with the learning objectives defined for the new four courses. This data also validated the relation between the programs´ content and the daily situations of the targeted population. “The citizenship course invites us to ponder on how to become better neighbors. I have begun meeting with others in the neighborhood; we are starting by getting to know each other. We are identifying our strengths and weaknesses and we have already begun asking about setting up alarms. I have lived in the place for 15 years, but did not know my neighbors, had no communication with them. Since the course, I realized that I could get organized and get in touch. I felt the need to face together the neighborhood problems. Even my son, who is 10 years old, is always watching out for the program and has also made efforts to unite the neighbors”33 “Congratulations for your book and television program to teach citizens how not to build their houses incorrectly. I live in Santo Domingo and every body there thinks he is a “foreman”, but nobody knows anything. Thank-you for warning us about earthquakes and house security”34 31 32 33 34

RICAURTE, CESAR. La experiencia de Aprendamos o la TV educativa que cambia vidas”. El Universo, March 25, 2007. Show Seccion, p.2. PAREDES, WILLINGTON. Más ciudadanía para Guayaquil. El Expreso, June 11, 2006,l p. 5. Testimony collected at the Tutorial Center. Marcela E., august 20, 2007. Testimony collected at the Tutorial Center, internet. José P, February 12, 2007.

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At an individual level, the support given by the family and the community was also one the factors that contributed to the student’s learning. To this type of support was added the one provided by institutions that had an agreement with the students who had registered through that modality. The organizations have pointed out some of the variations they introduced so that the beneficiaries could make better use of the courses: • Placing the course within another training and educational program that already existed. • Having flexible schedules for employees/students so that they could follow the course within working hours. • Assigning one person to direct and monitor the Program. • Assigning trainer/tutors to do follow ups or support those registered. • Creating a special training section, building on the courses´ subject. The use of subtitles for persons with a hearing disability , incorporated to the courses, “Self Construction and Popular Homes Maintenance “ and “Health Guide for the Family and the Community”, was perceived as a benefit, not only for people with the disability but also for the population in general. Likewise, the fact that all the allies kept the commitments assumed among them, guaranteed the delivery, within agreed time limits, of both, the television programs and the quality texts. It also made possible the efficiency in the daily management of the registration, evaluation and certification processes. All of this obtained the people’s recognition, and in generous fashion, they permanently encouraged the “Let’s learn” team to maintain their commitment: I think that if all of us would keep us informed and would learn more than what the Program “Let’s learn” has taught us, then a lot of people would live better”35 “Best comments to the entire team from “Let’s learn”. Don´t stop before anything or anybody”36

35 Testimony collected at the Tutorial Center. Daniela P, december 5, 2007. 36 Testimony collected at the Tutorial Center. Rosa R., december 6, 2007.

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VI. CONCLUSIONS 1. “Let’s learn” was one of the strategies developed by the Municipality of Guaya-

quil to reach, in a massive manner, the most deprived population, who face exclusion, poverty and unemployment. As such, it is part of an ampler policy that serves as proof of the new roles that the Guayaquil local government is assuming. In these roles, with a new perspective of public management, new competencies have become its responsibility in the areas of education, health, reactivation of development and production, construction of citizenship and strengthening of social network.

2. “Let’s learn” became an interesting and unprecedented project of inter institutional collaboration. The strategic alliance established among the Municipality of Guayaquil, the Association of Ecuadorean Television Channels (ACTVE)- in its beginnings -and later eight open circuit commercial channels-, the Ecuador Foundation and the Guayaquil Chamber of Industry is, in the local space a good example of the manner in which policies tending to end bureaucracy are constructed, and social responsability increased from the private sector and civil society. 3. The opportunity to work in a socially responsible project, oriented to diminishing the gap of knowledge present among the different social stratum, with the experience and professionalism of FORMAR to carry it out, were some of the defining elements for the television channels and the other allies involved.

4. The project management was supported, at all instances, by the leadership

of a local government that recovered its role as a regulator of collective life. And in that role, conceived the original idea, its implementation, and financing, with an decentralized model that promoted the participation of other actors, with new organizational forms that responded more efficiently to the needs of its citizens. The participation of the third sector was part of a new perspective to face the problems of poverty and social exclusion in the city.

5. The management style-initially extremely flexible, and later more systematicwas the key to respond both to the learning needs of the targeted group, and to the requirements of the local government’s educational policy. It allowed the development of alliances that provided the technical and political support the Project demanded. The inter disciplinary work that “Let’s learn” implemented, in order to design its educational and communicational products, with municipal academic civil society, and business organizations and programs, generated a truly learning organization; and it situated the collective work as an important space for personal interaction and professional debate, giving the Program its viability and legitimacy.

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6. “Let’s learn” emerged as an answer to the learning needs of adults, and

above all, women, from popular sectors in the canton of Guayaquil; nevertheless, other groups joined in: small business men, people involved in client service, in food manipulation, high school students, young university students, members of community organizations, persons with disabilities, guilds, and social organizations, among others.

7. The project not only emerged from recognition of both, cultural diversity and

the complex processes of integration and organization in the city, but it revalued those perspectives. It also made evident the validity and relevance of distance education trough television, as a strategy to turn the access to information, that is relevant to the people, into a more democratic procedure. “Let’s learn” generated the construction of significant knowledge for many dimensions in life, confirming that the inclusion of excluded sectors should be a central axis in educational projects.

8. The management of the three axis: knowledge, practices and attitudes were key to the achievement of the objectives and the creation of the educational tools. Particularly important were the preliminary studies among the beneficiaries. They helped to determine which areas the courses should cover and to guarantee ratings and demand (both important considerations for the project’s continuity). As a distance educational project, maintaining the relation among devices (book-program-tutorial) was important to the Program’s coherence.

9. The innovations introduced to make contents accessible to people with visual and hearing disabilities, Ecuadorean emmigrants, and others -through the use of subtitles, audio recordings and links in the web pages of the Municipality of Guayaquil and the Ecuador Foundation- increased, potentially, the advantages of information technologies for educational objectives and characterized the Program as inclusive for all. 10. The systematization and self evaluation, developed during the First Phase was notably participative. It incorporated multiple national and international voices and transformed itself into a highly demanding process, both formative and enriching, thanks to the Exterior Support Evaluating Team and to the consultation of IIPE/UNESCO, Buenos Aires. The latter contributed significantly to the development of local capacities in project evaluations. 11. The application of a monitoring system, formative in nature, offered relevant and convenient documentation for agile decision taking. Systematic identification of the Program’s achievements and weaknesses, in the pedagogic and management dimensions, with the purpose of improving it, became one of the pillars of the program’s sustainability. 12. All the lessons that FORMAR gave us as a legacy were the base for a successful technological transference and for the development of local abilities in the Second Phase, expressed in the production of videos and texts that maintain the previous levels of excellence.

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13. To give continuity and to invigorate the experience of the municipal program, “Let’s learn”, requires working towards its institutionalization, as part of local public policy that seeks inclusion in educational opportunities. It seems interesting to consider the possibility of developing “Let’s learn” as a national educational project, articulated to a consensual policy. Such a project requires a multiplicity of actors, form the public, private and third sector.

14. “Let’s learn” could be one of the alternatives of quality educational television for the Latin American Region, a relevant fact given the challenges still present in order to bring more equity to the educational field and in order to improve the quality of life of popular sectors, using television as a means, based on its penetration capacity and its massive range.

“Faced with the problems of poverty and exclusion, solutions were sought, trough the promotion giving a central role to education and generating through this means, better conditions for labor placement, the implementation of productive projects and impulse to social initiatives. Thus, a public policy, social and educational in nature, is reflected as an appropriate road to generate processes and spaces for citizenship construction”37 Nerio Neirotti Coordinator of Programs and Projects of Evaluation IIPE/UNESCO Buenos Aires

37 NEIROTTI, NERIO. “Aprendamos. Una oportunidad para superarnos. Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión. Informe de Sistematización y Auto Evaluación. Primera Fase (2003-2004)”. Prólogo. Guayaquil, 2007.

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ANNEX 1

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY OF THE “LET’S LEARN” PROGRAM The evaluation of “Lets learn”, for the First Phase, was conceived as a learning instrument It was expected that the latter would lead to understanding, in all its magnitude, the special aspects of the Program’s management, characterized by a progressive construction, evident in the actions, procedures and processes that were evaluated. The evaluation design introduced the notion of “a net of factors of multiple incidence” in the production of results and impact by “Let’s learn” as a social project. This net of factors could be identified in the changes observed in the population and its context, during the program or at its end. The self evaluation, as an internal process of systematization, supported by external agents, was the modality chosen to meet these objectives. The self evaluation sought to generate explanations for the results achieved and for the impacts generated by the Program. It was necessary that it offer answers, increasingly rigorous, to the different types of questions that emerged parallel to the development of the different phases of the Project. Ms. Nerio Neirotti, of Evaluation Programs and Projects Coordinator from the International Institute for Educational Planning at IIPE/UNESCO (Buenos Aires Regional Headquarters) guided the evaluation team to raise a set of questions that would delve into the meaning of the evaluation and that would be the result of a thoughtful process from the key actors in the Program38. 1. Why and how there emerges a Project with the profile of “Let’s learn” from a local government that is not directly involved with the formal educational system and within a context of poverty and social exclusion? 2. How and with what results was it possible to articulate the collaboration between the “Let’s learn” Program, the internal contexts (municipal instances) and the external ones of the Municipality of Guayaquil (organisms of civil society), and the FORMAR Argentinean group? 3. What basic concepts supported the initiation of the Program, as well as the processes for the production of material (television programs and texts), the use of the educational tools, the follow up/monitoring, the promotion and diffusion? What modifications were introduced and why? 4. What products resulted from the mentioned processes and what are their general characteristics? 5. Who, how, where, when and why answered to “Let’s learn”? What meanings and valuations had such responses from the perspective of the Program’s and from other, unanticipated perspectives? 6. How has the Program become known with regard to original objectives? 38 The technical assistance of IIPE/UNESCO Buenos Aires was materialized in four workshops in Guayaquil and electronic communications during all project.

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The key questions acted as a base for the definition of the dimensions to be considered in the matrix39.The latter contained a decomposition of the general and specific questions of each of the components in the dimension. The components were: sub-dimension, variable, indicators, analysis unit, techniques, instruments and source.

The focus of the systematization and of the self evaluation, integrated both the opinions and the experience of the participants, researched qualitatively, and the descriptions of the statistical data. This combination privileged the triangulation of sources, techniques and interpretations and responded to the multiple purposes of the evaluation. The most convenient technique to approach the opinion and the experience of the beneficiaries, was the survey, applied to a sample of 1126 persons, older than 18 years of age that respected the probabilistic representation of those registered for each of the courses. The most used qualitative techniques were individual and group interviews, focal groups, representational analysis of the television programs, document analysis, testimonies and workshops. From the results of the Systematization and the Self-evaluation of “Let’s learn”, there emerged various reasons to make a new valuation of the Program in the Second Phase40: 1. Continuity: the systematization and self evaluation carried out, considered only the First Phase of the Program development (October 2003November 2004) and it was necessary to rely on relevant documentation regarding the effect of the intervention after those dates. 2. Social and municipal auditing: It was necessary to present documents and results to account for the investment between 2006 and 2007; likewise for the legitimacy and transparence of the local management. 3. Management control: it was necessary to know if the products, processes and results maintained the same standards as in the First Phase, regarding coverage and quality, and if they responded to the basic needs of the population from the perspective of the targeted public. 39 Greater details about the Matrix and the Evaluation Methodology can be consulted in Volume I. “Aprendamos. Una Oportunidad para supearnos. Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión. Informe de Sistematización y Auto Evaluación. Primera Fase (2003-2004)”. 40 T he advise from IIPE/UNESCO did not encompass the evaluation design of the Program´s Second Phase. Nevertheless, the experience acquired during the First Phase, served as a platform for the development of local capabilities in the monitoring of the Second Phase.

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4. Institutionality: it was necessary to valuate if the program was assumed, in the long run in the municipal budget and if the links between the engaged actors were maintained, with the purpose of designing strategies of financial and political sustainability. 5. Technological transference: it was important to explore if there was grounding occurring at a national level and if there were new capacities being developed as a result of the course production, without the advice of the international consultant 6. Development of new capacities: it was imperative to know if virtuous circles and learning communities had been created to extend the benefits of the program to other groups; and if there was enough cohesion among the inter institutional teams for networking, which would point to continuation in time. Additionally, it was pertinent to explore if the Program had had the capacity to produce innovations 7. Strategic planning and projection: working from what had been achieved, it was necessary to explore the future possibilities of positioning and extending the proposal, in order to work on its feasibility. 8. Socialization: since innovative experiences such as “Let’s learn”, should be shared at an international level in order to discuss the lessons learned, it was necessary to have pertinent, available documentation that would allow its application in other contexts. Considering all the eight aspects pointed out, the decision was then taken, to make adjustments in the evaluation design used up to that time for following up the Program, and “monitoring” was proposed as the most adequate model for responding to the needs mentioned above. The purpose of the proposed monitoring was defined in the following manner: “To carry out a monitoring process, formative in nature, of the Program ´Let’s learn´. An opportunity to excel´ applied phase, with the purpose of providing periodic feedback to the Inter-institutional Committee (Municipality, DASE, Ecuador Foundation) on the results achieved”. Monitoring was developed at local level, by the same personnel working for “Let’s learn” (self monitoring), taking as reference the great initial effort that was carried out in the First Phase, in terms of conceiving and designing the Program. This monitoring, that was started on March 2006, offered information that allowed the team to verify if the objectives were being met, throughout the Second Phase; it also permitted decision taking processes to improve its actions. Considering the typology of research objectives, suggested by Patton41, the monitoring proposed had a formative characteristic. In conceptual terms, it was seen as an evaluation of an ongoing process. It was assumed as “a procedure through which we verify the efficiency and the effectiveness of a program’s execution, by the identification of its achievements and weaknesses” in a periodic manner42. 41 PATTON, MICHAEL QUINN. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. California: Sage Publications, 2002. 42 NEIROTTI, NERIO. Evaluación de Políticas Sociales. 8th Regional Course on Educational Policies Formulation and Planning. IIPE-Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, October, 2005, p.60

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The process is oriented to signal the strengths and weaknesses of the Program, with the purpose of improving it. From these methodological references, the follow up in “Let’s learn” was understood as an interactive process, adaptive and repetitive, that used its monitoring to show the new conditions in the Program, as compared to the First Phase; it researches the possible factors involved in such changes, and, when necessary, makes the adaptations that will permit achieving the intended goals. The dimensions and sub dimensions to be evaluated in the Second Phase were based- in its simpler forms- on those defined in the First Phase. Nevertheless, they suffered some changes regarding, mainly, the moment of the program’s execution. From this perspective, they pretended, rather, to demonstrate the state of the program situation, in terms of its weaknesses and strengths, in order to make decisions to improve its effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy. With this objective in mind, the questions that guided the design for the monitoring process were: 1. What are the present conditions and/ or factors that permit the support of the program, and which, among them, need strengthening? 2. What type of local characteristics has been acquired for the development of new products and services? 3. What team characteristics generate cohesion and motivation? 4. Are inter institutional coordination actions being taken at the public, private, civil society and international organisms level? Of what type? 5. Has the Program transcended, and is it known in other environments? How, and which? 6. What adjustments have been made for the promotion of the Program? What effect has it had on the users and their allies? 7. Are there changes in the registration, evaluation and certification processes? Which? In which way do they raise difficulties or benefit individuals or institutions? 8. Has the profile of the beneficiaries varied? Are the standards, in terms of coverage, maintained? 9. Is the pedagogic strategy still valid? Have modifications been introduced? 10. Has individual and institutional learning varied? How? In what way?

Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

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The elements contemplated in the design of the matrix format, were the same as those established for the self-evaluation in the First Phase43; the perspective integrated, again, testimonies from the participants and statistical data, provided by the Tutorial Center. This facilitated triangulation of information and its respective interpretation. As in the First Phase, the survey was the technical tool most convenient to approach the opinion and the experience of the beneficiaries, through a sample of 100 persons registered for the course. The qualitative techniques most used were: individual interviews, focal groups, testimonies and workshops.

43 See Attachments 1 y 2, Volume I: “Aprendamos. Una oportunidad para superarnos. Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión. Informe de Sistematización y Auto Evaluación. Primera Fase (2003-2004)”

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Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil

CONTACTS OF THE “LET’S LEARN” PROGRAM M.I. Municipalidad de Guayaquil Clemente Ballén y Pichincha Telf. 593 4 2599 100 www.guayaquil.gov.ec Educadora Marcia Gilbert de Barba Concejala Presidenta Comisión de Acción Social y Educación Coordinadora General de “Aprendamos” Dirección de Acción Social y Educación Clemente Ballén y Pichincha Edificio Martín Avilés Telf. 593 4 2599 100 Ps. Roberto Vernimmen Barriga Director Acción Social y Educación Lcda. Marjorie Moscoso Asesora Administrativa Lcda. Jenny Poveda Jefa de Cooperación Técnica Lcda. Ana Luisa Vallejo Jefa de Unidad de Marketing Social Fundación Ecuador Carchi 704 y 9 de Octubre Telfs.: 593 4 2296 606 - 2296 607 - 2296 609 www.fe.org.ec Ing. Pedro Aguayo Cubillo Presidente Ejecutivo Eco. Miguel Ángel Valdivieso Coordinador General Aprendamos [email protected] Lcda. Gilda Macías Coordinadora Interinstitucional Ps. Cl. Magali Merchán Coordinadora Pedagógica Eco. María Fermina Pazmiño Coordinadora de Extensión

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Aprendamos [una oportunidad para superarnos] Primer Programa Ecuatoriano de Educación por Televisión

Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil