Sri Sumana Maha Vidyalaya

C-DELTA Implementation for Teachers and Students at the Secondary School Level in Sri Lanka – Phase 3

FINAL REPORT

G.D. Asitha Sandun Gamage

R / Sri Sumana Maha Vidyalaya

Mudduwa, Ratnapura

Sabaragamuwa Province.

School Coordinating Teacher (SCT)

2022-10-24

Introduction:

Henpitigedara Gnanaseeha Thero moved to Rathnapura in 1934. After that, Sri Sumana Vidyalaya was started by Gnanaseeha Thero, along with Sri Sumana Pirivena, with the donation of Mr. A.C. Atigala. Sri Sumana Vidyalaya can be introduced as the first Buddhist school that operated separately from the missionary education system that existed at that time. On January 3, 1961, Sri Sumana Vidyalaya was taken over by the government, and later it was converted into a government college. Sri Sumana Junior College was started on April 28, 1967, and later our school was named Sri Sumana Maha Vidyalaya. At present, our school belongs to the 1AB category and consists of 735 students and 49 teachers.

First, I learned about the C-DELTA project at the inaugural session of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education Program (PGDE) held on February 18, 2022 at the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). In this session, the team leader of the C-DELTA project explained how the previous stages of the project had been implemented in Sri Lankan schools and the benefits received by students and teachers. After getting an understanding of the importance of this project, I decided to join the C-DELTA project on the same day.

On day two, I met our school principal and was able to inform him of the advantages of the C-DELTA project for the school and the school community. After getting an understanding of the C-DELTA and its impact on the school community, he permitted me to implement the project at our school successfully. (The project proposal is attached as Annexure 01).

Activities planned and conducted:

Date	Activity	Description
2022 – 04 – 26	Obtained permission to implement the C-DELTA program in the school. (Annexure – 02)	As the first activity, I informed the principal of the school and the teacher who is in charge of the information and communication technology (ICT) subject about the C-DELTA program and its benefits for the students and teachers in the school. After that, the principal gave his full support and approval for the project. I informed the ICT teacher of the school and she also gave her maximum support to implement and succeed in this project in our school.
2022 – 05 – 05	Conducted awareness sessions for teachers. (Annexure – 03)	On this day the staff meeting was held. I requested permission from the principal to talk to teachers, and at the end of the meeting, the principal allowed me to talk to the teachers. I explained the importance of the C-DELTA program to teachers for their careers as well as in their day-to-day lives.
2022 – 08 – 16	Conducted Awareness sessions for students. (Annexure – 04)	On day three, the morning assembly was organized by Grade 8-B. After discussing this with the class teacher, I got the opportunity to talk to students at the assembly and explain the importance of the C-DELTA project. Further, on the same day, I conducted an awareness session for the advanced-level students during the class-circle meeting.
2022 – 08 – 19	Registered students and teachers in the C-Delta project. (Annexure – 05)	A-Level students registered for the C-DELTA project after school. However, the majority of the students and teachers did not have email accounts. Therefore, I had to first assist them in creating their email addresses. I then provided them with the necessary instructions for signing up on the C-DELTA website. On the same day, WhatsApp numbers were also gathered from both teachers and students.
2022 – 08 – 23	Created a C_DELTA WhatsApp Group (Annexure – 06)	I was able to create a WhatsApp group for both teachers and students.
2022 – 08 – 24 and 2022 – 10 – 25	Studying the DELTA modules by teachers. (Annexure – 07)	Teachers studied the C-DELTA modules in their free time. They stayed after school and sat for the post-test.
2022 – 08 – 29 and 2022 – 10 – 10	Studying the DELTA modules by students. (Annexure – 07)	Some students stayed after school and engaged in activities related to the C-DELTA modules and some students were engaged in activities at home. .
2022 – 10 – 18	Awarded C-DELTA certificates to teachers and students in the morning assembly. (Annexure – 08, 09)	On the last day, the morning assembly was organized by grade 11- students and the principal awarded the certificates to both teachers and the students who completed the C-DELTA program

Usage of C-DELTA by staff and students:

The enrollment of teachers and students in the C-DELTA program is represented by the below pie chart.

The enrollment of teachers and students (gender-wise) for the C-DELTA program is shown in the pie chart below.

According to the above pie chart, the majority of the teachers who registered for the C-DELTA program were female, and the majority of the students were male.

The following pie chart represents the number of students who completed the C-DELTA program, and the number of students who did not complete the C-DELTA program.

The below bar chart shows students’ and teachers’ grades depending on their pre- and post-test marks.

According to the above bar chart, most of the students and teachers scored between 40 and 59 on the pre-test and post-test.

The following graph shows the certificates obtained by the students and teachers at the end of the C-DELTA program according to the level of knowledge obtained.

Information about students and teachers who have completed the C-DELTA program

Badges earned by completing the modules

School-level integration of C-DELTA with subjects/lessons:

After introducing the students to the types of numbers contained in the lesson “Types of numbers and number patterns” related to the subject of 6th-grade mathematics, I gave some short questions to the students to answer. After evaluating the answers given by the students, I used the “concept maps” that I learned in the C-DELTA program to explain the different types of numbers again. By doing that, I was able to improve the student’s understanding of the lesson and prepare the background for them to compare the numbers. At the end of the lesson, I gave them another worksheet to write the answers on, and when I evaluated those sheets, I was able to identify that the majority of the students had understood the subject more correctly. (Annexure – 10).

I instructed the A-level students to use the internet to search for “number systems” related to the General Information Technology (GIT) subject. Before using this activity, all the students searched for educational material only using the Google search engine. I explained to students that there are separate search engines for searching educational material, and I encouraged them to search for the material under the above topic using the search engines www.refseek.com and www.base-search.net. Finally, students were able to find a set of articles with more educational content compared with the Google search engine. However, by using this search engine, I was able to motivate students to use the self-learning computer at our school to search for educational information using educational search engines rather than the Google search engine. (Annexure 11)

Special Activities/Events/Projects conducted in relation to C-DELTA:

As a result of the C-DELTA implementation, I was able to establish an Innovation Association in our school. I initially asked students about new inventions, and I understood that they did not have a clear idea about it. After that, I motivated the members of the society to create a short presentation using the knowledge that they gained through the C-DELTA program related to the use of search engines. Students were able to understand the concept of innovation and create some innovations. As a result of this, the students presented the specifics of the new inventions that they have created in the world thus far. Finally, the students were allowed to make a new invention for the new invention exhibition that was held last month in our school. The principal awarded certificates to the students at the end of the exhibition. (Annexure 12)

New inventions created by students

Effects/Impacts of C-DELTA:

This year, I targeted advanced-level students and teachers for the C-DELTA program, and I wanted to improve computer literacy significantly among teachers and students in our school. I had never used a learning management system (LMS), and C-DELTA was my first experience with a learning management system (LMS). The experiences related to the C-DELTA LMS interface supported A-level students to develop their online learning practices related to General Information Technology (GIT) and General English programs. It seems that students who engaged in the C-DELTA program were more efficient in online activities than ever before. Also, teachers who have completed the C-DELTA program were more efficient in participating in the online ICDAL program implemented by the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Education Department. Further, they told me that the C-DELTA program helped them a lot to complete the ICDAL course.

Due to the pandemic situation, as teachers, we had to face many difficulties when using distance learning methods. However, after completing C_DELTA program, teachers were motivated to use technology tools in their teaching-learning process. As a School Coordinating Teacher, I was able to practice innovative things in my teaching- learning process also. As the first experiences of C-DELTA integration, I used Mind- Map concept in Grade 6 Mathematics subject and it was very helpful for students to understand very difficult concept in the subject and I received a very positive impact from the students on it.

Therefore, currently, I am planning to conduct further awareness programs based on the students’ responses. And I also intend to educate teachers about the benefits of using mind maps and how they can be used in their teaching-learning process.

Though I am an ICT teacher in our school, the C-DELTA project gave me novel experiences to develop my professional skills as well as my Digital Skills. By studying the C-DELTA modules, I was able to get practical knowledge on how to use the internet properly.

Challenges

There were a number of challenges that have been faced during the C_DELTA implementation

It was rather difficult to manage the activities of the project due to time- to time power cuts that occurred in the country, I had to allocate time for teachers and students to use the ICT lab
Due to lack of resources in the school ICT lab, I divided students into small groups and sometimes had to use my personal laptop to do some activities in the C-DELTA project.
Lack of ICT and English knowledge of students made some problems when they engaged in C-DELTA modules. Due to this matter, most of the students failed the pre-test. However, by using Google Translator, they were able to get meaning of some difficult concepts.
Due to the fuel crises in the country schools were closed from time to time. Therefore, it was difficult to find sufficient time for the C-DELTA project activities with the school timetable. Therefore, I had to spend extra time to complete the C-DELTA project.

Future plans:

My main future plan is to continue this program in our school and to motivate more students and teachers to the C-DELTA concepts. I implemented C-DELTA program this year by targeting only Advanced-Level students, However, in the future, I hope to expand the opportunities for secondary level students to participate in this program.
Further, I plan to inform the students about the program in the morning assembly by using the reflections of the teachers and students who have successfully completed the program. It will be more encourage other students to follow the C-DELTA
Also, I hope to form an association of students who have participated in the program and allocate time to share their experiences.
Students who have successfully completed the program will be asked to create and submit posters for the notice board about how to be safe while using the internet. I will motivate the students who participated in this program to share the knowledge they gained from this program with their peers.

An Overall Reflection:

By joining the C-DELTA program, I was able to understand the most important concepts in ICT that we need to pay attention to when using the Internet. This project provided new teaching -learning methods for teachers and students to use the internet and new technology correctly. Teachers and students were motivated to apply these practices and techniques learned through the C-DELTA program. As a result of that, students and teachers gained the basic knowledge needed to use the Internet safely and to use new technology for learning and teaching activities. This enabled the participants in the program to use information technology tools effectively.

It is gratifying to see that students are now more likely to successfully apply the material learned through the C-DELTA program in practical applications and daily educational activities. To achieve better results, this program needs to be implemented as much as possible in the school. Therefore, I hope to continue the C-DELTA program in our school and use it for educational activities as well as the personal development of teachers and students.

Annexures:

Annexure: – 01. Project Proposal

I. Introduction

The COVID pandemic that occurred in the country in the past few years affected students’ lives in many ways. Due to that, students moved away from books and were more inclined to engage in educational activities through mobile phones and computers. In this context, as teachers, we are facing many difficulties related to online teaching and learning. Since I am a member of the Commonwealth of Nations’ C-Delta project, I intend to implement this project in our school to increase students’ information technology literacy.

II. Importance of the project to the school/school community

This program is essential in many different ways. It helps students develop their technical knowledge and familiarity with the use of equipment they need to find educational information easily and quickly. Further, it eliminates unnecessary fear of the Internet, provides the basic knowledge needed to study online courses, protects from harmful websites, and equips students to adapt to the new technological world. Therefore, in a world where technology is rapidly evolving, this program will be guiding students toward digital education.

This project provides innovative teaching methods such as concept maps and Open Educational Resources (OER) to develop the students learning. Further, it provides the necessary knowledge to create and maintain a digital footprint.

III. Objectives of the project

To inculcate in students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to create a secure digital identity when using the Internet.

To encourage students and teachers to use the concept of digital storytelling, introduce new learning tools to teachers, and guide them on how to use those tools.

To provide opportunities for students to study through online resources.

To develop skills in students to use advanced search engines and to use concept maps for the teaching and learning process

To encourage students to self-study using these technical skills

To provide the opportunity for students to use the C-DELTA Platform as a precedent for the module system introduced by the new education reform in 2024

IV. Planned activities and time frames according to project objectives