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Evaluation of the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project - Final Report

SECTION TWO: THE FINDINGS

Data collection

The tutor team's co-operation with the evaluation extended to arranging a timetable of interview appointments, driving the researcher to and from each interview destination and making introductions to the learners and their families. Such help ensured that contact was successfully achieved in minimal time with the overwhelming majority of learners who were participating in the evaluation process.

Of the total 39 learners (26 in the first session and 13 in the second) having taken part in the SOG.net project

• 18 learners were invited for interview via the introductory video and with the help of the tutor team
• 9 were boys and 9 girls
• drawn from across all the targeted pupil groups.

Ultimately,

• 16 learners in all were interviewed
• 1 boy and 1 girl agreed, but withdrew from the process
• 1 girl was interviewed in June and again in October.

The first set of interviews (12) was conducted in June 2003. The second set of interviews (5) was conducted in October 2003. Within this section of the report the term 'learners' refers only to those we interviewed.

Interview process with the learners

The tutors were highly respectful of a learner's right to privacy and helped negotiate with his/her parent some time alone for the interviewer and learner. All 17 face-to-face interviews were conducted without a tutor present. Parents, too, were respectful of their child's right to privacy. In all but 2 cases, a family member was present during the initial introductions to the learner by the researcher. Those interviews with the learners were conducted as follows

• 3 interviews alone with the learner
• 4 with learner and his/her parent present throughout
• 10 that included some time alone with the learner and time with both learner and parent present.

Note: 17 interviews in all as interviews were conducted twice with one learner (June and October)

In two cases, arranged interviews did not take place for reasons personal to the learners, directly related to why these learners were not able to attend school. In another case, despite a family member's initial attempt to cancel the learner's interview appointment, a successful interview was nevertheless achieved.

Semi-structured qualitative interviews with learners were conducted in the following places:

• 13 took place in their home
• 3 in a café and
• 1 at a learner's secondary school (1 other interview also involved visiting a base school).

Tutors were prepared to facilitate the interview process, for example by playing with younger siblings while the interview was being conducted. This reflected the project staff's general promotion of the evaluation process as a valuable part of the learners' process of re-engaging with the public world and as a valuable opportunity for learners and their families to reflect upon and express their own opinions about the project.

Interviews with professionals

Individual interviews were achieved with senior key partners and with each tutor:

2 senior GCC staff - twice each, + paper submissions and email correspondence

2 Edict staff - once each, + paper submissions and email correspondence

1 L/TSCOTLAND staff - once, + paper submissions and email correspondence

4 tutors - once each, + paper submissions, email correspondence (very limited) and telephone

+one additional interview with the team leader

The breadth of information collected ensured cross-correlation of most of the details, but, inevitably, given the very different professional perspectives of the respondents, also produced some apparent inconsistencies. Where possible, these have been revisited for clarification. The researchers, as is always the case, have had to exercise their professional judgement in interpreting the data in the light of all the information provided.

Time-scale

In the event it was found that this was a realistic time-scale to carry out the necessary interviews, but it was unsuitable in some respects, particularly with regard to interviewing the new cohort of learners in October to assess their on-line learning. They had not been fully integrated into the project by that time, nor had most been connected yet to the Internet. This lack led to the researchers having to seek other forms of data collection right up to the beginning of February, 2004.

Partnerships

A key aspect of this pilot project has been the adoption of partnership approaches to the provision of all services and in setting the ethos of support and networking. These partnerships fall into several distinct groups, although some of the players, of necessity, participate in more than one partnership group. The lead players in the management and running of the project are

• GCC personnel: specifically the Special Educational Needs Principal Officer; a seconded AHT as the ICT Manager; the Primary (schools) Contract Manager; latterly only, the SEN Development Officer
• Learning and Teaching Scotland: the National Grid for Learning Communities Specialist; a learning technologist providing expertise in the formation of on-line communities and the development of on-line pedagogies.

Management tasks and responsibilities within the project were assigned in ways that would cohere with the other work and responsibilities of these personnel. Thus the SEN Principal Officer maintained responsibility for all aspects relating to the pupils, the schools, the tutor staff, including the day to day running costs for staff resources, staff travel and staff employment and training. The ICT Manager had responsibility for progressing the development of on-line facilities and technical support, pursuing technical solutions with the technical partners. In addition, he acted as chair of the fortnightly meetings which maintained the progress of the project.

The National Grid for Learning Communities Specialist had responsibility for project finance (from the New Educational Developments Division (NEDD), providing support through L/TSCOTLAND development work and accessing national contacts not readily available to GCC. The project fitted readily within the L/TSCOTLAND work plans, both as an example of promoting inclusive education and in promoting the use of ICT for sustainability with (and for) a local authority. In addition this professional also had an advisory role to play with the New Educational Developments Division within the Scottish Executive, thus ensuring strong links between all the financial partners.

It was made clear from several sources that in hindsight some of the earlier difficulties were not rapidly resolved due to lack of flexibility in who manages whom and what. While it might have made good sense for whoever was closest to a particular problem to take responsibility for dealing with it by taking control and giving leadership, within the very different structures of the various organisations (national and local) this was not always possible nor indeed desirable. This is an aspect which we would signal as likely to recur in any future such project and should be given some serious consideration at the outset of planning and project design. Easy access to management decisions on a daily basis when necessary is essential to keep the project momentum going. Having to wait for decisions coming down the line does impact on the capabilities of the staff to deliver the promised curriculum and on the experience of the learner and, significantly, in this setting on the expectations of the family.

Technical partners

The pilot phase of the project was characterised by the need to establish a range of technical partnerships to facilitate the provision of hardware and customised software to support the delivery of this on-line educational service and to respond to the situations of the learners. GCC had already a well-established partnership with several companies for the provision and delivery of the Glasgow Schools Network (GSN). This system provided a range of services and information to the education department and all the Glasgow secondary schools. This included an email address for every pupil enrolled at a school. Introducing the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net families into this tightly constructed and controlled milieu presented a new range of technical challenges to the technical partners.

The technical partners and their roles are

• ntl - provision of the telecommunications link between the learners' homes and the Glasgow Schools Network (GSN) firewall via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel terminating in an additional Pix firewall, purchased specifically for this project. ntl also did a good deal of the work on trying to get the VPN links to work.
• Mitel - provision of computers for the learners and their connection to the servers it manages for GCC, using a VPN connection from the Mitel firewall (Nat box) into Glasgow Schools Network. At the time of interviewing, the management of the firewall and the PC build issues were being managed by Mitel.
• Edict - provision of all on-site and server technical support, including providing technical support, on a daily basis or as required, to both staff and learners. It was envisaged that Edict would continue as consultants to be closely involved with the development, delivery and management of the project, particularly for the associated web site.
• Plato - provision of a web based version of their Integrated Learning Software, which is available to all Glasgow secondary schools, and technical support for the delivery of it.

Technological issues

The project plan and timetable has 'slipped' considerably, with problems surrounding connections in particular. Continuing problems with plug-ins for PLATO and mail software, provided by MITEL, are reported. These sometimes work, yet others do not. There have also been ongoing problems with ports being closed on the MITEL network. These have blocked the correct operation of both software and, it is suspected, the VPN link. (A port is an opening in the security firewall that isolates the MITEL/GCC network from the rest of the world. All ports have a number. Many pieces of software, including VPN and PLATO's software, require particular numbered ports to be open. The most common port for Web use is port 80. PLATO however uses other ports which has caused some problems. They are currently in the process of making their software work on port 80)

The verbal evidence was supported by the researchers' repeated failed attempts to contact the tutor team leader by email, up to late November 2003 .

Throughout the term of the pilot project there has been a range of ongoing technical difficulties in achieving connectivity for the learners in their homes. It is regrettable that there were so many technical problems but it is the nature of pilot projects to meet such challenges within the working situation through a problem-solving approach. This has in great measure shaped the actual nature of the teaching and learning experience throughout the course of the project. As a result the roles played by the partners above have changed and developed in ways that were not originally intended. In particular, the technical support provided on a daily basis by the Edict technician, has proved to have been an invaluable contribution to the actual successes achieved. It is likely that without this 'on tap' key support, the tutors and the families would not be so positive about their overall experiences, nor would the tutor staff have remained so buoyant.

It is evident that some of the difficulties in achieving rapid resolutions to the connectivity problems were attributable in some degree to the lack of appropriate contracts with some of the technical partners for such complex work. The fact that all connectivity for these pupils had to be achieved through the generic Glasgow Schools Network (GSN) had been a critical factor in the decision not to put out to tender the contract for the technical work for SchoolsOutGlasgow.net. Glasgow already had contracts with MITEL to provide a managed service for the Internet connections for secondary schools (a tightly defined contract) and, latterly, for primary schools (a more negotiable contract which allows GCC to make changes in their demands in order to ensure full delivery of services). Thus MITEL, almost by default, was the preferred choice and became responsible for the integration of the technical connections for SchoolsOutGlasgow.net. The project, in technical delivery terms, is simply a small part of a 'one shop' technical solution to handling all the authority's education department's information, much of it of a confidential nature.

There is great interest in VPN technology from GCC. It is seen as a way of linking individuals (pupils, teachers, mobile children) and organisations (specialist units, the hospital education service, children's homes and even small schools) into the Glasgow Education Network. It is evident that GCC is keen to invest in the necessary technology and have the expertise in place, so is anxious to ensure that SchoolsOutGlasgow.net is successful in the alternative delivery of the curriculum to school age learners in and out of school settings. This would allow GCC to take a national lead and be able to share the facility with other organisations. GCC would want to manage this; NTL and GCC, together with BT, would work on this .

Other issues

Passwords for entry into different aspects of the on-line facilities were also a source of recurring problems. Instead of the one password to remember and use, on occasions it could take up to 3 different passwords to get into the bit that the learner wanted to access. This was and is not acceptable, but still has to be completely resolved.

Some learners resided in areas not covered by NTL services so could not be connected through them. Other telephone providers wanted to refuse connections for some families, blacklisted because of their debt record.

Despite ICT being very firmly embedded within the Scottish school curriculum, it soon became evident that most pupils had relatively little competence in using computers other than for playing games and accessing favourite sites on the Internet. An initial period of familiarisation was necessary with several undertaking units of the European Computer Driving License (ECDL) and some going on to acquire full certification.

The staff themselves, while all competent on computers for word processing, varied in their levels of experience of using them with pupils. Only one member of the tutor team had previous relevant experience of on-line learning. All were grateful for the extra time available at the beginning of the pilot phase while some problems relating to the technology were being resolved; it provided an opportunity to become familiar with this medium for teaching and learning. There was good support available from the L/TSCOTLAND learning technologist at this period to help them begin the process of accessing and selecting relevant Internet sites by demonstrating the practical application of their newly learned knowledge. At a later stage, the tutor team was able to join the learners at the L/TSCOTLAND offices for further practical tuition in developing a web site on-line. Such flexibility within the partnership agreements supported maximum use of available human and material resources.

It was made clear from the outset of the evaluation research that the continuing unresolved difficulties with the technology and with aspects of the partnership agreements resulted in a greatly reduced capacity/capability to deliver the aims of project. This led to high levels of frustration and indeed, on occasions, anxiety, mainly in the teachers' perceptions of their own professional competences. However, from all the evidence gathered, there is no doubt, in any of the respondents' minds, that an ICT based learning experience in out of school settings is feasible and should be capable of construction. The benefits accruing from using this mode of learning were one of the subjects of this investigation but due to a series of problems, to do with the lack of connectivity, there was very little actual on-line learning to research within the time-scale of this investigation. Since the completion of the field research phase, however, there has been some progress reported, but too late for inclusion here.

The tutor team

The tutor team was selected after an open advertisement within Glasgow schools for the seconded posts of three tutors and a team leader . They were drawn from the fulltime, permanent members of GCC teaching staff. Each is on a secondment period and, in theory at least, will be able to return to their former positions when the pilot project phase is completed. They came from a variety of backgrounds and with different areas of appropriate competence and experience.

They were seconded into post before the technical aspects of the project had been finalised but this was considered necessary as the team was to be the decision maker in deciding which referrals would proceed to inclusion in the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net on-line project. Simultaneously, a flyer had been sent out to all Glasgow secondary schools by the SEN Principal Officer to alert them to this new facility for pupils who were currently out of school, although still on the school roll. A meeting was also held to explain in greater detail what was involved and to encourage them to make appropriate referrals, as the project time-scale was to be short and the start date imminent.

Given the nature of the literature on pupils who are out of school prior to their legal leaving date, it was considered appropriate to have staff who had worked with pupils with a variety of particular learning needs and their families. In addition staff who had had some experience of development work in ICT were sought. In the event, the four staff selected each had elements of the desired profile and one had all the sought after experiences. T3 had had a variety of work experience following an Economics degree, a period in University research, the primary PGCE qualification, an interest and experience in the development of ICT and a period of secondment into L/TSCOTLAND, working on the provision of on-line services to teachers. Her/His knowledge and ability to build an annotated database of suitable resources and to source software, particularly evaluation copies, was an asset to the team. Yet even s/he said that it was a struggle to provide enough work for the learners and her/his role was becoming closer to that of the Home Tutor role. The other staff had similar broad qualifications and range of experiences in teaching. T1 had a secondary subject background but also worked in primary and with children who benefited from alternative settings such as Outward Bound facilities. T4, was another secondary subject teacher, with a great deal of experience in SEN and LSS settings, both physically disabled and dyslexia*, as well as experience in the use of micro-technology for a range of pupils with special educational needs. All have had a good grounding in working in a supportive role to 'difficult' pupils and their families. Together they presented a well qualified and capable team, with some skills in common but also able to complement each other. They each affirmed the value of working closely as a team with the one office, albeit too cramped for comfort or to carry out all their tasks.

* [research literature shows that the majority of young male prisoners have left school early, with few, if any, qualifications and many have dyslexic type difficulties]

As the project is very much a 'needs led solution to individual difference' they have the necessary experience and aptitude to be able to make a positive contribution to the aims of the project, especially in terms of ethos building and motivating those who have poor perceptions of themselves as learners. This view was amply confirmed in the interviews recorded with pupils and their families.

An ability to empathise with the particular circumstances of the individual pupils and his/her family, to gain trust and develop mutual respect, often in the face of extremely trying periods of lack of connectivity and as a consequence having to adopt a different format for project delivery, were clearly demonstrated as being instrumental in helping pupils gain more positive outcomes than otherwise might have been expected. Families, too, were positively affected by contact with these staff.

In response to the question about their expectations of the project at the beginning it was clear that they had all expected the technical aspects to have been up and running and for them to begin immediately the task of supporting learners into an on-line learning community. However, the technical problems which have dogged the project throughout the evaluation period meant that they "just had to meet these hurdles as [they] went along". Problem solving became the main modus operandum on a day-to-day basis. It says much for their resilience and group cohesiveness that they continued to be supportive with the learners and their families, in order to keep them on-task, and sought ways of by-passing the lack of connectivity to offer motivating learning experiences.

The skills within the team were shared in order to remain effective; for instance, T2 had had experience of the Children's Panel, so was aware of the stresses and problems facing many families and young people. Training in counselling and therapeutic crisis intervention enabled her/him to relate more effectively with learners and parents who may otherwise have been much more negative about their experiences of SchoolOutGlasgow.net. However, this same well qualified teacher was unhappy with some aspects of the work they were having to undertake instead of that which they had thought they were 'buying into', such as the increased Home Tutor role and a sense of frustration that s/he had not acquired any new learning for her/himself so far. It is important to remember that seconded staff undertake such new experiences often with the intention of adding to their own repertoire of skills and knowledge as well as for the genuine contribution they feel they can make. It is also important to remember that such a period of secondment is not always viewed equally valuable in a CV when it comes to seeking further experience or promotion.

However, there were some recognised benefits in the changes forced on them, particularly in the quality of the relationships they were able to develop with the individual learners and their families. One said that it had given her/him the opportunity to nurture the confidence of a group of girls who "did not want to appear stupid in front of me, so I found things they could do and encouraged them to see relationships between work done on the project and the school curriculum and certification". A sense of camaraderie also developed, "I just felt that we were in it together, that this thing isn't working and "Isn't it dreadful" and "You are so patient, you must be fed up" - acknowledging the reality and establishing rapport over a shared problem in the first year, for the pupils wanted it to succeed as much as us".

However, apart from the one member, seconded into L/TScotland, the team had had relatively little prior experience of engagement with on-line learning and the selection and development of appropriate teaching and learning materials for this mode of interaction for secondary age pupils. Given that this was to be a major factor in their new roles as on-line teachers, this is perhaps surprising. For each it has been a relatively steep learning curve, which they have tackled with energy and enthusiasm. Time was allocated at the beginning of the project, prior to the arrival of pupils, for these staff to become familiarised with on-line approaches and to make a start on assessing the usefulness of the variety of CDRoms and the on-line resources available to them.

The staff from L/TScotland were able to make a significant contribution at this stage, particularly in their experience of developing on-line communities and knowledge of resources. While this wealth of information was made available to the tutors it seems that the timing was perhaps not the best- they had still to get to grips with what on-line learning was, and could be, before beginning on the difficult tasks of getting to know the range of sources, mapping these to curriculum subject areas and to individuals' needs and interests. In retrospect, it would seem that a more longitudinal input/training would be more appropriate during this steep learning curve. However, the tutors made it clear that they have always felt able to draw on L/TScotland staff for support, as and when needed, and have always received a positive response.

The tutors themselves have taken the trouble to seek CPD opportunities as their needs change and to enlarge their repertoire of knowledge and skills which they see as necessary to be effective in their present posts. In retrospect, more thought and time should have been given to their ongoing training with a programme devised to ensure that they had access to appropriate sources of support, as and when needed. They have been left to work things out on their own, but perhaps this suited them to some extent too. This is now being addressed by the inclusion of the SEN Development Officer being brought into the running of the project. Such continuous improvements based on identified needs are in the nature of pilot projects!

A needs led project - responding to a continuum of learning needs

For many schools in Scotland there are situations when the very particular needs of a pupil (learning/physical/social/emotional) have not been adequately met within their school community and /or the curriculum content and form of delivery. In such circumstances schools have traditionally drawn on the external support systems provided within their local authority and in some cases even beyond that boundary. In recent years, the Scottish Executive has acknowledged the often complex needs of children and young people who have experienced significant periods of interruptions to their state school learning. It also has signalled that schools must improve their levels of pupil attendance yet, at the same time, has indicated that exclusions of 'difficult to maintain' pupils are to be reduced. There is an apparent contradiction in these two expectations which impacts on the capabilities of schools to ensure equality of opportunity for all their pupils. Local authorities and schools are increasingly delivering a more flexible curriculum and in a variety of formats and venues. However, for some pupils who have been offered a variety of such opportunities often there has been no satisfactory solution readily available.

The experience of using ICT based learning opportunities within schools and in the wider community has demonstrated the effectiveness of this medium for enhancing the curriculum and increasing pupil choice and independence in learning. Some schools have already demonstrated their commitment to their absent pupils by maintaining contact by email and, within Glasgow, through the GSN school facility. The SchoolsOutGlasgow.net pilot project is thus a natural extension to the range of opportunities available to schools to support some of their most vulnerable and challenging pupils.

All learners on the project were considered unlikely to benefit from further school based provision, were described as vulnerable for a range of reasons, and all had experienced significant 'interrupted learning' during their secondary school experience. There is no doubt that there are significant numbers of pupils, currently on school rolls, with highly individual circumstances and needs. The actual numbers of pupils involved in each year were

Year 1: 26 pupils, 5 of whom stayed on to Year 2

Year 2: 19 new pupils* + the 5 continuing from Year 1

* This figure, correct at February, 2004, varies from other figures quoted in this report which are based on evidence from the time of the interviews in October, 2003. It reflects a continuous enrolment pattern throughout the session as pupils' needs arise. Such flexibility is necessary if the service is to be truly responsive to learners' needs.

Within the written documents pertaining to the project, the official descriptions of the pupil populations targeted for participation in the project could have set up unhelpful stereotypical expectations of five different 'kinds' or 'types' of pupils. In practice, learners were individually distinctive in character, had varied and complex reasons for being out of school, and varied in their academic interests and capabilities. All, however, had to have a reasonable literacy level in order to deal with the demands of the delivery format.

Without placing learners within the notion of having 'fixed learning capacities', it appeared that the tutor team were working with learners who presented a 'continuum of learning needs'. At one end of this continuum, learners appeared to lack self-confidence and have relatively modest ideas of what they might be able to achieve from being on SchoolsOutGlasgow.net. At the other end, some learners obviously possessed more developed skills in their use of computer technology and a developed capacity to benefit from on-line facilities at the beginning of their time on project.

In contrast to the majority of learners from the first cohort, two young people in the second cohort appeared to have considerable ICT skills and evidence of a capacity for achieving impressive independent working outcomes. One learner's discussion about 'dolling' demonstrates the significant level of skill and creativity that she was bringing to her work on the project.

Girl: I'll show you, you start with a base and it's like the outline of a person.

Int: …

Girl: Like basically clothesless and faceless some of the time. ….and then you go into a paint programme - I use Paintshop Pro for my one - and then you draw in clothes and hair and give them characteristics and such… So, these are some of the dolls that I've done. This is my own website.

Int: …

Girl: …But that doll is a character from a movie, so the outfit isn't my own idea. This one is though. It's in the style of what we call on-line 'Lolita'. It's sort of like Victorian clothes and mixture of basic imagery, you know. This is another one of mine. Basically anything here I've done all myself. The website was up until a few months ago and it was doing very well, I've got over 90,000 hits and that's … and that's since August last year.

On being told, that the project had purchased software to facilitate her design work the learner commented,

Girl: Oh that's good. That would help a lot. A lot of dollars. I use my mouse when I'm drawing but a lot of people use graphics tablets which is like a pad that you plug into the computer and you can draw on it with like a pen, so it's easier to co-ordinate than with a mouse because you don't really have a lot of control over it [the mouse]- you have minimal control. But I mean I've been getting on alright with that but it would be easier with a tablet.

Int: Getting on alright? No I'd say you've been getting on remarkably well! (Lots of laughter)

One result of this level of learner enthusiasm was the positive feedback having a motivating impact upon the tutors. After interviewing the young woman above, her tutor commented that, s/he expected me to be really impressed with her. S/He also said that had the project not been extended to include a second cohort of learners, s/he would not have experienced such a positive example of the benefits of on-line learning.

The referral process

Secondary schools were provided with a flyer from the Education Department to alert them to the availability of this new service, its scope and aims, mode of curriculum delivery and the referral process (See Appendix B). During interview, a team member reported that,

Tutor: … So all of the secondary schools … were made aware of it and invited to refer pupils that they thought might benefit. I was appointed, I think about a fortnight after that meeting, and by that time something like a hundred pupils had been referred by the schools. This year [ pause] we sent a flyer round all the schools reminding them the project was going onto a second year and asking them if they wanted to submit any new pupils because some of last year's pupils were staying on but we had space for new ones. So some schools have responded to that and I'm quite pleased that some of them are schools that didn't refer any pupils last year. So, we're now established in more of the secondary schools than we had been last year.

It was possible to make referrals in either paper or electronic format. These could be a single referral or multiple: one school made a referral of 10 pupils, but these were not all accepted. It did, however, raise issues of how the school viewed the service: did it see it as a way of removing some of its problems? [It is perhaps significant that this research specification did not include investigating the schools' role in the project. It would be appropriate for some such review at a later stage.]

The figures below give evidence of the levels of concern within GCC secondary schools.

Year 1: 22 schools referred 90 pupils: some referred high numbers, between 7 and 10

Year 2: 11 schools referred 19 pupils: 10 of those schools were the same as in Year 1.

The high level of referrals in Year 1 indicated that schools were not sufficiently clear as to the purpose and form of the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project. By Year 2 it is clear that the message had got across and schools were more selective. It is also possible that the much lower rate of referral in the second year was due to the introduction of real costs for the schools in Year 2.

Initially there was some urgency within the pilot phase to have a spread of pupils, representing different circumstances, specifically the 5 categories indicated in the pilot brief, in order to achieve some of the aims of the project. Not all referrals were automatically accommodated. The group members are identified after much consultation between the Teacher Team and the base school or, if no school available, the agency responsible for ensuring provision for the young person's education. The young people selected will have had most forms of support offered previously, with limited success. There are also a number of chronically ill young people for whom it was hoped that this type of flexible "learn when you can" provision would be beneficial.

The tutor staff made visits to the referring school to discuss the situation facing the school and the pupil's learning needs. Where possible other information and advice was taken, but ultimately the final decision was made by the tutors. This raises some issues of transparency in criteria for the selection process yet these do not seem to have been available. Once again, the nature of a pilot project is perhaps that there should be a degree of flexibility especially when there is some pressure to achieve the stated aims of the pilot within the set time scale. In future it would be necessary to have some clear criteria since sticking to a spread across 5 categories would be seen as an irrelevance.

Referrals to the project were reported as coming from a range of sources. Not all pupils involved in the pilot phase are on a school roll. Their situations are diverse. Some are already included within the 'Looked After and Accommodated' services. As yet the two services are distinct and separate yet it does make sense to provide the format of the SchoolsOutglasgow.net services to such pupils who thus may be enabled to make a return to a school. Such an option enhances the degree of flexibility available to support continuity in these young people's learning.

Not only schools made referrals: in one instance, at least, the Attendance Officer was the instigator for a pupil who had not been in a school for one and a half years. Two young people were referred by an Educational Psychologist. Three learners reported that their school Guidance teacher has been instrumental in securing a meeting with the team, after other avenues of support had been unsuccessful. One family reported that they had had one letter from the child's school but with no real explanation of what was involved and it was a month later before the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net team contacted the family directly. [It is perhaps not surprising that, given the need for speed in getting the project started, there would be some difficulties and uncertainties at this stage.]

Tutor: So one of the areas of Glasgow referred [ pause] I think four or five pupils, some of whom were already, were also referred by the schools. But others were children who had been in residential assessment centres or educational facilities and were now returned to the community but they had no mainstream schools.

One learner was clear that her/his health problems were the reason why s/he was referred. Another was referred because of her pregnancy, while her mother reported her relational difficulties with other girls at school. However, learners and parents were not always clear about who had, or how they had been referred to the project, but all welcomed the opportunity.

Learners and parents were clearer about why they had been referred, which in the majority of cases evoked an account of relational difficulties at school, some with other girls, some with other boys, while some were with teachers.

Int: I have no idea why you're on the project. I don't know what's happened at school that's made you come to the project. Do you feel able to talk about that?

Boy : The only reason I wasn't getting on at school was because I was having so many operations on my voice box, and that's why I talk this way. And just like the way I dressed at school, I always ended up getting in fights with people and arguing and I just ended up not going to school. Just couldn't be bothered.

All the learners described significant interruptions to their school attendance. One boy reported being out of school "on and off since S2", another for a period of three years, while one reported being off for "a few months". Such gaps in attendance frequently led to learners being not particularly well known to school staff, particularly in relation to their achievements and skill levels. A team member reported that apart from a basic referral form, the project team had had little information about many of the learners. One team member reported that learners' records were often very skimpy, for example, among the tutor's case load only one case history, that had gone back to the learner's primary school experience, had been made available for reading. It is surprising that such pupils did not have individual learning plans (ILPs) given the nature of their often chequered histories. It is likely that the problem lay more with identifying where the ILPs had last been deposited rather than that none existed.

In theory and ideally, referrals should be made in the previous term or session to allow sufficient time for an effective exchange of information on the learner, his/her capabilities, specific learning and other needs, learning styles and what had proved successful motivators in the past and to draw up an IEP for action during the coming session. Inevitably, due to the nature of a pilot, this was not possible and referrals were made piece meal, often in haste. Some pupils arrived into the service with little or no information on their learning needs to build on .

The enrolment of the second cohort, while less rushed in some respects, also was not executed sufficiently in advance to allow for thorough advance planning. As a result some pupils were not able to participate in an on-line curriculum tailored to their needs from the start of the new session in August. However, perhaps it is important that the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net service is seen to be an option that is available at the point of need and this will not occur tidily at appropriate periods in the school calendar. This issue will be taken up within the section on the future of the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net service.

Completion rate

Of the total learners who accepted a place on the project, just 2 had not completed their agreed time. A tutor reported,

Tutor: … , we can't say that if we'd have been a bit more careful at the beginning in choosing them that that wouldn't have happened.

Int: …

Tutor: I mean we had valid reasons for taking them on just like all the other kids. But these are the only two that didn't last the full year.

Int: …

Tutor: But on the other hand, we had pupils who finished the first year and wanted to stay on… But they weren't able to stay on for various reasons. Kids who ….. were officially school leavers and the schools didn't want to fund them any further and so on, so…

Int: Do you think they would've benefited from staying on?

Tutor: Probably, probably some of them would've benefited from a further period of support.

Perceptions of the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net experience

Parents' perceptions

The overwhelming majority of learners and parents viewed the project as a way forward to the adult world without having to return to school. For the majority of parents, their child's success on the project included the hope that it would provide, or lead to, access to formal qualifications that would open up future employment opportunities.

Int: Why do you think you came onto the project? Why did you not just go to school?

Boy : Because I didn't like going to school and it would've been a lot more complicated because I would've had to have caught up with all the different subjects and I hadn't been there since the beginning of third year. Whereas with the project, when they explained it to me they said that I'd be able to do all this stuff on the computer on-line and be able to get qualifications from it at the end.

The above learner and his mother were disappointed about the project's lack of access to Standard Grade. A number of learners and families in the first set of interviews described having similar feelings about lack of access to the normal school curriculum. However, many positive reports were given about learners' successes with other kinds of qualifications.

Mother: Well my expectation was that they'd be able to try and get some of these exams.

Boy : [Name] came out to interview me for the project and asked me the stuff I was into back in school when I was a third year. In fact I was a fourth year by the time s/he came to see me, it was the middle of October until s/he came. And s/he asked me what kind of stuff I was into and I told her/him and then s/he said s/he would go from there.

Int: Now stop a little minute. You've said you expected her/him to do exams. Did they tell you they would be able to do exams? [Parent indicated no]. But you were hoping...

Mother: I was hoping that's what would happen.

Int: And when you say 'exams', you mean like Standard Grades? [Parent indicated yes]. But you did do exams; you did your ECDL.

Mother: Which wouldn't have been open to him if he had of stayed in high school. It's a college qualification.

Int: Okay so you might have lost on one swing…

Mother: But he's gained on another.

This particular learner had become de-motivated about learning, and his grades had fallen well below his usual levels of achievement. He described how he had become increasingly depressed when being continuously bullied by other boys at school.

Parents described how much they valued the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project in educational terms, thus the invitation to join the project improved families' and learners' sense of their own educational worth.

Int: What did you think you'd have to do on the project? Did you have any sense that you'd have to do something for [ son's name] or was this all down to [ son's name]?

Mother: Well he was accepted for the course, which I found was really really good considering there's only 30 kids in Glasgow that are actually on this.

Int: So your confidence got a lift?

Mother: [Nods in agreement] That he qualified for a course that's probably very competitive. At the end of the day when he was accepted for the course, he just had to take it and see how it would go and it's worked out really well for him.

This mother's views exemplified those of many others and echoed the reports by the majority of the learners; that is, as a result of joining the project they felt some restoration of lost self-esteem and a renewal of their confidence to try again with formal learning. It is, however, very interesting to note the 'competitive edge' in her comments. This parent saw the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net opportunity as something to be proud of, with clearly no stigma attached, unlike much of the other support for learning services.

The meanings of school for SchoolsOutGlasgow.net learners

It might have been expected that these learners and their families would report negatively on their experiences of schools. However, this research found a broad spectrum of views, which are illustrated by the following excerpts.

negative

One learner's mother described her impressions of her son's problems with teachers at school.

Mother: They were really, really angry and a few teachers complained to his Guidance teacher and his Guidance teacher stuck up for him and said that he can't help it. And when they called me in and I explained to them that he'd probably be needing more operations - at one point he spoke in a whisper, that's his voice really good now - and they didn't know what he was saying and they just got angry. One of the teachers said he'd sworn at her but another teacher had been behind and had heard what he said and said, 'No he didn't swear.'.

Boy: Another one of the teachers must have [spoken to] the headteacher - he was really annoying me [the teacher] - and I could tell like. I'm pretty glad that I didn't go to that school because if I had went any longer I would've lost my temper with him.

Had this learner gone back to school in such circumstances, he may well have been in serious trouble, which sheds light on why he and his mother perceived school as a place of danger rather than learning.

The overwhelming majority of learners reported that they didn't want to go back to school. What was particularly telling was that learners drew a distinction between formal learning and achievements, and 'being at school'.

Boy : I didn't want to go back there. I told them right off if that was the only way to do it, there was no way I'm getting Standard Grades. I'm not going back.

Some learners re-called the work they had not done as a result of not going to school, and were expecting to do a mass of work to make up for their perception of lost learning. This understanding was used as a measure of the learning they experienced on the project, which for some was constrained by the impact of lack of connectivity. Parents and learners frequently expressed similar worries about the negative impact of loss of education upon a learner's future employment opportunities.

Positive

Despite feeling generally positive about the project, a good number of learners talked about school in terms of loss; loss of relationships or loss of learning, and a combination of loss of having and doing everyday things with friends at school. One boy talked about missing his headteacher and a particular Guidance teacher, and in recalling these people, the boy became very sad and his eyes filled up with tears.

Another loss described by some learners was their daily contact with friends and doing things with friends, including examinations.

Int: Have you missed anything about school?

Girl : Just during the day when I'm stuck at home and they're all at school, all my friends, and they're still learning. I wish I was doing exams just now like my friends. I miss everything really, apart from the teachers.

Unlike the majority of learners, one boy described how his school had kept contact with him, which pleased him and his parents.

Int: …Has your old school been in touch with you at all during this year?

Boy : Yeah, my old Guidance teacher sent me a good luck card and that so that was a nice gesture.

Int: …

Mother: I think [the Guidance teacher] was going to have a meeting further on in the year to find out how we were getting on with it.

Int: So you don't get the impression that your school's abandoned you

Boy : No.

Mother: They've been really good.

Thus, school and time spent there, remained meaningful to learners in terms of school relationships, access to a curriculum and as a bridge to future employment opportunities, which reflects the seriousness of learners decisions regarding 'not going to school'.

However, two pupils reported trying to go back to school. One was not successful owing to problems of funding with the base school, while the other pupil's desire to go back to school was fuelled by her considerable success in an EDCL examination.

Int: So, what made you come back to school?

Girl: Well… I done the ECDL, em, it was like you were studying for something, then the exam, eh, and then I didn't think I could pass. I didn't think I could sit through the exam and pass it. Then when I passed the ECDL I just thought well there's no point in not coming back to school 'cos I can do it now and I know I can do it. So, I came back.

Int: So, did you feel afraid that you wouldn't manage it?

Girl: Aye.

This learner's time on the project, although never on-line due to connectivity problems, had led to her gaining the confidence to go back to her old school on two occasions, in order to persuade the school take her back. The learner succeeded in getting the school to place her with her peers at the start of a new session for Higher Grade courses.

Connectivity issues

The main difficulty faced by all learners throughout their time on the project, was lack of, or intermittent connectivity. Connectivity was clearly central to delivering the full benefits of the project's innovative approaches to learning. Of those learners interviewed, 5 were never on-line, 13 learners were eventually on-line, with reports of intermittent connections. In addition to these problems, learners reported minor difficulties as "taking some time to fix".

Learners in the first cohort, interviewed from 16 ^th June to 20 ^th June 2003, reported not beginning to get on-line until February 2003.

• 6 reported getting on-line in February
• 2 in May
• 1 as "late," and
• 4 were never connected to the Internet.

Some of the second cohort of learners also reported problems with connectivity up to November.

Written information that came to hand after the end of the interview period reported that

of the 26 learners who joined the project during its initial phase

• 9 were connected through broadband
• 8 were connected through ADSL
• 2 through dial up facilities, and
• 7 were not connected at any time.

The learners ranged from S3 to S5 levels,

• 6 from S3
• 18 from S4
• 1 from S5, and
• 1 not recorded.

Of the 13 new learners* who had joined the project for its second intake,

• 6 were connected through broadband
• 4 through dial up facilities
• 3 were still awaiting connection

These learners ranged from S2 to S5

• 1 from S2
• 1 from S3
• 10 from S4, and
• 1 from S5.

(*now 14 and rising)

Many learners claimed not to have an email address. (NB All learners were provided with an email address, usually by the base school, but network problems prevented access to this for lengthy periods of the project.)

Girl: My email isn't actually set up just now - it's set up but it's not actually connected yet - so they're still in the process of doing that.

Int: So you've not been able to use email, but you've been able to go on-line and search the web?

Girl: Aye.

These problems constrained learners' and their families' expectations of the central aspect of on-line learning, that is that learners be able to connect with the Internet, to the GCC Intranet server (GSN) for access to a school based curriculum, and through email have easy and regular access to tutor support and opportunities to engage with a peer group of learners. The lack of connectivity led to feelings of disappointment being expressed by all those interviewed.

Tutor So it's been very, very disappointing and it's been… pillar to post. You know, all along we've been led to believe, 'oh this'll all be sorted soon, we'll be on-line next week'. 'Oh it'll be the week after and the week after…'. The sad thing about that is it's not for the tutors involved, it's for the tutors going along to the families and saying, 'we're told that this will be sorted soon'. They've built up families' hopes and pupils' hopes. That's the sad side, sad thing about it you know?

Int: ….

Tutor: I don't know what could've been done about that, you know. Once we'd accepted the pupils, we had to educate them. We couldn't say, 'okay we'll be back once we can get you on-line'. Because then they would've, you know, in many cases they would've been sitting there for months waiting, and that's just not on.

The results of these difficulties were that the learners all received a form of home tutoring supported by technology, including on-line learning for some.

Thus, learners' computer-based learning was augmented with software installed onto the computer's hardisk, electronic work sheets delivered by tutors through a flash memory stick, CD-ROMs, and paper copies of worksheets.

The key difference between the first and second cohort of learners was that the latter were more likely to benefit from the project's stated aim, that is "to offer supported on-line learning to pupils not able to go to school".

Tutor: I'd say the first thing, the first thing as regards rolling out is that you have to ensure that you've got the connections first [ pause] rather than last. The connectivity is of prime importance.

These experiences of the difficulties with connectivity signal clearly that issues to do with connectivity will be a key aspect to be addressed by other local authorities in their decisions about replicating this project.

One aim of on-line learning was to provide the technological means to develop virtual learning groups actively engaged via email, and a learning centred community; these aims were clearly not possible in the circumstances. Some learners, while not able to go to school, missed the immediacy of interacting with others, as a component of learning at school.

Int: So if you think about going to school, learning in school and learning with your computer, which do you find the most pleasurable?

Boy: I find learning in school is much better, I don't know why, but when you do it on your computer on your own, you're much less motivated and there's something about it, it's terribly boring because there's no tactile contact, you're just staring at a screen and typing things in and there's no kind of person to person.

Thus, lack of connectivity prevented peer on-line learning, and limited on-line communications between learners.

Some learners had met in face-to-face groups, organised by the tutors, where issues of connectivity were discussed.

Boy : Yes, but she's one year younger than me and she said that she's not been connected either.

Int: Has this been a source of disappointment to you?

Boy : Yes.

Int: Tell me a bit about that. Can you tell me a bit about that?

Boy : It's disappointing because it would have been good to go on-line 'cos you can speak to people and that and you can send emails and that.

Relationships within the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project

Pupils and families

In trying to invite learners from a spread of backgrounds, a key consideration for the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net tutor team was whether a learner's home background could sustain the kind of learning that was on offer. One stakeholder reported that some of the young people were likely to come from backgrounds described as chaotic, deprived and to include other drawbacks such as "wains, dugs, goldfish and the telly"; tutors made it clear that they did not want to add another stress into such families' lives.

Thus, the project team were required to make professional judgements about whether a family could cope with the level of intrusion that being on the project would entail, both in terms of a public physical space occupied by the computer in the home and of strangers visiting to set things up and sort out problems when they arose, for example, in having technicians visiting to fix problems with the computer.

It was a testimony of the good relationships established between tutors, learners and families that so many were prepared to take the time to participate in the face-to-face interviews; for example, mothers and fathers took time off their work to be present.

Despite problems with connectivity, as one mother said, "Well obviously it's been a pilot scheme because it's very new so I didn't have too much expectations actually". Team members were generally very positive about the level of family support that learners received.

Tutor: Yeah, very supportive. I can't think of any parent… I mean, I come across parents who maybe don't speak appropriately, who maybe feel as if life has given them a hard deal, who maybe are suspicious at the beginning, who maybe just are complainers, but overall, I mean you know, I can see through… somebody's in a flaming bad mood one day, you know, somebody's got bills, things to worry about, others are over anxious but strictly speaking I've had no problems with parents and found them all very approachable and [they] have been supportive.

Of the 17 learners involved in this research, there was obvious evidence of parental interest and support for learners. In 8 cases, the parent directly involved in the day-to-day care and support of the learner was the mother. In one case, a learner lived with his Granny, and many learners made significant mention of their Granny's involvement in their lives, but in these 9 cases learners' did not refer to having a father directly involved in their lives. The rest lived with both parents; in three of these cases the father was present and actively engaged in his child's interview

The evaluation found that poor connectivity inadvertently became a significant contributory feature of the development of trusting and supportive relationships between all concerned.

Participation in the project was often reported to have improved relationships between learners and parents, particularly in cases where parents could see the work their children were putting into completing their assignments and passing an examination.

Mother: ECDL [ pause]. That's one thing that I'm very proud of her for because she's young for that. And other things she's been doing on the PC itself, I didn't know she could actually do some of the stuff.

Int: So, you've been impressed?

Mother: Because I couldn't see anything like that in school because obviously I'm not there. But I've noticed it in the house, the different skills that she's gained through the actual PC being in the house.

Int: Would you agree with your mum that life is easier between you?

Girl: [Agrees] Definitely.

The mutuality of pleasure between tutor, learner and mother was evident both in the way they greeted each other and the tutor's privately expressed delight in the learner's success in EDCL.

Pupils and teachers

In one or two cases, learners reported not answering the door to a tutor, or in another case 'being at ma Granny's' when a tutor was expected to arrive. However, the majority of learners and their families were very positive about the time given and the sensitivity of the tutors in making their experience a positive one.

Int: And did s/he used to come every week? [Boy agrees]. And how long would s/he stay with you?

Boy: A couple of hours…S/He'd explain what it's about, tell me how to do it in different ways, and then leave me to do it.

Int: And did you have a chance to talk to the tutor?

Boy: I've spoken to her/him lots of times.

Int: So you've had a chance to build a relationship with her/him? [Boy agrees]. Has that helped your learning at all? [Boy agrees]. Could you tell me a little bit about that?

Boy: Well because when I was back at school I didn't know the teachers, they were just there to teach me, they're not my friends, I don't talk to them so I just had no respect for them. But now I've got know my tutor and s/he seems nice enough so I'm willing to do the work and get on with it.

Int: So the relationship has been quite important to the work? [Boy agrees].

Other learners reported the benefits of working closely with 'their tutor'. One girl, who was never on-line, described the beneficial effects on her and her learning of having good relations with her tutor.

Int: Yes, so it was like... it was a combination of the stuff in the machine and a person?

Girl : And a person.

Int: Yeah. Em do you think [ pause] say, you had been on-line and you hadn't had a person to talk to, do you think you would have done as well? Imagine if you were on-line and you didn't have a person coming in to your house once a week. Do you think you would have been as motivated to work at it?

Girl : No.

Int: So you think the relationship with the teacher was important?

Mother: Oh aye.

Girl : Mm [ with an affirmative nod of head]

Int: Try and tell me a little bit without me putting words into your mouth.

Girl : Eh well if you were on-line and you're looking up stuff, sometimes you don't get what you need, you don't need what you want. With (tutor's name) always there, she was telling me what to look for and how to memorise some of the stuff and she was telling me, like, some stuff that it does [ pause] wasn't telling you, she'd tell you and it's a lot easier having somebody with you.

Learners frequently reported making contact with staff by telephone at the project's base. Everyone wanted the project to be a success, not least for the learners.

Tutor: … I mean, I'm a wee bit sad that we haven't had them on-line as much as we expected but the positive side of that is that the families and the pupils and the tutors have built up relationships, which might not have been the case.

Int: Hmm. So, do you imagine…

Tutor: But that's really an aside. That should not have been part of the project as we envisaged it.

Int: Hmm.

Tutor: But it's the nature of the [ pause] tutors we've got.

Int: So that's the silver lining in the cloud?

Tutor: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Int: So when children are on-line more as people imagined at the start, will the visits continue but be less?

Tutor: Yes, yes. There will still be, I would think at least one face-to-face per week. It may be that some pupils would benefit from more than one but it'll be, you know…

Some learners reported that their time on the project had brought them into contact with knowledgeable people who helped them to consider different ways of considering the difficulties that had got in the way of their formal learning.

Boy: No, my head was full of carry-on. For the past three year I didnae dae anything at all, I didn't learn about anything at all.

Int: Okay. Do you think that's an age thing? Do you think it just…

Boy: Yeah, it's different. I've had a lot of help in the past few years so, there we go.

Int: And that's been good for you?

Boy: Yeah.

Int: When you say 'help', you mean people who've sat down and talked to you?

Boy: Yes, IT groups, social workers, psychologists and things.

Int: Yeah. So, that was important to you?

Boy: Yes.

Pupil/pupils

Learners were mostly positive about the face-to-face group meetings with other learners, and had reported enjoying the experience. Forming informal friendships was not a viable option, not least because individuals lived long distances from each other and travel was described as expensive. Most learners reported that they were happy with their existing friends who lived nearby.

Some learners reported that they didn't want to form face-to-face groups able to offer each other support. This point is significant in that difficulties may arise in enforced interactions, an aspect of school that the majority of learners had found difficult to manage.

Boy: I know that sounds a bit weird, like I don't want to mix with people.

Int: No I don't think it sounds weird.

Boy: It's the opposite. I thought they'd [ the other learners] be a bit weird, because I don't think I should be on this course. I think I'm cleverer than most people in mainstream schools. I thought at first that if people found out you needed a tutor and you were doing this kind of work, 'something wrong with that boy, he's got learning difficulties' - but I'm not like that and I thought they were all like that the way [tutor's name] was describing them. And I thought, 'I don't want to mix with these people'.

Had the opportunity to email each other been operational a number of learners thought that they would have 'got into that'.

A learner, described by his tutor as being withdrawn in face-to-face contact, once on-line presented a more open personality. This learner was active in his use of the on-line facilities for social contact. For example, he used the 'stickies' facility and another provision that allowed a message to be left so that an asynchronous dialogue could be set up between him and others on the project.

Others were less active in their use of these opportunities, or restricted them to contact with the tutors.

Int: When you've been on-line with … people posting 'stickies' - have you joined in with that?

Boy: I've not had any. Just from [ name of tutor] and [ name of another member of team].

Int: So you've not done any communicating with others?

Boy: Aye I sent a 'stickie' to everybody, just one and it goes to everybody. It was [tutor's name] that was sitting and told me to put it in 'cause I was going to try and get a job in Asda and ( it said,) 'Is anyone else trying to get a job in Asda?', and it went to everybody… nobody replied.

This learner reported that he had seen lots of 'stickies' posted to others, but he had not really looked at them.

As yet there has been no emerging community of learners on-line. This aspect will have to wait until all learners are regularly connected and able to use the on-line interaction mode as a matter of course for their learning. It is likely that by the time this report is completed there will have been some moves towards this.

The schools

The reports from pupils and parents revealed a variety of levels of involvement and support from their base school, despite their place being maintained on their school roll. Some had no contact at all and some had had only one contact. Those who were about to be leavers (June 2003) reported that their schools were not really interested in helping them to stay on or to bridge the gap to FE provision. It was clear that schools had no exit strategy in place for their pupils.

In contrast to these very negative experiences of schools, others reported that Guidance staff were their point of contact. Where a pupil had been out of school for some time and staff had changed there was often no-one who knew the pupil personally. One very supportive school arranged a future needs assessment meeting with the Guidance teacher and provided an email account for the pupil to keep in touch with friends. This pupil wanted to undertake Standard Grades. Families themselves played a proactive part in ensuring that the links were kept; one reported that the school maintained good contact despite the very real difficulties that had occurred between the pupil and the staff.

The expectation had been that schools would provide learning materials if the pupil was working towards a national exam. The SchoolsOutGlasgow.net tutor would visit the school to collect the relevant materials and to help draw up the ILP. However, it became very clear that schools were not in a position to provide electronic versions of the necessary curriculum materials and that some of those they did use were not readily accessible to pupils in their homes. The change within the Educational Development Service (EDIS) towards greater involvement in Quality Assessment had reduced the time available for EDIS staff to fulfil the more traditional role as curriculum expert and leader to schools. This lack is recognised and GCC has indicated that EDIS staff are to be more involved in working with curriculum specialist staff from schools to produce a bank of appropriate curriculum materials for supporting pupils' on-line learning. Such materials would then be available to all Glasgow pupils, irrespective of where their learning took place.

It is a matter of regret that initially there were no written contracts between the schools and the service. This is now being put in place as the funding issue becomes more critical. Some schools when asked to make the necessary payment for their pupil's place on the project indicated that they would look elsewhere and some have as a result used other facilities. This begs the question as what checks are made on schools to ensure that the out of school services which they arrange for their pupils are actually appropriate and not just constrained by financial considerations. Do HMIE investigate the circumstances of the 'absent' pupils, does the school have to report regularly on the progress of such pupils and the steps they have taken to ensure the experiences offered are valid educational ones? A survey of the role of schools would be an important next step.

Learning and teaching on the project

The rationale for the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project was based firmly on the belief that the pupil is at the centre of the teaching and learning process and that the teacher is a facilitator of the pupil's learning. It was never intended that the tutors would fulfil a traditional teaching role nor necessarily that they would deliver the standard secondary school curriculum. The issue was how to provide a learning environment that would gain the commitment of the young person and her/his family and would be recognised by them as a valid educational experience. The tutor team, because of their training and past experiences, were well placed to deal with some of the emotional and social issues affecting many of these families. Most of the families wanted their child to be at school and to be achieving qualifications that would enable them to enter the job market on leaving school. The project was indeed a 'last chance' for many of them to achieve this goal. One mother, already quoted in this report, valued the opportunity that it offered and felt heartened that her son had 'won' a place, against such strong competition, around 100 applications for only 30 places. The tutor team had indeed done a good PR job.

Given the very different circumstances, situations and needs of the learners on the project, provision would have to be tailored to each individual. For this reason the individual learning plan was an essential format for planning and helping to map out a timeline, indicative content and learning outcomes appropriate for that pupil. The ILP was supposed to be drawn up in consultation between the tutors, the learner and the referring school/agency. It was evident that such a basic requirement as records of past learning achievements, areas of strengths and weaknesses, preferred learning styles, etc generally were not forthcoming for the majority of pupils referred to the project team. However, when making visits to the schools the team were able to gain some information, most often from Guidance staff, that would help start develop an ILP for the learner. By the time of this evaluation the team were able to provide examples of these, similar to that available within LeapOnLine, but not the actual version available there.

It was considered that the experience of SchoolsOutGlasgow.net should be at least as enriching as the best of the schools curricula and that some accreditation would be achievable. Some learners simply wanted to continue with their school studies in order to get Standard Grades. This was not easy to achieve because of a lack of suitable on-line curriculum resources. It was intended that the My Documents facility within the GSN network would be the main vehicle for transporting and storing pupils work; this would allow an easily accessible record of the pupil's work, much as an electronic jotter. It would support additional work, redrafting, presenting outputs in different ways, etc. Critical to its usefulness was that it was constantly backed up so that such work would not be lost should a fault develop within the pupil's computer system. It thus provided an accurate and up to date form of record keeping. The pupil's ILP could be stored there and be easily retrievable whenever necessary. It would remain confidential to the pupil and the teacher as it required the correct IDs and passwords to gain access. Another area on the network, called Our School, would allow staff to place work for the pupil to complete, which when completed and marked could then be saved into My Documents for permanent storage. In practice any email attachment could be downloaded to be worked on within that file.

The learner should have been able to log into these facilities in the same way that any pupil at school would do, one ID and one password per user. However, due to the extremely stringent security arrangements for the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project, and despite the use of something called an SSL box, the reality was more likely to be at least two or three different passwords in order to navigate, which was simply not acceptable. So, for most of the time, the learners have not been gaining regular access to these facilities, and some never. This has in turn impacted on the role and practices of the tutor team and the modes of learning available to the young people.

It was intended that the tutors would have to draw on their extensive skills in working with families and pupils out of school in order to establish good working relationships. This would be in face-to-face mode in the initial settling in period with a reduction in the time spent on this until perhaps once in three to four weeks would suffice, but with regular email and other on-line forms of contact taking over as the main mode of communication. However, since the general lack of connectivity prevented this happening for much of the time, staff had to ferry hard copy materials to the learners' homes on a weekly basis and use telephone communication. Later, as the learners moved into Colleges for exams and some on-line learning, such as the virtual private network, Blackboard, used by Colleges to deliver some of their courses, tutors acted as chauffeurs, since for some learners getting to these places was problematic. Four tutors to 30 learners seemed a generous allocation for on-line learning but the team was stretched when having to operate in the Home Tutor role for a significant part of the project. Both staff and learners have reported the value that accrued from this role in terms of staff motivating and enthusing learners, keeping them on task and in being able to observe more closely how and what the learners responded to so that they could better match their aspirations. In retrospect, it is recognised that it was a very valuable part of the project experience for most of the learners. For some it is time to move on to a more independent learning mode. The plan is to move to blended learning, as was originally planned, which uses a mixture of face-to-face and on-line delivery modes, as the learners become more securely connected to the Internet. This has begun to work with those learners who are regularly connected. It would be important to undertake a short and focused review of the progress of the on-line learning at the end of this current session.

In compensating for the learners' lack of access to Internet sites, the staff spent a considerable amount of time and effort in seeking suitable software and matching these to 5-14 and Standard Grade content. L/TSCOTLAND provided access to many sites and software. Most software packages come geared up to the Key Stages in the English National Curriculum. Work is now progressing, both within Glasgow and nationally, to effect a more suitable match for Scotland. PLATO has already carried out extensive work for GCC in Literacy, maths and PSD curricula. In the first year, even those learners connected to the Internet had access to less than 60% of the PLATO website, so the second year's services have been given free and the website has been worked on. Plato offers individual tutorials at various levels for pupils to work through at their own pace, revise as necessary, sit the assessment/test at the end of a section, have it marked automatically and the results recorded. It has the added advantage that the tutor can see from her/his own computer if the pupil has done the work and if there are any problems.

Using the time available before any learners went on-line the staff facilitated the learners' acquisition of a range of computer-based skills: design and production of name cards, letterheads, flyers etc. using the graphics facility, Power Point presentations and simple web design. The colourful print outs did much to motivate and stimulate the learners and to gain admiration from friends and families. It was interesting to discover just how much many of these learners went up in their parent's estimation and how this affected their relationships.

By the end of the evaluation process the tutors had developed a CD database on FileMakerPro of almost 300 suitable sites and interactive software with connections within each one to related URLs, thus providing an enormous library of resources to draw on. Such a resource will be made available to schools so that they can maintain a more active part with their out of school pupils within the future of the project. (See Appendix D)

The Glasgow Education Network (GEN), which should have been fully up and running during the evaluation period, was slower than anticipated in becoming fully functional. It will be the main access point for all teachers to subject content materials. Learnpremium will be the main source of this content but it will also contain other resources, such as Scholar, BBCi resources, Scran, etc. It will also contain the on-line subject content materials developed by Glasgow EDIS and teachers. These will all be searchable within GEN and can be allocated to individuals, or groups of pupils by teachers. It will also contain News items, noticeboards and discussion forum. The present SchoolsOutglasgow.net website is an example of a resource linked with the GEN development.

One of the positive aspects arising from the lack of connectivity was an increased use of the facilities available within the Glasgow FE Colleges for young people. Working collaboratively with Central College an introductory course was devised in response to the requests from some of the girls for a course on beauty therapy. Introduction to Personal Presentation, spread over 3 visits under the supervision of college staff, was a mixture of practical and on-line learning. The academic content was provided and undertaken on the virtual learning environment, Blackboard. Cardonald College similarly undertook to take on several learners from the project for Using Mathematics 1, Human Development and Behaviour and the ECDL. The socialisation aspect of attendance at these courses has been instrumental in creating enthusiasm and incentives to go onto further studies in the supportive college environment. This has been one of the successes of SchoolsOutGlasgow.net but an unintentional one. Current developments are a sports qualification (Personal Fitness) with Central College, building on the Health and Beauty course, already undertaken by several of the girls.

The main features of the teaching and learning experiences for the young people have been the use of ECDL (30 copies were provided by L/TScotland): it has been highly motivating with 2 learners completing the whole course; others have struggled but persevered despite failing some aspects 3 times. Pioneer, on-line learning about science within 5-14, proved to be at too low a level as did Eerf, a literacy programme devised for primary pupils. Several learners made comments about stuff being 'too easy' or 'not relevant'. Some said that the topics were limited with 'too many ticky boxes'.

Learners varied in their responses to questions about the range of curriculum subjects they had been offered. Among the first group of learners, five reported that they were either very happy or satisfied with the subjects they were studying. EDCL was particularly well received. The remainder reported that they would have liked more subjects, or more materials for the subjects they were studying. Two reported that the subjects were too limited and that they were disappointed in what they had been offered.

Boy: It just feels as if I'm still not at school and I'm still not getting educated. I've not had enough work. I've had a wee drop work in the last 6/7 months it's been on.

Int: Do you feel disappointed?

Boy : A wee bit, aye, 'cos they could have gave me a bit more work to do. Like, constant work would have been better because I've missed out on years of work in school so...

Int: Are you able to talk about this with the tutor about how you feel? About the work? Yeah... Let's think. When you started this project, did you sit down with the tutor and work out a folder of work that you were going to try and achieve with goals? No. You just sat down and talked together and took a day at a time?

Boy : The first day s/he came out, em ,… we had a meeting. S/He said to me about the computer and I said aye, you could just start me. I thought if I went on with this, that was me I was gonna get all my work done and I've not missed out on nothing. But then I got the computer brought in. It took… as soon as I got the computer it took at least a month before I even got any work. Then when I did get work, it was only wee bits at a time.

This boy's comments reflected those of other learners' who reported that the breadth of subjects available to them did not match up to their expectations of what would be available on the project. Their expectations of the project were high (perhaps unrealistically so in some cases) in that they hoped that being on the project would allow them to make up for lost educational ground.

One learner described work in a folder placed on her desktop, as containing English and maths that "put me in mind of what I would have got in primary school… like I've done it all before". This learner had not been able to access the Plato on-line resource and was quite aggrieved at the low level of some of the materials offered.

Int: So you've done English and you've done maths. Do you keep it in folders and things? [ Boy agrees]. And what about your ICT skills, how did you learn those?

Boy: I learnt them back at school. I didn't really need to be taught because that's one of my stronger subjects and I just really remembered everything, so I told her/ him that there was no need to go over computer skills because I already know them.

Another learner had been enthusiastic, although very focused upon the topic of Health and Beauty, but reported not doing any English or maths. While learners answered questions about the learning materials, they tended not to expand upon them. In the short time available to conduct the first interviews, it was not possible to look at learners' work on the computer.

In the second set of interviews, time was given to sitting with the learners at their computers. They were asked if they would like to show their work and perhaps print out some worksheets for the evaluators to consider. Except for one learner, whose computer was not connected for some reason that was not clear, all were very happy to co-operate with this request.

One learner's materials for English were described as comparable to what he had been receiving for Standard Grade English at school, and his maths was of a similar level of difficulty. Another learner was deeply engaged in the interactive maths work that she had been provided with and had clearly involved her mother's interest and active engagement with the work. By the end of October, 2003 tutors' access to a broader range of on-line learning materials appeared to have improved relative to some of the materials described by some of the first group of learners.

It would seem from their reports that it was the combination of the pace and place of learning, together with a tailored curriculum that was most beneficial to learning on the project.

Girl : Well it's a sort of on and off thing. Some subjects I enjoyed and others didn't. But I think the general atmosphere of school didn't really suit me. I find it a bit too pressurising. They think that actually what's brought on my current condition was stress because I was so stressed out by school and the amount of pressure about essays and grades and such. So, I don't really agree with the system in a lot of things, the subjects that are compulsory for you to learn whether you want to or not and a lot of other things. I don't believe you can learn anything if you're forced into it.

Girl: And I don't agree with the fact that you have to choose your subjects so early on, when they expect you to know what you're going to be at such a young age and such. But no, I just found it too pressurising, it stressed me out. This suits me a lot better if I can work at my own pace.

Int:

Girl: So I'd be a lot happier this way than I was before.

Int: So, do you want to ……have examinations or do would you…? When I say examinations, I mean the qualifications you get.

Girl: Well, I mean I would hope to do that and surely, I mean, I need them I suppose for…

It would appear that these comments reflect the early stages of the project when staff had no record on the pupils to build on and were quite tightly constrained as to the resources at their disposal. The acquisition of the flash memory stick, an electronic devise to download, transport physically and reload information onto another PC, was the saving of the team's ability to provide more appropriate and motivating work. The Chatroom never materialised and the use of stickies by the learners was spasmodic. These young people are not inhibited at communicating electronically with 'unknown' people; they use the Internet and text messaging for such purposes in their personal lives. The reason they did not respond to the ' community' concept seems more to do with them having already got a well established network of friends of their own and for the more solitary it is not possible or desirable to place a demand on them to communicate for a purpose which is not their own. It may be that the GCC plans to extend their Buddying programme, currently in collaboration with Glasgow Universities, will offer a way in to extending these isolated learners' network of contacts. Such a scheme is proving helpful with young prisoners. It is interesting to note that several learners and their families did comment on the range of new professionals who had an impact on their lives (and perhaps some positive male role models?). The various technicians and the Edict consultant did have an effect in that they were seen as the people who make things 'better'.

L/TScotland played a critical role in providing information, training and support in content materials, developing approaches and making contacts with a wider range of sources of learning and support within the city. These included the Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow Museums, the Palace of Art, Careers Scotland. A range of software was also provided and some commissioned, CDRoms were supplied and the facilities at L/TScotland made available to teach the learners how to build a web site. Through SCETNET a series of secondary curriculum software was accessed and subject specific CDRoms on food and technology, art and design made available. It is fair to say that there was almost an embarrassment of riches from which to pick and choose. But that in some ways created its own problems: staff had to know what they contained, how they mapped into learning outcomes which could lead to accreditation. This takes time and comes with the experience of using them and seeing how learners engage with them. Subject teachers would have an advantage here in that their remit is narrowed to one, or at most two, curriculum areas

To make them all available to the learners without any filtering is simply to pass on the difficult task of assessing their usefulness or fitness for purpose. If SchoolsOutglasgow.net is to be more than just a supermarket of learning opportunities for learners to buy into as and when they choose, much more time and effort has to be expended in devising ways in which to help the customers (the learners) become knowledgeable and critical consumers of these on-line and software products. This should be an integral part of the development of the use of ICT for learning within all schools, starting from the beginning of primary one. The concept of the project is a good one and appropriate for all pupils; independent learning, individually or in groups, using the electronic library within the computer and experiencing the thrill of discovery through the Internet should be promoted by all teachers within their subject disciplines and across subjects so that pupils make efficient and effective use of the on-line resources so readily available. However, the reality is that there are insufficient computers as yet available.

There are also related issues to do with training and CPD opportunities for staff who have to acquire the relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills to move towards a more enabling and facilitating role. Learning and Teaching Scotland has already given a lead in this and is well placed to develop this further with local authorities as well as in on-line provision. The wealth of expertise involved in the annual SETT conference is a good example of what can be offered and achieved. It is important that Scotland does not remain insular but seeks to continue to maintain links and learn from innovative and successful projects both within the UK and elsewhere. It is worth mentioning here that the distance learning schools within Australia and New Zealand have already achieved much in supporting the full continuum of learners (and their families) in a range of out of school settings, including the home. They now adopt a blended approach, tailored for the individual learner and the family circumstances. Goal setting, the content and load of work to be completed within agreed time-scales, on-line tutor support, the due submission of work on time to be logged as 'attendance', all help to keep learners at a distance supported and on task. The published lists of achievements are impressive

The project overall has shown the motivational value of giving each pupil their own computer, although not all learners responded equally positively and one did not relate to it at all. Learners varied in their feelings about learning via the computer or through on-line materials. Some were really positive, particularly in that they described being able to get on with their work, without teachers or other pupils 'hassling them', and at a time that was suitable for them. Other learners described their need of face-to-face teaching in order to learn on the computer.

Int: Do you think that being on the project has helped you to learn? [learner nods in agreement]. Can you give me an example? I know it's really hard to ask you this, but try and think of how it's helped you to learn.

Boy: I don't know. Because ( Team Member's name) been coming out and been sitting and explaining it to you … because when you're in school and the teacher's explaining, there's a lot of people. Better, just to explain it yourself.

Int: So the learning is better, not so much because you've got the machine, but because somebody's explaining it more carefully to you? [learner nods in agreement] Right so ( Team Member's name) been the most important bit rather than the machine?

Boy: No the machine's been good as well, because it's the machine that's made the person come out.

Int: You don't think ( Team Member's name) would have come without the machine?

Boy: No. That's the only reason my tutor was coming out, because the computer was here.

One learner who had "turned night into day" was reported to sleep all day and stay up all night, changed her/his behaviour patterns to a more normal day/night split. S/He became motivated to do things and join in with some of the group events. S/He can work independently although s/he prefers to work "when the house is quiet". The concept of having the computer within the main body of the family rather than solitary within the learner's bedroom has its drawbacks. The notion of 'defensible space', where one has freedom to and from is an issue that has had to be faced. One learner within a Looked After and Accommodated situation did eventually have to have the computer placed within her/his bedroom in order to have protection from interference from other residents who would abuse the use of the computer and especially the Internet facility. It is one thing for a family to sign the Acceptable Use Policy contract but it cannot be enforced within such a shared home (See Appendix C). The key issue is that decisions must be made with sensitivity for the individual needs and circumstances of each learner rather than a strict rule imposed, albeit one devised with the learners' best interests at heart.

Schools are already changing, introducing more flexibility into the curriculum and more pupil choice, including undertaking some of their studies outside of the school precinct in FE Colleges. Classroom teachers are adopting more flexible modes of teaching, becoming facilitators of pupils' learning, setting up tasks which do make use of ICT, the school library and its staff, etc. The SchoolsOutglasgow.net should be viewed as a natural extension of these approaches, to be used by the schools and the subject staff to motivate and support 'absent' pupils. In this way the costs would be minimised for the schools as they would retain their pupil and the responsibility for her/him but use the local authority based service to assist them in the task.

For the tutor staff the project has been a challenging time with a steep learning curve. They have had to be flexible on a daily basis, to think on their feet, be creative in problem solving the day-to-day and more long term changes to the blueprint they started with. The office accommodation was inadequate and limited their ability to make use of some of the ICT equipment. There was no space for printers or scanners linked to their computers and they had to share the school's photocopier. There was only one telephone for the 4 staff (and potentially up to 30 sets of clients). They did not have Microsoft Outlook and had to rely on Hotmail personal addresses which they felt did not give a professional impression to schools. Despite these very real physical difficulties staff remained very positive and made a significant contribution to the learning situations of these pupils.

(NB All of these problems have been overcome with the centralisation of the tutor team into a network of support staff for pupils with interrupted learning.)

Funding

An element of this evaluation has been to examine costs and to try to assess a realistic figure for the maintenance of each pupil on such a service. The complexities of this exercise have precluded achieving this aim. However, the following costs have been established which indicate that a global sum of around 235,000.00 has been put into the project over the 2 sessions. We can give no assurances on its accuracy as many of the figures were given in different circumstances and at different times. The figure also is not complete since certain costs have been 'lost' within the GCC general budget.

Start-up costs were greatly increased due to the many connectivity problems. In the first session there was no exchange of funds from schools to the SchoolsOutGlasgow.net project but it was envisaged that this would occur with the new session, 2003-2004 and would be a critical factor for the survival of the service in the long term. Schools demurred and made it clear that they were not in a position to make a cash transfer, but could instead make a contribution in kind through the level of partnership and support they could make to the success of the project. Some schools when pressed to make a contribution, decided to withdraw their application and removed the pupil to another, less costly, service. This does raise issues about equity and justice for pupils, about making the right choice for the pupil as opposed to what can be afforded, and who decides what is a fair amount to be allocated to a pupil when so much of the per capita grant is expended on staff and school infrastructure which still have to be maintained irrespective of the loss of one or two pupils.

Technical Costs

The initial ntl costs, as detailed in the VPN proposal were of the order of 20,000 capital costs, with an additional 10,000 per annum for the VPN link. ntl provided a project management plan detailing all costs for their work.

Mitel costs have not, as yet, been quantified but have been expressed as in excess of 40 days project management and consultancy. These costs are estimated as being over 20,000.

Edict costs were identified in the Committee paper as 39,000 for consultancy and technical support. As with all costs associated with this project, this has been significantly increased due to the technical difficulties encountered

Plato costs for ILS are approximately 9,000 per annum for software development. They, too, have supplied technical support that has not yet been costed.

Server purchase and installation costs are estimated at approximately 10,000 in total.

Cost of PC and printer per site (i.e., pupil's home) is 1200 spread over 3 years

Cost of Cable Modem 1Mb connection to pupil's home is 595 capital cost and 1260 annual rental.

Provision of ADSL (BT) link per pupil is 635 capital and 1260 annual rental (business rates as opposed to private home rate).

Provision of Dial-up connection 100 (not fully tested).

Staff costs

The GCC ICT Project Management costs for this project have been identified as 9,000 but have been increased with the necessary involvement of the GCC Primary Contract Manager. This has not, to date, been charged to the project.

No cost has been attributed to the contribution of the SEN Principal Officer, since this is considered a part of his normal work.

The costs of the 4 staff tutors were made as a contribution in kind to the project by GCC. Further real costs associated with their face-to-face role and much increased due to the ongoing problems with the lack of connectivity and on-line learning, were travel and subsistence costs. In addition, the tutor team leader had access to a small budget, of approximately 5,000, effectively negotiated on an annual basis with the SEN Principal Officer, for day to day running costs, such as telephone bills, postage, paper, computer inks, photocopying, small cost software resources, etc. This budget was placed within the overall budget given to their host school and the tutor team leader completes the necessary requisition forms and submits to the headteacher of that school for signature and for verification. In practice no applications were refused. However, it was reported that on several occasions, in order to meet the immediate needs of a pupil, the tutor staff would actually purchase an item from their own money. It was unclear whether the costs of all such purchases were refunded to the staff. This is not an unusual occurrence within the teaching profession; teachers identify a need in teaching and/or learning and take action to meet it, often at their own expense. However, in such a project there needs to be some mechanism for rapidly accessing necessary items to allow pupil progress in learning.

L/TScotland personnel involvement has not been identified as a specific cost as the lead officer is already core funded by NEDD for field related work. This officer had responsibility for the budget for commissioning curriculum development resources within the project and ultimate responsibility for quality control in commissioned learning materials. In line with standard Scottish Executive and L/TScotland procurement practices, all development work was cost limited, put out to tender and evaluated for quality before final payment was made. Some such work was indeed rejected. While this is good practice it does raise issues of power and control within a partnership project, especially where differences of opinion could arise. There is a need for openness, clarity and explicitness in all aspects of partnership work, with well understood guidelines/rules to which all partners have contributed.

Outcomes

While one learner said of the project, "It's not really done nothing for me. It's not done nothing for me at all." (meaning that he had got nothing from the project), the majority of the evidence pointed to learners' new found confidence enabling them to act positively for themselves. In addition to the learner who persuaded her old school to 'take her back', another learner, with a long history of conflict with adults, after a successful interview with college staff, was offered a place on his preferred course. Another learner had gained sufficient confidence in himself to independently make contact with a college, go for interview and be accepted on a course that built on his success in ECDL.

By the end of the evaluation period, tutors appeared to have access to a broader range of on-line learning materials, including materials matched to some school curriculum subjects, and a greater likelihood of more reliable Internet connectivity. It was at this point in the project's life that its basic aim, to offer continuing use of an ICT-based curriculum delivery to learners not able to go to school, seemed a more achievable outcome for the projects' learners.

The overwhelming majority of learners and their family members reported feelings of happiness and relief in response to joining the project. The following dialogue between a learner, his mother and the researcher exemplifies one of many such dialogues.

Boy : ……, I really wanted to learn and I was trying different ways, like I said, and it wasn't working so I was really getting worried that my future….

Int: So have those feelings changed since you've been on the project? I know you've only been on it a little while.

Boy : Yeah it's improved, aye. I'm really happy, I'm starting to do well in it.

Int: …You feel a sense of relief?

Boy: Happiness.

Mother: Can I say something as well. You know, [name], since [name's] been on this he's a totally different person. He's changed.

Int: …

Mother: Yeah. He's getting up early in the morning, 'cause before, you know, he didnae have anything, he could go to his.., staying up late at night, go and lie in bed. But see now, see all the…, what a difference!

Int: …

Mother: Personality and even looking better. He's healthier. And he's getting up; normal time's 9 o'clock and going to his bed maybe 11. Whereas before, it was kinda going to sleep during the day, up kinda couple o' hours…

Another Boy: I wish that this was brought to my attention last year so I could, 'cause I've missed a year o' school and I'd like to, it would be good if I had it last year 'cause it was good.

Evidence of the benefits to learners and parents of joining the project, were largely that their feelings were lifted about the day-to-day worries arising out of, a) going to school or b) not going to school

Mother: It was a lot better than having to send him to school when I knew I was going to get a phone call during the day saying, 'come up to school we need to see you'. And when he was doing this and that, I knew he was doing something.

Int: So it was a relief.

Mother: Yeah.

Her son got through the course, completed his work, attempted examinations and was accepted for a placement that he was proud of.

Another learner's particularly moving report of his feelings about the impact of his not going to school on himself, his family and his future, provided a good example of similar reports expressed by others

Int: This must be a huge relief to you?

Boy: Yeah it is. At first when I, my dad came home from the meeting, I was really amazed … so I was.

Int: Were you?

Boy: I was not doing anything, like any work. Time was passing and I was thinking to myself, 'what am I going to do with my future?', [ pause] then this came along, I was really happy.

Int: Mm. It's lovely to see your face smiling. I bet you were pretty miserable before, eh?

Boy: Yeah. My mum was really getting sick of me. I don't blame her 'cause I was really depressed and stuff.

Int: Your mum and dad sound very supportive.

Boy: Yeah they are. I'm lucky to have them.

In cases where connection to the Internet had been relatively successful, evidence emerged of the enrichment of access to learning for learners' families, particularly in cases where a family's income was restricted.

Mother: I enjoyed having the Internet.

Int: What did you use it for?

Mother: It's just like a big library. I just look up anything I wanted and never thought it was something, and thought 'oh right I'll have to look that one up'. It was good fun. I really enjoyed it.

Int: So you'll miss the machine going? [Mother agrees]. Will you find someway of trying to save up money to make it happen here?

Mother: No… It goes because it's all paid for together with the computer.

Other parents, including those with no Internet connection, reported that the presence of the computer in their home had enhanced their own interest in learning.

Information on leaver destinations demonstrates that the project had been able to make a significant contribution to getting most of them into some future placement. The learners in the first cohort had moved on to the following destinations

• 3 were still with the project
• 2 had gone back to schools (one a new school, while the other went back to her old school)
• 5 had gone on to employment
• 1 to an employment training place
• 1 had joined the army
• 4 had been accepted for a college course
• 7 had been referred to Careers Scotland
• 3 had been transferred- 1 to another project, 1 into the care of the Social Work Department and 1 into the care of Psychiatric Services.

Staff were hopeful that the evaluation findings would reflect a key aim underpinning their contribution, which was that learners have a positive experience and leave the project with more confidence in themselves than they had when they came to the project.

Int: You want it to be a process that's meaningful.

Tutor: Just a positive experience… Use it in twenty years, use it whenever. So I don't want it that we're providing, we are providing a curriculum, we're providing all these things that they're entitled to ... But sometimes I don't like, you know, if it's evaluated - and I know you're not doing this - but I don't want it to be evaluated, 'so many people got their ECDL - I know they did and one of mine did and one's at college, I've got lovely success stories - but I don't want that to be the success story of it just because one boy had the where with all. I don't know how you measure just girls and boys feeling a wee bit better about themselves… I think then it's worthwhile that they can turn back and say, ' do you know, I remember I was able to do this and I remember and speaking to another adult I hadn't met before so I can do it again'.

Tutor: "I don't know how you measure just girls and boys feeling a wee bit better about themselves."

Researcher: "But that's another evaluation!"

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