USIBrazil Learning Technologies Network (LTNet) 
Final Evaluation Report 
December 30,2001 
Barbara Fillip 
Drawing by Gabriel, a student in Group 401, E. M. Rose Kablin School, Brazil. 
Gabriel participated in the MultiRio Internet Generation Project in collaboration with LTNet. 
More details about the project and LTNet's involvement are provided u. 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
Objectives of the Project 
For the past three years, fiom October 1998-December 2001, the USIBrazil Learning 
Technologies Network (LTNet) project has supported and stren-4ened efforts in Brazil to make 
effective use of educational technologies, thereby contributing to improvements in Brazilian 
public education. Specifically, LTNet successfully accomplished the following objectives to: 
9 Build and enhance, over the course of the project, an easy-to-use web site, bilingual in 
Portuguese and ~nilish and encompassing information, professional networking 
services, and teacher development resources for Brazilian and US educators;' 
> Support and enhance other UsBrazil Education Partnerships activities, especially exchanges 
between Brazilian and the US educators and actively participate in Partnership meetings; 
> Establish and strengthen links between multiple Brazilian educational programs and 
encourage improved use of educational technologies within these activities; 
9 Organize, carry out and participate in conferences, seminars and workshop in the US and 
Brazil that increase an understanding of the effective use of computer and Internet 
technology in education; 
9 Seek out and enable partnerships among US corporations and Brazilian counter part 
institutions and the Brazilian education sector; and 
> Reach out to and expose US educators to Brazilian experiences with educational technology 
applications and facilitate collaborative links between US and Brazilian educators to 
exchange experiences and perceptions about using computers and the Internet to improve 
teaching and learning. 
LTNet was funded by USAID's Latin American and Caribbean Bureau for three years staning in 
October 1998. The idea for LTNet originated at the first US.-Brazil Binational Dialo, we on 
education, held in early 1998. The Brazilian Ministry of Education @EC) was establishing a 
Centre for Experimentation with Educational Technologies (CETE) as a national resource to 
promote and research the effective use of educational technology and to support ProInfo, a 
national school computerization project. The Ministry suggested that a similar center or 
clearinghouse in the United States could be linked to CETE so that U.S. and Brazilian educators, 
researchers and policy makers could share what they were learning about using technologies in 
schools. As LTNet was icveloped: the initial partnership with CETE evolved ro encompass a 
strong partnership between ProInfo and LTNet. 
I LTNet was mandated to encourage and enable coliai~oratior! among US and Braziliar: educe:'::.. A! 11x same rime. 
most of LTNet's project work was focus on collaborarin~ with Brvilian organizations m6 xh301.- ;c enhance the 
use of computers and the Internet to imp:evr sducarisr: ir 3razilia.r public schools. 
t 
I 
The US response to this request was LTNet, funded by the US. Agency for International 
Development's Latin America and Caribbean bureau and the Human Capacity and Development 
Center. The project was designed by USAID in cooperation with the US. Department of 
Education, US. Information Agency (now part of the US. State Department), and the Brazilian 
government. 
The Academy for Educational Development (AED), through the USAID funded Leadink 
project was contracted to implement and administer this collaborative effort. At USAID, David 
Evans, the Education Program Officer, oversaw this initiative and provided important leadership 
and advice to LTNet staff and was a strong supporter of this collaborative initiative. In Brazil, 
staff at the Cultural Affairs section of the US Embassy, specifically Michael Hahn and Marcia 
Mio, provided significant assistance to LTNet staff in planning and carrying out activities and 
projects in Brazil. At times, the US Embassy through the Cultural Affairs office provided 
critical funding assistance to Brazilian participants in LTNet and ProInfo collaborative activities. 
On the Brazil side, the leadership provided by Pedro Paulo Poppovic, the Secretary for Distance 
Education at the Ministry of Education, and the support to LTNet provided by Claudio Salles, 
the Director of ProInfo, was instrumental in enabling LTNet to grow. evolve and become 
successful. The pattern of partnership demonstrate by these two men was imitated by their staff 
and colleagues at the Ministry and across Brazil. This enabled LTNet to be quickly integrated 
into several aspects of ProInfo and created opportunities for collaboration with states and 
municipal secretaries of education. Without the blessing and support of the Ministry of 
Education and ProInfo it would have been impossible to work directly with state and municipal 
schools and NTEs. And therefore, much of what LTNet has been able to accomplish .sould not 
have happened. 
Achievements 
Over the past three years, LTNet staff, often in partnership with the ProInfo staff.' developed 
and implemented, activities that improved the promotion and use of computers and thc 
Internet in education. 
The adoption of new technologies within education systems is often a slow and challenging 
process that was nurtured effectively by LTNet's Project Director, Eric Rusten. and other 
project staffwho worked very closely with their Brazilian partners, particularly with 
ProInfo's pedagogical coordinator Vera Lucia Suguri. Through this close partnership, 
LTNet staff gained an understanding of the information culture among Brazilian educators. 
which enabled the project to develop and adapt activities to the specific needs and 
circumstances of Brazilian teachers and students. 
Brazil does not lack experts in educational technologies and in making effective use of 
computers and the Internet in schools. In fact, make of the leaders in this field globally are 
from Brazil and have contributed to ProInfo's and LTNet's work. LTNet was able to draw 
on this local expertise to strengthen its work and in turn occasionally facilitated 
I Prolnfo is Brazil's nationa! school computerilation and education change progam within the Minisr;! or 
Education (http://\vr~v.proicfo.mec.gov.br). 
interrelationships among educational technology specialists aod schools. Relying on sound 
educational theories, LTNet in collaboration with ProInfo contiibuted knowledge and skills 
for improving the way educators use computer and Internet tzchnology in teaching and 
learning. In addition, the LTNetRroInfo collaboration was able to 1) excite educators, 
especially at the classroom level, about the potential of educational technologies; 2) instill a 
belief in their own abilities; 3) show them how to achieve their goals; and 4) provide a web￾based collaborative environment for using different technology in educational activities. 
Once an educational technolow "comfort level" was reached. educators were able to link 
analytically initially-intimidating theory and practice. ~lso, the approach developed and 
promoted by LTNet and ProInfo imparted practical solutions to problems teachers faced and 
enabled teachers to immediately engage their students in online collaborative projects. 
The first two years of the project were spent primarily building relationships, testing new 
approaches, developing the LTNet web site and an integrated set of virtual communication 
and collaborative tools, developing and applying a rapid training approach that best fit the 
needs of Brazilian educators. The third year was marked by a 50 percent reduction in 
funding and a rapid expansion in demands for LTNet services, specifically the use of 
LTNet's web site and the virtual collaboration and communication tools. This increase in 
demand forced staff to reline existing tools and identify and install new fictions to make the 
collaborative learning environments as user-friendly as possible. The funding decline led to a 
reduction of paid-staff time that could be dedicated to managing LTNet. LTNet's Director 
was allocated 50 percent time on LTNet, while the other two staff were allocated 40 percent 
and 30 percent respectively. To compensate for this loss of paid staff, LTNet had to 
increasingly rely on staff from Brazil's ProInfo program and volunteers at Brazilian schools 
and NTEs. 
LTNet, in collaboration with ProInfo, raised the level of interest in educational technology 
encouraged educators to network with each other and to experiment with creative uses of 
technology to improve teaching and learning. In addition, LTNet helped to change 
perceptions among many Brzizilian educators about their capabilities and roles as educaiors. 
LTNet and ProInfo demonstrated with Brazilian educators what could be done with 
technology. Educators learned new ways to share learning experiences, build learning 
communities, and become innovators themselves. 
These achievements and the success of LTNet become even more impressive when the 
relative lack of resources for developing and maintaining LlXet's web site and creating the 
collaborative learning tools and environments is factored in. Much of LTNet's success is 
directly attributed to the personal dedication of LThlet's Project Director Eric Rusten and 
LTNet partner at ProInfo Vera Suguri. Although LTNet's funding ended in December 3 1, 
2001. LTNet's future wili continuing under LTNet-Brazil, a newly-created NGI) that was 
created by Eric Rusten and Vera Suguri. ' 
Y 
Ven Suguri will be LTNet-Brazi!'~ Executive Director and Eric Rusten will serve as a volunteer board rncn~'wr 
ai~d chief technical advisor. 
lrri . . . 
Ill 
Evaluation History 
In early November 1999, after one year of activity, Dr. Joan Dassin was hired to conduct a mid￾term assessment of LTNet. In June 2000, LTNet contracted with Dr. Barbara Fillip to update the 
mid-year assessment, since the project was seeking a funded extension beyond the initial two 
years. At the end of year three of project activities, LTNet again hired Dr. Fillip to canyout the 
final project evaluation presented in this document. 
This report refers to an analysis of information on project activities fiom November 20,2000 
through-December 28,2001. Much of this information was gathered from face-to-face meetings 
in Brazil and in the US with people involved in LTNet and those who benefited from 
participating in LTNet sponsored activities. The evaluation also assessed the LTNet web site, 
key project documents including quarterly reports, published papers, and PowerPoint 
presentations, and many in-depth discussions with LTNet and ProInfo staff. 
The first part of the report focuses on an assessment of the third year of project activities. The 
second part of the report presents a broader perspective on the overall project results and lessons 
learned throughout LTNet's three years of activity. 
Table of Contents 
Part I: KEY ACTIVITIES DURING 2001 
This first part of the evaluation report provides a description of key project activities, focusing on 
the last of the project's three years of existence. 
A. The LTNet Web Site 
B. Presentations and Papers 
C. Training 
Part 11. RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED DURING 1999 - 2001 
This second part of the evaluation report provides an overview of results achieved by the project 
and lessons learned over three year's of project activities. 
A. Partnerships 
B. Innovations 
Part 111. CONCLUSIONS 
APPENDICES 
Appendix A: Yahoo Group Discussion Lists to facilitate Vial Exchanges 
Appendix B: Screen shot of the Links to AACs on the LTNet Web Site 
~Duendix C: Screen shot of the Sinop/FUST AAC Photo Gallery showing the President of 
Brazil 
Appendix D: Screen Shot of the SchoolLi Chat Pilot Web Page 
Appendix E: Screen shot of the RiverWalk Program's Chat room access p%e 
Appendix F: Screen shot of the advanced web folio used for the RiverWalk Project 
Appendix G: List of Documents Reviewed 
Ap~endix H: List of Individuals Contacted 
Part I. KEY ACTIVITIES DURING 2001 
LTNet objectives during year three inc~ude:~ 
0' Strengthen the shared agenda of priority issues of the US. and Brazilian Education 
Partnership (EPIC); 
*:* Strengthen the network of relevant and interested participants in the U.S. and Brazil 
Education Partnenhip; 
Continue to strengthen and use the LTNet web site to maximize access to relevant U.S. 
Educational Technology Resources; 
*% Serve as a primary English-language information resource on Brazil's educational 
technology efforts; 
0:. Expand knowledge about the use of online learning for teacher training and professional 
development with specific emphasis on ESJJEFL language instruction; 
0% Strengthen knowledge and understanding of research, monitoring, and evaluation of 
educational technology initiatives; 
*:* Foster links between the US educational technology business sectors with the Brazilian 
education sector; and 
*:* Work toward enacting strategies to sustain LTNet and the LTNet web site beyond 
USAID core funding. 
These goals were fulfilled through an integrated combination of activities. This part of the report 
describes these activities by organizing them into in three specific areas: 
+:* The LTNet web site; 
*:* Presentations and papers developed and delivered by LTNet staff in collaboration with 
ProInfo; and 
0' Training activities facilitated by LTNet. 
The LTNet Web Site: A Transformation for the Better 
Originally, the LTNet web site was designed to primarily be a web-based clearinghouse for 
reports, case studies, web resources and other information (predominately from the US) on the 
use of educational technology to enhance teaching and learning in primary and secondary 
schools. As the project evolved and staff learned more about the needs of Brazilian educators. 
staff concluded that a web-based clearing house was not the most effective use for the LREet 
web site. Few Brazilian teachers know English well enough to benefit from the majority of 
available resources because they were primarily in .Furthermore, at the start of the project. few 
public schools with computer labs had access to the Internet, and teachers with Internet access 
did not spend much time searching for reports and case studies on ICTs were used in US schools. 
Because of these conditions and an emerging understanding of how best to support Brazilian 
efforts to improve education with technology, LTNet staff in collaboration with staff from 
ProInfo, transformed the LTNet web site into a virtual space for collaboration and leaminp and 
encouraged Brazilian teachers t~ network with each other and with teachers in the US. This 
change gave LTNet's web site a vibrant life, made LTNet more responsive to the needs of 
teachers, and greatly enhanced LTNet's impact on Brazilian education. 
4 These objectives were copied from the project contract. 
1 
The transformation of the initial web site to an interactive collaborative leaning environment was 
accomplished within a project that lacked an explicit budget to support the design, consrruction. 
and maintenance of the web site. 
A.1. Web Site Develo~ments and Use ' 
A New "Cookie" 
In December 2001, Eric Rusten added "cookie" technology to the start pages of the LTNet web 
site, which allowed visitors to bypass the configuration page after their first visit to the site. The 
configuration page was needed to ensure that the "text-only" version of the site would be 
properly displayed on different computer monitors. 
A Low-Graphic Version of the Web Site Speeds Access 
By October 2001, Eric Rusten and a volunteer web designer, Cheryl Hoffman, completed the 
development of a low-graphic version of LTN~~.~ Beforethis, many teachers in Brazil had 
difficulty accessing LTNet because of the graphics that were used for menus and banners. The 
low-graphics version made it possible for nearly all educators with Internet access to easily and 
quickly use LTNet. It is important to note, that this was accomplished while maintaining the 
same look and feel present in the graphics version of the web site. Most To correct this problem 
the 
Usage 
Both the size of the site and the number of people using LTNet increased dramatically over the 
three years and very rapidly during the fall and winter of 2001. During the first year of the 
project, LTNet received 3 to 5 help-desk inquiries per week, while during the October-December 
2001 LTNet was contacted about 24 times a week, primarily by Brazilian teachers. 
Several reasons explain why Brazilians started using LTNet's help desk more in the last year 
than in earlier years. Fit, as more teachers became aware of LTNet and met Eric Rusten at 
numerous conferences, workshops and seminars, the site became familiar, and teachers overcame 
reservations about contacting LTNet directly. Also, as LTNet's e-mail discussion list gee\\ in 
popularity, teachers became comfortable with e-mail and other electronic communication means 
and accustomed to communicating with LTNet staff. Also as time passed, more teachers gained 
easy access to the Internet. Finally, LTNet experimented with a variety of communication 
methods that allowed users to communicate easily with LTNet staff and other educators using 
the LTNet web site. 
This section coven on::; inp:ovements made durins :kc I=: ;cz 2:r.i ;r;je:. 
6 This low-graphics version was nearly completely text-only. The on1 gaphic used on the site were the &:, ::I:;: 
photographs of project activities. And a special pop-up system for photographs was implemented re imp-:.:-: 
performance. 
One such method, collaborative learning environments (AAcs),~ was added to the site during the 
spring and summer of 2001. Consequently, visits to the site increased rapidly during this period, 
over 360,000 visits to LTNet were recorded for the first half of April (see table below). 
The table below provides some data on user "hits" or visits to the LTNet web site from the 
fourth quarter of 2000 and through of the forth quarters of 2001. Activity peaked around April 
2001 as shown the highlighted quarter below.' 
Instant Internet Publishing Tool for the AACs 
LTNet's director continuously searched for, experimented with, modified and incorporated 
multide. new Web-based collaborative and communication tools into the -4~~s.~ One -, 
especially useful tool offers file management, allowing AAC users to quickly and easily publish 
their documents online on LTNet. This free tool was modified so that all menu items and 
instructions are available in both English and Portuguese. 
Preparing the LTNet website for use and transfer to LTh'eZ-Brazil 
The business of transferring the LTNet site to LTNet-Brazil required additional time, energy and 
commitment from the project director to document and clean up the site for management by staff 
of LTNet-Brazil. 
' AAC is the Portuguese acronym for "Ambiente de Aprendizagem Colaborative". or Collaborative Learning 
Environment in English. ' This peak occurred at this time because LTNet ?as being used as the foundation for a stare-wide training activit) 
for c;: 1,000 school principals and 3CC multip!iers to21 :k Z:r ;:!2:: T:-:x. 
The challenxe of finding, modifying and installing appropriate tools was complicated by the need to only use free 
public domain tool so that others in Brazil could incorporate them into their web sites and to translate these rods tc 
English and Portuguese so that Brazilian educators and students could us? <hen? without difficulty. 
AutoSubscriptwn to the SchoolLinks e-mail discussion !ist 
To make it easier for users to subscribe to LTNet's SchoolLinks e-mail discussion list, fiee 
software was configured and installed, allowing visitors to quickly and automatically subscribe 
to the listserv fiom numerous locations on the site. 
Transforming the chat room softwae to a database driven chat tool 
LTNet supports close to 30 chat rooms used by thousands of teachers and students across Brazil. 
With so many chat rooms running on LTNet performance of the site suffered. To correct this 
problem, LTNet's director configured and installed a database-driven version of this free 
software which offers full text streaming. All existing chat room will now be shifted to this data￾base driven software and the whole site will move to a more powerful web server. This shift will 
enable more people to use the chat rooms without technical problems. 
LTNet set up the following listservs to facilitate communications among groups of educators. 
Details about these lists are provided in Appendix A. Four lists identified below are run bv the 
web server at AED. 
3. SchoolLii 
4. Brazilian Exchange Principals 
5. Reganeste Coordinators List 
6. Brazilian Principals List 
The following 13 e-mail discussion lists were set up by LTNet use the free service offered by 
Yahoo Groups (www.yahoogroups.com). lo 
7. American University-UFPR (Federal University of Parana) Virtual Exchange Discussion 
List 
8. Brazil Binational Centers (BNC)--Academic Coordinators 
9. Brazil Binational Centers @NC)-- Brasil-ESL 
10. Brazil Binational Centers @NC+ Brasil-Tech 
11. Brazil Binational Centers (BNC)-- Presidents Discussion List 
12. Brazil Binational Centers (BNCF Technology & Education Goup 
13. Brazil Binational Centers @NC)-- Coordinators Discussion List 
14. Brasilia Federal District Discussion list I DF Lista de Discussao 
15. Diretores REME de Carnpo Grande-MS 
16. Partners-DC-Brasilia Discussion List 
17. Riverwalk-Brasil Project Discussion List 
18. SchoolLinks/TVEscoia Lista de DiscussZo 
19. US-Brazil-International Education Week discussion list 
Banco de Links 
In October 2001. LTNet launched "Banco de Links" -a new on-line resource that enables users 
to add URLs on useful educational web sites to a links directory, organiztd by topic. This 
enables users to choose among web sites recommended by other educators. The Banco de Links 
IC There are a variety of web-based services tha! offer tiee e-mail discussion groups LTNer selected Yahoo because 
ir uses fw gaphics and therefore is fast. i!s adveEising is minimal, and it is offert7' i? Fr2zilian Portuguese. 
is administered by a volunteer Brazilian teacher, Noara Resende hm Belo Horizonte, "Banco" 
automatically routes emails of suggested sites to her for formal approval before the link can be 
included in the "Banr on LTNet. Testimonials from teachers and "hits" after introductory 
training sessions indicate that the "Banco de Links" is a very useful LTNet resource. 
LEV&% Enhanced Web Folio 
Another important tool of LTNet's AACs is the web folio, which enables teachers, students; 
uarents and multiuliers'' to instmtlv .. uublish content and imaees 
., 
within their AAC on LTNet's 
Internet site Initially, LTNet used a free on-line service called Blogger (w~v.blower.com). 
Unfortunately, Blogger is only available in English and users were forced to register via the 
English lankge r~strationforms on the ~lo&er web site. Notwithstanding ;he language 
difficulties that inhibited some teachers from using this tool, the freeware itself also has limited 
options. Consequently, the project director looked for free replacement software that could 
replicate the instant publishing features of Blogger, while allowing for innovative, customized 
use and eliminating the complex registration process and the need to use English. A new tool, 
NewsPro (httD://www.amuhibianweb.com/newsuro/), was identified after extensive searching 
and testing of a variety of options. LTNet's director then modified this tool extensively to meet 
the needs of collaborative projects in Brazil and created LTNet's popular web folio. 
The first opportunity to actively test LTNet's new web folio was with the RiverWalk 
collaborative learning project. This further enhanced web folio tool was launched as part of the 
RiverWalk AAC in the summer of 2001, enabling large numbers of educators to publish within 
their own space in one folio and allowing published material to be organized by theme or 
question. The new web folio tool also made it easier for users to insert simple HTML code into 
their documents to enhance the presentation of content. The tool also made it possible for non￾members to post comments to specific documents published in the web folio. One of the best 
advantages of NewsPro was its availability in Portuguese. 
After a successful test of the new web folio tool in the River Walk ACC, it was installed on two 
other AACs. Eventually, this web folio tools will replace all older web folio tools. (See 
Appendix F for a screen shot of the enhanced web folio used in the RiverWalk AAC.) 
Analnine the Entire Web Site 
An analysis of the LTNet site structure needs to include a history of its development and 
examination of both Portuguese and English sides of the site. At the very start of the projecf the 
structure and basic site framework of content and functions were based on its conception as a 
web-based clearinghouse that was developed under the terms of the USAID contract. The site 
evolved as project staff learned about the realities of education in Brazil and responded to local 
needs and demands for appropriate services. Thus project activities were redirected to meet 
different educator-defined needs. As a direct result some of the site's initial features received 
little on-going attention and development. Also. due to deficits in explicit funding for web site 
development. priorities were established that shifted the focus to interactive collaborative tools 
I1 Multipliers are educational technology specialists and teacher trainers who work at state and municipal NTE's as 
part ofthe ProInfo program. Most, if not all, multipliers were initially teachers. They received between 160 to 200 
hours of specialized training in technology and educationai pedagogy. 
and resources desired by teachers. Specifically, the AACs, were fully developed and received 
most staff time and project resources available for web site development. 
Initially, web site content was topically arranged into four basic areas-communication, 
collaboration, virtual library, and learning environments. 
Communication 
This area of the site is devoted to posting a variety of announcements, which was never updated 
after the end of the year 2000 and lacked consistent dating of posts. 
Collaboration 
Meant to facilitate collaboration among teachers, researchers, and businesses, the researcher and 
business sections have remained totally empty. Also, the teacher-to-teacher collaboration section 
has quite limited input. 
Virtual Librarv < 
The virtual library is missing quite a large number of links and omissions of some key topics. 
For example, the topic "math and science" learning offers a mere 16 links. Maintenance of a 
virtual library is very time consuming, requiring rdar checks and updates. With limited 
human resources, this library became rapidly obsolete and a source of frustrations for users when 
links were dead. The new "Bank of Links" tool is now replacing many of the services provided 
by the Virtual Library and is essentially user managed. 
Learning Environments 
Although the following four environments were included as learning environments, content was 
never developed, except in one area. 
03 Integrating computers into teaching 
*:* Technology enhanced teacher professional development 
*3 ~nhancingthe school to work &sition 
*3 Monitoring and Evaluation for Technology Projects 
The Portuguese side of the web site provides the same basic framework with additional tools, 
such as easy access to the LTNet chat for communicating in real time with LTNet staffstaff and 
the virtual collaborative environments (AACs). 
Lessons Learned about Web Site Development and Maintenance 
It is clear that given the lack of explicit funding allocated to the development and maintenance of 
the web site, decisions had to be made about the sites' updating and improvement. The 
Portuguese side of the site and, in particular, the AACs received most of the attention-a choice 
justified by project goals and teachers' demands. . The AACs are central to LTNet's success. 
allowing users to learn from each other. communicate very cheaply across vast distances. and 
publish their work. To encourage participation and learning, recent site improvements primarily 
involved making the AACs' more user-friendly and useful. 
A combination of a lack of human resources for web site development and a commitment to use 
free of charge, online communications tools increased the amount of time that the project 
director devoted to web work- an extremely time consuming process of identifying, testing, 
configuring, modifying and translating tools for a bilingual environment. Other constraints on 
time and site development include the limited availability of online communications tools in 
Portuguese id alack of bilingual web-based communications tools. Also, since many LTNet 
users are new to using the Internet, extra effort was needed to make the tools easy-to-use and 
develop online instructions. LTNet staff report that during the last year of the projecf much of 
site's development and maintenance was done over weekends and late at night since funding 
allowed staff only worked part-time on the project during the work day. 
AACs: Ambiente de A~rendizaeem Colaborativa or Collaborative Learning Environments 
The mid-term progress assessment for the LTNet project noted that the Virtual Exchange 
Environments (VEEs) were a key success during the project's first year and a half. During the 
second half of the project's life, the VEEs were expanded and eventually renamed AACs for the 
Portuguese "Ambiente de Aprendizagem Colaborativa" or in English, Collaborative Learning 
Environments (CLEs). This name better identify the main functions and goals of this feature of 
the LTNet web site. All AACs are easily accessible on the LTNet site, either through a drop 
down menu on home page listing the different AACs or a link page to a list of all the AACs. See 
the web page for selecting ACCs in Amendix B). 
Creating and improving the AACs required a considerable amount of time, discipline, and 
determination. It takes an estimated 8 hours to prepare a basic ACC and an additional 8 hours 
for registering users and posting content as it becomes available. While the basic template of all 
AACs is the same, details specific to each participant group in Brazil andlor the US must be 
entered individually for all AACs. Also, the ACC's chat rooms and listservs must be configured 
and installed individually. 
Common AAC Took 
All AACs provide a set of common tools for participants to collaborate online: an e-mail 
discussion list, a chat room, a web folio, and a photo gallery. 
A discussion list 
A phone interview with a teacher from Brasilia participating in the Riverwalk project revealed 
that using the e-mail discussion list in the project's AAC enabled her to discuss project issues 
with other teachers during project implementation and to pay attention to the process and not just 
the product. Also, being able to communicate with teachers facing similar challenges helped her 
become a better teacher. The discussion lists offer a community of users with similar interests, a 
chance to share ideas and experiences, and to gain a sense of belonging to something 
meaningful. 
Online communication is difficult and slow to establish. Also. the information culture in Brazil 
and many other places globally does not lend itself to enabling the immediate use and easy 
adoption of online communication tools. Further, some people are easily offended when 
critiqued by others and often leave the list after a lively discussion. As a result, the skilis that 
need to be developed to make effective use of discussion list are nor simply basic computer skills 
for sending and receiving email messages. It is more important to develop skills in writing 
constructive criticism as well as communicating in ways that encourage further communication 
from others rather than exclude them. Building effective on-line communication skills as well as 
the self-confidence needed to actively participate are time-related and depend on a constructive 
community of peers and mentors and an effective on-line facilitator. 
A chat room 
A chat room is the tool that people often get most excited about! A chat room makes it easy for 
people to interact in real-time and stay excited and enthusiastic about using the Internet and . - 
computers. It is also a tool that is oft& responsible for increasing ~nternet~use in schools. 
As more and more Brazilian educators acclimate to using chat rooms, its use will expand, and 
educators will expand the variety of educational uses of this dynamic tool. For example, one of 
the multipliers Lourdes Matos came up with an innovative idea about integating text-reader 
technology into a chat room for bliid students to communicate with non-blid students. 
Although some educators are creatively self-motivated, others need extra reinforcement to 
expand their skills and initiative to explore new types of use. By backing teachers up with 
technical support and recognizing experimentation and innovation, LTNet has been able to 
stimulate new uses of technology in education, reinforce learning and experimentation. 
A Web folio 
Publishing documents online is instrumental to AAC users. For instance, a teacher in Be10 
Horizonte, interviewed by phone from Brasilia, said that she really appreciated LTNet's AACs 
for the capacity to publish students' work on the web. Publication of student essays in the web 
folio includes provision for adding teachers' comments and for review by peers. The web folio 
has the potential to become a powerful educational tool that is likely to incxase in use as 
teachers experiment with new approaches, a time-related process. 
A photo gallery 
Photo galleries help people to connect on a more personal level when they are communicating at 
a distance without face-to-face contact. 
Description of allAACs 
A11 LTNet's AACs are either: 
*:* AACs for continuous collaboration among teachers within specific geographic areas 
such as states and municipalities (equivalent to US counties); 
*:. AACs for specific training events; 
C* AACs for specific exchanges between schools in different countries; and 
*:* AACs for collaboration on common themes. 
AACs for continuous collaboration among teachers within speci$c geographic areas 
Many of the AACs established by LTNet were set up based on requests from reachers for virtual 
collaborative environments where teachers and often students from any of -Ae 27 Brazilian states 
plus the Federal District could communicate with each other and share their experiences. 
Example 1 
Estado do Parana (State of Parana) 
The State of Parana has 13 teacher training and computer resource centers (NTEs) 
providing courses to school teachers on the use of educational technology. To facilitate 
the NTE's work, LTNet established an AAC specifically for the educators in that state 
that included the usual tools (a discussion list, a web folio, a chat room and a photo 
gallery). This AAC also included a pilot activity for the coordiiatos of Brazil's 
TVEscola program in the ~arana'~ The TVEscola coordinators wanted to have a 
collaborative environment to enable them to share information aboct the effective use of 
TVEscola programs in schools. 
Example 2 
Estado do Espirito Santo (State of Espirito Santo) 
The State of Espirito Santo with its four NTEs has access to an AAC that allows 
multipliers, teachers, and school principals to communicate with each other and regularly 
share their experiences. This is one of the most recent AAC and includes the usual tools 
plus links to home pages for the schools and NTEs, links to educational projects, and 
other resources. 
Example 3 
Estado do Ceara (State of Ceara) 
The LTNet-established AAC is used to facilitate the work of educators in the State of 
Ceara. This was first established to be part a State conference on tec'hnology in education 
and was used in an intense two-day face-to-face training activity for ali of the State's 
multipliers in the use of the Internet and collaborative and communication tools. LTNet 
and ProInfo staff organized and carried out this training activity. 
Example 4 
Estado do Goias (State of Goias) 
This AAC was initially used as part of a State workshop on using the Internet in 
education and has since been used to facilitate the work of the NTEs in the state of Goias. 
Like all AACs, this AAC was developed after receiving an explicit request for the A4C 
and a training activity. Also, the use of this and other AACs is dependent on the interest 
and motivation of multipliers and teachers for whom the environment was crated. The 
AAC for Goias unfortunately has not been actively used. 
.... ~ -- 
" TVEscola is a nation TV education program that seeks to provide teacher professional dtveloprnent. TVEscola is 
administered by the Secretariat for Distance Education in the Ministry of Education. the sa-nr Secretariat that 
administers the Prolnfo program. 
w Example 5 
Estado do Amazonus (State of Amazonas) 
The State of Amazonas with its three NTEs uses the LTNet-established AAC to provide 
u opportunities for teachers and school principals to communicate with each other, 
exchange experiences and organize collaborative projects. 
I Example 6 
Municipal Campo Grande, MS (Municipality of Campo Grande) 
The municipality of Campo Grande in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul currently has 81 
w municipal schools equipped with computer labs and most of these have connections to 
the Intemet. Campo Grande's AAC enables educators from this prsgressive municipality 
to communicate with each other and exchange experiences through the AAC's four 
w virtual tools with other schools in Brazil and the world. The AAC was initially created to 
support a training activity on using Intemet communication tools for education organized 
and carried out by LTNet and ProInfo. After this initial training program, LTNet and 
w ProInfo returned to provide pairs of teachers fkom 17 schools with a training activity to 
develop school web sites which were hosted on LTNet. After the success of this event, 
the Municipal Secretariat of Education and the NTE invited LTNet and ProInfo back to 
carry out aAtwoday training on the use of computers and the Internet with the principals 
fiom each of the Municipal's 81 schools. It is not surprising that teachers and multipliers 
fiom this school have be among the most active in us& IT for education. 
Example 7 
Esfndo do Pernambuco (State of Pernambuco)- 
LTNet-established an AAC to facilitate the work of multipliers at the NTEs in the State 
of Pemarnbuco. Unfortunately, LTNet and ProInfo staff were not able to carryout a 
training activity with Pemambuco multipliers to introduce the AAC and to help them 
learn to use the mix of collaborative tools. As a result, this AAC is presently not beiig 
used. 
Example 8 
Estado de Minus Gerais (State of Minas Gerais) 
To support the work of NTEs in the State of Minas Gerais, LTNet established an AAC 
for the multipliers, teachers and school principles of the state to facilitate virtual 
exchanges among all participants. This AAC is a bit different from other state AACs 
because it includes sections for three NTEs each of which is carryout out their own 
collaborative projects. 
AACs for specifc training events 
In addition to being a primary mechanism for enabling on-line collaborati\e projects, the ..14Cs 
were also used as a medium for intensive training events with teachers. prixipals and 
multipliers. These training activities focused on Internet collaborative tools and the A4C could 
be used to improve teaching and learning. 
Example 1: 
Distrito Federal: Urn Espaco para Professores e Diretores nas Escolas em Distrilo 
Federal (A Space for the Teachers and Principals of the Schools in the Federal 
District and Brasilia) 
In March 2001, LTNet created an AAC for training and post-training collaborative 
proghs among the multipliers, teachers and school principals working in the Federal 
District and Brasilia. 
Example 2: 
Estado de Santa Catarina (State of Santa Catarina) 
During April 2001, over 1,000 teachers and school principals from primary and secondary 
schools across the state of Santa Catarina participated in a training program to prepare them to 
use computers and the Internet in their teaching and in the management of schools. Because of 
the large number of teachers and principals involved in the training, LTNe: had to create 10 chat 
rooms, two listsews and two web folios. 
Example 3: 
Shop-FUST 
In an effort to expand access to computers and the Internet for teachers and students in 
secondary schools, the Government of Brazil created the FUST program (Fundo de 
Universalizapio dos Servicos de Telecomunicaq6es, or universal access fimd in English). 
The goal of FUST is to provide computer labs and Internet connectivity to every public 
secondary school in Brazil. To enhance support, the ProInfo program is responsible for 
collaborating with State Secretaries of Education to establish the lam and train the 
teachers in the use of these technologies. 
The FUST program was officially launched by Brazil's President in Sinop, Mato Gorso. 
Brazil on February 19,2001. In preparation for this launch, ProInfo was asked to 
establish school computer labs in public schools in Sinop and to m~y out an intensive 
training activity with the local multipliers and teachers. To assist with rhis training and 
the launch event, ProInfo's pedagogical consultant, Vera Su,gri, asked LTiVet to create 
an AAC for Sinop and FUST. 
In collaboration, LTNet and ProInfo staff developed a training pro-gram for teachers and 
principals that was based on integrating the use of computer and hernet technologies 
into teaching and learning through project-based education-an approach used in prior 
training. After two weeks of an intensive training of trainers activiry, directed by Vera 
Suguri, and during the launch of FUST, LTNet demonstrated how the k4C's chat tool 
could be is used to enable collaborative projects. During the actual launch. students and 
teachers &om across Brazil chatted with students in Sinop and the 13razil's President 
about using technology in Education. LTNet's director participated in this event and 
photographs commemorating the launch of FUST were added to th-s AAC. (See 
Av~endix C: 
Example 4: 
Brazilian Principals 
LTNet established an AAC for Brazilian principals. This was an outgrowth of a 
USBrazil Education Partnership event that enabled 27 Brazilian public school principals. 
one from each state, to travel to the US to explore innovative strategies for school 
management and school community partnerships. After the study tour, Eric Rusten met 
with Michael Hahn and Marcia Mizuno of the US Embassy in Brazil to discuss the 
possibility of involving the participants in this study tour in a training activity in the use 
of the Internet and computers in school management and to improve education. As a 
result of this meeting LTNet and ProInfo organized an ambition training activity that took 
place in at ProInfoJState NTEs in Brasilia, Recife and Niteroi Bml for principals and 
coordinators of a Brazilian network (REGANESTE) for improving school management. 
The training activity in each of these cities had two parts and occurred over two days. 
The first part involved a training of trainers activity where the multipliers of the NTEs in 
each of the cities were trained in using the Rapid Experimental Learning approach that 
LTNet and ProInfo developed for Internet and computer training. ?'he second part, which 
took place on the second day in each city, involved the actual training of the principals 
and coordinators. 
This training activity was made possible through the collaboration of and funding &om 
several organizations and individuals including, ProInfo, LTNet, CONSED (the National 
Association of State Secretaries of Education), REGANESTE (the Yational Network for 
School Management), the US Embassy, Brazil, the NTEs in the three states where the 
training took place, the multipliers who were the trainers of the principals, each state 
secretary of education who provided the funds to send principals and coordinators to the 
training. 
This training activity was the first such event to provide techno109 training to public 
school principals in Brazil. One outgrowth of this activity is that several states and 
municipalities across Brazil have now organized major training activities for their 
principals. For example, the event in Santa Catarina and Campo Grmde described in this 
report occurred as a direct result of LTNet's initial effort to demonstrate the importance 
and benefit of providing principals with technology training. 
AACs for speciJic virtual exchanges and collaborative projects behveen countries 
AACs have also been used to link students and educators in different schools within Brazil or in 
a combination of schools in Brazil to schools in the US. For example, one of the most recent 
AACs was established to facilitate an exchange between US and Brazilian jtudents during 
International Education Week in the fall of 2001. 
Example 1: 
Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Manaus, Brazil, Vir tuat Exchange Project for Special 
Education Students 
This virtual exchange project linked two classrooms of special education students The 
NTE in Manaus, Brazil facilitated the participation of learning disabled students fmm 
Diofant Monterio School in Manaus, while LTNet facilitated the participation on the US 
side of learning disabled students from the Oxon Hill Elementary school in Oxon Hill, 
Maryland. 
In October of 2000 LTNet created an AAC for this exchange and Eric Rusten and Gi 
wilderson met with the students and teachers at Oxon Hill Elementary School in 
Maryland to introduce them to the program, demonstrate the program's AAC, and give 
them hands-on training with ACC tools such as software translation and the LTNet 
bilingual chat environment. This AAC includes the following features: an online virtual 
environment for communication among participants; a private, password protected online 
voice and text Chat room for the teachers and students to get to know each other and 
cany out projects; Space in LTNet to enable the participating teachcrs and students to 
create collaborative web pages to post their projects and pictures; translation software to 
facilitate exchange of messages in Portuguese and English; and a selection of resources 
focusing on building and strengthening the virtual exchange program, including those 
focusing on the needs of learning disabled students. 
At the request of the Technology Coordinator in Montes Claros, LTNet held several chat 
sessions that included a young Brazilian man who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis but is 
able to communicate online and design web pages with his toes. 
Example 2: 
Federal University of Parana -American University, Washington, DC 
January-March 2001 
This LTNet sponsored virtual exchange activity (AAC) was an outgrowth of LTNet's 
support of a Fulbright exchange between EFLESL teachers in the IJS and Brazil that was 
organized under the USlBrazil Partnerships for Education. After the face-to-face 
exchange had been completed, one of the US participants contacted LTNet to ask if it 
would be possible to initiate exchange activities via the Internet with her students and the 
students of one of the Brazilian English language teachers that she met during her visit to 
Brazil. As a result of this request, LTNet created an AAC to enable an Internet-based 
exchange between the EFL students in classes at the Federal University of Parana in 
Brazil and the American University in Washington, D.C. 
This AAC includes a private listsew, space within the LTNet web site to enable each 
participate to create personal profiles, a discussion forum, access to a voice chat tool, a 
private SchoolLinks Chat room to enable the teachers and students to engage in 
synchronous dynamic communication, and a selection of resources focusing on English 
language teaching and learning. 
This AAC was developed to extend and expand English language lcarning opportunities 
by enabling students to share experiences. discuss common themes. and get to know each 
other while practicing their English. The two professors who managed this virtual 
exchange carried out activities two years in a row and are considering continuing mith 
this activity. 
Example 3: 
Virtual Exchange Project between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's Internet Generation 
Project developed by MultiRio and Oakton, Virginia students 
LTNet collaborated with MultiRio, a multimedia educational orgarlization that is part of 
the Municipal government of Rio de Janeiro, to offer a virtual collaborative pro-eram for 
fourth grade students in schools in Rio de Janeiro and Oakton, Virginia Focusing on 
three themes-identity, space and culture LTNet enabled informztion exchange behwen 
Brazilian and North American students as a way of increasing understanding of 
individual identity as well as the culture of where the students live and learn. 
LTNet was asked by the US Conciliate in Rio to use this exchange activity to 
commemorate International Education week during a conference in Rio de Janeiro in 
November 2000. 
Example 4: 
Programa RiverWalk 
LTNet established an AAC to facilitate the work of the Brazilian teachers ~artici~atine - in 
the RiverWalk Project and implemented quick changes and adaptarions in response to the 
teachers' expressed needs. More details about the RiverWalk activity are provided below. 
Example 5: 
International Education Week Event (Nov. 14,2001) 
On November 14,2001, an LTNet collaborative effort, proposed by Michael Habn and 
Marci Mizuno of the US Embassy, enabled teachers and students in Brazil and the US to 
engage in an Internet chat event. The partners included the US Embassy in Brazil, in 
collaboration with ProInfo, LTNet and I*EARN-USA as well as the DC-Brasilia Chapter 
and the Nebraska Committee of the Partners of the Americas. Ten teams of three 
students each and one teacher from schools around Brasilia met at ihe US Embassy to 
communicate with similar teams of US students and teachers from schools across the US. 
In collaboration with the US Embassy sm, LTNet and ProInfo designed the activity, 
identified 10 schools in the US that would participate, organized the necessary training 
for the participating teachers and students in Brasilia, and facilitated the actual event. In 
addition, LTNet designed the AAC, created the needed chat room, helped participants use 
the chat room, participated in the chat, and provided technical assistance on the day of the 
event. 
AACs for collaboration on common themes 
Towards the end of the project, a strong interest was expressed in Brazil fcr thematic A4Cs- an 
area where LTNet-Brazil may expand in the future. For instance. an AAC with a math focus 
would allow math teachers to collaborate online and discuss common issues: challenges, and 
experiences in integrating technology in math teaching. AACs are very flexible tools that can be 
adapted tc many different needs as identified by the users themselves. 
The most important thematic AAC was created to support the Riverwalk program which is 
described in detail below. 
Other AACs 
~r-ode Island Teacher Exchange Program VEE 
This initial Vi Exchange Environment (VEE) became one of the first AACs. 
TV-Escola in Parana 
TV Escola is a mom of the Brazilian Secretariat for Distance Education that offers 
training to teachersthrough television. In collaboration with the coordinator of TVEscola 
in the State of Parana, LTNet and ProInfo launched a pilot activity to explore how 
Internet collaborative~tools could be used to enhance ;his successful lT7>ducation 
program. LTNet developed the AAC, setup a listserv and with ProInfo carried out two 
training workshops in Parana for TVEscola coordinators and ProInfo multipliers in 
Parana. 
Lessons Learned about AACs 
AACs represent a very successfid component of the LTNet project. They were in great demand 
towards the end of the project and were increasingly being used creatively by educators across 
Brazil. As a result of the intensive work on ACC design by Eric Rusten and Vera Suguri, 
educators received ongoing support and accessed a user-friendly online environment. Now 
educators are starting to innovate in their use of the AACs, and the pool of users and "hits" are 
rising. 
LTNet-Brazil also has a long and growing list of requests from states, municipalities and special 
projects for new AACs. This young NGO believes that within a year all or nearly all states in 
Brazil will each have an AAC. 
Presentations and Papers 
B.1. Oualitv and Imuact of Presentations 
Presentations made by LTNet in cooperation with ProInfo had great promotional value and 
educational value, they also offered encouragement, providing a context for Brazilian educators 
to learn about and discuss their use of technology, and allowed LTNet and ProInfo staff to visit 
schools to learn first-hand how teachers and students across Brazil were uslng technology to 
enhance teaching and learning. School visits were important for enhancing. the self-worth among 
teachers unaccustomed to outside support and enlarging educators' realm cf contacts outside 
their schools. 
The ProInfoiLTNet joint presentations demonstrate the power of partnersbps and Brazil's 
commitment to IT learning and exchange. Also, due to the content and context-in locations nor 
often receiving international Brazilian government visitors, presentations introduced educators to 
valuable concepts in IT and education, addressed critical local needs, and offered evaluation and 
impact feedback. The presentations opened up the possibility of schools connecting to the 
Internet, catalyzed plans for infrastructure development, and stimulated dijcussior! of 
connectivity and equipment either in anticipation or as a result of the presentation. 
More than 11 formal face-to-face presentations were made &om October 2000 and December 
2001. All presentations were the result of a very close collaboration between Lmet2s Eric 
Rusten and ProInfo's Vera Suguri both in the preparation of the PowerPoint slides, their 
translation, id the delivery of the presentation itself, whether in English, Portuguese, or a 
combination of both. Often state and municipal secretaries of education covered local costs for 
these visits including the costs for hotels and meals and local transport. In all cases, the states 
and municipalities covered the cost of air travel for Vera Suguri. Finally, in all cases, Eric Rusten 
and Vera Suguri traveled to different states and cities in response to formal invitations. A 
selection of these presentation are briefly discussed below. 
1. Fulbright Math and Science Orientation in Brasilia, September 15", 2000. 
2. Math and Science educators' workshop at the Ministry of Education, September 2000. 
3. "Virtual Educational Exchanges: What Makes Them Work," given at an internationzl 
conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on using the Internet for Educational collaborative activities 
on November 13,2000, an EPIC sponsored event to commemorate US International Education 
Week. 
4. "Better Education Through Exchange and Collaboration" presented by Rusten, Wilderson, 
and Suguri at two high schools in Montes Claros, December 10-14,2000. 
5. An intensive three-day workshop on "Advanced Web Technologies to :Enhance Education" 
(December 10-14) LTNet, jointly sponsored with ProInfo and the NTE in Montes Claros for a 
select group of 15 teachers, multipliers, and students at the NTE computer lab in Montes Claros. 
6. InfoSol Congress in Fortaleza, Brazil, April 12-15,2001, keynote addrt:ss "Avdiando o 
Impacto de Novas Tecnologias nos Sistemas Educacionais" (Evaluating the Impact of New 
Technologies on Education), at the invitation of the Ministry of Education. Rusten discussed the 
impact that computer and Internet technologies are having on teaching and learning in Brazil. 
7. Ledi TAG (Technology Advisory Group) Conference, March 2001 in Washington. 
DC: LTNet conducted a live chat session with the Pedagogical Coordinator of Brazil's Ministry 
of Education, a member of Partners for the Americas, and a newspaper reporter from the 
Brazilian media. LTNet's Gi Wilderson facilitated the chat, while USA111 staff and other TAG 
participants observed and asked questions online. Translation software was used to facilitate 
communication in English and Portuguese. 
8. The Pernambuco State meeting of Multipliers in the city of Garanhum, May 3 1 st to June jd, 
2001, on integrating Internet technologies in the State's school computer pro-m.. 
9. Partnerships for Education: Abordagens, Impactos R Desafios. I Congresso Intewacional 
de Telematica na Educac&/ 1'11 Encontro Naciona: do ProInfo, October 26,2001. Fvnaieza. 
Brazil. At this rneering Eric and Vera made a keyno:e address on the Power of Panr:;r&p in 
16 
Strengthening Education. Also, Eric made a presentation on the US of collaborative on-line 
tools in LTNet's AAC in project based learning. In this presentation he focused on the results of 
the Riverwalk program activity. 
At this congress, which was attended by about 5,000 educators from across Brazil, two LTNet 
collaborators; Lourdes Matos and Noara Resende (with a teacher and two >mdents) organized 
and ran a series of training workshops on how to use the collaborative tools in LTNet's AACs. 
These two collaborators had organized these workshops on their own. 
10. "Multiple Mechanisms for Collaborating, Exchanging and Learning Through Technolo,& 
(Power Point presentation), I Congresso International de Telematica na Educapio/ VII Enconrro 
Nacional do ProInfo, October 26,2001. 
1 1. "Enhancing ESL and Strengthening Brazil's BNC Network through Computer & Internet 
Technologies," given with PowerPoint slides at the Annual Meeting of Presidents of Bradl 
Binational Centers (BNCs), October 2001in Sao Paulo. This presentation was given at the 
request of the US Embassy. 
The number of presentations far exceeds what was required under the contract for 2001. In 
addition, the volume of presentations does not reflect the impact on furthering the project goals, 
contributing to the UsBrazil Partnership for Education and enhancing an understanding of how 
technology can improve teaching and learning in Brazil. Its impact is best understood on direct 
observation. 
B. 2. Paaers written through LTNet suaaort 
Two papers, written primarily by Rusten and Suguri and both published orline in the January￾March 2002 issue of TechKnowLogis.org, illustrate two learning activities. The first paper 
focused on a collaborative activity among LTNet, ProInfo, and 4 multiplies and teachers 
involved in the Chat Pilot activity. The second paper documents LTNet's and ProInfo's 
experience supporting the Riverwalk project in which 14 Brazilian schools participated. 
03 "The Pedagogical Uses of Web-Based Chat: A pilot Activity to explore the 
pedagogical uses of Web-based Chat," by Vera Suguri, Lourdes Matos, Noara Castro. 
Ieda Castro, Lurdes Marilene Jung and Eric Rusten, April 2001. 
*3 "RiverWaJk-Brazil: Virtual Journey, Real Learning,'' by Arati Singh, Eric Rusten and 
Vera Suguri, December 2001 (?) 
The Chat Pilot paper provided an opportunity for four teach-rs to take pride in their work and 
promote both nationally and internationally how Chat can be used a pedagogical tool. These 
teachers successfully participated in communication activities within and beyond Brazil that the\ 
had been deeply involved in. 
The writing process forced the teachers to think analytically and to gain a better understmdiq of 
their investment in IT and education. Presented at a national conference, the paper gave thie 
teachers an opportunity to hone their speaking skills. The process of the action research and the 
presentation by teachers set an important precedent demonstrating that Brazilian teachers can 
cany out impdrtant action research and & important resources fir national and International 
events. At the congress in Fortaleza where the Chat Pilot paper was presenr, the two teachers 
making the resenta at ion were the onlv teacherl~resenters at the entire eveti:. The publication in 
~echl<;lowLo~ia (hn~://www.techknbwlogia.oig) also gives the teachers international exposure 
and recognition and enabled Brazil's ProInfo program to share a valuable experience with a 
global audience. 
The second article on the Riverwalk oroiect . enabled all of the schools and individuals invoIved > 
in the project to take pride in their work and be recognized nationally and internationally for their 
achievements. In addition, the online international exposure reflects well on LTNet and USAID 
for funding this initiative. 
Training 
Rapid Experiential Learning Approach 
Through the collaborative effort between LTNet and ProInfo, Rusten and Sum developed a 
rapid gaining method-referred to as Rapid Experiential Learning @E~)%at allo& 
participants to acquire essential technology skills within very short periods of training and start 
using the tools immediately in collaborative learning activities with peers. 'The training also 
requires that participants be directly engaged in developing learning projects that will later be 
used in the classroom with their own students. 
REL evolved from constraints and opportunities that presented themselves during the 
implementation of the project. Financial and time constraints prevented LTNet's project director 
fiom visiting Brazil more than four or five times a year and from staying longer than 5 weeks at 
a time. There were also significant costs involved in getting training participants to specific 
training sites. The result was that the training had to be carried out in one to three days to enable 
teachers and multipliers from states and municipalities to participate and for LTNer and ProInfo 
staff to be able to provide such training. While other approaches to training teachers in the use 
of IT for education tend to focus on theoretical aspects of technology for education, the REL 
approach focuses on providing essential skills that educators need to immediately start usins IT 
within education. The key to the success of this approach is developing an enabling environment 
in which educators start using IT tools immediately. To maximize the benefits, this approach 
requires a strong ongoing support system and collaborative environments (-he AACs) that 
teachers own and can use to apply their new skills. LTNet and ProInfo used the LTNet website 
for this purpose. Tools such as the very responsive help-desk system as \veil as peer support 
through listsews met the evolving needs of educators. 
Examples of Training Activities 
Principars' Training Program 
As mentioned above. in the spring of 2000,27 principals from 7-7 diKerent Brazilian states were 
selected from the best-administered schools. These principals traveled to the US for a two-weel, 
study tour to learn about innovative strategies for school management and school community 
partnerships. Although one of the goals of this USAID-funded activity was to maintain ongoing 
exchanges of information after returning to Brazil, unfortunately, the principals lacked the 
technical skills in computers and Internet use for collaborative exchanges. 
In early December 2000, LTNet and ProInfo organized the necessary principal training in 
collaboration with CONSED'~, ~e~aneste'~ and three State Secretaries of Education, the three 
NTEs and the US Embassy in Brazil. 
The LTNet team of Rusten and Wilderson, with Suguri and two of her ProInfo colleagues 
worked together to train over 30 multipliers (8-12 from each NTE) in the use of Intemet 
communication tools for virtual collaboration. The multipliers then proceeded to train the school 
principals in their respective NTEs with the technical and pedagogical support of LTNet and 
ProInfo staff. 
The REL approach was cost effective in time, resources and money. Traking took place over 
one week--one day for each group of multipliers and principals in three different cities (Recife, 
Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi) located in three different regions of Brazil. If the training had 
requited more than on day, most, if not all, of the principals would not have been able to 
participate. 
Workshop on Advanced Internet Tools & Collaborative Activities for Multipliers 
Also, LTNet's Rusten and Wilderson in collaboration with Suguri develop-d and delivered a 
three-day workshop that provided participants with hands-on training in the use of advanced 
Internet technologies, who already had taken an online ProInfo course on web page 
development. The participants included multipliers, teachers, and students from the NTE in 
Montes Claros and Belo Horezonte. The goal was to develop a template for a series of 
workshops that the Brazilian multipliers could then give to other groups of teachers in multipliers 
around the country. As a consequence of that course and based on participants' observation of 
LTNet's site, demand increased for additional technical training in web development for 
educational web sites. While this was not one of LTNet's priorities, Lmct provided the 
assistance requested. 
Annual State Technology and Education meeting in Fortaleza, (Ceara) 
In June 2001, Eric Rusten with Vera Suguri and other ProInfo staff participated in a collaborative 
training activity that involved over 120 teachers, principals and multipliers from across the state 
of Ceara, who were attending an annual State Technology and Education Meeting. This 
meeting is a time when NTEs and schools come together to share what they have been doing 
with IT and education project experiences. LTNet and ProInfo were invited to participate and 
run an AAC workshop and develop an AAC for the participants. Training sessions focused on. 
email and listserv, chat rooms, and online publishing and projects. 
1: The National Council for State Secretaries of Education in Brazil. 
"A nationa! network operating under CONSEC to improve school manaKement. 
15 
Part 11. RESULTS AND LESSONS LEARNED 
The combination of activities described in Part I of the report created synergies that resulted in 
important project impacts. While these activities have been described above, the impacts 
achieved as a result of these activities are highIighted below. Two key concepts are the focus of 
this section: 
A) the importance of partnerships and LTNet's ability to wors with, foster and 
continuously nurture such partnerships for successful integration of technology 
into education; 
B) the crucial role of innovation and the importance of encouraging innovation in 
the use of available technological tools. 
Partnerships 
One of LTNet's strengths has been its ability to carefully foster and nurture a web of partnerships 
with a variety of actors in the US and in Brazil. At the center of this web of partnerships are 
LTNet and ProInfo. This core partnership has been symbolized by the close professional 
relationship between LTNet's Director, Eric Rusten, Vera Suguri the pedagogical consultant and 
Claudio Salles the director of ProInfo. The partnership has grown over the three years of the 
project and enabled additional partners to benefit and contribute to common goals of integrating 
technology into learning and teaching and innovating, both in the US and in Brazil. At the start 
of the third year of activity, the Ministry of Education, through the ProInfo project provided 
funding support for LTNet in terms of Vera Su,griYs salary and her ability to commit 
considerable time and resources to being ProInfo's representative to LTNet. Minisby funds from 
ProInfo also supported many LTNetlProInfo training activities. In addition, different ProInfo 
staff provided logistical and technical support to LTNet. Without this level of support and 
commitment to the Partnership in general and LTNet in particular, the success that was achieved 
over the three years and especially during the last year of the project would not have been 
possible. 
The first principal's training that took pIace in 2000 is a good example of the kinds of 
partnerships that LTNet was able to foster. This training was part of EPIC and undertaken 
through the US Embassy. In Brazil, the Association of State Secretaries of Education 
(CONSED) was very much involved in identifjmg the principals that would take part in the 
program, encouraging individual State Secretaries of Education to send their principals to the 
training event, and facilitating local logistic support in the cities where the training took place. 
CONSED's involvement was also critical to increasing the visibility and unportance of this 
effort in the minds of the participating principals and State Secretaries of Fducation. Without the 
partnerships with CONSED, the principals' training activity would not have been possible. 
The training for the principals took place in three locations. At each location. the multipliers 
from the three ProInfo NTEs participated in the training activity, the ProInfo State Coordinators, 
and the municipal and State Secretaries of Education were involved in planning, orpnizing and 
implementing these training events and in some cases paying for high-speed connections to the 
Internet. In addition, REGANESTE-a network of school manager~-~upp~rted ihii effort and 
the Director of REGANESTE helped plan the event and was present to assist in activities in hw 
of the three cities. REGANESTE's involvement also made it possible to add aspects of IT uses 
for school management in to the training program. 
There was also a funding partnership with the US Embassy which paid the per diem and travel 
costs for LTNet staff and two ProInfo staff from the Ministry. The Ministry of Education in 
Brazil paid for the transport of one other ProInfo staff member and paid staff salaries and 
provided critical logistical and political support. LTNet also provided funcling to cover a variety 
of workshop expenses and LTNet staff salaries. 
Each State Secretariat for Education paid their principal's travel, lodging and per diem costs and 
provided access to NTEs in the three training locations. School principals at the three training 
locations were involved in coordinating lunches and local logistical support. 
Also, it is important to note that during the second and third years of the project, all events 
LTNet was involved in were based on invitations from local partners-State and Municipal 
Secretaries of Education-who voluntarily co-funded local expenses (hotel's and meals) for 
LTNet and ProInfo staff. This local cost-sharing had not been a formal part of the agreement 
between the project and the Government of Brazil. This voluntary willingness to share expenses 
demonstrates how much educators valued these LTNet and ProInfo training events and 
presentations. LTNet's success in building robust partnerships enhanced i5e value of LMet's 
work in Brazil and the US. Starting fiom a base of suspicion and misperceptions on both sides ar 
the beginning of the project, LTNet was able to build trust and work with all partners. Brazilian 
confidence in LTNet is demonstrated by a variety of collaborative activities initiated by ProInfo. 
For instance, Rusten was invited on several occasions to represent ProInfo at events in the US 
and elsewhere. 
Innovations 
Innovation was a key element in the project's overall success and impact. It was LTNet's spirit 
of innovation that inspired teachers to try new tools, experiment, and to come up with new uses 
for the tools that LTNet provided. The cycle of innovation, training and leaning had a mutually 
reinforcing effect among all partners. In many cases, a culture of local innovation has been 
instilled at the school and NTE level and teachers and multipliers will continue with this work 
and move forward with new ideas. LTNet has been a constant and continuing source of support 
to help make teachers' and students' ideas a reality. One more ingredient in this process is 
LTNet's and ProInfo's efforts to change educators' perceptions and attitudes and convince them 
of their own capabilities, resulting in a strong sense of local ownership and capacity to achieve. 
Two activities that exemp!ify innovation and local owners!ip are described below. 
SchoolLinks Chat dot 
In collaboration with Vera Suguri of Prolnfo, LTNet launched a new progmn designed to foster 
virtual exchanges between schools in Brazil and betbyeen Brazil and the US. At the beginnins of 
the program, Vera asked Eric if it would be possible for a: ~n-line chat tool to be added io 
LTNet so that teachers could "talk" real time with each other across the country. Eric agreed that 
this could easily be done. Before this discussion with Vera: Eric had identified a selection of 
free online chat tools and installed several in the testing section of the LTNet web site. This was 
done to see which one would be best for use with Brazilian teachers. Three days after talking 
with Vera about adding a chat tool to LTNet, Eric selected one of these tools, Ralf s Chat, had 
translated most of the English menu and instructional items to Portuguese creating a bilin-pal 
environment, added some additional features, and constructed a web framework in which the 
chat room could be easily used. As a result, this new hction was created on the LTNet web site 
to support online chat activities among Brazilian teachers and students. 
This new environment was first tested in a pilot, action research effort by a team of three ProInfo 
multipliers and one teacher working in four different schools in different cities in Brazil. This 
team of teacher-researchers had been selected bv Vera. After two months of testing the - Chat tool 
with students of various ages engaged in a variety of educational activities, the multipliers met 
with Vera, Eric and Gini Wilderson to discuss the most appropriate ways to present the results of -- - 
the pilot activity. One of the multipliers, Lourdes Matos and one of thd teachers, Noara Resende, 
who were involved in the pilot created a web site hosted by LTNet, describing the pilot activity 
and the results. (See A~pendix C for a screen shot of the web page or visit the site itself at 
h~:/lwww.ltnet.orplSchoolLink~IChatPilo~index.h~I~. 
In addition to the web site, the teachers and multipliers involved in the pilot, Vera Su-rmri of 
ProInfo and LTNet's Eric Rusten wrote a paper that was produced in Engbsh and Portuguese, to 
capture the lessons learned from this experiment with web-based chat so that educators across 
Brazil and the world could benefit from this work. This paper, "The Pedagogical Uses of Web￾Based Chat: A pilot Activity to explore the pedagogical uses of Web-based Chat," by Vera 
Suguri, Lourdes Matos, Noara Castro, Ieda Castro, Lurdes Marilene Jung 2nd Eric Rusten, was 
presented at a national congress in Fortaleza Brazil and published in Techh3zowlogia, an 
internationally recognized electronic journal on educational technology . 
15 
The paper describes how teachers and multipliers in four different schools in Brazil implemented 
a pilot project using Web-based chat with the assistance of ProInfo and LTNet. The Chat tool 
provided by LTNet was used in several different innovative ways includi::: 
1) To enable students in two different regions of Brazil to learn about different aspects of their 
respective regions; 
2) To enable students to discuss issues surrounding sexuality that were difficult for teachers to 
address on their own by allowing outside experts to contribute their knowledge and 
communicate with the students; 
3) To enable students to obtain advice regarding their professional future but allowing them to 
discuss with a professor from a local university; 
4) To enable teachers to communicate with each other regarding effective uses of computers 
and Internet technologies; 
is The paper can be downloaded in Portuguese and English from 
h~:l!wwu~.Imet.or~'SchoolLinksIChatPilot/es~dosereflexoes.htm 
5) Finally, to enable handicapped and special needs students to cornmunixte with students far 
away, opening up their horizons. 
Two of the researcher-educators involved in the pilot submitted the paper to the selection 
committee of the Brazil Computer Society for presentation at the Society's annual meeting. The 
committee selected the paper and LTNet funded the participation of these hvo educators at the 
conference so that they could present the results at a national technology and education forum. 
Vera Suguri and Eric Rusten were also present at this event. Toward the end of the year, Eric 
submitted the Chat Pilot paper to Techla2owlogia (httu:llwww.techknowlo~, an online 
technology and education journal for publication. The paper was accepted by TechKnowvLogia 
and will appear in the January 2002 issue. 
Lessons: This is particularly interesting effort because "chat" is often not regarded as a usell 
pedagogical tool. The teachers who enthusiastically participated in this pilot should be 
commended for their willingness to try untested approaches and their eagerness to reflect and 
learn fiom their own experience and share this with others. LTNet and ProInfo's joint support of 
these teachers is a good example of what LTNet and ProInfo's achievements in terms of 
transformations in thinking among teachers. 
RiverWalk 
The RiverWalk project is a collaborative project in which students and teachers fiom six 
countries (US, Brazil, Taiwan, Canada, Japan and Israel) research and share information about 
rivers in their communities. This project, managed by the University of Michigan's Interactive 
Communications and Simulations Group (ICS) was funded by Japan's Ministry of Land, 
Infrastructure and Transport and launched in November 2000. 
The project already had participants from the US, Taiwan, Canada, Japan and Israel when Brazil 
was invited to participate. ProInfo's Vera Suguri helped to strategically select schools that 
would participate in the project and then called on LTNet's Eric Rusten to help develop a web￾based collaborative environment (an AAC) for use by the Brazilian educators participating in the 
project. 
The idea was to supplement the existing RiverWalk web site, which is used by students to 
publish their river projects, with a separate web environment that would aliow Brazilian 
educators to work as a group and learn collaboratively from their participadon in RiverWalk. 
The site, as all other AACs, is accessible on the LTNet web site. 
h~:llwww.ltnet.org/SchoolLinksNEE/RiverWal~-AAC-RW-Base.h~ 
Unlike the RiverWalk site itself, the LTNet based Riverwalk-AAC is entirely accessible to all 
visitors and not restricted to participants in the RiverWalk program. makin3 it a valuable 
resource for a broader range of educators in Brazil and elsewhere. (See a Slreen Shot of the Chat 
room's login page for LTNet's RiverWalk AAC, Avoendix D) 
CONCLUSIONS 
LTNet represents: 
A project whose greatest value emerged out of its ability to be organically transformed 
based on expanding and developing partnerships, emerging and evolving needs of the 
various partners, and most importantly, responding to the actual needs of Brazilian 
educators, while encouraging them to explore, experiment and lean] fiom their own 
activities that were linked to LTNet's training and web-based collal~orative tools. 
A project that is likely to survive through the continued use of tools that were developed 
and provided by LTNet, and through the continued impact of the training provided to 
multipliers and teachers across Brazil. An example of this comes fiom a multiplier 
interviewed at an NTE in Brasilia who mentioned that she was writing her thesis on using 
and adapting LTNet's AAC environment for visual arts teachers. 
LTNet's impact may expand under the auspices of the Brazilian NGO, LTNet-Brazil 
because of the tremendously increased need for the types of services and tools that LTNet 
provided during its three year tenure. In late December, a new set of partnerships was in 
the process of being established between schools in Brazil and in Africa, using LTNet￾Brazil. This is a clear indicator of LTNet's success in creating rewarding collaborative 
processes and tools that will continue to benefit educators globally. 
In spite of very limited financial and staffresources, this project was able to self-adjust, 
innovate, learn, expand its reach, and impact large numbers of multipliers, teachers, and 
school principals in Brazil. 
This was made possible because of: 
Quick response and flexibility on the part of LTNet staff. One multiplier in Monte Claros, 
Minas Gerais, who was inte~ewed over the phone from Brasilia noted that Lmet's 
Project Director, Eric Rusten, was always able to provide very help511 and timely 
assistance and that his support from a pedagogical and technical perspective has helped 
them to "change their way of working." She also noted that Washington, D.C. (meaning 
Eric Rusten) was able to provide assistance much faster than anyone she had access to in 
Brazil. 
Demand driven approach based on a good understanding of the information culture 
facing Brazilian educators. Instead of pushing for the implementati;,i of hat ma) have 
been initially thought to be needed, i.e., a web-based clearinghouse of information about 
educational technologies, LTNet listened and responded to the needs af Srazilian 
educators and open up opportunities for them based on a good undestanding of the 
in-feym.?tinr! clvlturr and pedagogice! e-~+?mec? facing teeches in 4rrz711 
Flexibility within USAID's Global LAC Bureau, especially that of the project's USAID 
officer, David Evans, allowed the project to transform itself and evolve based on demand 
rather than some preset objectives. 
LTNet staffs ability to develop and nurture durable partnerships both with US and 
Brazilian institutions. 
Important Results include: 
Thousands of educators trained in use of technologies for teaching and learning. Some 
estimates include: 
+:* 5,000 participants at the International ProInfo Congress in Fortaleza; 
8 2,000 participants at training activities in Faxinal (Parana) and Santa Catarina; 
*:* 1,419 multipliers at 263 NTEs who use LTNet on a regular basis; 
*:* 60,000+ teachers and coordinators (primary beneficiaries) a public primary and 
secondary schools across Brazil; 
*:* many more who participated at presentations and workshops; and 
Q thousands of students who use the LTNet chat rooms with rheir teachers. 
At many training events and presentations, LTNet received a lot of media attention in the 
form of live television coverage and newspaper articles. This resulted in a shadow audience 
that is difficult to estimate but potentially very large. 
Q More important than the numbers listed above, LTNet developed and implemented a 
training approach that works with Brazilian educators and can be scaled up to address thz 
growing and continuing needs of Brazil. This training approach could also likely be used 
in other countries. LTNet's training works because it is experience-based, grounded in 
practice and is carried out within the context of a collaborative on-line environment that 
the trainees continue using after the event is finished. It also works because of the 
ongoing support that is made available to educators by LTNet and ProInfo staff and the 
network of people using LTNet. This effective training approach leads to immediate and 
actual use of technologies by the teachers in their classroom environment to improve 
learning and for their professional development. 
Q Brazilian ownership and expected continuation of LTNet's work through LTNet-Erazil (a 
Brazilian NGO created to canyon this work). While LTNet was originally meant as a 
network between Brazilian and US educators, and it has, indeed, fitlfilled that mission. it 
has also emerged as a network to greatly facilitate learning among Brazilian educators. 
Responding to where the needs were greatest, LTNet tumed a lot of its attention to 
supporting Brazilian educators. This attention was very much needed, very well 
received, and resulted in clear Brazilian ownership of most of LTKet's sewices and 
activities. 
*:* Filling an important niche in Brazil's technology and education context. While Brazil 
has extensive expertise in educational technology, there is a gap between theon and 
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"ex~ertise". and local school teacher's ~racticai a~~lication. L.TNet develo~ed and . . imilementid an approach that is beginning to fill this gap by providing tools for ongoing 
use of technology for educational applications, ongoing support, and collaboration nith - .. 
teachers, and encouragement and guidance duringthe application process. 
+% A large amount of learning on the part of LTNet staff and ProInfo partners about what 
works and doesn't work in training and enabling Brazilian educators to use technologies. 
This learning was partly the result of ongoing activities to satisfy the project's objectives, 
and partly the result of LTNet and ProInfo staff's willingness and eagerness to 
experiment, adapt, adjust and involve as many educators and others as possible in their 
activities, and even in some cases, facilitating experiments suggested by educators 
themselves and facilitating the learning process based on these expr:riments with 
technology. 
Appendix A: Yahoo Group Discussion Lists set up by LTNet to facilitate Virtual 
Exchanges 
AU-UFPR-Exchange - AU-UFPR Virtual Exchange Discussion List (48 members) 
List started August 2001 
This discussion list is meant to enable the staff and students in the EFL program at the 
American Univ. and the Fed. Univ. of Parana to participate in a virtual exchange 
BNC-AcademicCoordinators (24 members) 
List started August 2001 
This discussion list is meant to enable the BNC Academic Coordinators to share experiences, 
ideas and challenges with developing and coordinating English language programs. 
BNC-Brasil-ESL 
List started October 2001 
This discussion list was established to enable educators working at all BNCs in Brasil to 
participate in e-mail discussions with their peers at other BNCs. This can be used to address 
pedagogical issues, the review of books, CD-ROMs and other educational materials, to share 
creative approaches to ESL, and plan collaborative activities. 
BNC-Brasil-Tech 
List started October 2001 
This discussion list will enable staff from all BNCs in Brasil who are interested in applying 
technology to the teaching of English to share ideas, experiences and ask quesrims. 
BNC-Presidents . BNC-Presidents Discussion List 
List started October 2001 
This discussion list is for the Presidents of ALL BNCs in Brazil. They ail! share knowledge, 
exchange ideas and seek answers to challenges they face. 
BNC-TechEdGroup . BNC Technology & Education Group (25 members) 
List started August 2001 
This discussion list is dedicated to enabling staff of the BNCs in Brazil to discuss experiencest 
ideas and challenges with using technology in the teaching & learning of English. 
Coligacao-Coordinators . Coliga@o Coordinators Discussion List (40 members) 
List started October 2001 
The Coliga@o Coordinators e-mail discussion list will enable staff from all BNCs to 
communicate easily with each other, share ideas, experiences, and challenges. 
DFListadeDiscussao (24 members) 
List started August 2001 
This discussion list will enable teachers and multipliers in the Federal Dist-ict of Brazil to share 
experiences, ideas and chalienges ~vith integrating the use of computers and the Internet into 
teaching & learning. 
DiretoresFU3ME - DiretoresREME de Campo Grande-MS (87 members) 
This Portuguese language discussion list is meant for school principais in Campo Grande. 
Partners-DC-Brasilia . Partners-DC-Brasilia Discussion List (1 3 members) 
List started August 2001 
This discussion list will enable the participants in the Partners DC-Brasilia exchange to share 
experiences, ideas and plan exchange activities. 
RiverWalkBrasil . Riverwalk-Brasil (28 members) 
List started September 2001 
This is a Portuguese language list meant to facilitate discussions and the planning of project 
activities for participants in the Riverwalk project. 
SchoolLinks-TVEscola - SchoolLinks/TV Escola Lista de Discuss50 
(41 members) 
List started August 2001 
This discussion list is for the staff of TV Escola Brad. 
US-Brasil-IEW - US-Brasil-International Education Week (4 members:\ 
List started November 2001 
This list enabled participants in the event to celebrate USlBrazil International Education Week to 
get to know each other, plan for the event and explore on-going exchange activities. 
Appendix B: Screen shot of the Links to AACs on the LTNet Web Site 
~-- 
LTNet R Pmlnfo's Ambiente de @redzapern Cdabmariva or MC 
is designed to help Educators in Brasil and the United States participate 
in virtual exchanges and collaborative pmjscts with other educators. 
The AACs are also used during training activities to help educators learn 
about Internet communication and collaboration. . ~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~~~ 
~~ ~ i Municioio Camno { 
i Grande j Sin"D-FU= 
i, DisJritoFederal 
I Estadodo 1 
P 
Pernambuco 
I Manawe I 
Oxon Hill .~~~ -. ~~~ . ~~ . ~ ~ , Riverwalk 
Estado ational Educam de iJntem 
Minas Gerias Week Event : ~ ~ ~~~~ , Nov. 14.2102 mirito Santa 
Lrmet R Pmlnfo's M5 lndude access to: 
1 O~s~usSlO" Lists *here educators can use emal to easily share . . ... . - . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . %J~?T..c:: . . . . . . .. . . r- . 2.: . .:!~~a,~:~:.t~~~.~~~;~~.~~~~~~~-~je-~~ . . - g;- . . ,'A 
II .. ..... . . .. $ ; . .. ........ . . . ... . . ..... .. 
Appendix C: Screen shot of the Sinop/FUST ACC photo gallery showing the President of Brazil. 
Appendix D: Screen Shot of the SchoolLii Chat Pilot Web Page on the LTNet Web Site 
Appendix E: Screen shot of the Riverwalk Program's Chat room access page within the 
LTNet AAC 
Note the On-Line Translation button on the top left and the Log File Request button on 
the top right. A multiplier interviewed in Brasilia mentioned that machine translations 
sometimes provide "funny results that help to break the ice" in the context of real time 
and asynchronous email exchanges. 
L TNet/Proolnfo Sch oolLinks Bate-PapoKhat 
Program Rivm Walk 
I Lo* 
Appendix F: Screen shot of the advanced web folio used for the Riverwalk Project. 
Appendix G: List of Documents Reviewed 
- Quarterly reports 
- Powerpoint presentations - Papers written by and with LTNet participation 
- Web site (English and Portuguese versions) 
- Web site access statistical data 
Appendix H: List of Individuals Contacted 
(Face-to-face meetings, phone interviews and email communications) 
LTNet: Eric Rusten 
Pro1nfo:Vera Suguri 
Multiplers and others in Brazil 
Ms. Lucia Bazzarella 
Training coordinator 
Mr. Credine Menezes 
General Coordinator 
Ms. Marcia Alves 
Multiplier, Espirito Santo State 
Multi~liers from Esnirito Santo State 
Ms. SBnia Alcantara 
Ms. Yara Pontine 
Ms. Mage Borgo 
Ms. Luciane Negrini 
Ms. Carla Santos 
Ms. SheilIa Campelo 
Multiplier in Brasilia's NTE 
Bruna Ribeira 
Student 8" grader (phone interview) 
Naora Resende 
Lab Coordinator in Hilda Rabello School. in Bela Horizonte (phone interview)