Impact

Since the plan was launched:
• €6.6 m have been invested,
• 31,500 students are involved each year,
• in 1,700 classes,
• across the conurbation's 43 communities,
• in 320 schools,
• 2,000 PCs and 800 printers have been installed,
• so as to make high-speed access available in every school,
• 142 schools have been cabled,
• there are 261 secure internet access points,
• 300 instructors have received more than 1,800 days training,
• there are 2 full-time maintenance technicians,
• specific measures have been taken in favour of handicapped students, with €2.1 m of funding over 3 years.

Associated with the scheme are:
• the head of the Multimedia Plan for Schools,
• an assistant project manager,
• an IT manager,
• a project manager for communication,
• 2 full-time maintenance technicians,
• an external assistant,
• assistants from the Ministère de l'Education Nationale.

A plan that is in phase with emerging issues and needs
The Multimedia Plan for Schools is divided up into different phases to allow for progressive adaptations linked to emerging issues, expectations and expressed needs. And results are already appearing. An assessment carried out in 2005 by a research team from the university of Saint-Etienne showed a significant increase in the use of NTIC in teaching practices, and incentives to experiment with new approaches.
The third 3-year plan, for 2006-2008, emphasises the further development of current practices, and the importance of cooperative methods.

Cooperative methods hold the key

The sharing of methods and experience, and the development of interactivity: these are the new challenges. And Saint-Etienne Métropole is unifying the process, while also building up cooperative systems for the use of the different protagonists in the educational system, and the authorities.
1. The internet site and the IT management extranet are the primary components of the information and communication system engendered by the Multimedia Plan.
2. Other components, which are still being tested, aim at a large increase in uptake, a facilitation of communication between participants, and greater ease of information flow. These developments should have the effect of breaking down barriers between structures, while also contributing to a sense of responsibility and public-spiritedness, with:
• the setting up of a digital workspace for the development of new practices and modes of exchange between teachers and pupils;
• an e-administration platform designed to place NTIC at the service of parents, and give them access to all the available information on their child's scholastic progress. Online information is managed by the schools and the authorities.
This system provides the different protagonists with a unique, secure access point 24 hours a day, via any internet connection, with rights of access corresponding to particular profiles. It proposes different modes of entry, depending on the status and category of those who manage or consult the shared database.
Everything possible has been done to give children, accompanied by their teachers and parents, the best available opportunity to acquire the knowledge they need.

(see 3.10)

Innovation:
These new interfaces contribute to the improvement of the service, favouring the circulation of information while optimising its utility, and providing ways to keep tabs on actions, to share information and to cross-reference it, thereby helping to make decision-making processes more reliable. These ideas go beyond the boundaries of the different structures, connecting them up and enlarging the range of computerised public services through knowledge banks that can be consulted by children themselves, along with information aimed at parents, about the running of schools (details of dinner menus, outings, etc.).

The data integrated into the system are systematically linked up to precise geographical locations. Comparative analyses and cartographies of situations can be produced, thus allowing action plans to be grounded in practical realities.

The Multimedia Plan is progressively becoming the concern of all, and it has led to the emergence of new dynamics that the conurbation is assisting and extending. The development of information and communication technologies does not make teachers redundant, of course, but it changes their role. With communication and information technologies, teachers are not looking at a screen, but are at the pupil's side. And parents, too, are brought into the process. They are not just there to take care of administrative formalities, but are involved in the educational process, being present when the child works at home on virtual lessons. Local bodies are taking an active part in this dynamic by making information available in real time, which they can do more easily on account of its non-material aspect.
The existing dynamic, and the projects, have brought together a large number of interested parties. The idea of governance, as developed up to the present, is being reinforced, and this inspires optimism about the success of future projects.

Track record of sharing

Given the high volumes of purchases, competitive prices can be obtained in the framework of contracts on the municipal level. This leads to a sharing of technical solutions, and notably a single service for the screening of web sites.
The "Multimedia Plan for Schools" is ambitious. This is the largest operation of its type that has been rolled out in France, and it is seen as having set a standard (with the scale of deployment, a focus on the specific needs of children with handicaps, and the development of multimedia systems). This has led to our being invited to take part in the 2006 "Rencontres Nationales Les Interconnectés" in Lyon, and the 2007 "Assises du NET et des TIC pour les Collectivités" in Nice. Numerous contacts have been established with specialist journals, which are interested in our experiment and intend to publicise it.
The experimental phase which we are currently developing should allow us to build bridges with other regions that are also involved in such innovations. This approach, headed by the Ministère de l'Education Nationale and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, is rich in its potentiality for exchanges and skills transfers. Saint-Etienne is the only city in France to carry out such an experiment. And this will put us in a position to make a number of suggestions regarding good practice, based on the feedback generated by our experiment.
Finally, as a member of international networks:
• In 2006, Saint-Etienne Métropole signed the "European Charter of the Rights of Citizens in the Knowledge Society" at the general assembly of Eurocities in Manchester.
• In the urban section of the "Objectif Compétitivité Régionale et Emploi" programme, 2007-2013, Saint-Etienne Métropole will be putting forward proposals concerning new technologies and social inclusion.

Lessons learnt

1. Cooperation between Saint-Etienne Métropole and the educational community has been exemplary in its scope and duration, along with the human and material resources brought into play.
2. The experiment carried out in Saint-Etienne Métropole is quite unusual, as regards the way in which it takes handicapped childrens' needs into account, on the one hand because techniques such as videophones, digital workspaces, electronic messaging, chatrooms etc. break down isolation and facilitate the integration of children into the educational system, and on the other hand because the analysis of particular educational needs has reconfigured the Multimedia Plan as a whole.
3. Saint-Etienne Métropole intends to provide a domain of experimentation, reflection and exchanges of expertise, and in particular following the implementation of collaborative, unifying projects (cf. 2.4 and 2.5). The critical mass of skills available in Saint-Etienne Métropole should open up more and more possibilities for reducing inequalities in the use of new technologies, thus preparing the future of children in primary schools and improving the delivery of public services by local administrative bodies.