Various resources (books and websites) for further exploration of these topics are provided at the end of the module. One of the most important ways to involve the community in M&E is to define appropriate indicators for measuring success. The more participatory the needs assessment becomes, the better it will be able to provide a complete picture of the community's needs.
Communicating results and recommendations: Communicating results to stakeholders is an important element of the evaluation. Whenever possible, the interview guide should be developed in collaboration with all telecentre staff and possibly some community members. It should come directly from questions you have about the role and operation of the telecentre.
These questions should be clearly identified in the first steps of the needs assessment, where you specify the users and the application of the assessment. It is a good idea to ask members of the group to identify themselves before speaking. This will provide a complete record of the discussion and will facilitate the analysis of the data.
Purpose of report: Consider assessment objectives and information needed for decision making.
Surveys
We also organized discussions with households in the non-agricultural sector through focus group exercises. The PRAs conducted in the Kannivadi region have given us an idea of the patterns of information needs. Both men and women of landless households demand information about employment opportunities outside their hamlets, and information to initiate income-generating activities that could increase their annual income.
Credit is the other area of information that owner farmers consider most important for strengthening working capital during the initial months of the farming season to meet input costs. Overall survey size: How many community members/users you want to include in the survey. Acceptable Number of Questions: How many questions respondents can answer given their time constraints.
Respondent instructions: How you want the respondent to answer the questions in general, for each section and question. Basic information respondents need to understand: How much information respondents need to complete the survey and how you provide them with that information. Purpose of the survey: What questions do you want to address in the survey and why.
Open-ended questions are often useful in conjunction with more restrictive questions – the type we call closed (or structured). Closed questions give the respondents a small number of choices from which they can choose one or more answers. Combining this with space for respondents to add comments if they wish provides the best of both worlds.
It is also easier to extract data from closed questions during the subsequent coding and analysis phases of the survey. An open-ended question usually has a series of lines (or a blank space) where respondents write in their own words how they feel about the topic of the question. What issues do you think are the most important to improve the economic situation in your local community in the next two years.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M+E)
Creating a M+E team
The monitoring and evaluation of a telecenter's progress can be done by the telecenter manager alone. This will allow for improved learning progress and a more objective management of the M+E process. Since M+E is most successful if done in a cooperative manner, it is advisable to form a diverse team of stakeholders.
For example, a team may consist of a telecentre manager, a volunteer who works at the telecentre and three community members who are also users of the telecentre services. To facilitate stakeholder participation in the M+E process leading to focus groups, train volunteers in data collection skills, etc.
Developing and implementing an M+E plan
The first step will be to review the telecentre's purpose, goals and objectives, which were determined based on the needs assessment. The mission statement broadly describes the desired impact the telecenter will have on the lives of stakeholders. Objectives describe the results that result from achieving the center's purpose.
The following is an example of one of the many possible goals, its goals and outcomes for a telecenter. Relevance of the services offered Working with telecentre users and community members to identify issues and indicators will help the telecentre manager and the M+E team come up with meaningful and relevant questions, as no one can better determine the positive and negative effects of community activities than the community itself. However, it is essential to first agree and define the goals and objectives that you will measure with these indicators at the beginning of the interviews or brainstorming.
Some of the questions may not be as important as first thought; answers may be very difficult to obtain, or stakeholders may come up with better indicators. All data collectors must be clear about the goals, objectives and activities of the telecentre. Finding the best suitable time in relation to other telecentre activities and events.
Following are two charts that summarize some of the issues related to performing the data collection. A study that describes the situation at the beginning of the telecentre's activities (i.e. the baseline) is important to compare targets with actual results. Creative expressions are often culturally appropriate ways to communicate stakeholder views and attitudes towards the telecentre and to illustrate the impact of the telecentre on the lives of community members.
Oral or written questionnaires may be administered to participants in training programs conducted by the telecentre, users of telecentre services and other groups associated with the telecentre. Knowledge and skills tests can be used to assess what telecentre users may have learned from using the services and training provided by the telecentre. The purpose of an M+E telecenter plan is to provide stakeholders with a better understanding of the center's progress, its ability to meet community needs, and the adequacy of services provided, so that they can then take informed decisions. regarding the future operation of the telecentre.
Achievements should be included in the presentation of results as a motivation for further participation. The next short section will add some more detailed comments on the formal assessment that can be carried out at a given point in time within the operation of the telecentre.
Formal Project Evaluations
Include an overview of the telecentre to date, including the start date, the development since the center was established or since the last evaluation. Currently, around 50 users visit the center daily and we have completed 12 basic computer literacy courses. As the center has been operating for a year now, we would like to evaluate how the center is doing – if we reach our goals – in order to plan for the next business year.
A planning session on how to implement the results of the evaluation into an action plan may also be necessary. This may include questions about what progress has been made in achieving the goals and objectives of the telecentre, whether the current programs meet the needs of the users, where problems occur and what the solution might be. The work schedule must include the start and end dates as well as the total number of working days.
To be more precise, it may be useful to specify the number of days allocated for each main activity. The matrix also lists the other people involved in the evaluation, their primary responsibilities and who reports to whom. Include the name and location of the telecenter, the date of the evaluation, and the name, working title, and membership of each member of the evaluation team.
Include the most important information from each section of the report and highlight key findings and recommendations. Describe the background to the evaluation including a brief description of the telecentre and its history and the circumstances that led to the decision to undertake a formal project. State the evaluation objectives, key questions to be answered, products to be delivered, and decisions to be made.
Present factual information you received, such as responses to a questionnaire, statistics (eg number of training courses completed, number of individuals trained). Discuss the effect these problems had on satisfying the SOV and how they may have affected the outcome of the assessment. Summarize the actions and who will take them and when as a result of the assessment findings.
Monitoring evaluation results will be used much more often if those who can use the results are involved in the planning and implementation phases of M+E. It may not be possible to involve all stakeholders in all phases of M+E planning and implementation. However, input should be sought from representatives of a broad spectrum of community groups, and particular attention should be paid to assessing outcomes with all stakeholders involved. .
