Personal Digital Assistants Reflective Statement
Describe:
This PowerPoint presentation outlines how Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) were used by Save the Children in a large USAID funded Title II Food Security Program in southern Bangladesh. It explains the technical programming language and hardware and software used to create and operate the McAid software program. The software program was initially an administrative tool used exclusively to track the distribution of maternal child and health and nutrition food rations or food commodities. Recognizing its potential for use in data collection and nutritional surveillance I worked with the programmers to expand the McAid system to meet programmatic objectives far surpassing its initial use as an administrative tool. Analyze: I chose this artifact because it demonstrates my ability to make connections and understand both administrative and programmatic goals. Working with the developers, we were able to optimize the tool for multiple uses, e.g. nutritional surveillance, rapid assessments, baseline surveys and final evaluations. Furthermore, by sharing the experience and expertise with other agency programs we helped break down silos of information and built capacity across programs strengthening not only our food security program, but also our education and integrated community development programs. Applications were used among Save the Children staff as well as by partner organizations in Bangladesh. Appraise: Using PDAs for program monitoring and evaluation (M&E) purposes was generally a very positive experience. Being a large country office, data collection was often out-sourced to others agencies but turn around was usually slow and sometimes of questionable quality. Staff was removed from the process and often developed an attitude that M&E was a complex task better left to experts. Having staff collect data themselves and process it in-house created greater ownership and comprehension of the data as well as a faster data turn-around and, therefore, use. The tool enhanced data quality by establishing logical data ranges and questioning the operator when data was outside of acceptable ranges, reinforcing data accuracy and consistency. It also automatically tabulated prescribed indicators alerting field staff to deteriorations in nutritional status thus helping them to know where to prioritize their attention. Later, other programming software (SHARP Survey System) was introduced which permitted survey customization for rapid assessments, monitoring of program quality using lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) and baseline, midterm and final evaluations of different agency programs. This impressed donors and raised our agency's Monitoring & Evaluation standards in Bangladesh as well as in other country offices that learned from our experience. Transform: This artifact and the experience it portrays, illustrates the power that appropriately-harnessed technology can bring to development programs. With a relatively modest investment, staff could be equipped and empowered to collect and analyze data increasing their programmatic impact, administrative accountability and professional skills. Although similar tasks might be conducted with different tools today e.g. smartphones, this experience reinforced for me the importance of making connections across programs and constantly seeking ways to optimize resources and increase efficiencies. I believe this is essential for agencies if they are to remain competitive in the global marketplace. |