Call for Consultancy
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT –
Development of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Modules for Education College (EC) Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff
Terms of Reference
Date Issued: 1 May 2020
Organizational unit: UNESCO Myanmar Project Office
Duty Station: Yangon, Myanmar
Title: International Consultant – Development of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Modules for Education College (EC) Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff
Duration of the contract: About 5.5 Months (tentatively)
Application deadline: 15 May 2020
Start Date: 25 May 2020
I. Background:
UNESCO, in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE), is working to strengthen pre-service teacher education in Myanmar through reform measures outlined in the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) 2016-21. A project named “Strengthening pre-service Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM)” addresses four fundamentally important aspects of pre-service teacher education. These include:
· formulating a policy framework of pre-service teacher education and identifying standards for quality assurance,
· improving a system of pre-service teacher training institutions - Education Colleges (ECs)[1] by designing the new four-year degree programme of pre-service teacher education and creating good networks to accumulate and share knowledge and experiences of all ECs,
· developing institutional/management and human resource capacities of ECs, and
· mainstreaming inclusion and equity issues in teacher education.
The project also supports MoE to improve the ICT infrastructure at ECs and to strengthen the capacity of EC staff to use ICT as a tool for teaching, learning and management. With support of the project, all ECs are equipped with fiber Internet access and provided with some ICT equipment such as laptops, tablets and projectors. Annual ICT training was provided to ICT teacher educators in the past years to strengthen their skills in teaching ICT to student teachers and to enhance their appropriate and effective use of ICT in ECs. However, most non-teacher educators as well as management and administration staff are at the technology literacy stage, which is inadequate for using ICT for their specific job functions. Basic ICT literacy and technical maintenance training manuals were developed and shared with all EC staff for self-study. An e-library has been developed for ECs to access resources for self-study and to support online learning and peer sharing within and across ECs. The e-library is available on a website and as a mobile application. The e-library contains teaching and learning resources supplementary to the new four-year EC curriculum and is part of the overall online learning portal for ECs. The online learning portal will also host an e-learning platform to be developed in 2020.
At the policy level, the project supports the process of formulating minimum requirements and indicators into the draft national teacher competency standards framework, which is being validated through a nationwide exercise. The project also supports MoE to design and deliver professional development course modules to teacher educators to prepare them for the effective delivery of the new pre-service teacher education programme which has been rolled out since December 2019. As a longer-term support, the project has also assisted MoE in developing an overall framework for teacher educators’ continuing professional development (CPD) as a mechanism to coordinate professional development learning opportunities, to enable teacher educators to meet the learning objectives set out in their capacity development plans and to support career pathways for teacher educators. This CPD framework comprises options for models of delivery and guidelines for development of CPD course modules.
Based on the CPD framework and the need of ECs, the Individual Specialist is sought to develop CPD ICT course modules which aim to improve ICT proficiency of EC teaching and non-teaching staff focusing on the following areas:
· ICT proficiency training to use in teaching, learning and management; and
· Training on media and information literacy to foster critical thinking and to promote peace and sustainable development.
The course modules will be used to develop online courses and make available onto the online learning portal for all EC staff. UNESCO project team will develop training content on two topics in May first, as a direct response to the need of teaching and learning due to COVID-19. The Individual Specialist will review, provide inputs/comments and revise the training content developed in-house by the UNESCO project team and will develop the rest of the content including but not limited to creation of online assessment, feedback providing strategies, collecting and organizing assignment online; basic ICT skills for teaching, learning and management; and media and information literacy to foster critical thinking and to promote peace and sustainable development.
The tentative schedule for the major activities includes, but are not necessarily limited to, the following tasks (with indicative number of days):
i) 2 days home-based: Reviewing, providing inputs/comments on the initial training content on the communication strategies among teacher educators and student teachers for online teaching and learning and the use of mobile application for video/audio recording of teaching.
ii) 3 days home-based: Revising the initial training content on the communication strategies among teacher educators and student teachers for online teaching and learning and the use of mobile application for video/audio recording of teaching.
iii) 3 home-based: Reviewing existing UNESCO resources from annual ICT workshops, New EC ICT curriculum, and other relevant resources.
iv) 2 days home-based : Preparing content map including Learning Areas, Topics and Learning Objectives of the modules on CPD ICT for EC teaching and non-teaching staff
v) 5 days home-based : Drafting one CPD ICT module, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading
vi) 5 days home-based : Revising the draft CPD ICT module and developing the agenda, data collection tool, list of learning materials and facilitator guide for virtual piloting based on UNESCO’s feedback
vii) 3 days home-based : Preparing and conducting virtual pilot testing of the second draft of the CPD ICT module with relevance stakeholders in ECs
viii) 3 days home-based: Developing the report of findings from the virtual piloting and consultation
ix) 20 days home-based: Developing the complete content of all the remaining CPD ICT modules, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading
x) 5 days home-based: Finalizing content of all the remaining CPD ICT modules, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading based on UNESCO’s feedback
xi) 10 days home-based: Developing the necessary digital learning resources (such as Powerpoint slides, infographic, screencast) and scripts for all CPD ICT modules
xii) 5 days home-based: Finalizing the digital learning resources (such as Powerpoint, infographic, screencast) and scripts for all CPD ICT modules
II. Work Assignment:
Review, provide inputs/comments and revise the draft initial training content which is developed by UNESCO project team on the communication strategies among teacher educators and student teachers for online teaching and learning and the use of mobile application for video/audio recording of teaching by UNESCO project team;
Conduct a review on existing UNESCO resources from annual ICT workshops, New EC ICT curriculum, and other relevant resources. The expected output of the desk review will be the draft content map and one sample CPD ICT course module. The learning areas include, but not limited to: Creation of online assessment, feedback providing strategies, collecting and organizing assignment online; Basic ICT skills for teaching, learning and management; Media and information literacy to foster critical thinking and to promote peace and sustainable development;
Develop one CPD ICT module, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading with relevance stakeholders;
In collaboration with the STEM project team, conduct the virtual pilot testing of CPD ICT module by virtual review and discussion. Develop the report on the piloting including pilot testing findings and recommendations for improvement of the module;
Revise and finalize the first module based on the feedback of participants in virtual pilot testing and the needs of the Myanmar context;
Develop the complete content of all the remaining CPD ICT modules, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading; and
Develop all the necessary digital learning resources (such as Powerpoint slides, infographic, screencast) and scripts for all CPD ICT modules.
III. Deliverable and timeline:
The Individual Specialist should submit all the outputs to UNESCO in editable format according to the timeline agreed upon in the work plan:
Deliverable 1, last submission date - 27 May 2020: Inputs/comments on the initial training content on the communication strategies among teacher educators and student teachers for online teaching and learning which is developed by UNESCO project team;
Deliverable 2, last submission date - 4 June 2020: Revised training content on the communication strategies among teacher educators and student teachers for online teaching and learning based on the feedback of relevance stakeholders;
Deliverable 3, last submission date - 10 June 2020: Inputs/comments on the initial training content on the use of mobile application for video/audio recording of teaching which is developed by UNESCO project team;
Deliverable 4, last submission date - 12 June 2020: Draft content map including Learning Areas, Topics and Learning Objectives of the training modules on CPD ICT for EC teaching and non-teaching staff;
Deliverable 5, last submission date - 15 June 2020: Revised training content on the use of mobile application for video/audio recording of teaching based on the feedback of relevance stakeholders
Deliverable 6, last submission date - 19 June 2020: Finalized content map including Learning Areas, Topics and Learning Objectives of the training modules on CPD ICT for EC teaching and non-teaching staff
Deliverable 7, last submission date - 26 June 2020:
i) One CPD ICT module, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading;
ii) Agenda, data collection tool, list of learning materials and facilitator guide for virtual piloting
Deliverable 8, last submission date - 3 July 2020: Report of findings from the virtual piloting and consultation
Deliverable 9, last submission date - 6 July 2020: Finalized first CPD ICT module including necessary digital learning resources (such as PowerPoint, infographic, screencast)
Deliverable 10, last submission date - 7 August 2020: Draft content of all the remaining CPD ICT modules, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading
Deliverable 11, last submission date - 31 August 2020: Finalized content of all the remaining CPD ICT modules, including but not limited to, learning outcomes, learning content, learning activities, learning materials, formative and summative assessments, further reading list and links to supplementary reading
Deliverable 12, last submission date - 30 September 2020: Draft digital learning resources (such as Powerpoint, infographic, screencast) and scripts for all CPD ICT modules
Deliverable 13, last submission date - 31 October 2020: Finalizing the digital learning resources (such as Powerpoint, infographic, screencast) and scripts for all CPD ICT modules
IV. Location and travel:
The work will be home-based with no anticipation of travel.
V. Fees:
• Middle level to senior level consultant; and
The lump sum is established on the basis of a daily or monthly rate based on UNESCO rules and regulations on Level of Assignment and Remuneration and depending on qualifications.
VI. Qualifications:
Education:
• At least Master’s degree with specialization in education, social sciences, information technology or a related field;
Work experience:
• At least five years of experience in the field of education at national and international levels, especially in the context of a developing country;
• Demonstrated experience in developing teacher professional development modules on ICT; and
• Good knowledge of the Myanmar country context or context similar to Myanmar as an asset.
Skills and competencies:
• Strong knowledge and technical skills in ICT in education and preferably teacher education;
• Strong research and analytical skills;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
• Proficiency in using common office ICT productivity tools and tools to develop digital learning resources such as screencasts and infographic;
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment; and
• Ability to work independently on delegated tasks.
How to apply:
VII. How to apply:
Interested applicants are invited to submit in writing to UNESCO Myanmar Project Office:
A cover letter in English clearly referencing “International Consultant – Development of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Modules for Education College (EC) Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff”, indicating how your qualifications and experience make you suitable for the assignment, and the methodology and approaches to be adopted to carry out the assignment and expected fee;
An up-to-date CV, with contact details including telephone numbers and email address;
Contact details including telephone numbers and email addresses of three referees; and
A writing sample in English, ideally a sample teacher professional development module on ICT.
UNESCO places great emphasis on ensuring that the objectives of the work assignment, as described in the Terms of Reference, are met. Accordingly, in evaluating the proposals for the assignment, attention will focus first and foremost on the technical elements. From those proposals deemed suitable in terms of the criteria in the Terms of Reference, UNESCO shall select the proposal that offers the Organisation best value for money.
Your application should reach yangon@unesco.org no later than 17:00 (Yangon time) on 15 May 2020.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.