Individual Education Technology National Consultant to support on-line learning (Open to Myanmar nationals only)

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, an education

UNICEF is seeking an individual consultant to provide technical support in managing the development and implementation of their Myanmar learning platform (using Learning Passport), as part of the emergency education response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital platforms have taken a central role in delivering continuity of learning during the COVID-19 crisis. The Learning Passport (https://www.learningpassport.org/), a UNICEF Supported Digital Education Platform, is an ambitious partnership between UNICEF, Cambridge and Microsoft. It aims to improve the education of millions of vulnerable children around the world who face barriers to learning because of poverty, discrimination, conflict and disaster such as COVID-19. It ensures continuity of learning amid the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will remain an online learning resource beyond COVID-19, helping to build education resilience around the world in the longer term.

Over 12 million school aged children in Myanmar are in a learning crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an almost continuous nationwide school closure from March 2020 to 1 June 2021. Whilst government schools opened on 1 June, many children are still not attending schools. With protests, attacks and explosions taking place in around schools, it is unlikely that safe access schools for the majority of children will be possible for some time. As Myanmar enters into the rainy season, there are also the annual threats of floods, added to a third wave of Covid-19 threatening which may exacerbate the situation still further.

With extended learning losses, both for those children able to attend school, as well as those who may face extended school closures, there is an urgent need for all children to be able to access safe, supplementary, opportunities to ensure they do not fall even further behind, and to help them to catch up when they are able to access full or partial returns to the classroom. This need is particularly the case for the most disadvantaged children, who will have little access to private and/or online learning opportunities for well over a year.

Some resources in Myanmar language are already available in Myanmar language on the Learning Platform, through the regional office. However, in order to ensure access to the broader spectrum of resources available for use, and to ensure learning resources are available for the longer term, UNICEF is looking to recruit an individual Education Technology Consultant to manage the administration of the Myanmar Language Learning Passport resources, the creation and curation of materials to be uploaded onto the Learning Passport and M&E of Learning Passport.

Myanmar Learning Passport will provide digitized materials (i) for all school aged learners, including early literacy, (ii) for CSOs and teachers and facilitators and (iii) for parents. The materials for learners will include downloadable materials which can be printed, including reading materials to assist with literacy, worksheets, learning materials, and other static materials. In addition, existing audio-visual materials, as well as new content will be uploaded, including materials adapted for use by children with disabilities. Contents from the global learning library may also be included in the platform. In addition to the formal curriculum, supplementary content that complements the curriculum or alternative content like COVID-19 mitigation and preventative measures and digital skills content will be also provided.

Future content may include materials that are aimed to be more interactive and accompanied by quizzes or assessment so that learning outcomes could be measured.

Materials for teachers include curriculum framework, teacher’s guides and handbooks for teachers including a workbook for teachers on the development of remote learning materials. Resources for parents include guideline for parents on remote learning and wellbeing support and other advocacy materials.

The objectives for deploying digital online content through Learning Passport by UNICEF is to;

• Provide school-aged children in both formal and non-formal education learning settings supplementary resources to ensure continuity of learning, in Myanmar, Braille and ethnic languages

• Complement and aid learning at school, as well as provide accessible learning materials for those unable to access school, rather than replace formal and non-formal learning opportunities

• Provide teachers and parents access to materials for the support of learning and wellbeing of learners

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF requires an enthusiastic and committed Education Technology Consultant to support Education section.

Under the guidance of Education Specialist, and the Regional Deployment Specialist for Learning Passport the overall purpose of the individual consultant is to:

• Support UNICEF Myanmar Country Office to deploy Learning Passport as part of the emergency response and development programming;

• Engage with education partners in identifying key content to upload to the platform, against agreed criteria, as well as agreeing on additional materials that should be developed. Work to ensure that new content development is engaging, interactive and incorporates assessment

• Manage, coordinate and support all programme implementation activities related to Learning Passport;

• Oversee all knowledge management, monitoring and reporting activities related to Learning Passport; and,

• Provide technical guidance on strategies and issues related to Learning Passport and other education and technology initiatives.

The consultant will be trained on the Learning Passport by the regional deployment specialist upon contract.

This will be a full-time consultancy. The duration will be for 12 months from 2nd August 2021 to 15 July 2022 (full-time). Under the supervision of the Education Specialist, the individual consultant will deliver on the following key activities:

1. 1. Coordinate and oversee the rapid deployment of Learning Passport Platform including providing technical assistance in the localising the technology.
   2. Serve as key focal point and coordinator for LP and partners, including content creators and other UNICEF stakeholders. Liaise with the Local Education Group and UNICEF on a regular/needs basis to demonstrate the learning contents and seek approvals.
   3. Provide technical support in the development of eLearning content and manage quizzes & assessment.
   4. Organise content development trainings/workshops for relevant partners.
   5. Serve as lead support in troubleshooting and provide technical support to users and stakeholders at key moments of engagement, e.g. support sourcing and uploading content in collaboration with partner agencies, creating categories, courses, and lessons, and providing analytical reports from data aggregated by the platform
   6. Provide technical support to procuring digital content services (e.g curation, digitization, localization, production) and quality assure their deliverables from a digital perspective.
   7. Contribute and manage knowledge resources and support general knowledge sharing by producing knowledge management resources, organizing activities to ensure sharing, exchange and collaboration and documenting lessons learned, challenges and good practices
   8. Draft monitoring, financial and other regular reports to Country Office, Regional Office and global teams; Oversee and provide inputs to monitoring exercises for internal and external stakeholders and funders of the learning passport (grant's reports, annual results report, needed updates, etc.).
   9. Scope complimentary ICT for learning and Edtech tools that could be integrated to support learning passport related technology efforts.
   10. Support UNICEF Myanmar on other activities related to the Education and Technology agenda including Repid-Pro SMS survey and Education Management Information system (EMIS), if relevant.

Once on-board, the Supervisors and the Consultant will develop the consultant’s overall workplan as per the ToR. S/he will also prepare his/her monthly workplans regularly, also based on any changes in the overall programme plans.

The consultant would be paid on a monthly basis to complete the assignments outlined in the ToR. There will be a monthly report prepared and submitted by the consultant of the activities performed and results achieved, according to the preliminary key tasks and deliverables and outputs outlined earlier. Each monthly report will include an update on the activities listed above, in particular:

• A summary of progress report against the workplan and noting of any changes therein;
• A summary of progress, bottlenecks, challenges, and actions taken in relation to UNICEF and partner support;
• A summary of M&E of Learning Passport including access rate, progress rate and assessment pass rate
• Report on active forum, teams site, knowledge management and sharing activities
• A summary of monthly status reports on deployment progress; and,
• A review and feedback submitted to UNICEF.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/ Deliverables

1.Based on the discussion with Key Education Partners and UNICEF, produce inception report that includes time-framed workplan

Inception Report _ Timeline 31 August 2021

2. Produce monthly progress reports, detailing how far objectives set for the month have been implemented

End of Month Progress Reports _ Timeline : Monthly rate

3. Final report that includes recommendations for sustainable implementation of LP

Draft Final Report_ Timeline : 1 July 2022

Final Report_ Timeline: 15 July 2022

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advanced degree in information technology, statistics, communication, education, or other relevant field is preferred.
• However, In lieu of a specific academic degree, or having achieved a Bachelors level, relevant experience may be considered to meet this requirement.
• At least 3 years of experience in development of content digitization
• Experience in design of multimedia content, infographics, audio & video, voice-over, storyboarding and interactive elements of eLearning an advantage.
• Experience with content authoring tool like Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate an advantage
• Experience in LMS and content management on LMS
• Experience of conducting trainings and developing training package.
• Good technical understanding and familiarity with information management systems.
• Demonstrated ability and experience in coordination, and able to work under pressure is required.
• Fluency in English is a minimum requirement
• Experience of screen reading functionality and/or of implementing web content accessibility guidelines, to ensure adaptation of materials for use with children with disabilities is a distinct advantage

Conditions:

The consultant must have access to their own laptop and a reliable internet connection, in order to ensure they are able to fulfil this task effectively.

Detail "Terms of Reference" can be accessed here; (3) Terms of Reference- Education Technology Consultant.docx

The "Expression of Interest" Form to complete and include in the application can be accessed here; (3) Education Technology Consultant Expression of Interest.doc

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.