e-LEARNING EXPERT

Scope and description of the Task

In recent years, Lebanon has become the country with the highest refugee per capita in the world. Officially, there are more than 1.5 million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, a third of which are school going aged children. In 2013, the Government of Lebanon (GoL) opened a second-shift in its public education system to cater for the enormous numbers of refugee students. In 2017/2018, non-Lebanese students outnumbered Lebanese students in the public education system. The responsibility for educating all these students resides with the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) who, alongside external donors, launched the Reaching All Children with Education II (RACE II) programme in 2016.

The World Bank (WB) and GoL, especially the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), designed Support to RACE II (S2R2) to deliver on significant parts of RACE II as the strategy relates to the formal education sector. S2R2 is designed to complement other work developed to support RACE II, such as activities planned and implemented with UNICEF, UNHCR and UNESCO.

DFID Lebanon’s contribution to the education sector includes support to S2R2 as well as the provision of a technical assistance team to MEHE. In March 2018, a three-year technical assistance project was awarded to Oxford Policy Management, which expanded an existing TA facility to serve MEHE priority areas to achieve the objectives of RACE II. The TA team supports the GoL to deliver the immediate objectives of the S2R2 programme while building the capacity, systems and processes which underpin a medium-term sector development strategy.

Background:

As per HE Minister Majzoub’s request, MEHE are launching the National Distance Learning Project providing e-learning for public schools on Monday, March 16, 2020. This is in direct response to the coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon which has enforced the temporary closure of all schools across the country. The Ministry retains overall responsibility for delivering these education services to primary/secondary, private/public/state-subsidised, as well as first shift/second shifts.

MEHE’s initial investigation into e-learning that is already being implemented in some of the public schools has found some examples of good practice which DOPS would like to support and replicate. These initiatives are to date the result of individual skills and knowledge of specific models of virtual ways which may be applied to schools. The existence of these good practices demonstrates what is possible with existing resources and what could be possible with additional support and resource from MEHE.

Human Resources Required: 

The initial scoping study has demonstrated the impact of single individuals on their school community and further afield. The model proposed here is that three such individuals will provide online training to DOPS counsellors on the principles and application of the specific e-learning model and then the DOPS counsellors cascade that same training down to school administrators in a similar manner.

Working Relationship and Station: 

The consultant team will work from MEHE in Beirut, Lebanon under the guidance of the Director of DOPS.

The specific tasks under this role include:

Definition of the e-learning model to be rolled out

• Identification of models of good practice for e-learning in public schools in Lebanon
• Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of these models
• Refinements to the model to improve them further and/or make them more universally applicable
• Scaling up of the good practices which already exist in Lebanese public schools using MS Teams
• Decide on how to roll this model out: all at once, in a phased manner by governorate, phased by grade, phased by subject, phased by existing level of skills in the school (early adopters will likely have pre-existing capabilities) etc

Implementation of this e-learning initiative

• Develop video tutorials for the training of school administrators on managing the administrative process and how to provide access to the platform for each category of user
• Provide online training for the DOPS counsellors to be able to support the school administrators on how to implement e-learning in an effective way, including through use of these reference videos
• Prepare standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each level of user (including administrators, DOPS counsellors, teachers, and students)
• Set-up the necessary accounts on the chosen platform and train users on how to access them

Review and monitoring of the initiative

• Monitor the use of e-learning resources and feed this back into improvement of the model
• Follow up on the e-learning project to ensure that it is being implemented correctly and that all students are benefiting across the board and to the maximum extent possible
• Make sure that the designed e-learning modules achieve the desired teaching and learning outcomes.

Deliverables:

Phase 1: Development of e-learning model - 16-20 March 2020 (5 days)

Identification of models of good practice for e-learning in public schools in Lebanon

Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of these models

Refinements to the model to improve them further and/or make them

Scaling up of the good practices which already exist in Lebanese public schools using MS Teams more universally applicable

Develop and finalise the SOPs for the National Distance Learning Project

Decide on how to roll this model out: all at once, in a phased manner by governorate, phased by grade, phased by subject, phased by existing level of skills in the school (early adopters will likely have pre-existing capabilities) etc

Phase 2: Implementation of this e-learning initiative -23 March – 4 June (25 working days)

Develop video tutorials for the training of school administrators on managing the administrative process and how to provide access to the platform for each category of user

Train the DOPS counsellors to be able to support the school administrators on how to implement e-learning in an effective way, including through use of reference videos

Prepare standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each level of user (including administrators, DOPS counsellors, teachers, and students)

Set-up the necessary accounts on the chosen platform and train users on how to access them

Phase 3: Monitoring, review and refinement of model - 5 days but included in the period above

Monitor the use of e-learning resources and feed this back into improvement of the model

Follow up on the e-learning project to ensure that it is being implemented correctly and that all students are benefiting across the board and to the maximum extent possible

Make sure that the designed e-learning modules achieve the desired teaching and learning outcomes.

Profile and Skills: 

• University degree in technology, education or other relevant fields.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in the Lebanese public education system.
• Understanding of existing capacity for e-learning in public schools and how to further develop them
• Specific experience and expert proficiency with Microsoft Teams, as this will be the programme on which the e-learning is delivered.
• Demonstrates experience in leading on initiatives in a school environment, including the training of school administrators
• Experience in the set-up of e-learning platforms, or ability to provide detailed specifications of what is needed
• Experience working with technology to collect and analyse large datasets, run appropriate monitoring reports and present evidence in a visual and accessible format
• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills
• Fluency in Arabic. English and French may also be advantageous.

Approach and Skills Transfers 

These three e-learning experts will train DOPS counsellors who will train the teachers. The capacity development will primarily therefore occur at those two levels and we expect that it will leave behind significant residual systems and capacity for e-learning after the coronavirus-related school closures have ended.