Introduction

English in Action (EiA) used mobile phones, the internet, print materials, television, and peer-to-peer learning to help 25 million Bangladeshis improve their English as a route into work and out of poverty. The EiA Schools TPD program was one component of this larger project. It aimed to improve the quality of teaching and learning in English language lessons in primary and secondary schools.

Key features of the English in Action model

• Teachers are provided professional development and classroom resources in the form of print materials and videos of classroom practice on memory cards for teachers’ mobile phones. Teachers were also supplied with mobile speakers through which they could use appropriate classroom audio resources on the memory cards with their students.
• Teachers received ongoing support by being paired with another teacher in their school. They were encouraged to regularly meet, discuss the audio-visual material, plan lessons, and engage in other collaborative activities.
• Primary school head teachers took part as “full” participants in the program. Both primary and secondary school head teachers were also supported to encourage their teachers to work through the activities together in school and monitor how teachers were getting on.
• This support was supplemented by regular locally-based cluster meetings of teachers, led by local Teacher Facilitators (TFs), and by workshops; however, the core of the learning took place at the school level.
• Local district (upazila) staff and TFs working together to support teachers at  the cluster level through meetings and forums was a particularly powerful exchange and cultivated a new sense of understanding and value between school and upazila-level actors.
• Strong collaboration between project staff and upazila staff improved technical capacity in observing behaviors that make up a “learning classroom” and giving teachers constructive feedback.

EiA demonstrated early impact, and the improvement of teachers’ English was sustained throughout the life of the program. Baseline studies showed that in 90% of the English lessons observed, teachers spoke from the front of the class, did so almost exclusively in Bangla, and asked closed questions; as such, students had few opportunities to participate beyond choral responses. More recent research findings showed teaching interactions were predominantly in English (over 90%) and teachers demonstrated more interactive pedagogy leading to improved student outcomes.

Central to EiA’s success was the school-based nature of learning and support through collaboration with paired teachers and head teachers. Cluster level meetings further harnessed this learning through school-to-school sharing of experiences and developed shared understanding and practical actions for how EiA’s methods could be successful in the local context.

The program had a strong "institutionalization" component and worked closely with existing government personnel such as staff from over 230 upazilas who were involved in field-level monitoring. Many of the local TFs became Master Trainers in the formal government teacher development programs. As a result of this collaboration, the role of upazila staff has been strengthened and the program has been embedded in wider national efforts to improve quality education. From 2015 onwards, the EiA multimedia English learning products and programs were transferred to national partners, who will lead future development.

EiA showed that building a strong, locally led program is key to program resilience for sustainability. Despite political volatility and security issues, especially in recent years, strong ownership at both upazila- and school-level made EiA resilient.

Introduction

In 2015, the X-Learning Centre launched its Flipped Classroom Pedagogy MOOC, a seven-week course with six modules (one orientation module and five modules focused on the flipped classroom approach), on the iCourses platform.

Key features of the Peking University X-Learning Centre model

• Guided independent study of the online course with online support from peers and facilitators
• Learning resources on the platform including reading materials in PDF, video lectures, quizzes, and discussion forums
• Informal face-to-face and virtual professional learning communities (PLCs)
• Teachers are assessed through results from quizzes (formative) embedded inside videos and assignments (summative) that involve creating and critiquing lesson plans or teaching designs for the flipped classroom approach.
• Though the model included peer review, this was seen to be more of a learning exercise rather than assessment.

Although the MOOC provides a structured venue for learner support within the platform through discussion forums, many participants sought support through informal PLCs. This was done either face-to-face or via messaging apps such as WeChat and QQ. Teachers would form groups based on subject (e.g., Mathematics) or location (e.g., Beijing). The MOOC design also provided some differentiation through subject-based support as well as additional support for teachers less confident with the ICT. However, gender differences were noted in the completion rates, with female teachers less likely to finish the MOOC possibly due to lack of time to keep to the deadlines and then dropping out.

Evaluation also found that the per capita cost of the MOOC was significantly lower than in the traditional cascade model.

Introduction

Launched in 2015 by the Centre for Education Innovation and Action Research at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and its partners, CLIx is a technology-enabled open education initiative at scale for high school students. It offers interactive resources for students in communicative English, Mathematics, Science, and Digital Literacy. The program includes TPD for secondary school teachers available through modular MOOCs and online communities of practice (CoPs).

The CLIx MOOCs offer a broad spectrum of topics such as the pedagogy of teaching Languages, Mathematics, and Science; teacher mentoring; and ICT in education.

Key features of the CLIx TPD model

• Teachers use their own digital devices to access the CLIx MOOCs on TISSx on the Open edX platform (https://www.tissx.tiss.edu/). Over 99% of CLIx teachers had access to mobile phones but access to tablets, desktop computers or laptops was more limited. The availability of a mobile version of TISSx contributed to enhancing teachers’ engagement with the courses and their ability to complete coursework.
• Most courses are in English while others are in Hindi. At the end of each MOOC, successful participants are awarded a certificate of completion.
• The learning tasks involved reading documents, watching instructional videos, taking quizzes, completing individual projects, and giving feedback to peers’ assignments in the discussion forum.
• Continuous professional learner support and motivation was through online CoPs on Telegram, either subject- or district-based, supported by Field Resource Coordinators (FRCs). Teachers also received support from FRCs on school visits and by phone.
• Prior to starting their first MOOC, teachers were encouraged to attend face-to-face workshops conducted in training centers. Technologists were also available to answer queries related directly to technology use.

Evaluations revealed that there is considerable diversity in uptake among teachers across the four states, with the technology infrastructure being a limiting factor in the CLIx model’s further expansion. Other barriers include time constraints, the culture of reading, language, and slight gender biases in the subjects. However, the endline survey indicated that over 75% of CLIx teachers benefited from interactions in the Telegram-based CoP.

Introduction

TCTP is a civil society organization that offers TPD to primary and secondary school teachers through online and blended learning courses. It works with country partners who contextualize the TCTP model (program content, support, and platform) to meet local needs. This working model is based on five principles:

• Personalization and teacher agency
• Strengthening of peer work and professional learning communities (PLCs)
• Focus on classroom practice
• Professional development as an ongoing process
• Professionalization of teacher knowledge and competencies

Key features of the TCTP model

• The TCTP blended course design favors online courses of 30 hours composed of micro-courses of 2-4 hours of work. These are complemented by 8-24 hours of face-to-face sessions with a focus on educational practice and reflection.
• The quality and production standards for courses have a strong focus on educational practice to accompany teachers in the transition from information assimilation to pedagogical action and skills development.
• The core platform is designed to be accessed from any internet-enabled device. However, teachers still report some connectivity issues and a minority of mainly older teachers are unconfident ICT users.
• Tutors are a central part of the project design. They are assigned in a ratio of one tutor to 30 teachers. Tutors are peer teachers especially prepared for their role through a certified training program.
• The TCTP platform includes tools for the creation and publication of a wide range of course offerings that include rich multimedia and interactive material: quizzes, self-assessments, surveys, assignments, video assignments, forums, rubrics, and grading schemes.
• A personalized digital portfolio is provided for each teacher, allowing the recording of personal reflections, digital resources in any format, and options for sharing resources with other users both on and off the platform.
• Formative assessment is done through “micro practices” — exercises in the authentic context of the teacher’s classroom — which are documented in the teacher’s digital portfolio. Teachers receive feedback on these from tutors. Teachers also do co assessment exercises and self-assessments.

TCTP often works with ministries of education, which means that teachers access the TPD free-of-charge. In addition, there are often incentives for teachers to participate such as time allocation and points towards promotion.

TCTP courses have an average completion rate of 82%. According to the platform's satisfaction surveys, over 96% of participants are  satisfied or very satisfied with the programs, over 92% would recommend it, and over 95% would take a similar course again.

Introduction

In seeking to improve teacher quality in low-resource environments, UNESCO piloted the use of mobile technologies in national TPD systems in order to make TPD available to primary school teachers who had limited access to professional development.

The projects (in Nigeria, Mexico, Pakistan, and Senegal) sought to address the issue of low teaching quality characteristic in many low-income countries particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim was to demonstrate that the use of mobile phones for TPD was scalable and sustainable in very low-resource contexts.

The project in Nigeria aimed to develop the pedagogical practices of primary school English Language teachers to improve student outcomes in English language and literacy. On the other hand, the project in Pakistan aimed to improve the knowledge and pedagogical practices of female Early Childhood Education teachers working in rural areas.

Key features of the UNESCO Mobile Project model in Nigeria

• Participating teachers received training at the outset of the project, during which they were given Nokia mobile phones with pre-paid SIM cards and taught how to access and navigate the mobile learning service. Data costs were minimal and did not exceed USD 1 a month.
• The content was delivered through short daily messages of 50-100 words with an image sent to participants over a 52-week period. It was designed to cover content relating to the British Council’s 30-hour Certificate in Primary English Language Teaching course.
• The teachers were divided into five groups, each overseen by a Teacher Trainer who provided ongoing support. The groups met regularly to discuss implementation of the pedagogical advice and create a professional learning community (PLC).

Key features of the UNESCO Mobile Project model in Pakistan

• Participating teachers were given a free Nokia mobile phone and a SIM card with six months of credits for internet access, texting, and voice calls, which they used to interact with each other and ask questions. As in Nigeria, content was delivered through short daily messages.
• Teachers each received three days of training on how to use the mobile phones and access the TPD content.
• An Early Childhood Education professional development manual was developed for use on mobile phones with small screens based on existing learning materials for the National Curriculum for Early Childhood Education. This was accompanied by videos and a Facebook group for teachers to form online communities of practice (CoPs) and for communications between teachers, the project team, and stakeholders.

Participant feedback from the project in Nigeria was positive: it had reportedly improved their English language skills and substantially increased their use of ICT for teaching purposes. The feedback from participants of the project in Pakistan was also largely positive, with teachers reporting improved pedagogical and technical skills and changes in their teaching practice, including greater use of activity-based learning. Both projects reported the creation of CoPs; improved relationships with other teachers, parents, and pupils; and greater knowledge-sharing among colleagues. Student learning outcomes also improved but at a lower rate than expected.