Written by: Amy Lightfoot, Director Insight and Innovation, English Programmes
Over the last decade and a half and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, our English Programmes team have been developing and improving our online professional development offer for teachers of English around the world. Since 2020, we have worked closely with our Learning Management System provider – eCom Learning Solutions, based in Scotland – to refine and improve the functionality of our courses and ensure the best learning experience possible for the teachers we work with.
We are acutely aware of the digital divide that incorporating online courses into a professional development programme presents for some teachers, many of whom have limited access to the necessary hardware or bandwidth. We’re conscious that many of the teachers who participate in our courses do so from their mobile phones and so have taken a ‘mobile first’ approach to the development of our content. Even so, teachers participating in our projects in Rwanda and Nigeria, among other countries, have reported struggling with additional issues including poor Internet network, inadequate electrical supply and a lack of remuneration to buy the amount of data needed to sustain an online course.
To try to address some of these challenges for teachers in Rwanda, we worked closely with eCom to trial the distribution of tablets and pre-paid SIM cards. This involved real time, face to face orientation sessions in designated centres to ensure teachers were comfortable with using the devices, along with offering ongoing support wherever it was needed. Over 5,000 teachers took courses on these tablets, focused on improving their English skills and understanding how gender issues could be better addressed in their classrooms. Navigating the access issues and careful support via our moderator network resulted in a 75 per cent completion rate with an average of 94 per cent scored on the final assessments. In addition, 77 per cent of the teachers reported not only improved confidence in their English skills, but also in their ability to use technology in general.
‘The main strength of this course is its flexibility, imagine bringing education right to your home, it is very interesting. Having access to resources you can learn from anywhere, anytime, at any place.’ – A participating teacher
Meanwhile in Nigeria, we recognised similar needs and concluded that in this context, a more appropriate – and environmentally friendly – solution was to make use of teachers’ existing mobile phones rather than distribute tablets. Working with 500 teacher educators, we trialled an offline version of the LMS to reduce data costs and bandwidth requirements. The bespoke course (focused on the development of English and classroom teaching skills) was adapted for the resulting offline app, with teachers completing 60 hours of study. Participants were also supported by a British Council-led WhatsApp group.
Interestingly, despite the concern over bad internet network, 70 per cent of the participants were able to navigate the programme with internet access via web browser, while 30 per cent used the mobile app. This shows not only that exploring the offline solution made the programme more inclusive and increased engagement across the cohort, but also that assumptions about access need to be regularly revisited.
The British Council and eCom continue to work together to remove the very real barriers of using mobile devices cost, data, low literacy and digital literacy challenges. We were pleased to be recognised for our success with these innovations recently, winning Bronze in the ‘Best use of mobile learning’ category at the Learning Technology Awards.
‘We are proud to have empowered our client, the British Council by creating opportunities for learning and certification through innovative technology. We have blended our strong emotional intelligence with educational expertise to remove educational barriers for the British Council and the journey their global participants on.’ – eCom Learning Solutions