此為英文文檔-Rapid teacher training on open,distance and online learning in Zimbabwe,achievements from 2020–2022

Rapidteachertrainingonopen,distanceandonlinelearninginZimbabwe

Achievementsfrom2020–2022

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UNESCORegionalOfficeforSouthernAfrica

EducationSector

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POBoxHG435,Highlands,Harare,Zimbabwe

+263(0)242776775

/new/en/harare

?UNESCO,2022

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Rapidteachertrainingonopen,distanceandonlinelearninginZimbabwe

Intheyear2020,followingtheonsetoftheCOVID-19pandemic,schoolswereabruptlyclosedforthefirsttimeinpost-independenceZimbabwe,disruptingtheschoolcalendar.Theclosureofschoolsformorethana

yearseriouslyimpactedschooloutcomesandreversedsignificantpost-independencegainsinareassuchasliteracyandnumeracy,school

infrastructureandschoolattendance,amongothers.

Mostpublicschoolsdidnothavethecapacitytoofferdistanceoronlinelearninggiventhatteacherswereneither

equippednortrained,andschoolslackedthenecessaryinfrastructureandresources.Asaresult,learningdidnottakeplaceinpublicschools.

Inresponsetothiscrisis,UNESCO,workingwiththeMinistryofPrimaryandSecondaryEducation(MoPSE),developedateacherprofessionaldevelopmentprogrammetoequipteacherswiththeskillstosupportthecontinuationofteachingandlearningduringthepandemic.Theprogramme,entitledtheRapidTeacherTrainingProgrammeforOpen,Distance

andOnlineLearning,wasrolledoutusinglow-costtoolssuchasWhatsApp.

MODULE1:Introductiontoopen,distanceand

onlinelearningfor

teachersinAfrica

Thismoduleprovidesaquickintroductionto

computersystems,coveringICThardwareand

basicmaintenanceandtroubleshootingissues.Itthenmovesontocomputerapplicationssuchastheinternetandhowtousecommunicationandcollaborativeplatformssuchasemailandsocialmedia.Next,thefocusisonteachingvialow-techtoolssuchasWhatsApp,providingactivitiesonhowtodesignandconductlessonsinunder-

resourcedsettingswiththislow-costapplication.Afterthat,thehigh-techapplicationsMoodle

andGoogleClassroomarepresentedaseffectivelearningmanagementsystems.

RapidTeacherTrainingProgrammeforOpen,DistanceandOnlineLearning

Overviewoftheprogramme

TheRapidTeacherTrainingProgrammeforOpen,DistanceandOnlineLearningintroducesin-serviceteacherstothe

conceptofopen,distanceandonlinelearning.TheoverallaimofthetrainingistoequipteacherswiththenecessaryknowledgeandskillstorapidlyselectremotelearningoptionstomitigatethenegativeeffectsofCOVID-19and

addressproblemsinaccesstoeducation.Thecourseempowersteacherswiththeskillstousehigh-,low-andeven

no-techtoolstomakemultiplepathwaysforlearningavailabletolearnerswherevertheyareandatflexibletimes.Thecoursecoversadiverserangeofthematicareas,includingbasicdigitalconceptsininformationandcommunicationstechnology(ICT),remotelearningmethods,teachingthroughradio,developmentofopeneducationresources(OER),andthepedagogicaluseofICTsforteachingandlearning.Thecoursealsodevelopstherequiredknowledgeandskillsfordesigningonlinelearningcontentandselectingandimplementingappropriateremotelearningsolutions.

MODULE2a:Planninglessonsanddevelopingcontentforremote

learning

Thefirstpartofthismoduleintroducesteacherstotheconceptofdigitalliteracy,illustratingdifferentdefinitionsandtheoriesandhighlightingthe

coreelementsthatconstitutedigitalliteracy.Themodulethenmovesontointroduceteachers

totheconcepts,approachesandmethodsof

instructionaldesign.Thenextpartfocuseson

activitiestoequipteacherstodevelopappropriateinterventionsfortheirowncontexts,planning

theirlessonsanddevelopinglessoncontent.

Themoduleexploreseffectivestrategiesonhowteacherscansuccessfullyplanlessonsanddevelopengagingandinteractivecontentforremote

learning.Theseincludestrategiesforenhancinglearnerengagementandinteractivity,andfor

creatingopportunitiesandplatformsforfeedbackandassessment.Inaddition,themoduleinformsteachersonpracticalstepsfordesigninganonlinelessonandcreatingteachingcontentusinglow-techtoolssuchasWhatsApp.

MODULE2b:Developinglearningmaterialsusingopeneducationalresources(OER)

Thismoduleisaimedatteachersastheendusers,supportingthemtofindexistingOERanddeveloptheirownopensourceteachingmaterialsalignedtotheMoPSEcurriculum.

MODULE3:Distancelearningthroughradio

Thismodulelooksatradiolessonsasanimportanttoolfordistancelearning.Itfocusesonwritingeffectivescriptsforradiolessonsandprovidesstrategiesforattractingremotelearners’interestandengagementwithsoundeffectsandtheeffectiveuseofthevoice,andforgeneratinglearnerparticipationandinteractivity.Themodulegoeson

toexplorehowradiolessonscanpromotecore21stcenturyskillssuchascreativity,criticalthinkingandproblemsolving,amongothers.Importantly,thismodulealsoshowshowradiolessonscanbeusedintheschoolcontexttoencouragegenderinclusivityandraiseawarenessaboutdisasterriskmanagement.

Howwasthetrainingconducted?

Onlyaround31%ofprimaryandsecondaryschoolsinZimbabwehaveinternetaccessand,ofthecountry’s6,611

unconnectedschools,75%areprimaryschools.Moreover,Zimbabweisfacinganacuteenergycrisis.Theoverall

electrificationratewasreportedlyaslowas41%in2018,withahugedisparityinruralandurbanaccesstoenergyasseeninelectrificationratesof20%and85.3%,respectively.*

Undertheseconditions,WhatsAppprovedtobethemostcost-effectiveandeasy-to-useplatform.WhatsAppisan

applicationwhichallowssmartphoneuserstomakecallsandexchangetextsandaudioandvideomessagesforfree,althoughitdoesrequiredatatodoso.SincemostteachersinthecountryareabletoaccessWhatsApp,itoffered

thoseinpoornetworkareasanopportunitytoparticipateandbenefitfromthetraining.Theteachertrainerswere

abletousetheapptocommunicatecoursecontent,discussiontopics,assignmentinstructionsandtutorialupdatesandsubmissiondeadlines,aswellasasynchronousandevaluationactivitiesandgeneralupdatesontheprogramme.

WithWhatsApp,teacherscancommunicateinone-on-onetextexchangestoaddressindividualstudents’

expectationsandspecialneeds.InadditiontoWhatsApp,othertrainingactivities,includingpre-andpost-lesson,researchandassessmentactivities,wereconductedasynchronouslyusingothertrainingplatforms.

*WorldBankData–CountryProfile(Zimbabwe)

Howwasthetrainingperceived?

TeacherswereexcitedaboutthetimelydistancelearningtraininggiventhecontextofschoolclosuresduringtheCOVID-19pandemic.Someteachersalreadyknewaboutonlineanddistancelearningbutdidnotnecessarilyviewitinapositivelight.Formostteachers,however,discoveringthe

abundanceofuser-friendlytoolsforteachingandlearningonlinewasarevelation,with“onlineteaching”quicklybecomingabuzzword.Whileenthusiasmtoparticipateintheprogrammewasevidentacrosseveryprovince,theavailabilityofthecourseinruralandmarginalisedschoolswasparticularlywelcome,especiallyinthemostdisadvantagedcommunities.

“Learningabouttheconceptofflexiblelearningchangedournegativethoughtsaboutdistancelearning

–Teacher

Besidesbeingexcitedaboutparticipatingonthecourse,teacherswereeagerto

implementtheonlineteachingmodelsintheirschools,withmanysharingtheir

experienceswithotherteachersintheirdistrictsandevenrequestingpermissionto

trainthemaspartoflocalknowledge-sharingandteacherprofessionaldevelopmentinterventions.“Knowledgeispower”,saidoneteacher,inreferencetotheimpactofonlinetrainingin

transformingcommunities.Distancelearningrapidlygainedcurrency,triggeringonlineprofessionaldevelopmentworkshopsatschoolanddistrictlevel.Itwasencouragingtoseetheconfidenceofthenewlytrainedteachersin

developingtheircolleaguesthroughcoachingandmentoringatschoollevelfortheeffectiveimplementationofonlineteachingandlearninginitiatives.Thiswasapowerfuldemonstrationofhowonlinetrainingbuildsbridgesofknowledgeandcreatesthecapacityamongteacherstomakeadifferenceusingwhateverresourcestheyhave.

“IamnowbetterequippedtorespondtotheneedsofmylearnersduringandbeyondtheCOVID-19pandemic

–Teacher

Teachingonlinewasimmediatelyscaleduptotheimplementationstage,and

teachersbegantouselow-andhigh-techonlinetoolstomakingadifferenceintheircommunities.ThetrainingcoordinatorsknewtheyhadsucceededwhenparticipantsbegantotranslatewhattheyhadlearntintotheirclassroomcontextstomitigatethenegativeimpactofCOVID-19onlearning,inviting

coursetrainerstowitnessthistransformationthemselves.

“Thecoursehasempoweredmyonlineskills

–Teacher

40%

60%

37%

63%

10%

12%

7%

14%

7%

11%

13%

9%

9%8%

Relevanceoftraining

beyondCOVID-19

Withlearningmethodschanging

swiftlyandshiftingtodistance

andonlinelearningacross

theglobe,theUNESCORapid

TeacherTrainingProgramme

willundoubtedlyleavean

indelibleimprint,evenbeyond

theCOVID-19pandemic.

Theconceptoftheonlineclassroomisgainingtractionas

understandinggrowsthatlearningcantakeplaceanywhere

oreverywhereinourtechnology-oriented21st-centuryworld.

Overallgenderparticipation

Male

Female

Knowledgeisnolongerconfinedtodeliverybyexperts–it