SENIOR ICT SUPPORT TO DISTANCE LEARNING

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 UK Department of International Development (DFID) contribution to Lebanon’s education sector includes the provision of a technical assistance team to MEHE and a separate team to CERD. 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 education sector objectives while building the capacity, systems and processes which underpin a medium-term sector development strategy.

LEVEL OF EFFORT
1. Objectives and deliverables

BACKGROUND:

As per HE Minister Majzoub’s request, MEHE and CERD are launching a programme of national distance learning for the whole educational sector in Lebanon. This is in direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Lebanon which has enforced the temporary closure of all schools across the country.

The role of the ICT Department is to design, develop, and execute the project across the educational sector, from a technology perspective. In addition to that, the ICT Department must ensure a continuous support and situational adjustments based on the needs of the sector and enhancing deliver through better use of technology.

This project touches upon more than:
1,110,000 K12 students, 111,000 K12 teachers, 95,000 vocational students, 28,000 vocational instructors, 155,000 university students, and 16,000 university instructors.

HUMAN RESOURCES REQUIRED AND RATIONALE:

The nature of the project requires a Senior ICT in Education Consultant. This will be a consultant with an ICT background who is able to address the current delivery landscape from an education perspective.

WORKING RELATIONSHIP AND STATION:
The consultant will work from MEHE and report to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), under the oversight of the OPM TA Team Leader. All outputs delivered by the consultant will be delivered through the ICT department.
The consultant will develop capacity within the ICT department, including of the SIMS Team Leader, the Infrastructure and systems manager, the Project Coordinator, the System Administrator and the CIO himself. The role will also transfer skills to counterparts in the primary, secondary, DOPS and private directorates who will be key contributors in the co-development of suitable delivery channels for distance learning.
The specific tasks under this role include:

• Strategic Goals & Objectives:
o Review goals and objectives set by MEHE ICT department in coordination with the higher management of MEHE.
o Coordinate ICT department teams to monitor the execution of the Distance Learning Project from a technology point of view, likely in terms of system users per unit time, unique users, clicked links followed etc.
o Identify specific areas of weakness in implementation of the technology, liaise with distance learning education-specific stakeholders and improve programme roll out
o Assess and improve existing incident management, problem management and change management processes, especially on the MS Teams platform.
o Make recommendations for where distance learning platforms can integrate data from SIMS and vice versa.
o Lead periodic review of the MEHE ICT Plan for Distance Learning and update using knowledge of education technology and best practice in distance learning
o Provide highly specific examples of best practices to MEHE IT team in developing IT policies and procedures related to the Distance Learning Platform.
o Set out the capacity development components of the Distance Learning programme, including minimum as well as desired levels of knowledge and skills for DOPS counsellors, school principals, school administrators and teachers.
• Project Support Structure:
o Coordinate project resource (the right people, for sufficient time, with the right tools and external support) is allocated appropriately to optimize execution of the project.
o Review the efficiency and effectiveness of the distance learning delivery structures periodically in order to adjust accordingly.
o Assess ongoing and novel risks to the delivery of distance learning lead on suitable mitigation strategies and proactive contingency planning
o Propose and mobilise virtual support environments (teams, chatbots, etc.) to decrease the load on MEHE’s central team.
o Design and set-up a call center function for speedy reporting of problems from end-users
o Improve the programme in line with feedback from end users on a use-of-technology perspective and work with education-specific stakeholders to improve quality delivery.
o Develop a frequently asked questions handbook for publication online to deal with common queries from the public.
o Liaise with MEHE officials on the various specific needs of different groups of learners, including for example those with special educational needs, those in second shift settings and those who need access to school for non-educational reasons (like counselling).
• Capacity Transfer
o Within 2 weeks of starting the role, the consultant will outline a plan to build capacity of counterparts within the ICT department to deliver distance learning for the duration and be prepared for a transition back to conventional learning models with enhanced ICT capacity and utilisation.
o Consultant will carry out that capacity transfer plan, in coordination with CIO and the OPM TA Team Leader

DELIVERABLES AND TIME FRAME:

Phase 1:
1.1 Outline a plan to build capacity of counterparts within the ICT department to deliver distance learning
1.2 Review goals and objectives set by MEHE ICT department in coordination with the higher management of MEHE.
1.3 Coordinate teams to monitor the execution of the Distance Learning programme from a technology point of view
1.4 Coordinate project resource (the right people, for sufficient time, with the right tools and external support) is allocated appropriately to optimize execution of the project.
1.5 Assess and improve existing incident management, problem management and change management processes.
1.6 Make recommendations for where distance learning platforms can integrate data from SIMS and vice versa
No. of Days: 32 (4 days / week for 8 weeks)
Phase 2:
2.1 Implement capacity development plan of colleagues within the ICT Department.
2.2 Lead periodic review of the MEHE ICT Plan for Distance Learning and update using knowledge of best practice in education technology
2.3 Review the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme to ensure optimal mobilisation of resources
2.4 Develop the capacity development components of the Distance Learning programme, including minimum and desired levels of knowledge and skills of stakeholders
2.5 Propose and mobilise virtual support environments (teams, chatbots, etc.) to decrease the load on MEHE’s central team.
2.6 Design and set-up a call center function for speedy reporting of problems from end-users
2.7 Improve the programme in line with feedback from end users on a use-of-technology perspective and work with education-specific stakeholders to improve quality delivery.
2.8 Develop a frequently asked questions handbook for publication online to deal with common queries from the public.
No. of Days: 32 (4 days / week for 8 weeks)
TOTAL Time: 64 days.

• Deliver biweekly status report on the state of the Distance Learning Project at MEHE.
• Biweekly update project risks register, proposed mitigations and contingency planning

2. PROFILE AND SKILLS

• Bachelor degree in technology or equivalent.
• Master’s degree is an advantage
• Minimum of 10 years’ cumulative experience in the Lebanese educational system.
• Minimum of 5 years experience in education management.
• Minimum of 3 years experience in training and consultancy in the educational technology field (both K-12 and higher education)
• Minimum of 7 years of teaching experience using ICT in education technologies
• Understanding of existing capacity for educational technology
• Experience with a wide range of educational technologies.
• Experience working with technology to collect and analyze large datasets, run appropriate monitoring reports and present evidence in a visual and accessible format
• Excellent communication, inter-personal, and managerial skills
• Fluency in Arabic and English.