Teacher training programs
OLE Nepal’s training team has been very busy with teacher training programs in different parts of Nepal. Our team conducted in-school training for 15 laptop program schools in Darchula, and 3 laptop program schools in Tandrang, Gorkha. In Kathmandu, our team was able to conduct refresher training for teachers of 9 schools with Raspberry Pi computers in the district of Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi and Rautahat. Meanwhile, we were also able to launch the laptop program in 4 new schools: (1)Shree Kalika Basic School in Dhading, in partnership with ICIMOD; and (2)Bagh Bhairav Basic School in Gorkha, (3)Sagun Primary School in Gorkha and (4)Chuna Devi Secondary School in Nagarkot, in partnership with Rotary Club of Silkeborg, Denmark and Rotary Club of Kathmandu.
Following are the details of the teacher training programs conducted by OLE Nepal’s training and technical teams in the first quarter of 2019.
1. Refresher Training for Raspberry Pi computer program schools – World Education Nepal
OLE Nepal’s team conducted refresher training for teachers and program staff of 9 e-learning program schools in Sarlahi, Rautahat, Mahottari and Dhanusha districts. The training program was organised in Kathmandu on January 21-25, 2019. The four-day refresher training program featured topics covered in the initial training, with special focus on interactive digital learning content – E-Paath, and digital library – E-Pustakalaya. The training also provided an opportunity to discuss issues and challenges that program staff and teachers may have faced while using Raspbian devices in the classroom. These discussions helped trainees perfect their skills in integrating technology and digital learning resources in the classroom.
All 9 program schools have fully functioning Raspberry Pi computer labs in their school. The same group of trainees were trained in the features, functions and operating system of the Raspberry Pi computers and its peripherals on September 2018.
The training program was jointly organised by World Education Nepal and their district level partners. World Education Nepal has local partners in each of the four districts to oversee the program at the school level.
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2. Dhading Initial Teacher Training and ECD Training – ICIMOD
OLE Nepal’s team conducted teacher training for five teachers of Shree Kalika Basic School, Kolachaur, Dhading on February 11-14, 2019. Open Learning Exchange (OLE) Nepal in partnership with the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) successfully launched E-Learning Program at Shree Kalika Basic School in Dhunibesi Municipality, Ward no. 4, Dhading. The school was selected after the joint survey visit from OLE Nepal, ICIMOD and Federation of Nepal Brick Industries (FNBI) Dhading.
Over 60% of students enrolled in the selected school are children of brick kiln workers in the area. The project was launched as a part of an Action Research Project on the productivity of Brick kiln workers by ICIMOD. Additionally, OLE Nepal’s training team also conducted Early Childhood Development Training in Dhading, for early grade teachers from the same school and daycare centers at brick kilns selected by FNBI. The training, which was held at the school, focused on preparing teachers on how to seamlessly integrate interactive digital learning materials in their classrooms.
Shree Kalika Basic School has been equipped with a total of 25 fully loaded laptops. The laptop program was launched in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Federation of Nepal Brick Industries (FNBI), as part of their Clean Brick Initiative’s Gender and Social Action Research.
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3. Laptop program launched in three new schools, supported by Rotary
OLE Nepal, in collaboration with Rotary club of Silkeborg, Denmark and Rotary Club of Kathmandu, has successfully launched the laptop program at Bagh Bhairav Basic School in Gorkha, Sagun Primary School in Gorkha and Chuna Devi Secondary School in Nagarkot. OLE’s training team conducted seven-day teacher training program at Bagh Bhairav Basic School, Gorkha, on February 13-19, 2019. Altogether, 18 teachers from all 3 schools participated in the intensive training program.
Ward Chairperson of Gorkha Municipality, Mr. Rahmatulla Miya, attended the opening session of the teacher training program and share his words of encouragement. The training program included presentations, discussions, hands-on activities, practice teaching, and lesson planning exercises to prepare teachers to successfully conduct laptop-integrated classes. During the training, teachers were shown ways to integrate our digital resources for the improvement of learning skills of students. Trainers focused on the content digital content and their direct relation with the curriculum.
On the final day of training, there was a brief closing ceremony. Teachers shared that they had learnt a lot regarding the integration of digital content and expressed their commitment to use these resources in their daily teaching learning process. At the closing event, Mr. Shyam Prasad Dhakal, a teacher from Chuna Devi Secondary School said, “We are sure that the interactive digital learning modules and resources available in digital library will be a great asset to improve the quality of teaching learning practices in our school.”
After the training, our technical team proceeded with laptop deployment. They visited all three schools to help set up the computer labs, and install the offline digital library servers. A total of 46 durable, child-friendly, fully-loaded laptops were deployed. With 10 laptops at Bagh Bhairav Basic School in Gorkha, 17 laptops at Sagun Primary School in Gorkha, and 19 laptops at Chuna Devi Secondary School in Nagarkot, students are now able to access over 7,000 books, videos and other interactive learning resources on OLE Nepal’s digital library – E-Pustakalaya.
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4. In-school Training for laptop program schools in Tandrang, Gorkha – CoTM
OLE Nepal’s team revisited laptop program schools in Tandrang, Gorkha for the in-school training program on February 20-22, 2019. The team visited Sanskrit Secondary School, Navjyoti Secondary School and Siddhakali Secondary School, to observe classes of all trained teachers to check effective integration of technology based teaching learning. Trainers observed the teachers’ laptop integrated classes and gave feedback on their performance.
Trainers reported that most of the teachers were successfully integrating laptops and digital lessons into their daily classes. Teachers also went over the basic troubleshooting techniques, while the technical trainers checked the status of laptops, library server, school network. In-school training also provides our teams an opportunity to deliver technical support depending upon the needs of the schools. Our team was also able to interact with the students, their parents and other community members.
After completing the classroom observations of the training, our trainers held community interaction meetings in all 3 schools to understand their involvement and get feedback on the program. Representatives from the School Management Committee (SMC), Parent Teacher Association (PTA), newly elected local representatives and parents attended the meetings where roles and responsibilities for the successful implementation of program were reiterated.
The laptop program at 3 schools in Tandrang, Gorkha was launched in partnership with Children of the Mountain.
