Refresher Teacher Training in Darchula

December 2019 | Darchula

Refresher training for the teachers of 15 program schools in Darchula was conducted on December 1-4, 2019 at Marma for 8 schools (Marma cluster), and on December 6-9, 2019 at Khalanga for 7 schools (Mallikarjun-Naugad-Sailey and Duhu cluster). Our team facilitated the training for 63 teachers of laptop program schools in Darchula. Among the participants, we had 16 new teachers who joined the schools after the program was launched in August 2018. The refresher training is the third and final training of a three-stage training program. The training is designed for teachers to deal with issues and challenges encountered while integrating digital resources in their daily classroom.

During the training, the teachers revisited the key concepts and skills discussed in initial and in-school training. The focus was mainly on the pedagogical and technical aspect of the program. On pedagogical part, the focus was on effective integration of digital resources available in the schools, while technical aspect covered basic troubleshooting shooting techniques such as updating laptops, operation of intranet and school server. The training also provided a platform for teachers to discuss their best practices and challenges encountered while implementing the laptop program at the schools. All the schools/teachers were asked to list out the challenges encountered over the last year of teaching students using laptops. Each challenge was discussed and collectively resolved by trainers and teachers during the session.

The teachers also shared various positive changes that the program has brought on the students, teachers, and community level. One of the important changes that the program has brought on students was the increment of students’ annual learning outcome. There was 4-14 percent of annual increment in learning achievement of each school. Besides, the program also encourages the regular attendance of students in the class. The teachers also shared that they are largely benefiting from the resources available in the digital library.

As part of our existing partnership with WFP, OLE Nepal initiated the digital EGR project to help improve early grade reading through digital learning activities. The digital EGR content are designed to complement the existing EGR resources. An additional session was added to the training program where teachers were introduced to digital Early Grade Reading (EGR) content. The trainers briefed the teachers on the method of instruction which allows young learners to explore and learn at their own pace, as well as the re-installation process of digital EGR content laptops. The EGR content has been well received by the teachers who shared that the animated stories with the audio and games will be a helpful tool to promote reading and comprehension skills of their students.

The successful completion of refresher training concludes the three-stage teacher training program in 15 laptop program schools in Darchula.