E-Paath development
OLE Nepal signed an MoU with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) to provide our entire collection of interactive digital content to be uploaded to the Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD) learning portal, as the schools were closed for much of the academic year in 2020. With the schools shut down, there has been an increase in demand for our digital resources which is why we are expanding our collection of curriculum-based interactive learning content for Grades 1-3. OLE Nepal is designing and developing a new set of digital learning resources for the CEHRD learning portal in close coordination with RTI International’s Early Grade Reading Program (EGRP) as part of their education emergency response.
This project is titled ‘Digital early grade learning content development for COVID-19 response’ with the aim to minimize the effects of school shutdown by making quality educational content available to students to continue learning at home, wherever possible. Under this project, OLE Nepal will design and develop a total of 119 new interactive digital content for primary grades 1-3 for Nepali, Math, English, and Our Surrounding (integrated science and social studies) subjects. Additionally, Math and Our Surrounding will be developed in both Nepali and English languages. OLE Nepal will also be developing interactive digital learning content for Nepali Sign Language (NSL) as a subject, and another set of content for students facing the learning difficulty we know of as dyslexia. When the project is complete, grade 1-3 students will have access to 119 new interactive digital lessons that allow for a self-paced learning experience.
We were still in lockdown when the project was launched that our very collaborative content conceptualization and design process was all done remotely, and our team thrived even under the unusual circumstances. Our team of curriculum experts, content designers, graphic designers and illustrators, software developers and translators worked together to create interactive digital educational activities that will complement existing content on the CEHRD’s online learning platform. From conceptualization to design and development, the team has been playing close attention to ensure that the activities meet the learning objectives, and at the same time are fun and engaging for young learners.
Developing targeted digital content for Nepali Sign Language (NSL) subject and Nepali subject for children with dyslexia is a new intervention for us, and there are no guidelines for it in the education sector of Nepal. Selection of topics and content outlines for the relevant subject matter are the result of extensive consultations and advice from experts. These contents will focus on making learning simple for the students and help them learn concepts ranging from Nepali alphabets (vowels and consonants), numbers, colors, to actions using phonics, and reinforce their understanding by relating them to images of words that they are familiar with. The content layout will be similar to E-Paath with ‘lesson/पाठ’ and ‘exercise/अभ्यास’ sections to ensure uniformity in the learning process.
The main purpose of this project is to provide continued support in developing more contents to enhance the learning of children of Nepal, at least to those who can get access to the internet or can manage to get E-Paath offline.
This ‘Digital Early Grade Learning Content Development for COVID-19 Response’ project is part of the Early Grade Reading Program II (EGRP II) which is made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented by RTI, to assist the MoEST’s education initiatives to improve reading skills of public primary school students in grades one to three.