Technology for Teacher Professional Development in LMICs: Reflecting on evidence
Date: 8 June 2022
Time: 1:00pm GMT | 8:00am EST | 3pm EAT
Educational technology (EdTech) can play a powerful role in supporting teachers. Pre-service and in-service teacher education (collectively defined here as teacher professional development, or TPD) are pivotal in raising teaching quality and, therefore, learning outcomes for children and young people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, TPD opportunities in LMICs are often limited and unsustained, with mixed outcomes. Technology offers productive opportunities to provide tailored and flexible forms of formal and informal professional learning for diverse needs and contexts.
Event Breakdown
Date: 8 June 2022
Time: 1:00pm GMT | 8:00am EST | 3pm EAT
EdTech Hub invites you to a launch event which will spotlight two recent publications of the EdTech Hub’s TPD research team: a systematic literature review of evidence on tech-enabled TPD in LMICs, and a related policy brief.
The event will begin with a presentation by the research team of key messages and recommendations emerging for policymakers, TPD programme designers and implementers.
A panel of four diverse actors across the TPD ecosystem will then reflect in turn on these findings and recommendations in relation to their own professional experiences and work in LMICs.
The final part of the session will be Q&A with the speakers and panellists.
SPEAKERS:
Dr. Michael Joe Allie
Dr. Michael Joe Allie is currently director of Teacher Development and Performance Department at the Sierra Leone Teaching Service Commission. He has over twenty years of teaching and programme implementation experience in Sierra Leone, Canada and Taiwan, including teacher training programmes. His vision for teacher development in Sierra Leone includes enhancement of digital capabilities of the teaching force, promoting distance education/remote learning in teacher professional development, and improving the working conditions of school teachers in the country.
Jaweria Sethi
Jaweria Sethi is an alternate education entrepreneur, born and raised in Pakistan. She advocates for the agency of children in learning environments and is the founder of Edopia which is a democratic learning community. She has recently graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Post-graduation she plans on launching an online platform where students take charge of learning by choosing from a range of live learning experiences.
Sara Hennessy is Professor of Teacher Development and Pedagogical Innovation in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. She is a Research Director of the EdTech Hub, investigating the potential for using educational technology to raise outcomes for marginalised learners in low-and middle-income countries. She leads the Hub’s research on teacher professional development in Tanzania. She has been researching EdTech use in classrooms for over three decades
Lydia is a doctoral candidate in education at the University of Cambridge, a visiting scholar at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a member of EdTech Hub’s research team. In her doctoral research, she worked with teachers in Pakistan to co-design a teacher professional development program incorporating mixed-reality simulation to foster dialogic teaching practice and the situational-specific skill to contingently respond to student ideas.
Dr Sophia D’Angelo is an independent education consultant working for the EdTech Hub, World Bank, and various other think tanks and multilateral organisations. As a former teacher and teacher trainer, her work focuses on the intersection of pedagogy, equity and inclusion. She is currently based in the Dominican Republic, and supporting research and operations in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Saalim Koomar is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in teaching and organisational development. He holds an MSc in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London and has conducted research and education programming in Southern Africa. His development interests lie in: aid, education, political economy analysis, and social justice. He has previously worked in the UK as a secondary and primary school teacher and is fluent in French. His current role within EdTech Hub focuses on teacher professional development — approaching this topic through research and by engaging directly with country governments, aiming to enhance the evidence base to inform decision-making.
Gervace Anthony
Gervace Anthony is a college tutor preparing teachers for teaching in secondary schools and for primary schools. He also engages in various teacher professional development programs prepared by different stakeholders in different parts of Tanzania. He has been engaged in this role since 2015 after completing of Master’s degree in Education at Aga Khan University (AKU). Since he is an alumni of the Aga Khan University, he is being used to conduct professional development programs across the county as a PDT.
Adam Kreimeia is an ODI EdTech Fellow at the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education in Sierra Leone. He currently works on various technology-supported initiatives promoting continuous teacher professional development including using tablets, radio, and through digital learning platforms. In his previous role at EdTech Hub, he co-authored country reviews, an equity position paper, and the systematic review on the use of technology and teacher professional development in LMICs.
Tom Power
Tom Power is Senior Lecturer in Education at the Open University. He has pioneered practice-based, technology-enhanced, open-learning for teachers in the UK and the global south, for over twenty years. As Principal Investigator for at-scale EdTech research in Bangladesh, he is leading EdTech Hub-funded research into Mobile learning for the empowerment of Marginalised Mathematics Educators (3MPower). Deputy Associate Dean for Knowledge Exchange, Tom’s work has informed and influenced international education policy in the UK, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe.
Winifrida Jacob Mrope
Winifrida Jacob Mrope is a college tutor. She teaches at Nachingwea Teachers College, found in the southern part of Tanzania.
Wini has been teaching student teachers for nine years now, since 2013. She has been preparing teachers in the areas of academic subjects and teaching methodologies.
In 2018, Wini upgraded her education by undergoing an MED in Early Childhood Care and Education at Aga Khan University. Following this, she became a Professional Development Tutor at Aga Khan University.
