Making HEADway in Mobile Training of Educators

Delivering relevant and practical information through IVR and SMS to empower school leaders and administrators to engage change.

Making HEADway was developed by The HEAD Foundation to help educators navigate the challenges of education during and after  the COVID-19 pandemic. In each  series, innovative educators from Southeast Asia share best practices, implementation plans and actionable tips that our audience can adapt and implement in their schools. The knowledge shared is real-world solutions  created by fellow educators, and focus on improving schooling practices to advance learning outcomes during the pandemic. These learnings are further captured in accompanying handbooks, currently available in Bahasa Indonesian, English, Malay and Vietnamese. In short, the programme is by educators, for educators, and serves as a space for educators across Southeast Asia to be inspired by and learn from each other.

To ensure that educators in under-resourced communities are not left behind, The HEAD Foundation is partnering with Viamo to reach those with limited internet access or digital literacy. Using Viamo’s Interactive Voice Response and SMS text messaging model, the solution targets users of low-fidelity phones or 2G connection. 

We will first implement the solution in the Philippines, and progressively translate and localise the content, and implement the solution in other parts of Southeast Asia.

The World Bank (n.d.) reported that better management in schools has been associated with better student learning outcomes. Improving the practices of key decision makers can create a ripple effect to impact teachers and schooling practices, ultimately improving the learning experience and outcomes of students. 

The Philippines is one of the few countries that has not at least partially reopened schools for the most part of the pandemic (UNICEF, 2021; World Bank, 2021). Nearly 28 million students and over a million teachers have been affected since schools closed in 2020. 

However, school systems, infrastructure, principals, teachers, students and parents were not ready for a fully-remote education. Educators were unprepared to educate remotely at scale, and were struggling to organise and teach effectively.

The digital infrastructure of the country is also insufficient to support the professional development of educators. Mobile broadband penetration stands at 69%, while fixed broadband penetration is only 3.2% (OECD, 2019). COVID-19 has also exposed the wide digital divide in the Philippines, and professional development programmes should include a mixture of online and offline resources to ensure that those with less resources are not excluded. 

Though The HEAD Foundation’s webinars were reaching more than a thousand educators each series, and digital and printed handbooks were distributed to Faculties of Education, Education District Offices and schools across Southeast Asia, there is an untapped potential in reaching and supporting educators in the Philippines via mobile phones. Currently, there are a total of 152.4 million mobile phone connections in the country, equivalent to 138.2 percent of the total population. Mobile phone penetration is much higher than those of traditional communication channels, like radio and television. Therefore, the potential to send out information to people via mobile phones is very high.

Our solution is designed to serve school leaders, head teachers and administrators who do not have access to the Internet, or are unfamiliar with digital learning. The cost of Internet (PPP) in the Philippines is relatively high and educators still face barriers in terms of access to use digital technologies.

Remote learning is an entirely new modality that educators have been forced to adapt to, and many are  unsure about what to do. Our solution aims to share ground-up initiatives by other educators and schools to show what can be done in low- and middle-resource settings. 

In developing the content, The HEAD Foundation works closely with moderators and panellists -- all educators on the ground -- to identify pressing issues and innovative case studies and best practices to share with fellow educators. The content contributed by these innovators focus on solving real problems, improving schools’ remote learning environments, all in similar resource settings as the audience. The team also analyses questions asked during Q&A, as well as responses from feedback surveys, to determine the theme and topics for future series. 

Viamo's technical solutions are built on its Human Centered Design (HCD) approach. This approach is rooted in the belief that the people who experience a challenge are in the best position to solve it. This HCD approach is process-driven. Consultation with users is undertaken to understand their needs and environments, deepening understanding of factors such as gender, literacy, smartphone penetration, connectivity, language, and more. 

Our solution aligns with the Challenge as it aims to improve learning outcomes for underserved learners in the Philippines by improving the provision of remote education by improving the professional practices -- leadership, administration for now, and pedagogy in the future -- of educators. COVID-19 has forcefully and abruptly shifted face-to-face schooling to remote lessons. Educators were unprepared to educate remotely at scale, and lacked the skills to organise and teach effectively. Our solution aims to provide relevant and practical examples, information, strategies and tips for educators to serve as reference for them to create their own plans and solutions for their schools to improve the learning experience and outcomes of underserved learners.

Using commonly-used technologies such as Interactive Voice Response and SMS text messaging ensures that our solution is accessible and has lower barriers of entry. Pushing bite-sized information for recipients to access at their own convenience also serves educators who do not have the capacity to take time off to attend training or webinars. 

Looking beyond the pandemic, our solution will continue to work for educators living in more remote or less-resourced areas of Southeast Asia, who may have fewer in-person or online professional development opportunities. The solution has the potential to support the professional development of the “bottom of the pyramid” in Southeast Asia, ultimately benefiting the students they serve. 

Jasmine Ng is Manager, Education Projects at The HEAD Foundation and manages Making HEADway.

Many instructions and guides on remote learning are top-down; our Making HEADway programme is community-sourced. The  content is created by fellow educators and focuses on solving real problems to advance learning outcomes during the pandemic. Making HEADway is an empowering programme that (1) showcases the resourcefulness, ingenuity and the exemplary work of  educators on the ground, and (2) shows the audience what they can do with limited resources, and inspires them to enact change in their own communities. The accompanying handbooks also contain “try it out” questions in every chapter, to prompt readers to apply what they have learnt and think about how they can improve their schools and communities, rather than solely absorbing information. 

The HEAD Foundation is expanding the programme through this proposed solution, using Viamo’s IVR Remote Training service which cuts across distance, language and literacy barriers. Each session lasts no more than 5 minutes and consists of an information-rich narrative in various formats that allows quick uptake of essential information without overwhelming participants. The Remote Training is easily scalable at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional face-to-face (F2F) or even online virtual training, as IVR calls can be deployed at a large scale simultaneously, while ensuring compliance to safety measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The solution will also include a train-the-trainer element where selected champions attend online workshops to develop skills to onboard and activate members of communities of practice, recruit users and build local ownership. 

Viamo’s remote training solution has been rigorously tested and constantly undergoes continuous improvement. Since 2018, it has been implemented in 27 countries, benefitting a total of 292,464 trainees, which includes 45,932 teachers and school administrators. Recently, Viamo ran remote training programs for UNICEF in Indonesia that targeted over 7,000 community healthcare workers and volunteers. 

In a similar programme delivered for educators, the average completion rate was 83%, and an average of 86% of respondents answered the quiz questions correctly. In another similar programme, the average completion rate was 85%, with 86% of head teachers reported feeling more prepared to support teachers after the mobile training.

In 2021, 67% of the world’s population own a mobile device, with many more having access to one (GSMA, 2021).  Viamo’s product is accessible to the entirety of this population, predominantly leveraging SMS and Voice technologies to create impact. These technologies are available to the greatest number of people, and are an everyday part of their lives.

Interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated phone call system that presents a set of menu options using pre-recorded messages to engage callers, allowing them to access information without a live trainer. IVR is cost-effective, reduces wait times, and allows callers to access information during non-working hours, at their own convenience (IBM, n.d.) Numerous studies have also shown that disseminating training through SMS text messages has also shown to be an effective method for training and teaching, with several organisations and universities adopting this method with success. 

In the ICT4Development Sector, there is a complex ecosystem of  highly specialised products of various levels of maturity. To succeed, these different technologies need to be able to communicate with one another to send and receive information - it is only through this interoperability that truly impactful multi-stakeholder projects can succeed. Viamo understands the importance of being able to connect other solutions, and has built a series of easy-to-use APIs to service this need. Viamo supports several open APIs that partners can use to connect data from Viamo voice/SMS sessions to external systems like this one.

Activities: 

1. Mobile training course: The solution team contextualise and optimise existing handbook content for mobile training, converting materials into dialogues, broadcasts and other formats. Participants (school leaders, head teachers and administrators) attend these mobile courses by reading SMS text messages sent to them, or by taking a call. To encourage information retention, participants answer quizzes and can revisit materials by calling a hotline. 

2. Local champions: Selected champions and changemakers attend online workshop(s) to develop their skills in recruiting, mobilising and engaging members. 

Outputs:

1. School leaders, head teachers and administrators receive and internalise information to help them improve their leadership and/or management skills.

2. Champions / changemakers develop their capacity to recruit, mobilise and engage users, and start communities of practice. 

3. School leaders, head teachers and administrators and champions / changemakers receive and internalise information that inspires them to enact change in their schools and community.

4. School leaders, head teachers and administrators see an increase in motivation levels to develop and implement initiatives to transform their schools.

5. Through guided exercises, school leaders, head teachers and administrators apply and contextualise what they have learnt, creating plans to benefit their school communities

Short-term outcomes:

1. School leaders, head teachers and administrators develop and implement their plans based on the exercises in the mobile course.

2. Champions / changemakers grow their communities, in terms of number and engagement. 

3. School leaders, head teachers and administrators and champions / change makers demonstrate a shift in values and mindset, engaging in more transformative and innovative projects. 

Long-term outcomes:

1. School leaders, head teachers and administrators implement their projects that positively change school culture, remote learning practices, staff management, increasing teacher morale and capabilities.

2. Teachers see an increase in confidence and ability to teach remotely, or use technology in the classroom. 

3. Students see improvements in learning experience and learning outcomes. 

4. Champions / changemakers take local ownership of the courses and communities, mentoring and facilitating discussions within the communities, and actively sharing the course to their peers. In the best case scenario, the training course grows organically.

5. Increased agency; a shift of mindset in the community from “impossible” to “it’s possible”.

The HEAD Foundation measures our impact based on Reach and Value. Reach is measured based on the (1) number of beneficiaries: number and growth of unique webinar attendees, number of physical handbook recipients, number of digital copies downloaded and (2) the diversity of the panellists (the country they are based in, the type of organisations they are from etc.). Value is measured based on (1) the percentage of returning webinar attendees, and (2) informally, the number of requests for partnerships or additional handbooks. 

Viamo measures its impact based on three key areas: Reach, Breadth and Depth.

Reach is measured based on: (1) the number of unique listeners (individuals) that listens to >75% of a key message; and (2) the number of key messages that were listened to on the Viamo platform. A key message is a message that contains beneficial information for end users and provides them with a reasonable action to improve their well-being. 

On the other hand, Breadth looks at sectors impacted, as well as socio-demographics of people who were reached (i.e. gender, age, location, education, etc). Depth refers to development outcomes achieved, such as change in behavior and/or practices, as well as improvement in the quality of life of people or communities. 

The HEAD Foundation aims to increase the reach of our work; in the next year, pilot the new solution of mobile training with Viamo. The HEAD Foundation would also like to conduct an impact assessment, and continue the partnership with Viamo to implement mobile training to (1) develop more modules, (2) implement our solution on a bigger scale in the Philippines, and potentially in Indonesia. 

The HEAD Foundation would also like to work on a new dimension of impact: Depth, offering new modes of programme delivery such as online, small-group intensive workshops covering specific topics discussed during the webinars. These workshops would provide additional resources on specific topics, as well as activities and guidance to develop their own transformational projects. 

In the next three years, The HEAD Foundation endeavours to scale up our work through replicating the solution to Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. The HEAD Foundation aims to increase the reach of our work and explore other forms of accessible technology, and increase the number of partners who have ‘boots on the ground’. 

In the next five years, The HEAD Foundation hopes to create Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for educators across the region, providing them with quality professional development opportunities. The HEAD Foundation would also want to enter more markets, including translating our handbooks and toolkits to Thai to reach more educators in Thailand. We also aim to increase our reach in our target countries through partnerships and accreditation of our programmes and professional learning communities. 

Market entry: As this is a new mode of training for The HEAD Foundation, the team would need to build a database of educators’ contact numbers (with permission) from scratch. 

Market size: As mobile phone training has the potential to reach large masses of beneficiaires, the team would like to compile a sizeable database. The HEAD Foundation has already contacted several partners, mainly Education District Offices, in the Philippines who have indicated their interest in sending their staff for the training. However, as the bulk of the cost lies in the development of the mobile phone course, the team hopes to achieve economies of scale by increasing the number of users/beneficiaries. 

The HEAD Foundation was established in 2013 as a thought-leadership center to work towards the provision of quality education for less resourced communities across Southeast Asia. The Foundation was also a platform for its members to consolidate and more accurately measure the impact of its philanthropic activities. The solution, Making HEADway, was developed as our response to the learning loss brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The HEAD Foundation:

• Programme team - 3
• Communications - 2
• Vendors (video editors, designers, translators) - 7
• Speakers (per series) - 10

Viamo:

• Program management - 2
• Design and Implementation - 2
• Technical Support - 2
• Translation and Recording - 2
• Customer Support - 2
• Admin and Finance - 1

Though The HEAD Foundation is a small organisation, it is well supported by its Board of Directors, Advisory Board, Fellows and a network of international, regional  and local partners in the education and development space. The HEAD Foundation works with institutions and experts (in terms of academic expertise and local knowledge, philosophies and know-hows), to develop the content for this solution.

The HEAD Foundation understands that based in Singapore, it is not in the position to create the content nor should it give a top-down view of how educators in Southeast Asia should implement remote schooling. Hence, it works closely with practising educators who have gone through similar challenges, to share how they overcame the challenges and share case studies, lessons and advice with their peers. These educators are identified via the Foundation’s networks, partners who have contacts on the ground, as well as through online articles. 

Viamo has a range of design and implementation specialists, program managers, IT personnel and development specialists who are predominantly based in the countries where they work and offer their solutions. This includes teams who are based out of its offices in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, including staff based in the Philippines. Its Country Manager for the Philippines is a Filipino who has been working in the development sector for more than 20 years. 

The Making HEADway programme was conceptualised, developed and implemented in the span of 3 months. Without any SOPs or internal plans and guides to base off, the Team Lead developed the concept note and implementation plan. She also worked with colleagues and the moderator to refine the programme, secure panellists and fine-tune their presentation content to ensure that the presentation would be practical and relevant to the audience, rather than being lectures. 

Beyond just the initial webinar series, the team lead conceptualised the handbook to serve as a guide and reference for educators to navigate the crisis. She noticed that at the early stages of the pandemic, there were many operational and policy documents on the health and safety measures, but not enough on the actual implementation of remote schooling. Thus, she developed the handbook with case studies and tips contributed by the panellists from the webinar series, aiming to reach educators who needed guidance on for example, how they could work with their community, to implement remote schooling.  

In addition, the Team Lead is supported by a small but strong team who contributes to the success of the programme with their varied skill sets. 

The team is currently partnering with these organisations to develop content, identify suitable panellists, translate and disseminate our handbooks:

• Ateneo de Manila University’s Ateneo Center for Educational Development, the Philippines

• Hue University of Education, Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Vietnam

The team is currently in discussions with several organisations in the Philippines and Cambodia to expand our reach in these countries.

The team also works with individuals and schools in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to identify potential speakers, and develop, translate and localise our handbooks. 

More than just funding, the support from Octava and MIT Solve can help to expand our networks and accelerate our impact. We hope to be introduced to and build partnerships with changemakers, accelerators, organisations and even the Department of Education in the Philippines and Southeast Asia in general, to build a larger user base in the Philippines, as well as enter target markets like Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. 

In order to enact social change, interdisciplinary and diverse viewpoints should be considered. Having access to a network of mentors and coaches from different industries and sectors would certainly help us expand our viewpoint, and tackle the problem and solution from different angles. Having attended the Solveathon, we experienced first-hand the importance and benefits of having mentors’ feedback to refine our solution. 

The HEAD Foundation also has plans to conduct impact assessment to understand the effectiveness of our programmes and refine our solution and other programmes. Joining the monitoring and evaluation track would be very useful to help the Foundation plan, develop our impact assessment indicators, as well as how we could refine our theory of change, solution, and business model based on the results. 

Above all, being part of the Octava / MIT Solve community would enable us to learn from other innovators and changemakers, and even form new partnerships and solutions.

Business model (e.g. product-market fit, strategy & development)

As a charity, the solution team expertise is in programme and content. It is always important to have a fresh pair of eyes to look at our programme offering and business model, to ensure that our programmes meet the ever evolving needs of our beneficiaries, and that the Foundation can grow these programmes, and develop new programmes, in a sustainable manner. 

Network connections (e.g. government, private sector, implementation communities)

The HEAD Foundation strongly believes that strong local buy-in is key to developing a relevant, successful and sustainable project. Hence, we are always looking for institutional partners to work with, to help develop, implement and expand our existing programme.

Monitoring & Evaluation (e.g. collecting/using data, measuring impact)

Monitoring & Evaluation is a new area that The HEAD Foundation hopes to explore in 2022. We hope to learn how to develop better data collection tools and impact measurement indicators, as well as analyse the results from M&E to improve and refine our programmes.