CONSULTANCY FOR DISTANCE LEARNING PLATFORM FOR REMOTE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY TO

ESTABLISH DISTANCE LEARNING PLATFORM FOR REMOTE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

                                     (May 2020)

1.            Context

Leaving No One Behind- Phase II: “Improving the inclusion of older men and women with and without disabilities from SYR and JOR into humanitarian response with a focus on health and protection and is currently being implemented by HelpAge International’s country office in Jordan.

The project’s overall objective is a contribution to the reduction of the extreme suffering among most vulnerable older Syrians and Jordanians and people with disabilities has been made The project’s main focus is on mainstreaming age-inclusive practices along with a focus on the thematic areas of protection and health in relation to older men and women. 

Jordan is one of the countries most affected by the Syria crisis, hosting the second highest share of refugees’ pro capita in the world. 83% of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in urban areas and 17% live in three refugee camps. 48% of refugees are children, and 4% are elderly people (UNHCR, 2019).

Older people, especially women and those with specific needs and vulnerabilities have difficulties harnessing formal employment, livelihood opportunities or social benefits due to their restricted mobility and lack of access to information and services. They tend to be invisible to humanitarian actors and government authorities. This exclusion impacts their ability to access incomes, shelter, health and other basic services. HelpAge will work with local, national and international organizations, private organizations and the government to include older men and women, and in particular those with specific needs and vulnerabilities, in their livelihood interventions.   

Within the proposed project, HelpAge International looks to expand its capacity building efforts for inclusion of OP in humanitarian response into hard-to reach areas through a distance learning digital platform. The platform will offer a flexible learning experience combining self-learning with trainer-led online classes, using a variety of digital technologies. It is expected that this component will directly target NGO staff members and other relevant stakeholders from Syria, Yemen, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.

The purpose of this Terms of Reference (TOR) is to solicit consultant's proposals on a fixed price basis to develop a comprehensive process for digitizing the current modular training program and effective implementation of the digital learning platform element in the project.

HelpAge strives to transfer its core tools and knowledge on inclusion of older people in humanitarian response to its partners as well as members from the local community, national and international organisations especially in hard to reach areas, empowering them to meet the sustainable development goal (SDG) of "leaving no one behind."

2. Project Objectives

The primary objective is to:

Digitize new age-inclusive training modules and make available on digital learning platform in Arabic and English.

HelpAge International has a current online training portal (https://training.helpagejordan.org/) offering a flexible self-pace learning experience on Helping Older People in Emergencies. We have developed 5 new modules under the title: “Age-Inclusive Humanitarian Interventions” and are advertising this consultancy to digitize them and upload them and ensure full functionality on our training portal in both languages Arabic and English.

3. Key Deliverables

3. 1. Digitize 5 New Modules: Using Cloud Computing: English & Arabic (Arabic is Default) for self-paced e-learning.

Coordination with: Storyboard Developers, Training Coordinator, Country Program Manager

o   Courseware Development of  5 self-paced Modules:

1.       Healthy Ageing

2.       The right to autonomy and independent living for older people with and without disabilities

3.       The effects of social protection and gender-based violence on older men and women in humanitarian programs.

4.       Rights based approach to including older men and women with and without disabilities.

5.       How to design age and disability- inclusive programming.

o   The consultancy will include the development of multi-media interactive content based on the storyboards provided.

o   All modules will all have videos, the interactive module, quizzes, activities, evaluation, and certificate.  Use the story board for five modules to present at least two (2) distinct sample user interface designs for the module(s), each to include an example of a welcome/ main menu screen and a page of sample content. These designs should include color palettes, header and footer sections, navigational and menu buttons, and follow HelpAge branding guidelines. HelpAge will work with the consultant to refine the designs and select a final interface.  Any identified deficiencies in the selected design identified during the validation process will be corrected by the consultant and approved and accepted by HelpAge.

o   HelpAge International will provide the course content for all modules in storyboard format. The consultant is expected to create the graphics, animations, interactive components, develop media and design of the screens to be used in the delivery of the course and all materials related to the training portal.

o   The training should follow the methodology of the current available e-learning courses. (Introduction, Session 1, Session 2, Quiz, Conclusion Video, Evaluation Form, Certificate).

o   Training should also direct the learners to the Links for additional reading resources − A case study with closed-ended questions will be part of the overall training modules and provided to the consultant − Number of assessment questions “check-for-understanding” embedded in each module − The consultant should be aware of the culture contexts of the learners. − Images and references should be culturally appropriate.

The interface should be able to communicate user data, track user activity and enable the following features:

o   Capture user statistics.

o   An e-learning interface and navigational elements that are learner-friendly (navigation buttons and links function easily, Search function; the learner may stop the course at any time and restart it from the same point); Learners know where they are within the course and can move easily within and between modules; ü

o   You will need tabs for Goals & Objectives, About the course, lesson materials etc. We will need to outline this.

o   All material that has been created by HAI will be uploaded by this consultant and tested.

o   Handouts and Relevant supporting material to be downloaded by the user.

o   Allow for manner of monitoring to see who is online, who has taken the quizzes, the score of the quizzes the evaluations, etc.- all access to anyone using this site.

o   Trainer should be notified through email and see notifications on dashboard if there are any unread messages

o   Automatic completion certificates created after end of a course. (Downloadable for offline use).

o   Learners are provided with multiple opportunities to get the threshold of questions correct (If 10 correct questions are required, users will have 16 opportunities/questions. Once they get questions correct, they can proceed to the next round) The order of questions is randomly assigned per test  

o   Track start/stop/resume/user progression.

o   The e-learning theming is mobile and responsive across all types of devices (tablets, smart phones, desktop etc.).

o   The ability to link to internal and external resources (e.g., websites, embedded PDF documents, videos).

o   The use of media and design (e.g. texts, graphics, audio, video case studies, quizzes, animation) to engage learners, promote interest, and support knowledge acquisition.

o   Final Evaluations linked to certificate of completion.

o   Modifications to modules based on formative and summative evaluations/user testing (up to two revisions, including changes post production).

3.2. Adaptation of Content into visual/audio material Videos and Graphics will be bilingual

o   Responsible for taking the videos, editing, uploading onto site of the training

o   Responsible for sound isolation

o   Responsible for lights, cameras, sound, all related material to creating a short video and uploading them (these videos are of trainers giving information related to each module).

3.3. Training: The owner and copyright of these modules belong to HelpAge International and all material should be handed over to HelpAge at the contract period in SCORM format, and additional formats for storage and back-up purposes.

o   Responsible for training relevant HAI staff on all the details of registration for the trainings and the training portal, amendments, reviewing statistics, etc.  

       3.4 Service /Maintenance

o   Provide 1-year maintenance and service package.

4.       Timeline

It is envisaged that the consultancy will require a total of approximately 40 working days. The three key deliverables must be completed by July 22nd, 2020 at the latest. A tentative timeline for this consultancy is presented below. This will be finalized with the Consultant.

Expected Deliverables/Outputs

5.       Qualifications and Experience Required

Technical:

-          Demonstrates experience in developing distance learning platforms

-          Ability to collect and analyze information

-          Ability to review and further implement existing training material

-          Capacity to analyze and take in account the contextual issues

-          Quality and Evaluation knowledge

-          Good understanding of and proficient use of Microsoft Office software applications, instructional and graphic design software.

Ethical:

-          Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modelling the HelpAge International values and ethical standards.

-          Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of HelpAge International

-          Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

·         Planning and Organizing

·         Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities

·         Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills (English, Arabic)

·         Excellent interpersonal and networking skills, strong team player.

·         Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback

·         Sound time management and organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks

·         Capacity to work under tight deadlines, manage stress and adapt to rapidly evolving situations

Desirables:

·         Ability to speak, read, and write in Arabic

·         Experience in age inclusive humanitarian interventions based on UN and WHO data approach

6.       Payment Terms

All financial information should be provided in Jordanian Dinars. Payments will be made in two tranches:

30 per cent of the total sum after development of draft training materials and 70 per cent after finalizing the training materials and providing reports.

The payment will be subject to 5% tax deduction.

HelpAge International resolves the right to change the payment terms subject to feedback from the participants and violation of the delivery schedule.

7.       Submission Guidelines:

The following should be submitted for to be considered for this role:

-          Full Proposal (Previous work, Manner of working, Timeline, etc.)

-          Budget

The full proposal package should be submitted to  rawan.khoury@helpage.org with the subject line: “Proposal for Digital Modules”