Solution description

We will organize online training sessions with small groups of teachers from rural areas of Armenia in order to help them learn and develop their digital skills, which will be used in their teaching process more effectively because it is a necessity as there is a lack of digital competence among teachers and to cover this gap between them and their students, who are actively using digital devices in every aspect of their life. 

These kinds of training that we are suggesting, which are free of charge for teachers or students, who will have the pedagogical degree and work as a teacher in future, are lack in our local education industry.

It is worth to mention that these skills gained during this training, teachers will effectively and purposefully implement not only to organize online lessons but also offline and hybrid formats of lessons. 

 

Solution context

In the education system of Armenia one of the biggest challenges is a lack of digital competence of educators, lecturers, teachers due to which the teaching process is not effective and productive enough in order to engage the learners into the learning process and it takes us back from the global standards of the 21st century education.

This problem has been highlighted during the pandemic of Covid19, where all schools, universities and other education institutions switched to distance learning but the educators did not have the appropriate skills in order to organize and conduct the online lessons. As a result, the online teaching was just failed. 

With our team we have researched where the gap came from and found out that at the pedagogical universities where future educators are studying and getting a degree, there is not relevant, intensive training on the information technology in the learning process. This issue is found not only among young educators but also among elder educators who got a formal education in the pre-digital era and did not actively use and implement the digital technologies in the traditional curriculum and mixed it with formal teaching approaches.

First of all, due to the overload of work, lack of time and low salary, teachers cannot afford to participate in the paid courses. and in the local area these kinds of free training are being organized very rarely. To attend the international training courses, webinars, which can be free, makes impossible because of lack of the English language knowledge. 

Solution target group

The target group of this solution is teachers from rural areas of Armenia, which have a lack of infrastructures and possibilities. This solution will be beneficial for 100 teachers from different provinces of Armenia. 

After participating in this training, their conducted lessons will become more productive, illustrative and engaging by learners not spending a lot of time and efforts, as the digital technology will support them to organize their lessons effectively.

Solution impact

Programs implemented by policy makers are basically conducted in big cities and teachers from the small towns, villages and rural areas are not being included in these programs. This solution will somehow cover this gap and we will try to involve teachers especially from these areas and if teachers improve their professional skills, the students will get modern education and the residents from these areas will not move to the big cities, thus it will be an equal education and opportunities for all learners from these areas.

Solution tweet text

Enhancing the educators’ digital mindset regarding the innovative education technologies

Solution innovativeness

We are lack of this kind of free training courses organized for teachers from the rural areas on our local market. The uniqueness of this solution is to provide ways how to make current teaching methods work in the digital platforms, and due to its implementation, the lesson time is being used more optimal, moreover, the use of paper, stationary is being reduced and step by step the teacher is digitalizing the lessons, activities and tasks.

Solution transferability

We are mainly focusing on organizing that kind of training for specific sphere such as education. Definitely, this kind of training can be carried out for specialists from different areas, but for that you have to study deeply, do research in order to find out the optimal variants and suggest it to the beneficiaries. 

Solution sustainability

This training will last 4 months in order to train 100 teachers but the sustainability of this training will last longer and have a long-period impact, because the teachers will use these tools in their teaching process. It will be a basement for them to enhance their digital competence in future.

Solution team work

Our team with current members has been working on that kind of initiative for over 1 year and we have trained more than 500 teachers from Armenia. Currently we are conducting this kind of program for 30 teachers from the rural areas of Armenia and Georgia and we try to find possibilities to extend this initiative and engage more educators.