Implementation of Nokia-UNESCO Mobile Learning Initiative by AGAHI Pakistan to Drive Professional Development of Public School Teachers

Nokia (News - Alert) Pakistan, AGAHI, and UNESCO Islamabad announced the implementation of the “Mobile Learning Project for Teacher’s Professional Development” program to drive professional development of public school teachers across remote locations. The collaboration between AGAHI, UNESCO, and Nokia will enable Nokia to extend its mobile phones and applications “Nokia Education Delivery" (NED) in the project from UNESCO which focuses on use of ICT for the professional development of public school teachers.

NED has been transformed into an open source solution which has effectively improved livelihoods since 2011. The company developed NED to drive the use of its mobile phone in accessing and downloading videos and other sources of educational tools from an education library. The program has already been implemented successfully in the Philippines, Tanzania, Chile, and Colombia. Its use has shown an increase in educational results among students who displayed increased retentive capabilities as well.

The new collaboration is an extension of the agreement between UNESCO and Nokia international level which was signed last year, to drive implementation of mobile technologies for driving "Education for All" objectives. Under the terms of the agreement, Nokia will develop applications and other Mobile solutions which enable accessing of information and improve learning on a global scale.

The "Mobile Learning for Teachers" Nokia Education Delivery application project which will be implemented via AGAHI will make it possible for UNESCO to provide educational material and tools via mobile phones to teachers who are deficient in both training and resources. This project will allow remotely located public school teachers to train themselves on the same level of proficiency as other competent teachers. 

The training and capacity building courses will be delivered via video files which will be relayed in a step by step process based on the pre-determined curriculum over the phones which will be provided to the teachers. Regular tests on the training material will be conducted through SMS. High scoring teachers will be awarded free mobile top ups. Aggregated test results after the successful completion of the course will be used to certify top scoring teachers in the final workshop.