Yamaguchi-Takada Lab

Global Scientific Information and Computing Center, Tokyo Institute of Technology

International development project supporting UNESCO strategies and activities

Overview

From June 2017 to March 2018, Yamaguchi Takada Laboratory conducted project “Development and distribution of ICT teacher training materials for sustainable teacher training in lower-secondary schools in Mongolia”. The project was funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan and implemented in cooperation with UNESCO, Mongolian Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MECSS), Mongolia National Education University (MNUE). The goal of the project is to contribute to the improvement of skills of lower secondary school teachers in Mongolia by developing, pilot testing and evaluating teacher training material using ICT.

Organization of the project

The Project Steering Committee comprises members from Tokyo Tech, MNUE, Mongolian Institute of Finance and Economics and MECSS. MNUE professional team of 13 professors and a stuff from MNUE were formed to develop the teacher training materials for four subjects (Mathematics, Chemistry, History and Social Science, and Technology and Design). Under the supervision of the Steering Committee, PIU and MNUE professional team have developed the teacher training materials and implemented teacher training.

Project Activities

There are four major activities in this project.

  1. Development of video CD (VCD / DVD) teaching materials for teacher training including four subjects: mathematics, chemistry, history and social science, technology and design
  2. Development of interactive web-based teacher training materials (for the four subjects above)
  3. Trial testing and assessment of new material with considering the success in the use of cascade model in teacher training
  4. Education symposium co-organized by Tokyo Tech and MECSS

Overview of the project is displayed below

Project Outcomes

The project activities were implemented as planned, and the following results were obtained.

Development of VCD / DVD teacher training materials for for subjects (Mathematics, Chemistry, History and Social Science, Technology & Design):

For the development of teacher training materials for four subjects in lower secondary education in Mongolia (Mathematics, Chemistry, History and Social Science, Technology & Design), professional team of 16 educational experts mainly from Mongolian National University of Education were formed. VCD / DVD teaching materials and training guidelines were developed. The draft version of each teaching materials were tested and evaluated by local specialists and teachers in teacher training. Specifically, a questionnaire survey and interview survey were conducted with training participants, and revision of the teaching materials was taken place based on the results. Teaching materials for four subjects were completed in January 2018 and distributed to all lower secondary schools in Mongolia (768 schools).

Development of interactive web-based teacher training materials for four subjects (Mathematics, Chemistry, History and Social Science, Technology & Design):

Web-based interactive teacher training materials were developed for teachers’ self-learning. Since this is a newly introduced teacher training material, we have carefully integrated local teachers’ comments in the development process. Specifically, development was carried out through the following four stages.

  1. Developed in this project, the expert’s team created 25 questions for each subject based on the content of the training guidelines.
  2. Analyzed the available and sustainable environment for creating the material, utilize the open-source platform to develop the interactive teacher training materials that can be used offline.
  3. Conduct interview surveys on this newly developed teacher training materials at the teacher training in two provinces and Ulaanbaatar city.
  4. Reflected opinions from local teachers who participated in the trial and completed the final version.

The interactive materials for four subjects were distributed to Educational and Cultural Department in 21 provinces and Ulaanbaatar city along with VCD and guidelines.

Testing and evaluation of new teaching materials:

In the training for local experts and teachers, newly developed teacher training materials were tested. The training was held in three areas: Ulaanbaatar City, Bayankhongor province (Gobi region), and Khovd Province (West region). The training programs were implemented by MNUE professional team experts engaged in teacher training material development, the Tokyo Tech team and representatives of the Educational Culture Department. In total, 101 local specialists and teachers including 32 from Ulaanbaatar City, 33 from Bayankhongor province and 36 from Khovd province participated in the training. In each training, teachers analyzed the developed material with subject teams and answered the questionnaire asking the effectiveness of the materials. The feedback from teachers was summarized and reflected onto the further improvement of the VCD / DVD teacher training materials and guidelines.

More details about the outcomes of Bayangkhongor training can be found from the link below.

UNESCO and Tokyo Tech Joint Symposium on ICT in Education took place at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Sports (MECSS) :

A symposium “ICT in Education in Mongolia” was jointly hosted by the Mongolian government, the UNESCO Bangkok Office, and the Global Scientific Information and Computing Center, Tokyo Institute of Technology at the Ministry of Education of Mongolia on January 25. At the symposium, an education and ICT expert, local education experts include MNUE professors, 73 representative teachers from 21provinces and UB city participated. Mr. Ganbat, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education attended and stated the importance of this project which brought significant impact on all over the nation. At the symposium, Ms.Park, Educational experts on ICT in education from the UNESCO Bangkok Office gave a speech on trends and developments of ICT use in educational purpose in the Asia-Pacific region in the contexts of the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Chimedlkham and Prof. Tsedevsren from MNUE made presentation and introduced the ICT use in education at national level including the policies, infrastructure, and teacher training programs related to ICT in education. Mr. Jambaldori as representative of Byankhogor ECD introduced ICT integration in education at regional level with specific example of practices. As results from a good practice, Prof. Yamaguchi together with Prof. Sukhbaatar made presentation to explain impact of the project which has implemented from 2012 to 2017 for primary school teachers. Through the symposium, participants were actively involved in discussions and sharing good practices of ICT use in education.

The articles with detailed project information has been published in the “Mongolian News” on 25 and 26 of January 2018.

Please find the symposium agenda from the following link:

  • Test prototype of teacher training material with lower secondary school teachers

Products from the project

  1. VCD (1,000 sets) of teaching materials for 4 subjects (mathematics, chemistry, history and social science, technology and design)
  2. Guidelines (1,300 copies) for four subjects (mathematics, chemistry, history and social science, technology and design)
  3. Web-based interactive  self-regulated learning material sets (CD version, 100 sheets) for teachers of four subjects (mathematics, chemistry, history and social science, technology and design)
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