Background to the Partnership
This project was a partnership between Nokia and Pearson Foundation who along with British Council put in joint funding for the project. In this project, Nokia provided the technology, technological advice and funding, Pearson Foundation provided funding and support and the British Council provided funding plus local project management from implementation, training, support and evaluation.
About the project
To provide an opportunity for teachers and learners in poorly resourced schools to access British Council digital resources mapped to the national curriculum through mobile technology with the need for Internet access and to improve teaching methodology by providing the teachers with a meaningful context in which to demonstrate meaning and use as well as form.
20 teachers and 3460 students from 10 poorly resourced schools in HCMC participated in the project. Each teacher was equipped with a Nokia smartphone, TV out cable and some schools new projectors. A two day teacher training workshop was held. Teachers accessed and downloaded materials from a remote server and then plugged the phone either into a TV or projector in the classroom to show videos.
The pilot project ran from Jan – May and then August to September 2013.
Programme Outcomes
The success of the pilot was measured by the satisfactory completion of the training course of 20 selected English teachers, their enthusiasm and commitment in using Nokia smart phones and the Nokia Education Delivery Programme as well as the British Council learning resources. External research was conducted through classroom observations, feedback questionnaires, attitudinal surveys and focus group discussions.
- All teachers were able to use the technology effectively in their classroom and select appropriate content and 90% were able to effectively use the NED content to clarify lexis and focus on the form of specific language structures.
- Both teachers and students were very positive about the extent to which NED helped students to learn English, particularly in terms of learning vocabulary and reinforcing basic structures, and in developing their listening and speaking skills.
- Final observations showed that the NED materials have become a springboard for introducing and practising the language outcomes of the lesson which compliments the national curriculum and the local course books used in primary English classrooms in Ho Chi Minh City.