Digital Learning Design and Delivery Advisor

1. Background:

YouLead is a USAID-funded, seven-year program implemented by International Executive Services Corps (IESC) with the focus of improving technical and vocational education and increasing the employability of youth in Sri Lanka. YouLead strives to create a more skilled and flexible workforce by undertaking activities which would help and strengthen students, teachers, institutions, and young entrepreneurs. YouLead works with the public and private sector to ensure that Sri Lanka’s youth are learning market-demanded skills enabling them to ensure a smooth transition from school to employment

JKH -YouLead Engagement Phase 01

Further to the MOU dated 16^th October 2017, John Keells Holdings (JKH), the largest conglomerate in Sri Lanka, collaborated with YouLead on the objective of improving youth workforce access to digital learning management systems by digitalizing the Keells Retail Academy – Online (KRAO) learning management system of JayKay Marketing Services (Pvt) Ltd, JKH’s retail arm. The scope of the engagement was to enhance skills and equip the Learning and Development team with necessary technical knowledge and competencies to independently design, develop and deploy online learning content, thereby transforming traditional classroom training and building a sustainable e-learning ecosystem. Keells currently operates through its network of 120+ outlets island-wide and has plans to expand to 250 outlets by 2025. Over 4,500 youth from all parts of the country have benefitted from Keells’ efforts to provide employment/career development opportunities. KRAO currently offers 200+ learning items delivering 16,000 hours per month and accessed by 3,000 active users. Please refer to Annex 1 for more details of the Phase 01 engagement.

Keells demonstrated ability to effectively enhance and sustain knowledge and insights gathered through phase 01 of the YouLead engagement. As a result, YouLead intend to further support KRAO in order to improve the effectiveness of e-learning delivery within Keells retail branch network, providing better training opportunities for youth employed in the network. The proposed intervention aims to strengthen the existing partnership with JKH Group, who are positively contributing towards project indicators, creating new and better jobs in substantial volumes for youth in Sri Lanka.

2. Rationale:

Sri Lanka’s retail sector represents a dense workforce population which exceeds one million working men and women. 34% of Sri Lanka’s GDP is derived through retail and collectively accounts for 14% of employment. Moreover, the retail sector records 250 million footfall per annum, thus contributing positively towards the national economy. Some current challenges faced by private sector retailers include effectively providing essential job-specific skills training to staff and effectively converting classroom training to personalized e-learning modules while ensuring the actual impact and sustainability of the training interventions.

With the objective of further supporting Keells to develop its learning and development efforts to retain more youth in the workforce, YouLead is seeking technical expertise in forms of consultancy or volunteerism to design, develop, and deliver a ‘Level up’ program for 25 internal trainers through a Training of Trainers (ToT) model. The proposed intervention will provide insights into the latest knowledge and best practices of e-learning delivery in line with international standards. YouLead and Keells seek to enhance e-learning tools, materials, techniques, and delivery methodologies by reviewing and updating Keells’ existing content repository with the motive of improving the productivity of 3,000+ new recruits lined up for the upcoming years. Simultaneously, Keells is currently working in collaboration with key vocational institutes such as the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) and the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) to expand its e-learning repository access to rural vocational youth, thereby creating a linkage for recruitment plans ofin the sector. Keells anticipates extending this facility to other vocational sector institutes in the future.

3. Objectives of the Assignment:

The key objectives of the proposed intervention with Keells are as follows:

1. Empower internal training faculty of the Retail Sector and Group Learning and Development Team of JKH with necessary technical knowledge and best practices in modern instructional design, enabling to incorporate more innovative training delivery methodologies.
2. Providing technical insights, tools, and technology support for trainers to create impactful and interactive e-learning content and materials suited for industry training requirements in line with international standards.
3. Provide insight into virtual/digital training capabilities which are comprehensive enough to support a work-from-home (WFH) workforce.
4. Provide technical assistance in gamification of e-learning content and engage in defining specific learning goals for learning content to be engaging and stimulating for youth.
5. Impart knowledge and skills in modern trends, approaches, and methodologies of digital learning content creation and effective delivery of virtual classroom sessions.
6. Provide exposure to latest open-source, free tools which are used for designing and developing of e-learning content.

4. Duration and Timeline:

Owing to the current travel restrictions, YouLead seeks remote training and consultancy support to execute the scope on pre-agreed timelines in consultation with the Keells retail team. The overall assignment will offer virtual training support no less than 30 hours in total. The consultant may propose a suitable delivery timeframe by taking into consideration the below mentioned timeline which acts as a guide. Mentoring services will continue through an agreed period of time, remotely.

Task

No. of Hours

Stakeholder discussions and preparatory work, developing training modules, and required content customization for Keells requirements.

15 hrs

Finalizing training outline and learning objectives upon discussion with Keells team.

5 hrs

Deliver training in a scattered approach (i.e.: 02 hours per day, sessions twice a week upon discussion with Keells) including pre- and post-training evaluations. The delivery arrangement/platform to be discussed.

30 hrs or more

Post-training mentoring and evaluation with program participants. Provide recommendations in practice and report.

TBD

5. Qualifications:

The candidate should ideally possess the following qualifications:

• Deep understanding of pedagogical methods used and relevant in the current digital learning context
• Hands on experience in developing digital learning content and/ or implementation of e-learning platform(s) in private sector, particularly experience in retail / fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry is advantageous
• Hands on experience in delivering virtual learning sessions with a high engagement rating
• A suitable qualification or experience in gamification principles and application in learning
• Exposure to the latest tools and technologies available for effective and efficient content development

6. Reporting:

The resource person will work closely with the Head of Learning and Development of the Keells Retail Sector and report to YouLead’s Partnerships Director/designee during the assignment.

7. Expenses:

Professional fee of the selected resource person will be borne by YouLead Project, subject to meeting all resource person onboarding requirements of USAID and IESC in line with stipulated maximum rates specified by USAID for an assignment of this nature.

Nature of Expense

Responsibility

Consultancy cost of the resource person in line USAID stipulated maximum rates for similar assignment

YouLead

Workshop logistics including online training zoom link and other aspects

Keells

Printing of training materials and provision of stationary (if required)

Keells

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