Content Design and Adaptation for Passport to Earning (P2E)
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INSTITUTIONAL CONTRACT
Title of the assignment
Content Design and Adaptation for Passport to Earning (P2E)
Purpose
The overall purpose of the assignment is to design and adapt course content for online and blended delivery based on defined pedagogy, methodology and tools to assess knowledge and behavioural aspects of learning and certification.
We are seeking an organisation with experience in designing and developing creative, well-researched, and strategically aligned instructional content in the Bangla language explicitly tailored to enhance essential transferable, employable, and workforce skills for young people aged 13 – 25, with a specific focus on adolescent girls, young women, and young people with disabilities. The e-learning content must be tailored and appealing to the target group and emphasise seamless and credible knowledge delivery and practical application.
The organisation must demonstrate familiarity with instructional design principles, an expert understanding of youth-friendly learning theory, and adeptness in leveraging instructional technologies.
We are specifically interested in attracting vendors with a social impact strategy and motivation to contribute to P2E content through shared value from existing inventory, which will support and go beyond the deliverables stipulated in the terms of reference.
Location
Dhaka, Bangladesh:
The organisation should preferable be based in Bangladesh or South Asia with teams/partners based in Bangladesh and capable of developing e-learning content and assessment in Bangla language.
Close co-creation and collaboration with young people, employers, industries, and channel partners within the ecosystem of P2E is required and will be facilitated in partnership with UNICEF.
Estimated Duration
Enter the number of months and estimated start date:
Estimated Start Date: July 1st 2024
Eleven weeks production time, estimated as two weeks for the first course and otherwise one week per course, including time for addressing comments and finalizing each course based on UNICEF’s and user generated feedback.
Technical Supervisor of this assignment
Programme Manager, Generation Unlimited Bangladesh, UNICEF
- Background
Generation Unlimited (GenU) was launched by UNICEF in Bangladesh in 2019 as a Public Private Youth Partnership, bringing together leaders from government, UN agencies, the private sector, academia, civil society organisations, and young people. GenU Bangladesh contributes to the Government of Bangladesh’s focus on youth as a central development force – one that must be developed to its full potential, with an emphasis on self-growth, education and training, employment, social protection, sustainable development and nation-building in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s Eighth Five Year Plan, Perspective Plan 2021–2041 and Vision 2041.
What makes GenU Bangladesh different is its strong commitment to engaging youth, especially adolescent girls and young women, as partners. Aligned with its global strategy, GenU Bangladesh aims to promote (i) youth voice, to ensure that young people’s ideas, perspectives, aspirations and needs inform policies and programmes impacting them, and to support them to self-organize as advocates and champions; (ii) youth leadership, which involves engaging youth in the governance, strategy, and staffing of GenU initiatives, and co-creating policies and programmes; and (iii) youth action, through investments in innovative youth-led solutions and partnerships with youth-led organisations to co-deliver positive change at community, national and global levels.
Passport to Earning (P2E) is a flagship Programme of Generation Unlimited (GenU) to support young people’s learning-to-earning opportunities through online and blended learning approaches with free, certified, in-demand, job-ready skills.
P2E is built on the Microsoft Community Training (MCT) platform. This is the same platform used to support UNICEF and Microsoft’s Learning Passport, which provides digital learning for school-age children who struggle to access mainstream education (listed in Time Magazine’s 100 best inventions of 2021). Certification, offline functionalities, blended learning approaches, local-language content, and co-development with partners make P2E a unique global yet localised solution for wide-scale reach and impact.
An evidence-based P2E strategy has been developed for the Bangladeshi market, focusing on the ‘platform to placement’ journey specifically for adolescent girls and young women, youth with disabilities and other youth disconnected from education, training or employment. Mapping and assessment of existing education technology platforms in Bangladesh followed by a youth perception survey evidenced that while girls are more interested in learning through online platforms considering various social and structural barriers, there is a lack of credible online courses leading to market-relevant opportunities specifically for girls and young women in Bangladesh.
- Objectives, Purpose and Expected Results
UNICEF Bangladesh seeks to contract an institution with experience in Bangladesh and similar markets to tailor and build digital learning content and assessment tools for Generation Unlimited ’s (GenU) digital learning platform Passport to Earning (P2E) in the Bangladeshi market.
The overall purpose of the assignment is to design and develop digital content tailored specifically for employment, entrepreneurship, and social impact volunteer opportunities, for young people, especially adolescent girls and young women in Bangladesh. The content must be designed and developed with the learner and employer in mind, in close collaboration with P2E stakeholders and partners, including young people.
Digital content development must follow the P2E Platform to Placement Strategy, with learning methodologies, pedagogical principles, and assessment processes leading to credible certification. Content creation must be tailored to the unique needs of adolescent girls and young women, youth with disabilities, and young people who are currently disconnected from opportunities.
Based on consultations with young people, partners and employers in Bangladesh, the content strategy emphasises that digital learning content needs to be tailor-made, engaging, culturally relevant, and aligned with established learning objectives. It integrates formative and summative assessments, applies evidence-based pedagogical principles, and employs a learner-centred approach to promote self-directed learning and accommodate diverse learning needs.
Expected Results:
A minimum of 10 courses, each 2-5 hours in length, for self-paced and blended learning on Microsoft's online learning management systems (LMS) in Bangla language, are expected to be developed, tested with users and content knowers (partners), and finalised for deployment at P2E.
To enhance relevance and resonance with target users, content must be culturally relevant, age-appropriate, and tailored to the needs and interests of diverse young people in Bangladesh, both in urban and rural settings. A specific focus should be on the inclusion of adolescent girls and young women, young people with disabilities, and indigenous youth without using stereotypes.
The design and development of course content need to be aligned with P2Es overall learning objectives and standards as per its content strategy with the below specifications:
Design and Development:
- Development of Storyboards with engaging multimedia materials, including videos (animated/video shots), interactive modules, and quizzes.
- Utilisation of diverse formats and platforms to accommodate different learning styles and preferences.
Assessment Integration:
- Integration of formative and summative assessments into the digital learning content.
- Development of summative assessments to evaluate knowledge acquisition and its practical application through simulated and case-based questions.
- Utilisation of various assessment methods, such as quizzes and simulations, to cater to diverse learning needs.
Pedagogy and Methodology:
- Module-based learning outcomes are based on the objectives provided so learners have achievements by the end of each module (Learning by Doing).
- Application of evidence-based pedagogical principles and instructional strategies to enhance learning outcomes.
- Inclusion of interactive and experiential learning activities for active engagement and knowledge retention
- Differentiated instruction that considers various learners' diverse learning profiles and abilities.
Learner-Centered Approach:
- The digital learning experience needs to be tailored to the specific needs, interests, and preferences of young people, focusing on adolescent girls, women, and youth with disabilities.
- Content must be interactive, featuring localised examples to empower learners to take ownership of their learning journey through self-directed and self-paced activities.
- Description of Assignment and Deliverables
3.1 Course Design
The courses will combine videos, a SCORM package, multiple-choice questions, and PDFs. Terminal Objectives will be provided for each course, along with the expected duration of video content, number of questions, and words in PDF. The final output may vary by 10% in duration and word length.
3.2 Lesson specifications
A 2 – 5 hours course typically comprises 5-10 lessons with live or animated videos (8 – 12 minutes) in selected lessons, followed by exercises, outputs, and questions/evaluations for each lesson.
Each lesson should consist of
- Lesson Objectives with live video introduction by course content partners/employers
- Storyline, which provides context and establishes the need to learn the content (the why) – animated or live videos with characters.
- The concept or idea of course elements (what) – animated/live video with characters
- Steps required to take action (the how) – animated text with voice-over (or screen animation or video)
- Exercise to perform (where possible a sound output) – introduced through video; details through a pdf
- Lesson Summary with all relevant facts, including video and pdf
- Formative evaluation questions (MCQs) could be inserted in the videos, but not more than 10 per lesson.
- Summative evaluation questions – 10 questions, ideally situational
3.3 Course Specifications
- Title: As required
- Duration: 2 – 5 hours per course.
- Assessments: Formative and Summative Assessments.
- Learning Outcome: As per title and input from subject matter experts.
- List of Lessons and Duration: As per instructional design.
- Storyboard: SB file in Bangla
- File Format: MP4/MOV/WMV and Word/Excel
Each course must be designed and tested:
- With users, diverse young people aged 13 - 25, specifically adolescent girls and young women through UNICEF’s GenU youth partnerships
- With potential employers, industry leaders and partners through UNICEF’s public and private sector partners
3.4 Course assessment design and development
- Assessment outline detailing each assessment's objectives, format, and criteria.
- Assessment items (questions, tasks, prompts) designed to evaluate comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills as appropriate for each course.
- Documentation of alignment between assessments and course learning objectives, ensuring coherence and relevance.
- Accessibility considerations addressed to ensure equitable access to assessments for all learners.
- Quality assurance report verifying the assessments' accuracy, validity, and reliability.
- Sample assessments/mock-ups to demonstrate the format and content of the evaluation instruments.
3.5 Deliverables, timeline and outputs
Sl
Deliverables
Timeline
Specific Outputs for each course
1
One prototype course designed, tested with users and finalised for deployment based on given specifications.
For the first prototype course UNICEFs P2E consultant will be closely engaged, review each step before finalization and coordinate testing and feedback with young people and ‘content knower’ partners.
Two weeks
Learning objectives, topics, and instructional approaches have been developed and are available with clear definitions for what participants will learn, the topics to be covered, and how the instruction will be delivered to achieve the desired learning outcomes.
Storyboards, with visual representations of course content, including layouts, elements, and interactions, are created and available to provide a clear roadmap for course development.
Learning activities and assessments are designed in alignment with the learning objectives and submitted with detailed descriptions of activities, assessments, and resources for each course module.
Quality assurance measurements are developed and implemented. A checklist is available to manage consistency and completeness across all course outlines and storyboards throughout the design process.
2
Four courses based on first prototype, tested with users and finalised for deployment based on given specifications.
Four weeks
3
Five courses based on the prototype, tested with users and finalised for deployment based on given specifications.
Five weeks
- Deliverables and Payment Schedule
20 % upon 1st Deliverable
40 % upon 2nd Deliverable
40% upon 3rd Deliverable
All courses need to be delivered as files with Bangla closed captioning (CC) as follows:
- Output file in the specified digital learning format (e.g., video, interactive module).
- Closed captioning (CC) file synchronised with the audio content in Bangla language.
- Quality assurance report ensuring accurate synchronisation and readability of the Bangla closed captioning.
On completion of each course, all source files must be appropriately organised, documented, and handed over in a shared folder (drive) temporarily provided. In addition, compliance documentation must ensure adherence to copyright, accessibility, and data protection regulations.
- Qualification requirement of the company/institution/organisation
- Demonstrated proficiency in instructional design principles, including needs analysis, learning objectives development, and assessment design.
- Knowledge or access to subject matter experts relevant to the content areas being developed to ensure accuracy and relevance.
- Proficiency in multimedia authoring tools and software for creating engaging digital learning materials, including videos, animations, interactive modules, and quizzes.
- Familiarity with learning management systems (LMS), authoring tools, and other relevant technologies for digital content creation and delivery.
- Understanding pedagogical theories and best practices for designing compelling e-learning experiences, including active learning strategies, differentiated instruction, and learner-centred approaches.
- Awareness of cultural diversity and sensitivity to ensure content is inclusive, respectful, and relevant to diverse learner populations.
- Knowledge of accessibility standards and guidelines to ensure digital learning content is accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities.
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, meet deadlines, and coordinate with stakeholders, subject matter experts, and other team members.
- A strong portfolio demonstrating previous work designing digital learning content across various subject areas and geographies for diverse audiences, showcasing creativity, innovation, and effectiveness in achieving learning objectives.
5.1 Qualification Requirement of Technical Expertise
- Bachelor's degree in Instructional Design, Education, or a related field.
- 5-7 years of experience in instructional design or related field, focusing on workforce skills development.
- Strong knowledge of instructional design principles, adult learning theory, and instructional technologies.
- Experience developing e-learning courses using authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, or similar.
- Experience with Learning Management Systems (LMS) and content management systems (CMS).
- Excellent written and verbal proficiency in Bangladeshi Bangla/Bahasa as well as English language
- Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.