A webinar titled Low-tech, high impact: Training teachers where they are - Scalable Mobile-based Teacher Training Solutions: Lessons Learned and Perspectives will take place on 4 June at 15:00 CET (GMT+2) via Zoom. 

Organised by the International Teacher Task Force, its Thematic Group on Digital & AI, co-led by MESHGuides and Digital Promise, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), through GIZ, the webinar aims to showcase innovative low-tech training approaches that enable in-service teacher professional development in low-resource and crisis-affected contexts.

Click here to register for the webinar.

Background
With an estimated global need for 44 million new teachers by 2030 to meet SDG 4 targets, effective and scalable training solutions are critical. Conventional models often fail to reach teachers in remote or crisis-affected areas. The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the urgency of equipping teachers with foundational and 21st-century skills needed for resilient and inclusive education systems. Low-tech mobile solutions, such as SMS and WhatsApp-based training, offer flexible, accessible, and scalable opportunities that meet teachers where they are.

Speakers and programme highlights

• Carlos Vargas, Head of the Teacher Task Force Secretariat, will provide the welcome and background introduction.

• A representative from GIZ will introduce the presented solutions.

• ProFuturo, a leader in digital teacher training, will share insights and lessons learned from implementing teacher training programs in low-resource contexts.

• The Future Teacher Kit (a joint initiative by GIZ, UNESCO, and UNICEF) will be presented, highlighting mobile-supported teacher training tailored for remote and crisis-affected settings. This segment will include contributions from the Jamaican Teaching Council, Ministry of Education Ecuador, UNESCO Ecuador, UNESCO Jamaica, and UNICEF’s Helsinki Global Innovation Learning Hub.

The webinar will also include Q&A sessions and a moderated discussion facilitated by the co-leads of the TTF Thematic Group on Digital Education and AI. Discussion topics will address key future skills for teachers, challenges and successful strategies in teacher training, as well as barriers and enablers for scaling mobile-based approaches and partnerships.

Objectives

• To showcase effective low-tech teacher training models that support professional development in challenging environments.
• To share implementation experiences and lessons learned from diverse contexts.
• To facilitate dialogue among stakeholders, including education ministries, teacher training institutions, development partners, and civil society.
• To explore practical challenges and opportunities in scaling mobile-based training and policy implications.

Expected outcomes
Participants are expected to gain a deeper understanding of mobile-based teacher training approaches and to be inspired to adapt and scale such models in their own national contexts.

Additional information
The webinar will be conducted in English only; interpretation will not be available.

Registration
Please register here.

Africa Teachers Webinar Series

The series is co-sponsored by the Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities, the African Union, the European Union’s Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa, and the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange, a joint endeavor with the International Development Research Centre. The webinar series is organized by UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, which leads the GPE KIX Africa 19 Hub and is a partner in the European Union’s Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa.

Leveraging Technology for Teacher Professional Development

Thursday, 13th March 2025, 3 PM East African Time (GMT+3)

Objectives:

• Explore innovative ways to use technology in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for teachers.
• Learn from experts from UNESCO, EdTech Hub, South African Council for Educators, and leading institutions across Africa!
• Attend all three webinars and earn a digital certificate of participation

Key speakers:

• Hannah Simmons, Tanzania Country Lead, EdTech Hub, EU RTIA grantee
• Dr. Shafika Isaacs, Chief of Section, Technology and AI, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
• Prof Nkobi Pansiri, Head of Department, University of Botswana & Consultant to South African Council for Educators (SACE)
•  Associate Prof Gabriel Job, Head, Educational Technology Department, National Open University of Nigeria
• Dr. Lekopanye Lacic Tladi, Senior Lecturer, Botswana Open University
• Prof. Steve Nwokeocha, University of Calabar, Nigeria & AFTRA

Links: 

• Registration link
• IICBA website

Carlos Vargas, Head of the Teacher Task Force Secretariat, will participate in the webinar "Amplifying Teachers' Voices," organized by the Jacobs Foundation on 18 November at 3:00 pm CET.

Hosted by Nina Alonso, an international educational researcher specializing in equal access to learning and culture, this teacher-led, global event will spotlight teachers' stories, elevate the teaching profession’s status, and foster dialogue between educators and key stakeholders in teacher development.

The event will also introduce the new Teachers' Voices online repository—a resource of teacher stories and educational research designed to support teachers and educational stakeholders worldwide.

For further information and to register, please click here.

We are pleased to announce that applications and nominations are now open for the ninth edition of the Global Teacher Prize.

Launched in 2014, during the second edition of the Global Education and Skills Forum, in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), the Prize is funded and organised by the Varkey Foundation - a key member of the Teacher Task Force - in collaboration with UNESCO and in partnership with GEMS Education. The finalists and winners of the ninth edition of the Prize will be announced in early 2025.

By aiming to highlight the central role of educators in all parts of the world, as well as the importance of acknowledging and valuing teachers’ impact on their students and on their communities, the Prize will reward an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to their profession. As a result, the selected laureate is presented with a US $1 million award.

The Prize is open to currently working teachers who teach children that are in compulsory schooling, or are between the ages of five and eighteen. Teachers who teach children age 4+ in an Early Years government-recognised curriculum are also eligible, as are teachers who teach on a part-time basis, and teachers of online courses. Teachers must spend at least 10 hours per week teaching children face-to-face, and plan to remain in the teaching profession for the next 5 years. The Prize is open to teachers in every kind of school and, subject to local laws, in every country in the world.

Key dates:

• Application and nomination deadline: 9th December 2024 (09:00 GMT)
• Successful entrants will be notified by early 2025
• The Top 50, Top 10 and winner will be announced in early 2025 dates TBA.

Applications and nominations may be submitted following registration in the dedicated awards platform.

Candidates will be evaluated by a prominent Global Teacher Prize Academy, composed of various civil society members, including head-teachers, educational experts, commentators, journalists, public officials, tech entrepreneurs, company directors and scientists, from different parts of the world.

• The required criteria for eligibility may be consulted here.
• Contact: info@globalteacherprize.org

The objective of the webinar is to build capacity of Vocational Education and Training (VET) leaders and practitioners on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER), as a way to increase the innovation potential and inclusion of their educational offer. OER are  teaching and learning materials intentionally released with open licenses, that give users the right to own, share, and in most cases, modify them. Within Higher Education, the use of OER has shown the potential to reduce accessibility barriers and at the same time to support co-creation practices, but in the VET sector the use of these approaches is still limited.

During the webinar, the concept of OER will be introduced and exemplified through some successful practices of VET schools that are using OER in their daily work, followed by a discussion on how to further promote the use of such resources in TVET.

Register here.

Agenda

15:00 Welcome and Introduction to the webinar, Fabio Nascimbeni, ETF

15:05 Open Educational Resources: a smart approach for inclusion and innovation, Lisa Petrides, ISKME and ICDE

15:30 Cases of high-impact OER use within VET

• OER Champions for colleges in Ontario. Mary Gu, eCampus Ontario
• AI and OER, Open Content for Future Learning, Ulf Ehlers, Dual University of Baden Wuttemberg

16: 00 Existing OER support tools for VET practitioners and leaders

• The OER practices collection, Max Ehlers, UNESCO-UNEVOC
• The OER Advocacy Committee, ICDE, Ebba Ossiannilsson

16:20 Ideas and questions collection for future work

16:30 Closing