Consultant – MEL Tech Training Program – CommCare Training Material Design & Development – Remote

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Purpose of the Project

As an organization, Mercy Corps faces a recurring need to train MEL team members on MEL competencies and on how to use specific common MEL Technologies (MEL Tech) effectively. Therefore, In May of 2022, Mercy Corps’ MEL conducted the first MEL Tech Training Cohort. The Training was developed to provide learning opportunities, build capacity on effective use of the MEL Tech Suite, challenge learners to work together on practical problems, and fund opportunities for interesting projects where new skills can be utilized. The first set of trainings (covering Ona, CommCare, Microsoft Power BI, and TolaData) and the second set of trainings (covering STATA MaxQDA, and QGIS).

After the first cohort, the MEL team undertook an evaluation of the training which meant to provide Mercy Corps team a better understanding of the change in confidence level of the participants and competencies with regards to MEL Tech, cohort members satisfaction with the MEL tech training, the current use of the new skills in the daily work and in contributing to the program and entire country office. In addition, the evaluation helped the team in planning and implementing the next MEL Tech Training in more effective, beneficial, and relevant way.

One important recommendation in the final evaluation report of the training involved the need to revise the training material and incorporate more interactive methods and resources to the facilitation and training material to improve the sessions to be more engaging and easier to understand.

Consultant Activities

This consultancy will only focus on CommCare training material. To support the goal of the project, the following activities will be led by the consultant:

1. Desk review of current MEL Tech cohort evaluation report, recording from previous sessions, CommCare course content and course curriculum.
2. Consultation with Mercy Corps technical experts in CommCare to understand what the final product should be.
3. Facilitate key informant interviews with a few MEL Tech cohort members (from 2022) to envision what an updated course should look like – what doesn’t work currently, what is needed.
4. Implement at least a 6-hour virtual planning workshop with Mercy Corps CommCare technical experts to revise current CommCare course content and curriculum. The consultant is responsible for facilitating the process and preparing most of the deliverables from the planning workshop.
5. Implement new course content based on action points from planning workshop and feedback from cohort alumni with revisions from Mercy Corps technical team. The new course content will have more interactive learning aids in terms of recorded screen videos, images, graphics, and homework/exercises.
6. Implement a small-scale pilot with the new course content through a few cohort alumni. The goal of the pilot is to review the new course content.
7. Compile lessons learned and recommendations from the pilot phase in a presentation that involves facilitation and material development suggestions.

Deliverables

• Inception report (10-15 pages) upon desk review of documents which includes technical analysis, key informant interview guide and comprehensive plan to implement subsequent activities in the scope of work.
• Summary report (approx. 5 pages) on finding after KIIs with cohort alumni. Workplan and suggested key changes on the module.
• Agenda and key deliverable (revised course content and revised curriculum) for the planning workshop with Mercy Corps CommCare technical experts.
• Comprehensive new curriculum and course content (including graphics, images, and screen recording)
• Comprehensive final report (10-25 pages), documenting all changes within the course, planning workshop action points, pilot feedback, and recommendations for course content delivery.

Timeframe / Schedule:

Suggested timeline*

• Desk Review and initial kickoff meetings – 3 days
• Key Informant Interviews and reporting – 2 days
• Planning Workshop and reporting – 2 days
• Revise and update course curriculum – 7 days
• Test and revise updated course content in Rise platform – 3 days
• Final report – 3 days

*We have limited flexibility as this work needs to be implemented ASAP to support new cohort training sessions.

Estimated LOE

For this project, the estimated LOE is 20 working days.

Required Skills & Experience

• 5-10 years of experience in a technically relevant field
• 5+ years of experience with training in cross cultural environments
• Advanced user of CommCare
• Strong background in monitoring, evaluation, and learning
• Fluency in spoken and written English
• Familiarity with digital learning platforms like Rise is a plus.

The Consultant will report to:

MEL Senior Advisor, Mobile Technologies

The Consultant will work closely with:

Mercy Corps technical advisors and specialist

Payment Terms:

Mercy Corps will pay the consultant based on approved, final deliverables received. Payment will be at the end of the engagement when final deliverables have been submitted and approved.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.