"To ensure the effective adoption of Go-Lab for developing countries in WP1 we adapted the existing ecosystem platforms and learning tools and created new resources to fit within the curricula and the constraints of developing countries, such as availability and type of devices, lack of steady power supply and reliable internet access. Through a first phase of pedagogical and technical requirements’ analysis, complemented by regular feedback collection from teachers, GO-GA released two versions of the localised and adapted Go-Lab Ecosystem at Months 9 and 18 that were tested in two pilot deployment programmes (at M14 and M23). In P2, further adaptation of the Ecosystem’s interfaces and localisation of the support content were subsequently made for the second round of pilot activities. Importantly, the performance of the Ecosystem in situations of poor internet connection was improved and an offline Viewer for the use of ILSs in the classroom and a set of offline labs and apps were delivered. Until M36, maintenance of the platforms and corrections of various bugs were provided.
WP2 officially closed during Period 1 at M14; it supported the creation of the user communities and of the first set of 6 model resources, i.e. inquiry learning spaces (ILSs) with their associated labs designed for the 3 pilot countries were co-created by newly onboarded teachers and project partners, early on in the project. These model resources were the basis for the development of 208 additional ILSs in WP3 & 4 to project end date.
Building the capacity of the teachers in the communities created in WP2 was the core mission of WP3. Overall 188 Master Teachers in the 3 pilot countries were trained and successfully onboarded an additional 428 New Teachers. The competence profile of the 616 educators was raised through a capacity building journey starting from Explorers, gradually moving to Developers, Pilot and Ambassadors of the project. The consolidation of the journey was ensured by the continuous support of the STEM Cells™ created in most participating schools.
During P2, WP4 focused on preparing, running and analysing GO-GA Pilot implementation #2. In this second pilot, 83 individual classes were taught by 72 teachers to over 2,400 students using 40 different ILSs in 45 schools. Overall, satisfaction of teachers and students involved was measured as very high; issues reported mainly concern technical infrastructure, such as slow internet and a limited number of computers and laptops. Since Pilot #2 was set up with an increased focus on more remote, rural schools with poor or no internet connection, support particularly focused on producing and using offline ILSs.
Looking at ensuring solid foundations for sustainability, WP5 focused on collaborating with Strategic Partners to gradually attract more teachers beyond the pilot schools and in 4 new countries (Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Ghana). GO-GA partners engaged 17 Key Stakeholders from the 7 countries in various programme activities such as taking part to the project Advisory Board, to Community Building activities, to the Pilot Launch activities, to ad-hoc workshops or to the project Final Events. The impact of that engagement can be seen by looking at the number of partnerships and endorsements from stakeholders in the 7 countries. They were also the basis for the post-project mentoring programme (PPMP) which offers 17 selected and trained Master Teachers (MTs) in the 4 Associate Countries to strengthen their skills and ability to effectively use the Go-Lab ecosystem through a one-year mentorship programme led by 16 fellow mentors from Kenya, Nigeria and Benin.
Regarding outreach activities, highlights include ca 790 visitors per month on our www.go-ga.org website, 9 newsletters sent to 949 subscribers, 8 videos viewed over 500 times, 529 followers on our Twitter account, 5327 followers of our Facebook and 173 followers on LinkedIn."
