UNDP Jobs - 57252- International Consultant for the Assessment of the

International Consultant for the Assessment of the e-Learning Capacities of the National Institute of Justice of Moldova

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Aug-2015

Application Deadline :

28-Jun-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

up to 30 working days

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

August – October 2015

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The project is seeking to support the implementation of the relevant human rights reforms, plans and commitments, in order to ensure that the capacities of the national human rights institutions are strengthened, so that they are able to perform their key functions on the human rights monitoring, reporting, promotion and protection.

The overall objective of the project is to improve human rights protection and rule of law, including effective national implementation of European and international instruments in the Republic of Moldova, through the strengthening institutional capacities of key actors in relation to justice and vulnerable groups.

The project seeks to strengthen the capacities of public institutions, which have a mandate in the areas relating to human rights, criminal justice, governance and anti-corruption, in performing their key functions. These institutions include the Human Rights Centre (Ombudsperson Office) and the National Torture Prevention Mechanism, the Equality Council, the Ombudsperson in Psychiatry, the National Anti-Corruption Centre, the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, the National Legal Aid Council, the upcoming Monitoring Mechanism on the CRPD implementation, the National Institute of Justice, and the Constitutional Court. In addition to this, key ministries (Health, Social Protection and Education) will be involved in order to strengthen the “governance” and “human rights” components.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is envisaged as playing a key role in relation to the implementation of the whole programme. The NIJ is uniquely positioned to bridge programme`s components in terms of involvement of the target groups as specialised training institution. The NIJ will serve as a logistic platform for the planned capacity building activities, as well as will ensure the anchoring of the programme to ensure its sustainability during and beyond the programme duration.

The Project’s primary bulk of activities focuses on designing and implementation of a systematic training/coaching programme for core staff of the above-mentioned institutions. The aim will be to enhance their technical capacity to perform effectively in relation to their core functions and mandates as well as to mainstream human rights.

The capacity building activities envisaged by the Project will combine off-line and on-line approaches. The traditional (off-line/in person) training activities will be supplemented by e-learning instruments. E-courses are unique contemporary tools which have a long-lasting multiplication potential. The application of internet-based tools will allow ensure sustainability of the traditional (in person) training course, to keep and share the knowledge products produced, and ultimately institutionalise and allow further teaching through the NIJ and/or other interested entities following the end of the Project.

Following these objectives one of the key priorities for the Project is to design and implement effective methods of e-learning that would increase the capacity of the NIJ to provide necessary and efficient training to the staff of the respective national institutions. On the other hand, the e-learning tools will help NIJ in implementing its core mandate – providing training to judges and prosecutors, as well as to other justice related professionals (lawyers, mediators, bailiffs, etc.).

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objectives of this consultancy are:

To evaluate the impact of technology-enhanced learning methods on the provision of professional trainings and other continuing professional development (CPD) courses and programmes in the activity of NIJ;
To analyse the existing platforms and technologies designed for the provision of effective e-learning and evaluate their effectiveness and suitability for the needs of the NIJ;
To conduct a comprehensive assessment of NIJ capacities to develop and provide e-learning tools;
To strengthen the NIJ in-house capacities to create e-learning tools to meet a greater diversity of learner needs in distance-learning settings within NIJ.

In order to achieve the overall objective of the assignment the International Consultant shall perform the following tasks:

Review the existing off-line courses, provide an assessment and develop an extended outline on the transformation of paper based training into e-learning tools in order to assure the sustainability of the courses;
Produce a well-written and comprehensive needs assessment report with recommendations on how to improve the e-learning capacities of NIJ, including infrastructure, design and delivery of new e-courses or converting existing face-to-face course into interactive and participatory e-learning or online courses;

Areas of assessment:

Technology:

Existing e-learning platform and infrastructure for on-line courses, future hardware and software needs (e.g., LMS, virtual classroom, real-time digital collaboration tools, etc.), sustainability of solution, interface design, etc.

Pedagogy:

Cohesiveness and integration of the course, design approach, organisation, and instructional methods and strategies, maintenance of the e-learning environment.

Others:

Accessibility, update/upgrade, staff capacity building needs;
Provide recommendations on the best use of the existing e-learning platforms and technologies for the purposes of the NIJ's objectives and activities and the ways to tailor them to the NIJ's current and future needs (with specific recommendations on various types of courses and training programmes that may be practiced by the NIJ);
Present the findings and recommendations of the assessment at a roundtable;
Provide an in-house training (including agenda, training materials, evaluation) to NIJ staff on how to design and deliver e-courses, to use e-learning tools to design new interactive courses and training programmes, how to assess and evaluate the existing technologies and tools in order to tailor them to the existing courses and programmes and development of new training programmes in a variety of contexts and subjects, particularly how to examine processes or models for learning design, development tools, online delivery platforms, management of online classes in a virtual classroom, and use of digital collaborative tools;
Provide follow up comments and recommendations on the development of the NIJ e-learning capacities;
Perform other assignment related tasks.

For detailed information, please refer to the Terms of Reference http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs.

Competencies

Deep understanding of the nature of Continuing Professional Development programmes and trainings and their objectives, the specific nature of the institutions providing them;
Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status;
Responsibility;
Creativity;
Flexibility;
Punctuality.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree or equivalent (5-year university education) in Pedagogy, Social Sciences, Informational Technologies, Human Rights, Law or other relevant field;
Proven qualification in an education-related discipline is an asset;
Proven experience in designing and/or providing on-line trainings and educational programmes. Experience in designing and/or providing on-line courses and trainings for legal professions is an asset;
Proven experience in working with the international or local organizations on similar assignments (successful experience in working with UN agencies is an asset);
Proven experience in designing and/or providing Continuing Professional Development trainings and courses, particularly for legal professionals, is an asset.

Experience:

At least 5 years of experience in carrying out needs assessments, providing on-line trainings, developing social platforms, e-learning elaboration, implementation and/or evaluation.

Language:

Proficiency in English language;
Knowledge of Romanian language is an asset;
Knowledge of one or more additional languages relevant for Moldova, including Russian, Bulgarian, Gagauzian, Romani, Ukrainian, or sign language is an asset.