Individual Consultant – eLearning App/website development

OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Field Office

Duty Station: Bangkok

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : From 7 to 11 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 12-MAY-2024

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The Education Section of UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok) implements regional co-operative programmes and national-level projects designed to promote literacy, non-formal education, equity in education and lifelong learning for disadvantaged children, youth, and adults under the guiding principle of a human rights-based approach to education. Online learning courses and tools have been developed for flexible learning by children, teachers and community people.

In addition, UNESCO Bangkok has been promoting quality higher education and cross-border mobility in Asia and the Pacific, by building national capacities and sharing information. To achieve this goal, we have realized the importance of sharing the most authoritative and relevant information among National Information Center (NIC) on qualifications with the ownership of the Parties of The Asia-Pacific Regional Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education (Tokyo Convention). Therefore, UNESCO Bangkok has been developing and maintaining Asia-Pacific Network of National Information Centres (APNNIC) website https://apnnic.net/.

2. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

UNESCO is seeking an individual IT consultant to develop and maintain mobile learning applications and websites of the Inclusive and Equitable Learning and Higher Education teams. The consultant will also serve as the IT focal point of the teams to liaise with external contractors and partners to implement IT-related activities in collaboration with UNESCO.

3. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervisory Arrangement:

Under the authority of the Director of UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok with guidance from the Chief of Education Section and under the direct supervision of responsible Programme Specialists (Inclusive and Equitable Learning and Higher Education teams), the Individual Specialist will contribute to the maintenance of mobile learning applications and websites to facilitate the implementation of the projects under the teams. He/she is expected to work from home and required come to office to join meetings upon request.

More specifically, the Individual Specialist will undertake the work assignments as follows:

3.1 Provide IT technical support to ensure that all digital applications and websites of Education Section are always accessible, well-functioning, and secure. The list of the main application and websites include:

• LearnBig website and mobile application including Digital School: https://learnbig.net/

• LearnBig backend analytics system: Writing unit tests, integration tests, and performing debugging to ensure the reliability and stability of the backend codebase..

• Equitable Education Hub website: https://equity-ed.net

• Open Online Courses on Lifelong Learning and Digital Skills website (LLL): https://lll-olc.net

• Asia-Pacific Network of National Information Centres (APNNIC) website: https://apnnic.net/

3.1.1 Support the Programme teams to maintain and manage Amazon Web Services, Bluehost, Linux (UBUNTU), and Cloudflare Services.

3.1.2 Monitor and troubleshoot technical issues including security issues in consultation with UNESCO IT officer.

3.1.3 Implement routine maintenance of the websites, database, and provide data backups and updates (daily automated backup for LearnBig, Equitable Education Hub and LLL websites, and manually backup for APNNIC website as instructed by UNESCO IT).

3.1.4 Manage content migrations of the team’s archived websites to ensure that all contents are properly sorted, stored, and displayed on the websites.

3.1.5 Support a technical advisory working group for improving the Asia-Pacific Network of Information Centres (APNNIC) website (https//apnnic.net) and assist National Information Centres of the state parties with troubleshooting information entries in Members restricted pages.

3.2 Serve as an IT focal point to coordinate with the Learning Coin NFE teachers and students in 5 provinces in Thailand (100 teachers, 500 students) and project partners.

3.2.1 Assist in providing ICT training and coordinate with teachers and focal points for each province on troubleshooting.

3.2.2 Monitor the LearnBig backend analytics system daily to ensure that the scholarships are calculated accurately according to the system’s algorithms and generate the bi-weekly scholarship reports.

3.2.3 Support Chulalongkorn University research team to accumulate the daily reading data according to the consistency formula. Pre-process/cleanse the data with the daily reading time scores + test scores and incorporate with the consistency scores. The work includes schema design, optimization, and query tuning to ensure efficient data storage and retrieval as required by the project.

3.3 Provide data analytics of websites, mobile applications, online courses and promote advocacy materials through websites, related social media platforms, and newsletters on a quarterly basis.

3.4 Liaise with external entities, contractors and users on technical issues when required.

3.5 Perform IT support that may be required to ensure the success of the project implementation including ICT devices maintenance (e.g. tablets, laptops), and resource optimization as required. Keep records of Google Forms submitted by teachers on technical issues.

3.6 Ensure that the following requirements are adhered to:

3.6.1 Ensure that customized codes are updated and compatible with the latest version of WordPress and Plug-ins, themes, and operating systems (UBUNTU).

3.6.2 The developments of all project’s websites and web-based applications comply with the UNESCO’s web server security guideline, and all user’s data are stored and kept safely according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).

3.6.3 All websites must be designed according to WCAG 2.1 web accessibility guidelines.

3.6.4 Provide plug-ins to support the learning management system (LMS) implementation of the Lifelong Learning website and others.

3.6.5 Maintain applications guidelines, and keep logs and notes.

In line with UNESCO’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the Individual Specialist is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender analysis and mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible.

4. DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINES

Submit the deliverables to UNESCO for approval as follows:

4.1 ICT training manual on the LearnBig analytics system and application for Learning Coin teachers and students by 31 May 2024

4.2 Learning Coin student’s scholarship performance reports and APNNIC report: Report on the APNNIC portal and its work plan by 28 June 2024

4.3 Learning Coin student’s scholarship performance reports and report on advocacy materials promotion by 31 July 2024

4.4 Report on LearnBig analytics system (including user analytics) and APNNIC report by 30 August 2024

4.5 Report on advocacy materials promotion and APNNIC report by 31 October 2024

4.6 Completion of merging and contents migration of the Equitable Education Hub website and APNNIC report by 30 December 2024

4.7 Report all updated websites/mobile application, advocacy materials promotion and the related guidelines by 28 February 2025

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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5. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science or related fields.

Work Experience:

• Minimum two years of experience in developing and maintaining websites and mobile applications.
• Technical knowledge and experience in IT Infrastructure.
• Experience in working with teachers/schools.

Skills/Competencies:

• Experience in implementing Amazon Web Services (AWS) Infrastructure.
• Experience in monitoring, backup/recovery.
• Knowledge of Linux-based (UBUNTU) systems, SSH and command line, including Hardware, software, networking, Load balancer, Route 53, EC2, and S3 VPC on AWS.
• Proven experience in troubleshooting skills in production support processes.
• Experience in programming in PHP, MySQL, MariaDB, JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
• Highly responsible with the ability to complete tasks in a timely manner.
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Good interpersonal skills, positive thinking, and can-do attitude.

Languages:

• Good knowledge of spoken Thai and English.

6. DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in Docker and Docker Compose, portainer, NGINX and reverse proxy will be an advantage.

APPLICATION PROCESS

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Note:

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidate(s) about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Please submit your application through SuccessFactors. Only if you are unable to attach requirements in system, please inform us at eisd.bgk@unesco.org

The complete application shall be submitted on or before 22 April 2024 at midnight Bangkok time.

UNESCO places great emphasis on ensuring that the objectives of the work assignment, as described in the Terms of Reference, are met. Accordingly, in evaluating the proposals for the assignment, attention will focus first and foremost on the technical elements. From those proposals deemed suitable in terms of the criteria in the Terms of Reference, UNESCO shall select the proposal that offers the Organisation the best value for money.

Assessment:

• Only applications providing the information requested in the application procedure will be considered.
• Evaluation of qualified applicants may include an assessment exercise and a competency-based interview.

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