Rollout of Confidence in Mizoram
The English team visited Aizawl, Mizoram, from 21 to 25 November 2016 to observe the rollout of the English modules that had begun early that month. With our local partners,we visited five schools over three days:
- Bethlehem Vengthlang High School
- Gorkha High School, Khatla
- Republic High School
- Ramhlun South High School
- Durtlang High School
Our observations were intended to gain insights and gather feedback on the student course design of the CLIx English modules. Most schools had begun with the English Beginner (EB) modules and were doing Lesson 1 or 2 during our observations. Using an observation protocol designed in collaboration with the MIT Research team, we recorded our observations of whole class and student pair activities in the CLIx English sessions in these schools.
A production team member helped document the implementation by capturing images and videos. A technology team member was also present during our observations to assist with any technical issues in the CLIx classroom and record these for further iterations.
In most schools, we observed that even though students had little previous experience ofcomputers, they were comfortable in using them and confidently explored the features in the English modules with little teacher facilitation. Through peer interactions and discussions, many students were creating their own captions in the Open Story Tool activity and were enthusiastically practising and recording conversations in English in the Let’s Talk activity. There were smiles all around and many ‘high-fives’ and ‘fist-bumps’ as students listened to their recorded conversations.
There were smiles as students listened to their recorded conversations.
We were enthused by the teachers’ positive responses to the modules and their belief in the benefits of the module for their students. From these observations, we were able to identify enabling factors for a CLIx classroom. We also identified the disabling factors and some of the gaps in the rollout, which could be addressed more effectively in the TPD.
Overall, a satisfying start to the CLIx English rollout in Mizoram.
(Sujata Bhonsale, Research Associate, English team, CLIx)
