Over the past three years, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has supported the Flexible Open and Distance Education (FODE) division within the Ministry of Education, Papua New Guinea with its gradual migration towards a blended and online learning provision. After initial COL support for online curriculum and content development in Moodle, FODE has created its own Moodle installation. In 2024, FODE will begin offering Grade 11 subjects through its new platform while starting work on content for Grade 12.

To help prepare for the FODE launch in 2024, COL organised an in-country training workshop for FODE curriculum developers and facilitators. The primary objectives of the workshop were to:

• enhance the proficiency of participants in Moodle and online facilitation;
• foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among curriculum developers and facilitators; and
• improve the quality of education delivery within the FODE programme.

Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the workshop’s effectiveness in improving Moodle proficiency and promoting collaboration.

Dr Tony Mays, COL’s Education Specialist for Open Schooling, observed, “Online provision is a new initiative for FODE, and it has taken time for classroom-based teachers to learn how to develop online course content, initially focused on text and graphics but then progressively adding video content and digital interactivity. It also required time to then develop appropriate grade books where a small pilot with volunteer learners helped to identify some gaps in these materials.”