Terms of Reference of Hiring a Consultancy Firm to Digitalize Existing Courses Into E-Learning Format for Imanzi Business Institute
The Private Sector Federation – Rwanda (PSF) is a professional organization, dedicated to promote and represent the interests of the Rwandan business community. It is an umbrella organization that groups 10 professional chambers. It was established in December 1999, replacing the former Rwanda Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Introduction
Imanzi Business Institute (IBI) is a capacity-building institute established by the Private Sector Federation of Rwanda (PSF) to deliver capacity-building programs, especially business management training to the business community. Established in 2020, IBI provides Training online and in person.
IBI delivers Training using its resources (curricula and trainers) and works with carefully selected third-party trainers and partners to provide tailor-made Training. Our capacity-strengthening products and services are based on identified needs and aimed at catalysing positive outcomes for our clients.
IBI's vision is to become a world-class knowledge centre for enterprise skills training in Africa. Its mission is to provide high-quality business management skills training and mentorship designed for enterprises to realize their full potential.
In view of the above, IBI has recently developed an online learning platform (https://ibi.org.rw) which will offer high-quality teaching and learning content. The online courses will be delivered asynchronously. That mode of delivery provides communication between the instructor and trainees on an infrequent basis, with trainees largely autonomous and self-directed in what they learn, when, and how.
Course materials are already available, including manuals with activities, case studies, and presentations (MS PowerPoint). In collaboration with the IBI team and trainers, the consultancy firm will transform those course materials for online self-study.

Objective
This tender aims to transform in-person courses into online and Asynchronous courses, which will provide communication between the trainer and participants on an infrequent basis, with trainees largely autonomous and self-directed in what they learn, when, and how. The courses will be built for the IBI e-learning platform. The IBI LMS can accommodate e-learning courses in all versions of Scorm, and it has its authoring tool.
Quality requirements

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For content transformation
Before developing and transforming the content, review the proposed learning objectives:
• Make sure the content and knowledge assessment tests and exercises “match” the lesson objectives at every step in the workflow process.
• Provide or add all the knowledge needed to meet the learning objectives, including information that may seem obvious to you but may be unknown to learners.
• Use examples that are likely to be familiar to most, if not all, learners. People taking the course may have different backgrounds, so use a variety of examples. This will help learners understand and remember concepts.
• Classify topics for each lesson as follows:
Must know: a core part of the content; the learner needs to understand these concepts.
Nice to know: the learner could get by without this information, but it could help develop a better understanding of the subject or add interest for the learner.
NB: Converting the existing course content into eLearning content is not simply about copying material from one format to another. Rather than just “transferring” the content, think of this process as “transforming” it from a static module into a creative and interactive online experience.

Authoring content for e-lessons is not the same as writing books or scientific articles. The following tips on language style could be helpful:
Tips on language style:
• Write directly and clearly. To accomplish this, keep sentences short. One rule of thumb is that a sentence should not be longer than 25 words. It is important not to give the reader more ideas or information than can be handled at once.
• Avoid jargon.
• Avoid culture-specific slang, colloquialisms, and examples when addressing a multicultural audience.
• Be sensitive to the fact that many learners are not native English speakers. Write as you talk. Informal language and contractions (e.g., don't, we're) can be used.
• Minimize the use of compound sentences. When you see a colon or semi-colon, examine the sentence to see if it could be made more straightforward by breaking it into shorter sentences.
• Use personal pronouns (e.g., "you") to refer to learners. This personalized instruction involves the reader.
• Use bulleted lists when appropriate.
• Use gender-inclusive, non-sexist language (e.g., sexist: “Over the years, men have continued to use non-renewable resources at increasing rates;” gender-inclusive: “Over the years, people have continued to use non-renewable resources at increasing rates.”)
• Use the active voice. In a passive construction, the agent of the action often disappears from the scene. Use the passive voice only when the active voice is unduly awkward.
• Spell out acronyms in full the first time they are used. Consider adding them to the glossary if appropriate.

Integrating media elements
There are many different kinds of media elements that can be combined to create captivating e-lessons. Pay careful attention when integrating media elements into the storyboard to avoid overloading learners' working memory, as this can negatively affect the learning process.
Graphics include illustrations, pictures, diagrams, and icons. They can range from realistic photographic images to schematic representations or even tables.
Display on-screen text to provide the best readability and clarity.
If possible, use diagrams, graphs, and flow charts to help the learners understand the content.
Use graphic conventions consistently; for example, the italic style must always be used for the same purpose.
Use lists or tables to help learners organize the information.
Use list points or blank spaces to separate items in a list or focus the attention on them.
Consider word and row spacing to improve text readability.
Avoid graphics that do not function in complementing your text's information. Purely decorative graphics do not help learners understand the text and should be minimized.
Adding extraneous pictures can interfere with understanding presented materials, thus jeopardizing the learning process.
If you use printed words to comment upon the graphics, place them near the parts of the graphics they refer to so that learners' attention is not divided.
If you use spoken words (narration), present corresponding graphics and spoken words simultaneously so that learners' attention is not divided.
Use digitized photographs to create a realistic context and suggest analogies to real-life situations.
When developing a text table, ensure that sequential relationships are accurately reflected and arrange sequences so they are represented from left to right and from top to bottom on the page. Working contrary to that "natural" flow can create confusion. When using text tables, provide instructions on how to interpret and use the table.
Effective use of audio greatly increases the effectiveness of a course. Audio can be combined with on-screen text to summarize or expand key points or accompany video sequences.
The delivered e-courses must meet IBI platform quality criteria:
• Be based upon thorough identification of the learning needs of the target audience;
• Contain engaging learning activities and compelling course content that enhances retention and transfer;
• Content packages are scalable for PC, Tablet, and SMART phones. Content and media do not violate third-party copyrights, preferably using sources with a Creative Commons license, and all sources are correctly cited.

Developing practice and Assessment tests
Practice and assessment questions should be designed to reinforce the achievement of learning objectives. Questions play an important role in involving learners and keeping their attention, so you should try using them as much as possible in your storyboard.
In a job-oriented course, the questions should be placed in a job-realistic context to build knowledge and skills that can be transferred to the job. Developing practice and assessment tests for different types of knowledge.
Different types of practice and tests are required for different types of content. The table below offers some tips for promoting and assessing:
• memorization of facts;
• understanding of concepts and processes; and
• application of procedures and strategic principles.

Questions formats
In self-paced e-learning, practice and tests mainly consist of questions associated with response options and feedback.
They generally have the following structure:
• a question or statement; an operational message that indicates to the learner how to perform the required operations (e.g., click, drag, press a key);
• a series of options; the correct answer; and
• feedback for the right and incorrect answers.
The most frequently used question formats include Multiple-choice quizzes, Matching quizzes, Yes-or-no quizzes, True-or-false quizzes; multiple responses quizzes; fill-in-the-blank; and short answer/essays.

Key points of the Units or Chapters
• The typical structure of a storyboard for an e-lesson includes the following elements: learning objectives, introduction; content and practice (the core of the lesson); summary.
• The lesson's core comprises a combination of text, media elements, examples, and exercises.
• Various instructional techniques can be used to present the content, such as storytelling, scenario-based approaches, toolkits, and the demonstration-practice method.
• Adding examples is crucial to facilitate understanding concepts and applying strategic principles.
• Different media can be used to illustrate the content. It is crucial to use them appropriately to avoid overloading learners' working memory.
• Practice and assessment tests facilitate the achievement of learning objectives. In self-paced e-learning, practice exercises and tests mainly consist of questions associated with response options and feedback. Questions should be created for critical topics or tasks and use explanatory feedback to reinforce learning.

Scope of Work
The consultancy firm is expected to develop e-courses in areas of:
1. SME Management
2. Tourism
3. ICT
4. Management
5. Finance & Accounting
6. Tax and Investment
7. Etc

To understand this, the successful consulting firm will be required to hold a kick-off meeting with the IBI team and trainers to:
1. Understand IBI's vision, mission, and activities,
2. Identify the most suitable transformation approach according to the specific needs of IBI, clients, and stakeholders, considering future growth of IBI and implications for the contents.
3. Propose content to create new multimedia materials to deliver existing content in the LMS.
After the meeting, the assignment will be carried out in phases as follow:

Phase 1: Documentation and Analysis of existing training materials
Activities:
1. Review existing training materials for available courses and where are missing to develop them:
1. Identify training materials that can benefit from multimedia development
2. Review existing instructional strategies employed. Are they adequate? What aspects need to be added, clarified, and improved?
3. Looking at the learning objectives of each course, identify if new content development is needed2. For each course: develop a plan to move the learning content online, reach a balanced multimedia output, and identify and use the best formats and modalities to reach the target group and intended outcomes.
4. Develop an e-course template (storyboard) that will be used and followed for all the courses.

Deliverables:
Inception Report that will have the following information:

Phase 2: Design the e-courses
Activities:
1. Redesign learning objectives to fit the web-based learning based on the analysis findings.
2. Design, edit, and integrate digital content, graphics, PowerPoints, animation, photography, illustrations, imaging products, video, and other multimedia visualization/ multimedia learning resources in the training program materials.
3. Prepare between 50-100 questions for each module and their answers in different forms depending on the unit or subject.
4. Design a feedback mechanism to determine whether participants can digest the lessons.
5. Design the courses following the storyboard developed.
6. Design interactive eLearning activities that are trackable in an LMS (SCORM compliant).
7. Draft the e-courses following the approved storyboard.
8. Produce the e-courses content and ensure that all e-courses are in SCORM format.
9. Test the e-course
NB: Converting the existing course content into eLearning content should not consist of copying material from one format to another but rather a “transformative process” from a static module into a creative and interactive online experience.

Selected courses might be in Kinyarwanda and English.
Deliverables:
1. Final e-version of all the agreed courses in SCORM format
2. Report on the upload of the transformed courses to the IBI e-learning platform.
3. Final report.

Composition of the offer
Proposals should include a separate technical and financial offer.

Administrative documents: presentation of the consultancy firm and consultants
Profile of the consultancy firm:
• A copy of the Domestic Company Registration Certificate (RDB);
• A copy of the Social Security Certificate delivered by the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) that is still valid on the day of submission of the offer;
• A copy of the Tax Clearance Certificate delivered by RRA that is still valid on the day of submission of the offer;
• Signed CVs and copies of degrees of consultants, as well as their roles in the project;
• At least one completion certificates for similar assignments performed by the team members are an added value;
• Valid PSF membership.

Technical offer
The technical offer must include the following parts:
• Understanding of the context and objectives of the assignment.
• Presentation of the methodological approach to carry out the assignment.
• A work plan for the assignment (submit the duration of the digitalization of one Business Management Training course. The total time of the assignment will be agreed upon during the signature of the contract after knowing the total number of courses that will be transformed).
• Technical specifications of the proposed solution.

Financial offer (all-inclusive and all taxes included)
The consultancy firm will propose a detailed financial offer covering all assignment phases. This includes all costs related to the mission and all taxes. No additional costs will be reimbursed based on supporting documents.
NB: The financial offer should be calculated based on one course of the Business Management Training Courses. The number of courses to be transformed will depend on the financial proposal submitted for one course.

Timeframe
The assignment is expected to commence immediately after the signing of the contract and end before October 20th 2022.

Profile of Consultants
The consultancy team should consist of at least the key members described below with these minimum profiles:
• Team leader (1): has at least a Master's degree in Digitalization, Education, Business management, Project Management or any related field. Has at least three years of experience coordinating e-learning projects, developing training modules for different organizations, and monitoring and evaluating the delivery of those modules. Have experience in leading a team. Proof that s/he has completed at least two similar assignments on course development and Instructional design.
• E-Learning Instructional module designer (1): Bachelor's degree in computer, education or any other related. At least 3 to 5 years of experience developing eLearning content for training adult learners (i.e., content development and design for online learning), having Professional experience in IT System development and designing. Experience in e-learning quality assurance; expertise in instructional design for online courses by utilizing existing and new content. Familiarity with e-learning systems, Moodle, cloud-based authoring tools, standalone authoring tools, and other Learning systems are desirable. Proof that they have completed at least two similar assignments for a professional training institute or any other organization.
• Multimedia Expert (1): Has a bachelor's in communications, media design, and other related fields. Has skills in developing and implementing multimedia content development plans; Can create plans to produce multimedia content and coordinate their implementation. Having strong experience in designing and developing, editing, and embedding multimedia content as learning materials in the eLearning courses. Experience with taking and editing videos and photos for digital courses; experience with using multimedia technology and software development tools. Has at least three years of experience in graphic design, multimedia content development, and communication.
• One experienced trainer in the areas of training.

Submission of Bid documents
The offers (financial and technical) must be submitted to PSF by email only at procurement@psf.org.rw before 8th September 2022 at 5 PM, addressed to Chief Executive Officer, PSF. Any request for additional technical information should be addressed to procurement@psf.org.rw.