Delivering high quality professional development to teachers across vast geographies with considerable demographic diversity is a significant challenge for education systems worldwide. The 2025 Learning Technologies Award for Best use of blended learning (public & non-profit Sector) recognises the British Council, in partnership with Opencentric, for meeting that challenge at scale — directly impacting over 1,500 teachers and an estimated 61,000 learners indirectly across two geographically and demographically diverse contexts: China and Indonesia.

Both programmes blended mobile‑first technology with synchronous mentoring, peer collaboration, and rigorous monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). The result: measurable improvements in teacher confidence, pedagogical practice, and classroom impact. Just as importantly, these initiatives built local capacity, resources and toolkits to support sustainable scale‑up.

 

Why blended learning?

In China and Indonesia, national education reforms have placed renewed emphasis on English language instruction, creating an urgent need to upskill large numbers of teachers. However, both countries face several challenges when it comes to providing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers: geographical dispersion, infrastructure variability, and time constraints for in-service teachers.

Each context also brings unique realities. In China (Tangshan), teachers were spread across 18 areas, rural and urban, with the majority able to devote only one to two hours per week to professional learning. In Indonesia, the Ministry of Education’s push to broaden CPD access while extending compulsory English instruction into earlier grades had to reach teachers across 35 provinces, some in lower band width and resource constrained settings.

For education ministries, these realities present major challenges in delivering accessible, high-quality teacher development at scale. Meeting these challenges requires innovative, adaptable and context-sensitive solutions, something the British Council, in partnership with platform provider Opencentric, delivered in both contexts. The British Council’s approach combined flexible, asynchronous learning with live mentoring and peer collaboration, then anchored the whole project in local capacity building.

 

Designing for context: from needs analysis to practical pathways

Both programmes began with detailed needs analyses to ensure relevance and feasibility.

• In China, a comprehensive survey yielded 947 independent responses, mapping teacher demographics, competencies, constraints, and classroom challenges such as:
  • teaching pronunciation
  • giving feedback
  • using English in class.

This informed pacing (to fit the one to two hour/week window), topics, and the balance between self-access learning, mentoring, and classroom application.

• In Indonesia, initial assessments indicated that around 180,000 teachers would ultimately require training, with many operating at elementary levels of English proficiency, below the national standards. Stakeholder consultations across West, Central and East regions identified key constraints that informed mobile-first design pathways:
  •  varied digital infrastructure and access
  • limited time
  • the need for largescale reach.

These insights directly informed a blended CPD model with flexible mobile-first design and targeted pathways for teachers and trainers. By designing in response to local constraints, the programmes avoided teacher overload, preserved teacher agency, and focused effort on improving classroom practices.

 

Technology that enables learning

At the heart of both programmes sits the British Council’s In Class platform, a unique tool to enhance teachers’ classroom English. The In Class platform was designed to be practical and accessible for all teachers. It offers scenario-based learning, with 95 practical topics, helping teachers improve their classroom English in context. The content presents animated and video rich depictions of common classroom situations (from instructions and feedback to managing group work), and integrates interactive activities powered by H5P (quizzes, drag and drop, branching scenarios, flashcards).

 

Key features that made In Class fit for scale:

• Low‑bandwidth optimisation for reliable performance on mobile devices.
• Simple interface so those with lower English proficiency can navigate intuitively.
• A dedicated self-registration system that enabled teachers to sign up easily using their mobile number or email address.
• Cohort management and shareable registration links via SMS, email or social channels.
• Local audio recording via HTML5, enabling teachers to listen, record responses and self‑assess classroom language without privacy or connectivity hurdles.
• Built on a Drupal open‑source system with Opigno LMS, allowing custom interface to support accessibility in low-proficiency contexts.

 

This technology was intentionally paired with people and regional capacity-building:

• In China, 67 regional Team Leaders received synchronous training to mentor participants, facilitate peer support communities via WeChat, Teacher Activity Groups, and support classroom application and reflection.
• In Indonesia, 34 teacher educators were upskilled through face-to-face workshops and online modules to facilitate Communities of Practice (run on online forums and WhatsApp groups) and guide the classroom application of learning.

The platforms provided access and structure; mentors and peers provided modelling, feedback, and belonging, the social ingredients that motivated teachers and helped them contextualise and apply new practices.

 

A focus on classroom application

Both programmes were organised into phases that aligned activities with specific, observable outcomes:

• Language for teaching: Teachers used In Class for self-access practice of classroom English such as giving instructions, setting up activities, checking understanding, offering feedback, thereby building their confidence and skills.
• Practical application: In China, teachers devoted a semester to practical classroom application of learning. Each teacher recorded three lesson segments, focused on specific classroom management behaviours and English use. They used the recordings to reflect on their progress and received feedback from their mentors and peers against a standardised observation tool. In Indonesia, teachers attended weekly live sessions to observe practical demonstrations of teaching strategies to connect theory to practice.
• Collaborative reflection: Teacher Activity Groups (China) and Communities of Practice (Indonesia) provided regular touchpoints for problem solving, sharing experience, and reflection. These communities reduced isolation, promoted peer collaboration, and helped teachers adapt strategies to local classroom realities.
• Capacity building for sustainability: Training of Team Leaders (China) and Teacher Educators (Indonesia) ensured that programme knowledge and practice would continue beyond the project timelines, embedded in local networks and institutions.

 

Evidence of impact

Both projects embedded mixed methods MEL, combining quantitative surveys and platform analytics with qualitative focus groups, interviews, and observations.

China (TILE):

• Participation: 83% overall completion rate with 92% completing core In Class modules
• Teacher confidence: in using English for classroom management rose from 40% to 96%.
• Professional development: 95% of teachers reported positive impact
• Class effectives: 100% of teachers showed improvement in at least one standard
• Student Engagement: Classroom observations found livelier classrooms, more interaction
• Mentor development: 97% enhanced skills; 92% felt confident to lead future training
• Sustainability: Replicable toolkit and video repository created for the Chinese context

Indonesia (CPD):

• Participation: 96% of participants completed online course modules
• Satisfaction: 93% reported satisfaction with self-access components
• Speaking: A majority (64%) of teachers improved their speaking skills between baseline and endline assessments
• Pedagogical change: Classroom observation showed 83% of teachers demonstrated inclusive practices, a clear shift towards more student-centred, interactive methods
• Educator capacity: 34 Teacher Educators advanced facilitation skills, ready to support national scaleup.

Taken together, the data show not only engagement and completion, but the harder-to-achieve goal of transfer into classroom practice with teachers using more classroom English, more inclusive methods, and methods that engage learners.

 

A blueprint for scalable, sustainable teacher development

The British Council’s blended design shows how to marry global expertise with local relevance:

• start with detailed needs analyses to set realistic goals, constraints, and pathways.
• use mobile‑first, low‑bandwidth technology designed for contextual practice in real scenarios
• pair content with mentoring, peer communities, and structured reflection to enable learning transfer
• embed MEL throughout to capture change and guide iteration
• invest in local capacity to support scale-up.

As Adam Edmett, Head EdTech Innovation at the British Council, notes, “This award demonstrates how technology and pedagogy can work hand-in-hand to transform education at scale. This matters now more than ever, as teachers face unprecedented pressures and education systems everywhere work to address widening learning gaps.” By combining global expertise with local relevance and leveraging flexible technologies like the ‘In Class’ platform, these blended learning models offer a blueprint for scalable, sustainable teacher development adaptable to diverse contexts.

“As education systems continue to adapt to new challenges, we remain focused on building solutions that are practical, scalable, and grounded in real classroom needs. This project shows that meaningful digital transformation happens when technology is designed with educators at its heart,” said William Velasco, Founder and Director of Opencentric.

Find out more about the British Council’s work in English in education:  https://www.britishcouncil.org/english-assessment/school-education

Find out more about Opencentric: https://opencentric.uk/ 

 

 

Neenaz Ichaporia 

EdTech Lead at British Council