Connecting the Mekong through Education and Training Quarterly Report Year 4 Second Quarter - January 1 to March 31, 2018

The YouRock content includes skill-based resume creation, online learning resources, and other opportunities. The jobseekers-specific content adds significantly to the utility of the portal as a convener, a place where all stakeholders involved in MekongSkills2Work are able to access resources, share information, and identify and build connections. The Professional Development (PD) expert team, drawn from instructors who received the Master Trainers with Distinction, will engage significantly with the project's online presence. As MekongSkills2Work continues to grow, PD expert team members will have the choice of serving as either an online instruction expert or coaching expert (or both). Online instruction experts will be responsible for delivering the online course, setting up the course in Edmodo, enrolling lead instructors for each stage, and reviewing and grading assignments. Coaching experts will engage in a mix of online and face-to-face activities, including monthly webinars with the technical advisor in the US and face-to-face workshops to practice coaching approaches and reflect as a group. The project continues its effort to develop meaningful partnerships between Mekong Learning Centers (MLCs) and the private sector - ones that meet mutual interests and respond to the project's objective of improving youth employability. Significant developments in partnerships for mutual benefits include Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Institute of Technology of Cambodia (ITC) joining hands to organize the AWS Educate Day, a set of free, in-person training sessions that provides students and educators with a step-by-step introduction to the core AWS services for computer, storage, database, and networking. In Myanmar, University of Technology Yatanarpon Cyber City (UTYCC) is interested in joining Cisco Academy Network and will encourage its instructors to take Cisco online courses such as IoT fundamentals. Innovation and institutionalization are key components of the project's success. Ongoing collaboration with Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Intel introduced four MLCs to the intensive design experience (IDE) through innovation challenges this quarter. UTYCC, MU, HCMUTE, and University of Danang successfully tested the institutional innovation challenge model, joining ITC in completing the first round of MekongSkills2Work Innovation Challenges. Of the five pilot institutions, three – UTYCC, MU, and ITC – also participated in a global challenge, Invent for the Planet, organized by TAMU. The UTYCC team, "Edu-LIGHTER," won second place and was invited to visit Austin, Texas, to work with the winning team to complete a joint solution. Throughout the past year of implementation, it has become clear that innovation is one of the keys to the project's success with partner institutions. Design thinking, particularly human-centered design thinking, allows for creativity and project-oriented learning to effectively address problems and engage participants. The project recognizes the power of this approach and will continue to incorporate it into its activities.