What to take into account when developing courses for low resource areas or developing countries

Challenges for Developing Global Online Courses in Low Resource Settings by Inge de Waard

In this session you will see:
Technical, human and motivational challenges
How to reach learners in low resource settings
How to motivate learners from a variety of cultures
Strategic issues to take into account while planning global eLearning
The importance of well trained tutors

Why should you take cultural differences into account?
Let the learner feel s/he matters
Localized content feels closer to the learner
Knowledge is at its best with a variety of viewpoints
Different cultures have different educational histories and preferences
Every region has its specific way of communicating
Logic is not universal
Knowing how to address a target group is important if you go for a new market
And all of your ideas!

As all of us go global … we need to build bridges

Balance
Bridges are build at both shores, so reach out from your end, all of the learners will come across as well. Look for communicative consensus whenever possible.
Creative, pro-active and strategic thinking helps

1 eSCART specifics
eSCART = electronic Short Course of AntiRetroviral Therapy
Target group: physicians and health care workers in low resource areas (developing countries) working on HIV/AIDS
We put in meta objectives for the course developers to attain
Started as a face-2-face course 6 years ago. With very positive evaluation feedback => we were confident about the content.
Start from what you have and learn what works

eSCART statistics
In 2 eSCART’s: 85 learners from 31 countries, mostly developing countries
First time eLearners engaged in this course: 75%
Drop out rate last eSCART: 5% (= 2 dropped out)
Rating eSCART: Excellent: 66% Very good: 30%

Let’s look at the course structure
Study guide and prerequisites
Introduction week
Pretest
13 modules which were accessible for limited time periods
Diverse interactivity: group work, self-assessments, quizzes, written assignments, content delivered by the learners, debating cases, discussion forums
Posttest
Certificate

Human resources when running
Overall course tutor: 1
Technical tutor: 1 (first 2 weeks 2)
Facilitators: 9
Subject Matter Experts (SME) most of them are also the facilitator of their module: 12

What does eSCART content look like?
Moodle = LMS: is developed in many languages, works well in low resource settings

eSCART e.g. text + picture module

eSCART e.g. multimedia module

Let’s put ourselves in the learner seat challenges human motivational technical What challenges does a learner meet?

2 Technical challenges
These need to be tackled before the rest can be handled. To allow the best possible environment:
Make the minimum technical requirements known to the possible applicants (before they apply: audio, cdrom…)
Pre-course entry-questionnaire with technical issues
Technical tutor on stand-by 24/7 (at the beginning) due to different time zones
so what technical issues do we address?

How long does it take to open 180 kB? Not sure

Problems with infrastructure
Most common problems:
slow connectivity and
frequent power cuts.
So limit the download time:
Deliver standardized content this limits plug-in needs
Deliver (multimedia) lectures and plug-ins on a CDrom
Build a live line to the technical tutor (not only through computer!)
Make most interactivity asynchronous

Keeping track
Keep track of your learners progress at all times
Use a Learning Management System that fits the low resource challenge (test beforehand)
Both technical and general tutor should track, but both with different purposes
The technical tutor will track intensely at the beginning of the course

Keep online data small in size
Lectures and plug-ins on CDrom, but quizzes, discussion forums, assessments can only be done online => security reasons
To keep the learner motivated, all the online material should be easy to open and to use
=> select appropriate software: ( SCORM -compatible for easy grading and easy on the connection)
But keep this Ethiopean proverb in mind: “I want the wheat flour, I don’t care about the mill”, The learning is what matters, not the technology.

3 Human challenges…
go hand in hand with motivation, but they are explicit and personal
so what do we address?

Finding yourself reflected in the course
Make the content diverse: and make those differences visible
We built a database to extrapolate what type of visuals, audio, video depictions we were using
From the database quantitative data can be extracted

What does that DB look like?
We analyze all visual and audio material:
gender ( female/male/other ),
race ( based on visible skin color )
activity ( is the protagonist in the visual active or passive )
Purpose: deliver content that is diverse, so the international learner can relate to it

Respect local human constraints
Professional demand : synchronous activities? Think about time zones, be flexible for 1-1
Important religious days : no assignment deadline or key moments on these days
Leave room for family matters : death, weddings and the local associated rituals (more than one day sometimes)
Be respectful in your communication, even if the learner response seems aggressive at first ( possible language barrier )

Be aware of your own ‘obviousness’
Different educational strategies and methods are used. Make sure learners from different cultures feel respected even though you propose your own learning method (constructivist approach, Confucius’ method…)
Audio contact is much more appreciated than text in much of the South
Narratives are very common as educational method (oral traditions)
So be very explicit about your expectations and about your delivery methods
(e.g. Latin-America, South-East Asia)
27/43

4 Motivational challenges
Let’s look at how can you keep learners from all corners of the world motivated to continue learning

Leveling the learner starting level
Know their technical facts: pre-course survey
Comfort wise: trust
Self-confident: intro week
Clear study guide
Online conduct guidelines
Make the first tasks EASY to keep learners motivated

Importance of the tutor / facilitator
Use facilitators (mostly SME) from different cultures (= recognizable identity)
Attract an overall course tutor that has worked and lived in international settings
Contact with the tutor is expected and very important in most South countries
…

Importance of the tutor / facilitator (cont)
Communication skills and ability to respect differences
Feedback serves its purpose best when offered immediately and comprehensively
Give the main tutors tracking skills => no news for a couple of days: check
Be humble and willing to learn from the course participants
Offer a training program for facilitators to get familiar with all aspects of the course and crucial skills:

Scrutinize your content
Add meta learning objectives for yourself & attain them
Let your content be screened by specialists from other continents (and cultures)
Use real-life international situations for your content
Learner-centered learning: actively put learner content in the course: their cases, their expertise, their needs
Use parts from different educational methods: collaborative learning, learner-centered content, fully prepared knowledge…

Intrinsic motivation
What do they get out of it?
Certificate or bi-monthly award for ‘best learner’
Knowing that they are on top of their profession
Get continued (medical) education afterwards
Long-term network possibilities (Community of Practice)
Career / growing opportunities: becoming a facilitator for their region/clinic (we pick-up best learners as possible facilitators)
Increased IT-confidence and skills
Give the learners a place to share THEIR references and content, show their expertise

Priority: communication & interactivity
Communicate very clearly what your communication will be like
Be open and clear throughout
Give them communication guidelines
Never feel offended as a tutor, give them a chance to explain what they really mean
Pick-up learners that trot behind
Give confidence to your learners

And … keep it FUN to learn
Add fun contests: e.g. chocolate contest
Allow a social forum where the learners can unwind from time to time

Remember general best practices:
Organize evaluations on both content and support
Address different learner skills
Add interactivity whenever possible
Add self-assessments so the learner knows what s/he has learned
Organize social learning moments
Check-out eLearning Guild resources …

We are almost there  rounding up

A quick overview to address challenges
Screen your visual and AV material for diversity
Deliver heavy content via an external tool (cdrom, usb..)
Use a pre-course technical survey
Know when important religious days are planned
Content screened by international specialists
Tutor and facilitators trained
Keep track of learner progress and access
Communicate respectfully at all levels
Allow users to give their expertise
Give certification or accreditation

Anticipate challenges prepare for the future
Allow many technologies to be used: mobile, computer, voice to text… but limit high end synchronous media (Africa and Asia: mobile use much higher, mobile connectivity better)
Some PPTs on mobile projects in low resource areas

More information - links
Pre-course technical survey
Paper on database for quantifying types of visuals
List with conduct guidelines
Long-term network and Continued Medical Education site

Contact me Email: idewaard@ itg.be Blog: ignatiawebs.blogspot.com Delicious : http:// del.icio.us/ignatia LinkedIn: http:// www.linkedin.com /in/ ingedewaard Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ignatia PPT: http:// www.slideshare.net/ignatia

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What to take into account when developing courses for low resource areas or developing countries

by Inge Ignatia de Waard on Sep 24, 2009

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What to take into account when developing courses for low resource areas or developing countries — Presentation Transcript