Learning from case studies

Allow about 30 minutes to read the case and answer the questions that follow

Anisa Manjate, the Director of SSA Institute, a UN Women Second Chance Education partner India is considering how the SSA Institute can adapt and deliver the existing course online in a way that works for both staff and women learners. The opportunities are huge, but so too are the challenges. How should SSA Institute proceed to deliver their existing course online? 

UN Women’s Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning (SCE) Programme aims to develop context-specific, affordable and scalable learning and employment pathways for empowering the world’s most disadvantaged women and young women. These are women and young women from indigenous, refugee, displaced, and low-income groups. They face a combination of key barriers and vulnerabilities that prevent access to relevant educational programmes, including geographic and cultural barriers; gender-based violence, low income, early marriage and childhood pregnancy, conflict and displacement, and poverty and migration.

Over the past years several training and support activities have been provided by UN Women through partnering with Implementing Partners that offer training to target women beneficiaries in Australia, Cameroon, Chile, Jordan, India and Mexico. An important change going forward, is how developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and digital technologies provide opportunities to provide training to more women. Paying for goods and services can now be done through mobile phones. Text messaging is increasingly being used by hospitals to communicate with patients. Social media apps are used by women to tell people about their small businesses. Many organizations, whether business, non-governmental agencies and government, are adopting spreadsheets for allocating work to employees and manage finances in the place of hand-written notebooks. It is also about using ICTs to communicate with work colleagues, external partners and patients. In fact, even those women located in the most remote areas are being reached at a distance through phone calls and social media channels. This new reality makes online learning as equally attractive as traditional classroom learning for training providers.

Adopting online learning does not only require a focus on the learning needs of the women. It also requires training providers to consider how to train their staff to engage with emerging technologies that they may have already started using or will use. Collaborative online learning tools, such as discussion forums, Facebook, phone texting, WhatsApp can facilitate problem-based learning because they promote peer-to-peer collaboration, motivate and empower learners with authority to create and share knowledge. They also enable trainers to better monitor their students’ progress online wherever they are. In the workplace, organizations are using these tools to encourage knowledge sharing among their staff. Those staff who are much better at posting information online at speed can do so. Others who are much better at processing information can quickly go online and process without the need to wait for face-to-face meetings.  This type of virtual knowledge sharing, and online interactions is improving awareness and self-confidence. In short online learning would be great for women in vulnerable communities.

Delivering the SCE courses online can enhance the capacity of SSA Institute to train more women, especially those who have access to the internet but are unable to travel long distances to attend face-to-face training. Whatever the approach chosen, Anisa is certain about two things. First, as a UN Women Implementing Partner, the SSA Institute stands to benefit from the opportunity to deliver courses online. Second, delivering courses wholly online will not be all that easy. The SSA Institute’s existing technology and internet infrastructure may have to be upgraded, their existing courses may require adaptation, teaching staff and students will require some IT training and support. After reflecting on the opportunities and challenges for online learning against its existing face-to-face training, Anisa recommended that SSA Institute should adapt and deliver its existing course online. Table 1 provides a summary of how one of its short courses on ‘Management basics’ was adapted and delivered it online.

Table 1. Adapting to online learning

Adapt what?	Existing face-to-face Learning	Adapt and deliver online learning
Curriculum content	Lecture slides (power-point) with course content Preparatory study activities for seminars and workshops and provide these to learners in print	Convert the PowerPoint slides into audio slideshows (Voice over PowerPoint) without changing the curriculum content Preparatory study activities are uploaded to the online learning portal for participants to access
Teaching strategy	1-hour group lecture 1-hour seminar: participants read text and attend small class seminars where they ask questions and receive answers from the facilitator 2-hour group workshop: participants work in small groups to discuss a case study, present their responses and receive feedback from peers and facilitator	Online Lecture: Listen to Voice over PowerPoint Discussion Forum: Post your answers to seminar questions and join the discussion Each group write up and the group leader upload results on the online portal for the facilitator to review and provide feedback
Supporting learners	Facilitator answers queries from learners in class	Respond to questions posted in discussion forum and reply to emails or online posts by learners
Peer-interaction	Question and answer sessions and exchange of ideas in class during seminars Group presentations, discussions and feedback during in-class workshop	Online discussion forum Learners use phone calls or whatapp groups to complete group task, write-up results in MS Word or Power-Point and upload online or email to facilitator for feedback

 Now answer the following questions

1. What online learning opportunities and challenges are evident in the case?
2. What is the difference between face-to-face and online learning?
3.  From your knowledge of the ICTs and digital technology in your country, what challenges do you see in replicating the approach to adapting and delivering an existing course online? 
4. Write your answers to the three questions in your notebook and be prepared to join the discussion at the Live Event, where we will discuss the answers.
   

This activity will help you to prepare for and participate in the Live Event. The event provides an opportunity for you to consolidate what you have learned in the course and how you can develop a plan for implementing your learning in your future practice. You will have opportunities to discuss your responses to the study activities you completed, share and receive feedback from other course participants and the facilitator.

To ensure that you are fully prepared for the seminar, work through the following tasks in advance:

1. Review your notes from sessions 1-4. For those activities that you did not already complete, this is the time for you to complete them and add to your notes. You will find the notes useful in relating your experiences.
2. Having completed all the activities of the course so far, check if there are any areas where you still need further clarification. Prepare questions and issues you would like to clarify during the event.

Follow the instructions that have been provided to you for joining the event. The Live Event will run for 60 minutes. You have been emailed instructions for attending.

You can also review Session 5 Course Summary and Assessment prior to attending the live event.