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Learning Management
System Project
DTC4L’s core courses are now
accredited at 1st and 2nd year university level (SAQA
levels 4 and 5). However, the number of credits
involved at this stage do not yet sum up to what is
required for a "qualification" (i.e. certificate,
diploma, or degree). Nevertheless, that is on C4L’s
radar screen at this stage. This project is about a
grant to take C4L to that optimal level and beyond. C4L
dreams of offering its learning resources to the whole
continent of Africa through an Internet based LMS
(Learning Management System).
Most of those who needs
skills and management development will never be able to
get to C4L or even South Africa. But that should not
deprive them of the opportunity for learning. Closing
the “digital divide” is one of the six points of the
NEPAD agenda. Dedicated NGO people deserve academic
advancement for time spent learning and applying "best
practice" in their work.
There is a logic to this
that has to be grasped first. For example, there have
been so many fly-by-night training providers in South
Africa, that to get accredited now, an institution must
have a definitive site. C4L now owns the campus on
which it operates. Trainers must become assessors too,
so that training delivery is aligned with a national
data-base for skills development. C4L has come a long
way already:
The core faculty of C4L
are real development practitioners. The prima facie
evidence of this is that its mentors are not salaried,
but self-employed demand-driven training providers.
C4L courses are accredited
by SAQA through the Services SETA. This means that NQF
credits earned can be applied towards qualifications
awarded by other post-compulsory institutions.
Over 1000 participants
have attended courses held at the C4L campus. It offers
an on-going calendar of mainly inter-organizational
events. These are periodically refreshed, to scratch
where it itches.
Both itinerant faculty and
C4L training materials travel well. Portability and
language issues have both been addressed in the
institutional arrangements and design of instruments.
A regional grid is in the
works. Technology makes the world smaller and smaller.
This also means that C4L’s mantra – collaboration – can
lead to seamlessness between providers and learners.
C4L is well on its way to
having a comprehensive set of digital materials ready to
launch a Learning Management System on the web. So that
any one can take C4L’s core courses, at their own speed
and in their own setting – accruing all the other levels
of benefit.
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C4L’s LMS project will
bring it to the threshold of launching an LMS:
1. SCOPING: Check out what
else already exists from other providers, complementary
to the materials already generated by C4L. For example,
existing collections of nonprofit management and
development training materials might offer up a lot of
useful learning materials to supplement what C4L has
already generated?
2. RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT:
Generate more suitable training materials (and
digitalize existing materials in an earlier generation
of technology) to fill the gaps in the comprehensive
framework.
3. RESEARCH LMS
TECHNOLOGY: Prepare an “operational model” that will
allow C4L training modules (and others?) to be loaded
into an LMS on a basis that is viable and accessible in
the African context.
Phase 2 is envisaged
thereafter - loading and launching a comprehensive set
of training modules for African CSOs, using LMS
technology. This would go a long way towards enhancing
the capacity of individuals, NGOs, and governments to
participate effectively in service delivery and towards
promoting open and candid exchange of information and
perspectives among the growing number of actors in civil
society.
Project Goals:
-
A full suite of
culturally congruent training modules up and running
on the Internet
-
Coherence
and harmonization; CSOs across the continent observing
one best practice
-
Stronger democracy
in Africa as a result of a vibrant and engaged civil
society
Project Objectives:
1.
To avoid
reinventing the wheel by scoping what “share ware” is
already out there
2.
To fill gaps
in the framework by either locating existing materials
or generating the missing links
3.
To make an
informed and contextualized decision as to which webware
to use
4.
To align
modules with SAQA standards so that accreditation still
applies over the LMS
Rationale:
Off-the-shelf training
courses are at once quite limiting and relatively cost
effective. Mentoring and coaching are relatively costly
– and thus underused. It is difficult for NGO workers
to take extended periods off for training. Visas and
international travel make it difficult for personnel of
CSOs to access training courses at C4L. So most
training is done on-the-job, in other words “in-house”.
While this is more targeted, it does not offer academic
credits. As a result, career advancement for
practitioners is constrained, and this in turn affects
morale and feeds the “brain drain” to the private sector
and out of Africa.
As the “digital divide”
closes, Africa can only get more and more Internet
access. This will allow for resource pooling and
synergizing – to make the most of existing African
resources and know-how.
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Anticipated Project
Outcomes:
SAQA norms are such that 1
credit is earned from 10 “notional” hours. Each C4L
training programme will thus be composed of a variety of
digital tools, such as:
-
a PowerPoint
presentation for viewing (also used by trainers at C4L
in training sessions)
-
training
videos for on-line viewing (also in use in training
sessions)
-
downloadable reading
materials
-
book lists (one
assignment for each learner’s portfolio of evidence
will be a book report)
-
“talking head”
videos also available as downloadable audio-tapes (to
allow for listening at home or in a vehicle)
-
exercises that are
conducted live on-line
-
periodic feedback
(in stages for each module)
-
record of
correspondence with assessor
C4L’s accredited
training programs currently form two bundles.
Development and disaster
management modules are at Level 4. Nonprofit
management modules are
at Level 5. All 16 of these programs currently total 60
credits. These can be recognized by any
qualification-granting institutions. Aside from
creating 16 training programs and securing
accreditation, C4L has already generated a number of
digital training tools – a text CD and some videos. So
this project would be a scaling up of that proven track
record.
If scoping identifies a
broad enough body of training materials, C4L could use
its existing accreditation to leverage another 60
credits, and reach the Certificate threshold. That is,
it could conceivably become an FET (Further Education &
Training) institution offering a certificate in
Community & Organization Development Management.
C4L’s project budget is
$421,850 USD, of which $345,850 is for the South
Africa-based activities. Malawi and Mozambique are the
other two countries involved in this phase. Donors can
resource this project in different ways – by grant
contributions, by information sharing, by volunteer
support (e.g. IT support), or just by talking it up.
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