The Skills Initiative For Africa held the first webinar in a two-part series on the Tuesday 5th May. The webinar series establishes a platform for engagement with crucial decision-makers to share challenges experienced in implementing digital learning as a response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Part one of the series has therefore focussed heavily on participants sharing information about challenges, constraints and opportunities. Part two will focus on sharing good practices to derive significant lessons to influence future policy and practice. 

Highlights from the first webinar

• Access in digital learning was identified as a fundamental challenge, participants noted South African TVET research, that over 40% of students do not have access to data and/or devices.
• Participants considered the need to engage with telecommunication companies to provide cheaper rates, zero charge for educational content or tailored products for students.
• Possible solutions were identified including using mobile phones, digital content in offline environments, investing in video (and audio) that can be used on or offline, pooling open education resources (OERs) and drawing on existing OER repositories in Africa.
• Good practices were shared on innovative programmes that addressed critical aspects such as mental health support and mentorship processes. 
• Participants identified the importance of developing lecture capacity to adapt content to these remote learning channels. 

To listen to the full recording of this webinar, click on the link below. Download power point presentations from the webinar to learn more. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rp0Zuxyem7noa0nJVkdirXufkRG195-s