Powering conservation
education
The iLearnabout team have a wide and varied experience of education, connectivity, e-learning and conservation in Africa.
Our own studies
Early research confirmed not only an urgent need for iLearnabout but a commitment to implement resources within existing schools and clubs. We consulted a number of grass-roots and on-the-ground conservation bodies across Sub-Saharan Africa in order to ensure we developed educational content that is relevant, necessary and required to fill current gaps. Our well thought-out content is based on topics that reflect the Sustainable Development Goals, National Curricula and up-to-the-minute issues.
Working with a leading ed-tech provider, Mwabu, who generously provided free technical resources, we have brought our ideas to life.
Several conservation NGO partners, education organisations and teachers across Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa were consulted in order to get preliminary feedback on the demonstration resources, all giving constructive and positive comments.
Using this information, we developed a pilot topic pack on the theme of Biodiversity. Three key partners; Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, Elsa Conservation Trust and Africa Network for Animal Welfare conducted a comprehensive pilot study in 20 schools with over 500 children, using a range of scenarios in urban and rural communities and teaching centers, different age groups and teacher training options. All pilot partners confirmed that the materials were well recieved by teachers and children and expressed an immediate need for the full range of topics with the intention of using the resources as quickly as possible. Pre and post knowledge testing and feedback has been used to finalise the iLearnabout platform. Read the report >
In line with the pilot findings and demand, topic packs on Climate Change, Wildlife Conservation, Soil, Biodiversity, Forests, and Water and Livelihoods have already been developed and made available on our learning platform. A further topic pack, Humans and Wildlife will be finalised soon. These resources along with training advice are available on the iLearnabout Moodle site. Organisations and schools across Kenya, Malawi and Zambia are now using the materials as extracurricular teaching activities with great effect. The intention is to progress and expand the roll out of resources to any school or organisation free of charge.
From a ministerial and governmental aspect, we are liaising with the Kenyan Institute for Curriculum Development (KICD) and Zambia’s Ministry of General Education in line with current curriculum reform, to help define the content further and potentially disseminate the programme through national schools.
At the same time, we are engaging with individuals, trusts and the private sector to secure further support and funding.