Learnthings specializes in providing training, based on the use of ICT and digital content within the learning environment. We offer workshops, skills development programmes and internships.
The following values inform our training and skills transfer philosophy:
- the creation of local expertise
- training for a long-term vision
- the building of local capacity to develop and maintain resources
- follow-through after specified intervention - facilitation of an ongoing relationship
- ensuring correct and valuable usage of resources
- providing contextualized training materials and examples
- setting examples of high-quality digital content
- building independence from suppliers
The projects listed in this document, are examples of our vast experience in providing training solutions to a range of organizations.
 Client: NEPAD Consortium members
Project: NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration Project
Description:
Learnthings was an integral partner in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) e-Schools Initiative, which aimed to impart ICT skills to students in Primary and Secondary schools in Africa, using ICT technology to improve and enrich education in African countries. The initiative also aimed to equip all African Primary and Secondary schools with ICT equipment, and to connect them to the Internet. The NEPAD e-Schools Initiative was led by the NEPAD e-Africa Commission, the special task team of NEPAD, responsible for the structured development of the ICT sector on the African continent.
There were five consortia involved with the NEPAD e-Schools Project, these being lead by AMD, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle and HP. Each consortium was responsible, with the help of its partners from various private companies, for providing an end-to-end solution for a NEPAD e-School. During the course of the one year demonstration period, six schools in each of the 16 participating countries, were monitored and evaluated by the governments involved, NEPAD, the consortium partners and the Commonwealth of Learning. The 16 participating countries include: Lesotho, South Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Gabon, Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda, Rwanda, Egypt, and Senegal.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Assisting in determining the training framework for the consortia
- Providing training for teachers on how to effectively integrate the variety of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) supplied by the consortia, into their teaching
- Assisting in monitoring and evaluation
 Client: Microsoft
Project: Microsoft Partners in Learning – Training
Description:
Learnthings Africa was the digital content development training partner for the Microsoft Partners in Learning initiative in Africa.
“The goal of the Partners in Learning Initiative is to empower schools to increase student learning through teacher development and leadership. Through Partners in Learning, Microsoft is partnering with experts in educator and curriculum development to deliver quality learning and development experiences for educators, resources to support success in the classroom and opportunities to network with colleagues.” (Maggie Wilderotter, Senior Vice President, World Wide Public Sector, Microsoft Corporation.)
We have trained teachers and curriculum developers from Ministries of Education in numerous countries, these being: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Seychelles, Namibia, Ghana and Mozambique. Learnthings was committed to working with local representatives, to ensure that the following was achieved within the digital education arena:
- Training for a long-term vision
- The building of local capacity and expertise to develop and maintain digital resources
- Practical integration of ICT into teaching and learning
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Working with Microsoft to ensure training relevance in the broad African context
- Preparing all training materials
- Liaising with Ministries of Education to coordinate the training
- Consulting with Ministries of Education on the setting up of a digital content development unit
- Providing follow-up mentoring for all participants
- Post-course evaluation
 Client: NOUN (National Open University Nigeria)
Project: e-Learning Workshop
Description:
The goal of this project was to assist the University in the setting up of their e-learning department. The project had three phases:
The first phase included a six day workshop with staff at the e-learning department at the University’s premises in Lagos. It involved a thorough introduction to the process of content digitisation. The workshop had an assessment component to determine skill levels.
The second phase, involved a six-month mentoring programme with participants from phase 1. Participants were required to complete assignments set by a learnthings facilitator. These assignments were assessed, and feedback was given to participants.
The third phase took the form of a follow-up workshop, held in Lagos, which concluded the training program.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- A training needs analysis
- Authoring of training material
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- Management of mentorship program
- Individual assessments
- Project management
  Client: Hewlett Packard and PriceWaterhouse Coopers
Project: Teacher Training at Silver Oaks Secondary School
Description:
Learnthings provided training for teachers at the Silver Oaks Secondary School in Eldorado Park, on basic ICT Literacy as well as the integration of ICT into specific Learning Areas. Silver Oaks was provided with a computer resource centre, as part of a social responsibility project, driven by Hewlett Packard and PriceWaterhouse Coopers.
The training took place over a period of six months, on Friday afternoons and Saturdays to accommodate teachers’ busy schedules.
25 of the 43 teachers at the school completed the basic ICT training component, while 29 of the teachers completed the ICT integration component of the training.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- A training needs analysis
- Authoring of training material
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- Post-training evaluation
 Clients: Heinemann Educational Publishers, Nedbank, the Department of Education KwaZulu Natal, Discovery Health, SAPS
Project: Introduction to the digitization of content
Description:
This workshop was held for 4 days. The focus of the workshop was content creation, the selection of appropriate content for digitization, and the selection of activities to compliment text. Participants were shown how to create a framework for digital content by using an authoring tool, such as Dreamweaver.
Participants were introduced to Flash, including the use of Flash libraries for the creation of assessments. They were also shown how to combine all files into a digital learning environment.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- A training needs analysis
- Authoring of training material
- Compilation of client specific training material
- Facilitation of training
  Client: AMD-Nedbank foundation
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
This project was part of AMD’s 50x15 vision to connect schools across the world. In the initial project, five schools received computers in a networked environment. Learnthings donated content to add value to the offering. The aim of these workshops was to introduce teachers to the idea of using digital content together with other ICTs, as a tool to enhance the teaching and learning environment.
The aim of the second part of the workshop was to follow up on the initial workshop and to introduce additional information on the integration of ICT into teaching and learning.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Project management
- Customisation of training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
 Client: Namibia Institute of Education (NIED)
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
The department of Education in Namibia purchased learnthings content for use in Namibian schools. The aim of the workshop was to equip participants with the skills necessary to use digital content (specifically learnthings content), and how best to integrate the content into teaching and learning.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Compilation of training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
Client: The Namibian Institute of Education (NIED)
Project: e-Content development using Flash
Description:
The Namibian Institute of Education (NIED) is in the process of developing a bank of curriculum material. Learnthings’ involvement included Flash training and on-going support for the content development process, currently taking place at NIED. Learnthings is also running a three-month internship programme for one of the NIED participants.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Compilation of training material
- Facilitation of training
- Facilitation of internship:
- Needs assessment
- Skills audit
- Programme development
- Training and support
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Project management
- A post-training report
 Client: Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
This project involved three rural schools, located in the Eastern Cape. Each of the schools received laptop computers together with a solar power system to drive the computers in the school. Learnthings donated digital content to add value to this project.
The teachers at the schools had very limited computer skills. Learnthings provided training to the teachers on basic computer skills and we followed up with more advanced skills on integrating ICT resources into teaching and learning.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- A training needs analysis
- Project management
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
 Client: Mpilonhle
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
The Mpilonhle mobile units take education to rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal. Part of this initiative was to equip learners at schools with basic ICT skills, in order for them to be able to participate successfully in the 21st century.
Learnthings donated content to the mobile units and the aim of the workshop was to inform principals and teachers involved about the project objectives, and the value of ICT integration into the teaching and learning environment.
- Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
 Client: Eastern Cape Department of Education
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
The Department of Education in the Eastern Cape authorised a project whereby several schools in the area were supplied with data projectors and laptops. The Department purchased Learnthings content to add value to the offering.
The aim of the workshop was to equip the teachers involved in the project, and those with access to the laptops and projectors, with skills on how to integrate ICTs and specific digital content into the teaching and learning environment. Other issues relating to the general use and functioning of the equipment were also addressed.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Installation and activation of content
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
Client: Microsoft – Quacha’s Neck, Lesotho
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
A collaboration project between Microsoft, the Department of Education in Lesotho and learnthings resulted in a project to
up-skill the teachers of the three Microsoft NEPAD schools in the use of ICTs in their classrooms. Emphasis was placed on different methods to integrate ICTs into teaching and learning using practical examples.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Installation and activation of content
- Compilation of client specific training material
- Facilitation of training onsite (Lesotho)
- A post-training report
Client: Microsoft, MultiPoint proof of concept
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
The Department of Education in the Eastern Cape authorised a project whereby several schools in the area were supplied with data projectors and laptops. The Department purchased Learnthings content to add value to the offering.
The aim of the workshop was to equip the teachers with access to the laptops and projectors, with skills on how to integrate ICTs and specific digital content into the teaching and learning environment. Other issues relating to the general use and functioning of the equipment were also addressed.
The desired outcomes of project were to:
- Familiarise teachers with the MultiPoint system in their own teaching environment
- Ensure that teachers would be able to integrate the MultiPoint system in their lesson preparation including building of activities
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Development of training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
Client: Microsoft, OLPC project - Rwanda
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
This project was collaboration between Microsoft, RITC, Rock Global consulting, learnthings and the Ministry of Education in Rwanda. The aim of the project was to illustrate that Microsoft as an operating system, and productivity programmes pre-loaded on the OLPCs can be easily integrated into the teaching and learning environment in Rwanda.
The objectives of the workshop were to:
- develop a three-phased cascade model of teacher development over the course of a five-month period targeted at teachers at Byumba School
- ensure that this specific teacher development model is mapped against the Rwandan Ministry of Education’s Teacher Professional Development Matrix
- familiarise the teachers with models of teaching and learning which are deeply embedded within their individual and community contexts and which can be enriched by Information and Communications Technologies(ICTs)
- familiarise teachers with their own laptops and how to use them to support their core functions as teachers
- develop a core team of teacher trainers who will in turn train the teachers in a phased approach as we endeavour to integrate ICTs into the classroom at Byumba School
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- A needs analysis
- Train-the-trainer sessions and compilation of the training programme for the teacher training that took place at the school in Byumba.
- Alignment of learnthings’ content to the Rwandan curriculum
- Compilation of client-specific training materials
- Monitoring and a post-training report
 Client: Eskom / Mustek – Intel Classmate training
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
This project was a collaboration project between Eskom, and schools in Lephalale and Daveyton. Learnthings was involved as a training and content provider.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Project management
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
 Client: Device SA, ICT integration training
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
Learnthings was commissioned by Device SA, a hardware reseller, to provide training to teachers on the integration of digital content in the classroom environment.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Installation and activation of content
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
  Client: Mustek/MTN
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
Learnthings was commissioned by Mustek, (the implementation manager for this project); to provide teachers from 95 rural schools in the North-West, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the Free State with basic ICT literacy skills. The objective of the project was to equip teachers with the skills necessary to make optimal use of the computer labs and software in their schools. Learners were also included in the training and were shown basic skills such as how to use a mouse, how to search the Internet and how to make use of available educational software?
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Project management
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
 Client: Department of Communications
Project: ICDL training for 250 Youth Offenders
Description:
Learnthings was contracted to manage ICDL training taking place at selected prisons, namely Leeukop, Baberton, Modderbee and Durban. The aim of the training was to provide youth offenders with basic computer skills that would be required to secure job opportunities with the work environment, outside of prison.
Learnthings roles and responsibilities:
- Project management
- Client liaison
- Monitoring
Client: Microsoft
Project: e-Content development training
Description:
Learnthings was contracted to conduct two workshops – one in Zanzibar and one in Dar es Salaam focusing on e-content development. The Zanzibar group consisted of representatives from the NGO sector. The participants in the Dar es Salaam group were representatives from the Tanzania institute of Education and the Ministry of Education. By the end of the workshops, participants were able to develop their own e-content using a Microsoft tool.
Learnthings roles and responsibilities included:
- Project management
- Development of training programme
- Development of training material
- Facilitation of training
- Feedback reports
Client: Device SA, ICT integration training
Project: Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning
Description:
Learnthings was commissioned by Device SA, a hardware reseller, to
provide training to teachers on the integration of digital content in
the classroom environment.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Installation and activation of content
- Compilation of client-specific training material
- Facilitation of training
- A post-training report
 Client: Gateway International School, Zimbabwe
Project: Intel Master training
Description:
Learnthings has been invited to facilitate the Intel Master training. The purpose of this training is to equip Master trainers with the necessary skills to train other teachers on 21st Century teaching and learning skills. Teachers from Several local schools were included in the training which took place in Harare.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Project management
- Client liaison
- Facilitation
- Post training report
 Client: Intel
Project: Classmate teacher training for teachers in Uganda
Description:
As part of a pilot project at Victorious Primary in Uganda – Learnthings conducted teacher training on the use of Classmates in Classroom teaching and learning. Learnthings donated content to add value to the project
Learnthings roles and responsibilities:
- Project management
- Developing of training programme
- Developing of training material
- Facilitation of training
- Feedback reports
 Client: Wildlands Trust
Project: Intel Classmate training
Description:
Learnthings conducted two workshops – one in Pietermaritzburg and one in Richardsbay with teachers from the different Primary schools in the project. The main aim was to ensure that teachers understand and are able to implement the new teaching methodology associated with the Classmate PC solution.
Learnthings roles and responsibilities included:
- Project management
- Facilitation
- Developing of customised training programme
- Developing of training material
- Facilitation of training
- Feedback reports
 Client: Knowledge Point, AUE
Project: Teacher training on the Classmate solution for teachers in Seychelles
Description:
The primary schools in Seychelles received the Intel classmate solution, which included, Classmate PCs, a teacher laptop, charging trolley and Education appliance. The project was a collaboration between Knowledge Point, Critical Links, Learnthings , Intel, University of Seychelles and the Department of Education in Seychelles.
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Collaboration on training needs analysis
- Facilitation of training
- Feedback
 Client: South African Police Services
Project: Whiteboard integration training for trainers at 12 selected training college
Description:
Learnthings has been commissioned to facilitation training on the integration of whiteboard technology in the SAPS teaching and learning environment
Learnthings’ roles and responsibilities included:
- Compilation of customised training material
- Facilitation of training
- Feedback
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Training & Development 
