Over the past 2 years, DID has explored several digital tools in an effort to share expertise with its partners. This trend has become even more relevant now that travel and gatherings required for classroom training are prohibited or limited in most countries due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Consequently, DID has focused more attention on using technology to support initiatives in the field. In recent years, several DID projects started offering training programs and structuring partners' learning paths on a digital platform.
Support for the Agricultural Finance System in Columbia project (PASAC)
Moodle’s open source platform was tested for the hybrid training program to prepare trainers under the Oportunidades entre nuestros manos financial education program, built in cooperation with the National Federation of Coffee of Colombia. This 18-hour virtual training program helped coach 360 trainers over a 9-month period. The Moodle platform helped optimize training time and create opportunities for trainers to share information. This initiative was a success. All learners completed hands-on activities, and the customer satisfaction rate was very high.
Entrepreneur Financial Centre (EFC) in Tunisia
There were 2 programs developed on the Talent Soft platform: one for credit officers and the other for service centre managers. The credit officer training program includes 14 workshops and was offered to 130 credit officers. The objective of the service centre manager training program is to support managers' professional development and it includes three training modules given over 6 months. The modules cover various management aspects, including operational efficiency, complex situation management and what makes a winning team. So far, 15 managers have completed the online activities.
STEP
The STEP project in Vietnam will use Moodle, a platform selected with the approval of the partner, which will be responsible for managing, maintaining and hosting the site until project completion. Training programs for credit officers and auditors of the People's Credit Funds (PCF) are currently being developed. Online learning activities, in addition to classroom activities, will translate into the adoption of new credit and governance tools. Training sessions are planned for fall 2020.
Agricultural and Rural Financing in Mali (FARM)
The Agricultural and Rural Financing in Mali (FARM) project is looking into using an LMS to perform certain planned training activities. A pilot is underway with the Banque Malienne de Solidarité for a training module on agricultural credit management.
About learning management systems
A Learning Management System (LMS) is software that supports and manages a learning process or educational path. This type of software is commonly used by universities for both distance courses and classroom training. It allows work to be shared, provides access to additional readings and exercises, enables tabulation of student results, facilitates communication with the professor, and more.