eLearning / TSL in African Environmental Organizations

1. eLearning / TSL in African Environmental Organizations Summary of a Pan-African Survey conducted on behalf of UNEPJan. to May 2009 Arndt Bubenzercommon sense – eLearning & training consultants Ltd.

2. About this Pan-African Survey The Survey „eLearning/TSL in African Environmental Organizations“ • was carried out on behalf of • was designed to collect information on technology supported learning activities across the environmental field Africa and to create an address and data base of organizations carrying out such activities.

3. Background AMCEN – Decision 6 The Africa Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), held June 2008 in Johannesburg, endorsed a ministerial decision • to strengthen environmental education programmes • To promote the use of technology supported learning throughout Africa.

4. The Survey Sections: • Administrative Information • Education on Sustainable Development / Environmental Education • Technology Supported Learning

5. The Survey Statistics: • 2 language versions (Engl./French) • 2380 views • 550 full responses(370 engl / 180 french) • Response rate 24% • N= sufficient indicator for activities in the field • Full survey available digitally from UNEP

6. Respondents Countries ( Anglophone Survey) Approximately 370 individuals from Environmental Organizations/Agencies of the following countries responded to the English language survey: Seychelles, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Mauritius, Mozambique, Liberia, Uganda, Egypt, Swaziland, Angola, Botswana, Senegal, Somalia, Tunisia, Sudan, The Gambia, Lesotho, Morocco, Libya, Benin, (plus some Palestine, Jordan, Vietnam, Europe, US)

7. Respondents (Francophone Survey) Approximately 180 individuals from Environmental Organizations/Agencies of the following countries fully responded to the French language survey: Sénégal, Republique Democratique du Congo, Niger, Mauritanie, Côte D’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Comores, Republique Centreafricaine, Burundi, Togo, Mali, Tchad, Madagascar, Tunisie, Cameroun, Algérie, Benin, Gabon, Maroc, Ethiopie, Guinée-Bissau

8. English + French Survey Responses = Organizations in 45 out of 53 African countries participated at least with one reply

9. Selected Survey Results - Organizations The Survey was answered by a variety of organizations, the largest number of them either • Universities (engl.) • Government Agencies (fr.)

10. Selected Results - Coverage of responding Organizations Most responding organizations cover environmental issues on a country level (e/fr), followed by Africa-wide coverage.

11. Selected Results – Environmental Education Strategy The Survey shows that • almost 60% of all organizations have an Environmental Education Strategy (EE) in place.

12. Selected Results – Network Membership The Survey shows that • only 30% of all responding organizations are member to an Environmental Education/ Education for Sustainable Development Network.

13. Selected Results – Target Audiences Audience: • Approx. 30% of the organizations have target groups in the tertiary education field • 25% each are targeting secondary and primary education fields • 20% target other areas, also including informal education

14. Selected Results – Strtegic Plan for eLearning The Survey shows that • More than 70% of all responding organizations have no eLearning/TSL strategy in place.

15. Selected Results – eLearning/TSL Activities The Survey shows that • in the anglophone regions, roughly 50% of all responding organizations are conducting online- or eLearning/TSL activities • while in the francophone regions, roughly 30% conduct such activities

16. Selected Results – eLearning / TSL Activities The Survey shows that • in the anglophone regions, roughly 50% of all responding organizations are conducting online- or eLearning/TSL activities • While in the francophone regions, roughly 30% conduct such activities

17. Selected Survey Results – Purposes / Target Audiences The responding organizations use eLearning/TSL for different target audiences. It is mostly used for staff development (internal target audiences and outreach).

18. Selected Results – eLearning/TSL Team Currently, very few organizations can utilize the services of an in-house eLearning/TSL team and largely have to outsource eLearning/TSL activities. • Less than 40% have their own eLearning/TSL team

19. Selected Results – Funding If organizations from the field of environmental training are carrying out eLearning/TSL activities, most of these are funded… • internally (60%) • externally / Donor funded (35%)

20. Selected Survey Results – Purposes / Target Audiences When asked which kind of support would assist organizations most in deploying eLearning/TSL activities (or additional eLearning/TSL activities), most of them would need • technical support • strategic/legal support • Programme implementation support

21. Survey-Summary I The survey results show that there is a large number of activities in the field of environmental education on all education levels (primary through tertiary and informal) throughout Africa. The results show further that a large number of the organizations offering such activities have a Environmental Education Strategy in place. The results show that there are only minor differences between francophone and anglophone regions, apart from currently carried out eLearning/TSL activities. Here, the francophone regions are trailing behind.

22. Survey-Summary II Most organizations do not have their own eLearning/TSL teams and require the outsourcing of activities. To further support the development and deployment of eLearning/TSL activities, African organizations require further assistance in the field of technology, strategy and programme implementation. Most eLearning/TSL activities are funded internally. For sustainable eLearning/TSL measures, African organizations for environmental training would need more sustainable funding sources.

23. Thank you! Contact: Arndt Bubenzer common sense – eLearning & training consultants Vienna, Austria a.bubenzer@common-sense.at Booth