Assessment and Use of agLe@rn Knowledge and Course Materials

Introduction and Rationale

Since beginning operations in early 2001 and “graduating” its first class in May of that year, the Asia-Pacific Regional Technology Centre (APRTC) has made what it considers to be considerable progress. It has signed formal MOU’s with 3 major Asian agricultural universities, 1 international research and development center, and 2 regional networks. In collaboration with these partners it has developed 7 online agLe@rn courses focused on sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. 33 offerings of these courses have been made and almost 900 learning opportunities will have been taken advantage of before the end of 2003. Although primarily attracting participants from developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region (86%-20 countries), agricultural professionals from other regions are increasingly signing up for and participating in agLe@rn courses (8% Africa-17 countries, 4% Latin America-9 countries, 2% Other). Alumni represent all major agricultural stakeholder groups with academics representing 40% of the total, government 20%, private sector 24% and NGOs 13%.

But these are only outputs. While people want to have some idea of the numbers being reached and where APRTC’s participants come from, their real interest is related to the impact of agLe@rn and its courses. The most common questions about APRTC's agLe@rn courses are related to their impact. People want to know - How useful did participants find the information they gained in the courses? What, if anything, do participants do with what they learn? Do former students use agLe@rn materials in their own teaching and training activities? Who do they share their new knowledge with? How many others? Do the answers to any of these questions differ depending on the sector in which the participant works?

To try and find out a bit more about these issues we surveyed our alumni in June 2003. A questionnaire was emailed to 237 former students and 93 responded. All of APRTC's main target groups were represented with 35 respondents from academia, 25 from government organizations, 11 from NGOs and 22 from private sector companies. Replies were received from individuals in 19 countries - 13 Asian, 4 African and 2 Latin America.

Results

The survey was designed to find out whether or not participants felt they gained any knowledge, their opinions on the worth of any knowledge gained, if alumni were using agLe@rn materials in their own teaching and training activities and the degree to which they were passing on what they learned. Details on the findings in these areas are below.

Knowledge Gain and Worth

Alumni were asked to judge the extent to which their knowledge improved as a result of participation in the courses and if what they learned was worth the effort. One good indication of alumni approval is that almost 1 in 4 alumni go on to participate in a second or even third agLe@rn course. Additionally, the survey results showed that over 90 percent indicated that they gained very much (60%) or much (32%) knowledge. They also indicated that it was worth the effort. Over 90% felt that it was very much (60%) or much (33%) worth the time and energy they invested. A summary and breakdown of the responses by sector is presented in Tables 1 and 2 below.

Table 1. Percent responses to question on knowledge gained by sector of employment.

Table 2. Percent responses to question on worth of knowledge by sector of emplyment.

Use of agLe@rn Materials

Most agLe@rn alumni are using agLe@rn materials in their own teaching and training activities (83%). This pattern seems to hold true regardless of the sector in which they are employed although slightly higher for academics (86%) and people working in NGOs (91%). However, use by private sector employees (77%) and government extension workers (80%) was also quite high (Table 3).

Table 3. Percent of alumni using agLe@rn materials by sector of employment.

Knowledge Sharing

The degree to which alumni shared agLe@rn knowledge was considerable. With only one exception, all respondents indicated that they had passed on something of what they learned in the courses to their colleagues (88%), students (39%) and farmers (51%). A typical alumnus shares agLe@rn knowledge with an average of 74 other people. As could be expected, the number of people with whom they share is very much a function of time after taking their first agLe@rn course. Earlier participants (Jan - Sept 2002) indicated that they had shared their knowledge with an average of 122 other individuals. Those participating in courses from Oct 2002 to Feb 2003 shared with an average of 48 others. Recent participants attending courses since then shared with an average of 35.

There were some differences in numbers and with whom alumni shared depending on the sector in which they were employed. The biggest sharers were individuals working in NGOs who shared, on average, with almost 269 other individuals. Academics shared with an average of 60 others, government extension workers with 38 and private sector employees with 31.

Academics tended to share most extensively with colleagues (83%) and students (77%) and with relatively few farmers (37%). Government extension workers shared mostly with colleagues (96%) but also with farmers (44%) and some students (20%). NGO workers indicated that they shared primarily with farmers (91%) but their colleagues (82%) and students/trainees also benefited (36%). Private sector employees shared primarily with their colleagues (91%) and with farmers (59%) but not with students. A summary of these results can be found in Table 4 below.

Table 4. agLe@rn knowledge sharing patterns by sector of employment.

Summary and Conclusions

Based on the survey results, it is clear that regardless of the sector in which they were employed the majority of agLe@rn alumni felt that they learned quite a bit in their online courses and that it was worth the effort. A key factor behind this opinion seems to be that these courses gave them, not only new and valuable information, but also the opportunity to interact with peers and experts around the world. Some comments from respondents may help to illustrate this.

• agLe@rn progmrams are very useful. They help to update our knowledge and to perform better in our work. (Private sector employee, India)
• "The course was useful to update the knowledge and facilitate more reading, enhance the habit of organizing the knowledge for sharing and stimulating new ideas." (NGO worker, India)
• "The two courses I have attended have actually opened up opportunities for me to get more information related to my work and I hope to do more agLe@rn courses in the near future." (Extension worker, Botswana)
• "The training programme was systematically devised and therefore gave a comprehensive picture of what cotton IPM is all about. We can further hone and fine tune the programme as per the local needs. The effort has made me more proficient in my profession." (Extension worker, India)
• "It's nice to learn through online courses as we can improve the knowledge (Professional) as well as in the contact with so many persons from the abroad and within the country." (Academic, India)
• "This type of information is very necessary for people like me. Because through this we not only improve our knowledge but also know the current situation in different countries and the practices which other peoples are using in farming in these countries." (Private sector employee, Pakistan)
• "It has been a wonderful experience working on the courses of APRTC. It is a place where both facilitators and participants have an equal opportunity to learn from mutual sharing of experiences. General Knowledge levels of alien lands increases because of the world wide participants in the courses. We get to know more about the ways and means of pest management in different ecological and crop ecosystems." (Academic, India)
• The agLe@rn courses are very beneficial in sharing experiences. Some of the information might be available in text books or on the internet but it becomes more useful when people share their personal experiences." (Academic, Zimbabwe)
• "These type of learning should be promoted at all cost. It can be used in training of field staff/students/farmers etc. What you learn by using these type of learning sticks to your, brains like glue if used properly, because you are always on your own in each lesson, giving you time to think and find solutions." (Extension worker, Botswana)
  

Respondents also confirmed that the reach of the program goes beyond the actual course participants. A majority of agLe@rn alumni from all sectors are using agLe@rn materials in their own teaching and training activities and actively passing on the knowledge and information they gained to a wide range and large numbers of other individuals - colleagues, students and farmers. It was also apparent that sharing is dependent on how much time has passed since the learning experience and that the number of secondary beneficiaries will continue to grow in the coming months and years.

Some comments on sharing:

• "Keep up the good work. Soon more farmers can be benefited to the knowledge acquired from different courses that I have been taken from agLe@rn." (NGO worker, Philippines)
  
• "I find our previous exercises and discussions very useful. I can also use some of the materials with our farmer cooperators or visitors to our institute." (Extension worker, Philippines)
• "The course really helped a lot in enhancing the inputs that we give to the farmers through my discussions with resource persons assigned on IPM and through discussion with farmers." (NGO worker, Philippines)
  
• "I personally felt that it was a very useful course and it opened up my eyes on searching relevant information in the Internet. I am finding it most useful and I am also teaching this information to my students." (Academic, India)
  

It appears that agLe@rn is providing a valuable and welcome educational service to agricultural knowledge intermediaries around the world and is starting to have an impact on the ultimate target audience - developing country farmers. Participants feel that they have increased their skills and knowledge in terms of both general computer literacy as well as in knowledge related to sustainable natural resource management and are sharing it widely. As one NGO respondent from India put it,