It’s hard to imagine most areas of our everyday life without digital technologies, even when it comes to development cooperation. The contact and mobility restrictions the COVID-19 pandemic imposed on the whole world made it even clearer: In many situations digital solutions and activities are the only way to keep the ball rolling.
This is especially true for any community outreach work. Here, almost all activity would come to a standstill in times of curfews and assembly bans, if it weren’t for digital ways of communication. In both 'normal times' and emergency situations, digital tools can help NGOs everywhere to do their work faster, and in a more efficient and scalable way. However, small NGOs in the Global South in particular still need a lot of support in using them. That’s what we’re establishing our new Audiopedia Academy for!
Our Audiopedia Academy is a new, free eLearning platform. Its main goal is to support NGOs and CBOs in their community outreach using digital technologies like WhatsApp, the Audiopedia App or solar-powered audio players. The platform will provide how-tos, checklists, training, guidance, case studies and best practices, both online and offline.
The generic and more general part of the Audiopedia Academy contents is being developed and published by the Audiopedia Foundation. It will focus on explaining Audiopedia standard procedures and technicalities, e.g. provide detailed guidelines how to record NGO-specific audio contents, how to provide the necessary technical support for various devices or how to use best the Audiopedia web app on smartphones in a CBO’s community outreach activities.
Additionally, direct feedback from field experts and practitioners already using digital technologies will be included on Audiopedia Academy. NGOs and CBOs will find useful tips, hands-on advice and practical guidance on how to implement the Audiopedia contents and technologies in their daily work. The platform will also allow networking and exchange of knowledge and information between all NGOs and CBOs. Field workers of various organizations can discuss questions and problems with each other, profit from each other’s experiences regarding different concepts in different local settings, learn to deal with special challenges or difficulties, and much more.
