iLearn is an online learning system devised by the BBC World Service Trust for media professionals in developing and transitional countries.
The courses are aimed at users with poor Internet connectivity and can be published in any language. iLearn courses have been used by trainees in India, Serbia, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, China, Bulgaria, Iran, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, the Maldives, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Moldova, Uganda, DRC, the Ukraine, Tajikistan, Palestine, Turkey, Liberia, Burundi, Somalia and Somaliland, Nigeria, Iran, Syria, Yemen and Indonesia.
iLearn courses:
• promote the principles of balanced, objective journalism
• provide advice, models and guidelines for best practice
• focus on developing professional skills
Trainees perform practical tasks and submit them to online mentors for evaluation.
This process is managed by iLearn partners based in and around the world and supervised by the BBC World Service Trust.
iLearn forms a key component of “blended learning” programmes – i.e. face-to-face training coupled with online learning.
The system contains more than 150 modules – each explaining a different subject area. They range from ethics and core skills modules (e.g. accuracy, sources of news, impartiality, interview skills, sounds recording) to more specialized topics (e.g. health, environment, transitional justice, UGC).
These modules are used to create tailor-made courses, meeting the individual needs of each trainee. We make sure this material is translated into the relevant language in order to make courses as accessible as possible.
The iLearn system tracks and manages the personal development of each trainee – and trainees provide feedback on their courses to ensure that they benefit from an effective and relevant training experience.
Content
Each iLearn module is written by an experienced trainer and expert, before being checked and edited by the iLearn editorial team.
The modules include print, radio, online and television journalism, as well as management issues and modules aimed at improving the media skills of people who work for NGOs.
Each module takes the learner through a number of logical, progressive steps – one step to a webpage. Some steps contain an interactive element - asking the reader to think about an issue or to come up with an idea, before moving forward to the next step.
At the end of a module there is a series of questions which test trainees’ new understanding.
Finally trainees are asked to complete an assignment based on the information they have just learned. They submit this online and it is marked by a dedicated mentor.