Learnkit

We make learning easy by offering a mobile based LMS that is accessible offline and that seeks: (1) to ensure learning continuity in the event of education disruptions e.g. due to lack of fees or sanitary wear, or due to pandemics such as COVID-19. Through our offline solution learners can access learning material anywhere and at anytime, (2) to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. An education system is inclusive if it includes all students and supports them to learn, irrespective of pupil diversity and individual differences. By providing an offline learning app, our solution ensures equality and equity in access to education, (3) to ensure digital literacy thereby breaking the digital divide. As, digital literacy has become as important as traditional literacy, our solution seeks to prepare all learners for a digital future, and (4) to ensure access to quality education that is curriculum centered and technology based.

In subSaharan Africa 1/5 of children aged between 6 and 11, and 1/3 aged between 12 and 14 are out of school. In addition, 60% of learners aged between 15 and 17 are absent from school. Also, 9 million girls aged between 6 and 11 will never go to school at all, compared to 6 million boys.

General hindrances to education access include, inability to pay fees due to pervasive poverty, remoteness to learning facility and child labor. For girls additional obstacles include, forced early marriages and sanitation factors e.g. 1 in 10 girls in Africa miss class or drop out of school because of their periods.

Our solution notes that African girls and boys are affected in their learning in ways that differ qualitatively and quantitatively, and provides a solution that is gender-inclusive and gender-responsive, being cognizant of 4A’s, namely, (un)Affordability of internet access  and (in)Accessibility to the internet which we address through providing offline preprogrammed lessons, as well as the (lack of) Applicable knowledge and skills to use digital technology and Awareness of the value and quality of learning offered through digital technology, which we address through insisting on digital literacy and the richness of digital learning.

Our solution is accessible offline and has free features which include:

1.Learning material comprised of preprogrammed curriculum based  lessons in text, audio and  video format.

2. New Curriculum textbooks.

3. Student assessment facility that encourages student engagement. Initially, the Learnkit only supports multiple choice questions.

 4. Instant results for multiple choice questions. 

5. Although lessons are pre-recorded allowing them to be viewed by single learners in a self-paced manner, the Learnkit has an inbuilt timer for student assessments. 

6.  The Learnkit uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to change the resource difficulty based on a students ability from the app. For example, if a learner is strong with aspects like algebra, the app provides harder questions to challenge them, then lowers the difficulty until it finds a solid groundwork for their ability.

 7. The Learnkit has an audio dictation function to cater for visually impaired learners, as well as a subtitle function to cater for learners with hearing impairments. Subtitles are accessible in the major local dialects spoken in Zimbabwe, that is Shona and Ndebele.

8.  The Learnkit has a night mode user interface (UI) to help learners view mobile computing device screens at night without suffering from eye strain.

Our solution was designed with the African child in mind. Thus the initiative provides curriculum content that’s aligned with or directed by national curriculum frameworks. The need for digital learning materials relevant to local curricula is becoming more urgent as ICT becomes integrated into the teaching process, yet there aren’t any learning apps that are curriculum based and accessible offline that target the African child.

Using Zimbabwe as an example, the number of learners affected by disruptions to education due to the COVID-19 virus amount to 4,130,348, yet over 75% haven’t been able to access learning material since the lockdown began in March. Current efforts to ensure learning continuity have been uncoordinated, disjointed and narrowly focused on online learning as the only means to deliver learning material, resulting in inequitable education. Why? because a lot of learners have no access to internet connectivity or money to pay for internet access. Whereas, a survey we conducted showed that while a majority of learners do not have access to internet or money, they at least have access to a basic smartphone belonging to either themselves, a parent, older sibling, or other relative they live with, meaning offline learning is a viable option. 

The Learnkit provides an alternative to traditional learning methods learning that are failing to ensure learning continuity and inclusivity, as well as digital literacy and quality education. For Africa to capitalize on its demographic dividend, the future workforce must first of all be educated, and our solution avails itself, for instance, to making sure that every boy who can’t go to school because it is too far or every girl who can’t go to school because they don’t have sanitary wear can access learning content offline via mobile phones at home.

Our competitors include: Ustad Mobile and The Rumie Initiative

Both provide learning technology to children from underprivileged communities. Both the Ustad Mobile and Rumie Initiative focus mostly on refugees in the Middle East. The Rumie Initiative has however worked in partnership with local communities in Liberia (West Africa) during the Ebola crisis. Therefore it’s reach in subSaharan Africa has been very limited.

What makes our solution innovative and competitive is it’s focus on localized learning content that is curriculum based, which makes learning continuity possible anywhere and at anytime even without internet. Although we don’t have a website as yet below is the link to our innovation design in real time.

Learnkit Design Page

What makes our solution also innovative is that, it our application’s use an  AI feature which essentially provides a foundation for a digital Aristotle to allow each student to learn at their best rate. AI-based platforms offer virtual mentors to track the students’ progress. While human teachers can understand the scholars’ needs better, it is good to get instant feedback from the virtual tutor. 

Moreover, our innovation is also sensitive to learners with disabilities. Through it’s audio dictation function, and subtitle feature, it addresses the needs of learners with visual impairments and hearing impairments, respectively. The Learnkit also has a nightmode UI to make reading enjoyable at night.

As a bonus, the Learnkit is free for most basic features, once downloaded it is accessible offline and can be shared easily among learners using Bluetooth. 

Our solution is an offline learning management system (LMS) that comes in the form of a downloadable mobile app.

The offline LMS technology works and is becoming popular in supporting  workplace learning and development. See below link:

Evidence of offline LMS technology

In Zimbabwe, the number of learners amounts to 4,130,348. These statistics published by UNESCO  refer to learners enrolled at pre-primary, primary, lower-secondary and upper secondary levels of education as well as tertiary institutions. We hope that within the next year our solution will be able to target all primary school learners, a number that amounts to 2, 663 187. We want to ensure that our solution is available as an option for any learner who needs to access learning material anytime, anywhere.

Within the next five years, we are hoping that the Learnkit will be able to target the rest of the learners in Zimbabwe, from kindergarten, right up to tertiary level.

In the next five years, we also hope that the Learnkit would have been scaled to the rest of the Southern African region (Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Malawi etc).

Currently, we are facing barriers of funding. We are at the prototype stage where we are preparing our solution for field testing however, the process of curriculum development takes time and is costly as it entails hiring qualified teachers to make preprogrammed lessons for watch subject from Grade 1 - Grade 7.

A challenge we are anticipating is that of getting as many learners to access basic smartphones so they can use the Learnkit.

We do not anticipate market barriers as there is a paucity for offline learning technology in Africa. While we have designed basic features for learners which they can access for free, we have premium features designed for learning institutions which they have to pay annual subscriptions for. Due to the fact that the features are lacking currently in most school systems right across Africa, we believe our product will be well accepted.

In terms of financial barriers, we are in the process of applying for grants and looking for angel investors.

In terms of the challenge of getting more learners to have basic smartphones, we are looking to embark on a donation drive project to get individuals, corporate organizations, nonprofit organizations and other well wishers do donate towards this cause. We will welcome even old and unused digital devices.

To improve number of learners who use our technology we will introduce charging ports at central points at community stores. The charging points will have a wifi hotspot to enable learners to update software if need be.

There are 2 full time members and 2 part timers.

Dorcas Shumba - Team Leader 

Environmentalist and Development Practitioner with an MSc in Environmental Science and PhD in Development Studies from Massey University, New Zealand. Dr Shumba has experience doing vulnerability studies. She is the CoFounder and Environmental and Sustainability Director at Davar Resources. 

Tawanda Chiwenga

University of London LLB degree. Business Development professional with +8 years experience in IT Software, Legal & Compliance Services.Cofounder and Corporate Affairs and Legal Services Director at Davar Resources. Also works at UK based tech company, Teconica.

Elliot Lepley 

Chief Software Developer for our project. Runs a UK based tech company called Teconica.

Justice Mukaro

4th year Computer Science student at Bindura University of Technology is a software developer on our project.

We are currently partnering with UK based Teconica Technologies Ltd .

They are helping us refine our application for field testing.

At Davar Resources we work diligently to respond to opportunities to address some of the world’s biggest challenges, which include, natural resource management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, food security, water sanitation and hygiene, promoting health and wellbeing through high impact research and science, innovation and technology. Our company mission is framed around community problems, because we understand that, we are not just part of community, but, we are also part of the solutions to problems faced by community. 

We strive to come up with innovative solutions that are pertinent to community needs, user friendly and reliable. While a considerable number of our innovations are intended for governments, non‐governmental organisations and big corporations to use for social good, we also make quality, affordable products for direct uptake by communities.

We are a social entrepreneurship operating as a research centre, innovation hub and professional services company that exists to solve community needs. Thus we provide a broad range of consultancy services and digital solutions in environmental management, sustainable agriculture and disaster risk reduction. Our Sustainability plan includes obtaining revenue through our other services.