Learning site: About Learning Lab

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Welcome to this site about Learning Lab
Welcome to this site about Learning Lab
Learning Lab is a part of the Danish NGO, DCA.

About DCA
DanChurchAid's aim is to strengthen the world’s poorest people in their struggle for a life in dignity.
DanChurchAid is rooted in the Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Church, but is active wherever we find the need is highest, regardless of religion, gender, political beliefs, race, national or ethnic origins, handicaps or sexual orientation.
About the ACTLearn Partnership and Learning Lab
The ACTlearn Partnership is a learning community where we share knowledge and experience – all revolving around our common ACTlearn Learning Platform. All partners have their own part of the platform that can be used to create own courses and community.
Learning Lab is part of DCA but it also has a special relationship to the ACTLearn Partnership because our staff support the platform and learning design needs of its member organisations. Our skilled team can also assist through research, advise and production of capacity building and learning materials for other NGOs and like-minded organisations.
We want to change the way the development and humanitarian sector learns. With a global framework and global leadership producing content that is locally relevant, we can help many more people. Please contact us if you want to learn more about what we can do for your project.
How we work
How we work
Learner-centered approach
The engagement and critical reflection of our learners is central to what we do, so we always start with a user-driven workshop to truly understand their needs (sometimes different to what we expect). This ensures that each project that we deliver gives true meaning to the people we are designing it for.
Blended learning
Training doesn’t have to be expensive or long. But whether it’s online or real-time, face-to-face or moderated, we passionately believe in using different learning environments to help retain the information we are providing.
Cost-effective
We know that every penny on a project needs to be well-spent, so we have copywriters and interaction designers in-house, which can cut down costs dramatically. And because each project is different, we ensure the right blend of experts create each of our bespoke courses.
Co-creation
We will find the best people to collaborate with. Whether that’s a university, the founder of a methodology, another NGO, a subject matter expert, or a private sector firm who shares our values, we build strategic partnerships and invite them to join our vision.
Open source
We believe that sharing knowledge and information is crucial. That's why with every project we attempt to cultivate a more open learning environment - whether that’s with open source software, sharing courses between organisations, or jargon-free language so that learning can truly happen across borders.
Evidence-based
We frequently partner with universities and other educational institutions to ensure our work is based on the latest learning research. And with every project, we ask questions – what are the coolest games for kids age 6-12 or how much internet access do our partners in war-torn areas really have? With each new project we challenge assumptions so we can design the most effective courses we can.
Cases
Cases

The VSLA Training App
Getting access to remote village areas is often expensive and patchy at best. But what if you create a training that village agents can travel with and use to train others? For this project we collaborated with skilled professionals like Serious Games, Sønc and Arsenalet and worked with the founder of "Village Savings and Loan (VSL) Associates", Hugh Allen, to create a bespoke tool to give the rural poor more access to savings and loans.
In this course we simulate and simplify a full VSLA cycle and supplement it with videos on key elements of the methodology. Although we can’t claim credit for the 12 million people actively benefiting from the VSL model, we are extremely proud to have helped people access financial services that are safe, reliable and profitable and will eventually lift them out of poverty.
Read more and download the app here!
You will have access once you have made a free actlearn.org account under "other" or with your partner organisation credentials.

Risk Education App
Does your child know the difference between a potential toy and an unexploded bomb? As a teacher in Syria, it was not something they expected to be teaching their students, but now it is probably one of their most important lessons.
For this course, we collaborated with the teachers themselves and game creators at Metropol digital learning school to do something that would make children (age 6-12) sit up and take notice. Rather than a potentially boring (or scary) educational video, we created a toolkit of 10 fun activities and role-play games that would help them identify and avoid dangerous situations. The result? Safer kids who remember what they’ve been taught and teachers who know they are making a difference.
Read more and download the app here!
You will have access once you have made a free actlearn.org account under "other" or with your partner organisation credentials.

Re-Thinking Training Course
The course targets humanitarian and development practitioners who have training and capacity development as part of their job description, but who seek additional inspiration, tools, or support to enhance their approach.
This course both teaches and models techniques for effective blended and online course delivery. Through a pre-training questionnaire, we give participants the opportunity to shape the content and processes of this course, and then workshop cases together over four weeks of real-time and independent online learning.
You can read more about the course here.
You will have access once you have made a free actlearn.org account under "other" or with your partner organisation credentials.

Anti-Corruption Training
DanChurchAid has had an anti-corruption policy since 2009, and all employees sign a code of conduct agreeing to live up to the principles in that policy. However, DCA knows,that we are continuously in situations where the principles are not that straightforward to apply, and where we feel in doubt about how to make the right decision. Therefore this training was developed a course to support employees and prepare them for these situations.
The 45 minute course is conveniently available on PC, smartphone or tablet and it is available on demand. The course is mandatory for all employees in DanChurchAid to complete within the first 3 months of employment, which is demonstrated through a certificate of completion and online tracking.
Explore the on-demand training here.
You will have access once you have made a free actlearn.org account under "other" or with your partner organisation credentials.

The Team

The Learning Lab consists of 6 team members. See who we are below!


Simon Skårhøj Head of Learning Lab	Christoffer Bengt Technology and Production Lead	Gry Zierau Creative Learning Designer
Sidsel-Marie Winther Prag Learning Experience Design Lead	Stephanie Rahbek Simonsen Learning Experience Designer	Tanja Holst Jensen Project Manager

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In May 2017 Learning Lab began to share News from ACTLearn in the form of a newsletter. Each issue gives readers a quick update on some aspects of learning through feature stories, news updates, and information on courses and projects that come out of the ACTLearn Partnership or in collaboration with other organisations.