110 young creative talents were trained by the Learning Experience Design Academy in Ethiopia
The Learning Experience Design (LXD) Academy has trained with the support of Invest for Jobs 110 Ethiopian digital professionals to acquire learning experience design skills. After three months of teachings, the training culminated in a Demo Day on July 29, 2022, where students presented prototypes of their self-designed applications.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a global trend towards digital learning, the market for interactive digital learning that uses experience-based formats and tools is still in its early stages in Ethiopia. It was in this context that the idea of the Learning Experience Design (LXD) Academy was born. Since the beginning of May, the LXD Academy has been training young creative talents in Addis Ababa using both online and face-to-face formats. The youth train to become learning experience design experts in order to design and develop future-oriented learning scenarios that support experiential learning. In addition, the young professionals acquire skills in leadership and entrepreneurship.
During the three-month training course, students are equipped with the necessary theory and know-how to develop digital learning applications by themselves. Prototypes of their first self-designed applications are then presented on a Demo Day, that also marks their graduation. The first cohort’s demo day took place in July 2022: 110 young digital professionals were trained to develop interactive digital learning tools for the specific purpose of supporting the digitization of analog training materials for development agents (DAs) in the agricultural sector. In the meantime, a second cohort is currently going through the training course.
With the support of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition", the LXD Academy was established by ReDI School of Digital Integration in Germany and Info Mind Solutions in Ethiopia consisting of students, facilitators, and partners as a platform for successful future-oriented learning. The aim is to train a total of 300 young graduates in learning experience design, project management, leadership and entrepreneurship. The LXD community will offer new career opportunities and perspectives to the students, who are pioneers of digital, future-oriented learning. Their efforts will go a long way to a successful and sustainable transformation of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector and other sectors.