Semi-Annual Progress Report: WASH Technical Top-up Project Microlearning Tools for Humanitarian Practitioners

720FDA20GR00055. The project duration is from July 1st, 2020, to December 31st, 2021. The project aims to develop microlearning tools for humanitarian practitioners in the areas of water treatment, sanitation, drinking water quality testing, and behaviour change. The project is progressing well, despite delays mainly due to staff turnover in key positions such as web development, translations, and graphics. Unanticipated complexity in the incorporation of translated materials delayed the release of French, Spanish, and Arabic versions. However, the project team is confident that the project objectives will be achieved by December 31, 2021. The project has made significant progress in developing microlearning tools for water treatment and sanitation. As of the date of this report, all tools for water treatment were online and available in English, Spanish, and French. The tools focus on chlorine, which was identified as a major challenge arising from the needs assessment. The modality selected for the tool is reflective of the project's growing understanding of the effort involved in building and translating specific formats of e-learning content, as well as the preferences of users. The project has also made progress in developing microlearning tools for sanitation. As of the date of this report, all tools for sanitation were online and available in English, Spanish, and French. The sanitation tools focus on how to better site, select, and install latrines to avoid future complications for fecal sludge management. The collection of tools has been shared with the Global Wash Cluster FSM/Sanitation TWiG (Technical Working Group) and will be linked in the new Humanitarian Sanitation Hub. The project has also updated behaviour change and drinking water quality testing tools based on user feedback. Through user testing, the project team identified updates that could be made to improve the navigation of the tools and bring further clarity to the content. The updates include adding navigation slides with animated arrows to highlight the location of slide links, increasing font sizes in feedback text boxes for easier reading on small screens, and revising field sampling checklists to remove checkboxes to avoid confusion. The project has also translated resources into Arabic, French, and Spanish. As of the writing of this report, all tools for drinking water quality testing, behaviour change, water treatment, and sanitation were available in English, Spanish, and French. However, the translation of the e-learning tools, particularly into Arabic, has proven to be very complex and time-consuming. The project team has learned that for future projects, they need to allow for considerably more time and budget for Arabic translations. The project has also collected user data and information, which is focused on understanding the usage and effectiveness of the microlearning tools. The data collection is ongoing, and the project team will continue to analyze the data to inform future improvements to the tools. The project has also disseminated and marketed the microlearning tools to practitioners. The tools have been shared with the Global Wash Cluster FSM/Sanitation TWiG and will be linked in the new Humanitarian Sanitation Hub. The project team has also promoted the tools through social media and other channels to reach a wider audience. Overall, the WASH Technical Top-up Project, Microlearning Tools for Humanitarian Practitioners, is making significant progress in developing microlearning tools for humanitarian practitioners in the areas of water treatment, sanitation, drinking water quality testing, and behaviour change. Despite delays and challenges, the project team is confident that the project objectives will be achieved by December 31, 2021.