PeerLearn: Offline e-Learning Content Distribution Platform (Mobile App)

Organisation: Makerere University

Funder: Government of Uganda (awarded under RIF2)

Date(s): 2020 – 2021

Role: Systems Analyst (Product)

I had the opportunity to work with a lovely team at Makerere University to develop a peer-to-peer eLearning material distribution system for Internet-sparse environments during COVID-19.

The process involved defining the product roadmap, initial surveys and interviews to understand how students were accessing course material, developing user journey map, and working with software developers to conceptualise, experiment, design the platform through multiple iterations. Subsequent product improvements were made based on a feedback loop that included the core development team, students (end users) and the University eLearning team.

The end result was an Android application integrated with an eLearning platform based on Moodle. We had planned to simultaneously develop an iOS app but had not considered how much time and resources it would take to develop both within the specified timeframe.

We used a test Moodle site for demonstration. The next step is to integrate it with the Makerere University E-Learning Environment (MUELE).