You're in a queue. How likely is it that you'll check your messages on your mobile phone? Even the least digital amongst us is spending 30 minutes a day on messaging apps. Having our learning content on these platforms puts it intimately within reach of our users in a place where they are already looking and know how to interact with.
Offering a WhatsApp learning option in Sudan ensured that our course enrolments exceeded our expectations with the messaging app bringing an additional 1800 users to our COVID - 19 coverage course, three times more than the combined web and app offerings. Through WhatsApp, the course went viral amongst the Sudanese journalist community attracting participants from the diaspora with many sharing their certificates in their groups.
-- Play
-- --
Results
82% User engagement
72% Completion rate
The mediums limitations are its main attraction The first hurdle to creating a course using messages is to work out how to deliver the necessary mix of short and long form videos, demos, exercises and whatever else you would judge to be necessary for a meaningful learning experience in such a small format. The immediate temptation is to use messages as a conduit to other platforms linking to content sitting on websites like videos and articles away from the messaging platform.
For our Sudanese audience, we opted instead to concentrate on the messages but not as a passive experience. We focused on meaningful questions so that the course was a conversation in which users discovered what they knew and what they needed to know interactively through question and answer.
The questions were often scenarios that emulated where key learning outcomes could manifest themselves. If you got the answer wrong or right we explained why and the thinking behind it.
Results Like most of our courses, from the moment you start, you are drawn into short interactive exercises and this worked particularly well in a messaging format resulting in 82% user engagement and a 72% completion rate, the highest we have achieved with a course that is open to the public.
The course still included testimonials and case studies, a video from the Sudanese government and links. But a large effort was made to strip the content down to what was essential. If something could be taken out without compromising the learning, it was. This ensured we could meet the required rigour and depth and added variety and colour to the user experience.
Hacking the system An additional hurdle for us was that the platform we used for this course (Arist) offered specific templates that did not allow us to produce such a long series of interactive exercises in one course and in a self-paced format. To get around this, we created 162 mini courses each acting like a page or unit and asked Arist to thread them through their number-based course recalling system. We are grateful for their support.
The impact on storytelling and accuracy When we surveyed the users three months after launch, the response rate was higher than average: 99% of the 150 respondents confirmed that the course had changed the way they work and 73% the stories they were producing. Fifty six per cent cited a greater focus on accuracy and fact verification as the most important change.
The future As with any platform, it is the use case that will dictate whether WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or SMS is the most appropriate medium. Is the course standalone or part of a wider online package? Can we use WhatsApp or Facebook groups? What is the function of the WhatsApp element? Our latest use case has pushed us to explore Telegram. It will be intriguing to discover whether this new platform confirm messaging to be such an effective tool as our experience so far suggests.
Related content
Messaging Apps: Tackling training in a pandemic
Is the e-workshop here to stay?
Covid-19 training in Sudan gets smart on WhatsApp
Hosam El Nagar Director of Innovation and Learning
About: Hosam is responsible for new products and services and is leading the foundation's drive into e-learning. He also manages key partnerships, primarily in the Middle East.
We get around. Explore our project map
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
You're in a queue. How likely is it that you'll check your messages on your mobile phone? Even the least digital amongst us is spending 30 minutes a day on messaging apps. Having our learning content on these platforms puts it intimately within reach of our users in a place where they are already looking and know how to interact with. 
