
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 ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
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...
11/09/2026
Calrec will introduce two new products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.C47, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14): the Type RT broadcast production console and the Apex M6 Modula...
11/09/2026
Grass Valley has announced AVORA, a standalone all-in-one live production solution launching at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01 and IBC Future Tech Zone, Stand 14.C49, Sep...
11/09/2026
CAMB.AI is introducing its Streaming SDK and Streaming Dashboard at IBC2026, wit...
11/09/2026
EVS has announced XT-S, a software-defined server platform that runs multiple live production applications on a common hardware foundation. The platform debuts ...
11/09/2026
EKT is demonstrating a new Linux-based ATSC 3.0 set-top box at IBC2026. The second-generation product moves away from Android to reduce memory costs, with Linux...
11/09/2026
The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Booth D50, September 11-14...
11/09/2026
ESPN's Monday Night Football will open its 2026-27 season with a new renditi...
11/09/2026
Dalet has announced an integration of NVIDIA's Synthetic Video Detector AI model into Dalet Flex, enabling media organizations to identify potentially AI-ge...
11/09/2026
The Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) will demonstrate Versatile Video Coding (VVC) capabilities at IBC2026 (Hall 2, Stand 2.B13), as the codec moves toward c...
11/09/2026
Sony will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 13, September 11-14), demonstrating products across live production, news, cinema, and immersive and spatial content workflow...
11/09/2026
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Tec...
11/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) is bringing a pair of workflow updates to IBC2026...
11/09/2026
iodyne will co-exhibit with Hedge at IBC2026 (Booth 7.A36, September 11-14) and appear across three additional partner booths, marking the first public demonstr...
11/09/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
11/09/2026
The network will phase in HDR crew by crew while expanding Next Gen Stats integration, SkyDry availability, and onsite studio shows...
11/09/2026
CAMB.AI is introducing its new Streaming SDK and Streaming Dashboard at IBC2026,...
11/09/2026
Massive host operation at Melbourne Cricket Ground featured 54 cameras, 25,000 ST 2110 flows, REMI studio production in Stamford, and global distribution to mor...
11/09/2026
Production Anywhere Remote Kit (PARK) & AR-fueled Stage B are two key pieces to ...
11/09/2026
By Ramona Flume and Lucy Spicer
There's a particular kind of magic that hap...
11/09/2026
By Jessica Herndon
The fall film season is kicking off, and Sundance Institute-...
11/09/2026
Spark series gains compact modelling stompbox
Positive Grid's Spark amps have become a popular part of the company's line-up, offering a convenient ...
11/09/2026
New flagship sequencing plug-in revealed
Rapid Flow have just launched a new 16-track sequencer plug-in which they say has been designed for total rhythmic...
11/09/2026
Rohde & Schwarz unveils the air-cooled R&S TM1 medium-power UHF transmitter at I...
11/09/2026
FIFA World Cup 2026 and Peacock's Love Island USA' Power NBCU-Versant ...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Lightware has announced the launch of LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) 2.0, a major upgrade to its built-in room automation platform, introducing impro...
11/09/2026
10 September 2026 - MusiMap, the B2B music intelligence company that is transforming how companies can harness the emotional power of music to reach consumers a...
11/09/2026
Matrox Video today announced an integration between Matrox ORIGIN and NVIDIA Holoscan for Media, enabling Matrox ORIGIN media services to be provisioned, config...
11/09/2026
Net Insight today announced that its cloud-native live media orchestration is now available through Oracle Cloud Marketplace, providing broadcasters, production...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Version 1.8 will bring advanced routing control, new workflow tools, boosted control panel flexibility and ease of integration into IP networks...
11/09/2026
Ikegami announces four additions its UNICAM XE range of 4K-UHD cameras with the introduction of the UHK-X700VN, UHK-X750VN, UHK-X600VN and UHK-X650VN. Developed...
11/09/2026
DHD.audio has chosen IBC2026 as the launch venue for a major new addition to its broadcast sound production platform: the MX3 console range. MX3 retains the mod...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
New standalone solution gives production teams everything they need to create, produce and deliver live content from one flexible system.
Grass Valley today an...
11/09/2026
Recognition honors the development of FPV drone camera systems for live sports broadcast coverage
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company that develops advanced...
11/09/2026
Teradek, the industry leader in zero-delay wireless video solutions, announced the launch of Bolt 7, which now includes a unified wireless video and data system...
11/09/2026
The ACT Entertainment tvONE and Green Hippo Pixel Academy has released its autumn course schedule, with hands-on training dates in September, October and Novemb...
11/09/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Transthyretin amyloid disease (ATTR) is a progressive, life-threatening condition caused when the protein transthyretin (TTR) breaks apart and aggr...