Lessons Learned and Conclusions

Overall, the MFTOT received a positive evaluation. The two courses held in 2005 trained over 250 participants and accredited 47 trainers in eight countries. It has contributed to building the capacity of microfinance trainers and has equipped them with a high-quality instructor’s manual for use in further trainings in the Asia Pacific Region. In addition to accredited trainers, the regular participants trained under the course further strengthen the capacity of MFIs in the region to expand microfinance services to the poor. The drop out rate was relatively low at 12% compared to figures cited in the literature which range from 20-50%. In addition, 88.7% of participants would recommend the course to others. It could be concluded that the course successfully expanded training access to microfinance professionals without unduly sacrificing quality.

A. Key Success Factors

Despite the many concerns raised on the promotion of distance learning and particularly e-learning in developing countries, the MFTOT appears to have been among the more successful ones. Lessons learned from the two MFTOT courses point to the following key success factors:

• Focused topic with high training demand;
• High-quality of course materials;
• Appropriate choice of media and ICT technologies;
• Adequate mechanisms for student support;
• Credible incentive system; and
• Effective donor cooperation.

1. Focused topic with high training demand

One of the main success factors of the MFTOT was the course topic. As microfinance training is not adequately available in formal educational institutions, the MFTOT was able to attract a high number of dedicated participants. On the whole the demand for microfinance services still far exceeds supply and there is strong awareness on the need to expand sustainable delivery of microfinance services in all countries. At the same time, during the past two decades, the microfinance sector has transformed from a grassroots NGO-operated movement offering subsidized, donor-funded credit to the poor to a commercial sustainable operation. With this transformation, a large number of practitioners require training in the new approach to sustainable microfinance practices. Since MFI staff need to balance the demands of the job with acquiring new knowledge, distance learning offers the required flexibility.

2. High-Quality Course Materials

The MFDL course has been one of the highest- rated CD-ROMs evaluated under the ADBI’s CD-ROMs Review Program, and MFTOT participants have verified that the MFDL package is of excellent quality. One of the common mistakes in distance learning courses is the use of standard learning materials which may not be suitable for use as self-study materials. Since self-learning requires greater self- discipline, good distance learning materials generally incorporate elements to capture and maintain students’ attention. For example, the materials are made colorful, interactive, up-to-date and tailor-suited to the characteristics, skills, and needs of target group. The MFDL course package has been a success precisely because it was designed to meet all of these requirements.

In addition, the concern that donor- supported programs generally draw on experiences from developed countries which may not be applicable to developing countries was not an issue in the MFTOT. This is due to the fact that the MFDL was developed drawing experiences from developing countries.

The findings under the MFTOT point to the need for distance learning practitioners and donors who are interested in supporting ICT for capacity building to invest more in developing high quality self-learning materials. Experience with the MFDL also points to the importance of continuing such initiatives as ADBI’s CD-ROM Review to identify high-quality development-oriented training materials for distance learning. Such initiatives can provide a strategic and systematic way of culling the best materials out of the thousands that are already available.

3. Appropriate Choice of Media and ICT technologies

The MFTOT’s experience with the blended approach highlights the importance of combining different and appropriate ICT technologies in delivering distance learning in developing countries. The blended approach incorporated improving interactivity and learning support as well as improving accessibility and flexibility for adult learners through the use of both synchronous and asynchronous learning technologies.

Since each type of technology, CD-ROM, e-mail, videoconferencing, has its own advantages and limitations, the power is in the effective mix of these technologies. Despite some minor shortcomings, the technologies used in delivering the course did not duplicate, but rather complemented each other. The technologies were also, on a whole, appropriate for the level of ICT infrastructure and skills in the countries which participated in the course, although issues of cost-effectiveness will have to addressed in the future.

4. Adequate Mechanisms for Student Support

To be successful, distance learning courses must include mechanisms for student support to help participants overcome the problem of isolation in distance learning. Although student support could be further improved in the MFTOT, the system of online tutoring using regional tutors appeared to have been effective. Through email, tutors provided tips for completing assignments as well as information on the grading of homework, maintaining two-way communication in a flexible manner. Ediscussion could also be a useful student support system.

5. Credible Incentive System

Considering the low drop-out of 4 out of 36 participants in the MFTOT and considering that the course required an average of 10-20 hours per week, it could be said that the incentive provided under the course was effective. The incentive in the MFTOT came from two sources, the clear road map with continuous contact by tutors and the certification endorsed by international agencies. Since the certification may open doors to employment opportunities or to promotion in their present jobs, participants were highly motivated to complete the course.

The MFTOT did not suffer the problem of distance learning certification being less valuable in the workplace than certification from formal educational institutions. Rather, the case might have been the opposite where certification endorsed by three international agencies may have been deemed more credible than that from national institutions.

6. Effective donor collaboration

The MFTOT has demonstrated that development organizations could effectively work together, combining their strengths to offer new development initiatives. Donor collaboration is often complicated due to differences in mandates and priorities, as well as differences in administrative procedures for organizing an activity. However, in the case of the MFTOT, ADBI, TDLC of the World Bank, and UNCDF were able to capitalize on their existing strengths and comparative advantages. In the MFTOT all three organizations had the same organizational mandate to pursue distance learning activities and the staff involved received appropriate internal support to collaborate with other donors.

Since donor-supported distance learning courses are generally limited to courses offered in English and may not be sensitive enough to cultural and development context in all countries, donor support should focus on kick-starting the use of ICT for capacity building while supporting long-run institutional building. In addition, most donor-supported activities are time-bound and therefore the focus should be to create a critical mass of local capacity to further distance learning initiatives locally.

B. Areas for Further improvement

These positive outcomes notwithstanding, future offerings of the MFTOT can be strengthened further.

First of all, the quality of the course can be further improved by:

• Updating the course materials. Some aspects of the course materials will need to be updated as the MDFL was launched in 2002 and a lot of developments in microfinance have taken place since then. It is unfortunate that the UNCDF has no current initiative to update the existing learning package or to produce new packages to suit the stage of development of microfinance in various countries. As such, ADBI has taken the initiative to update the reading list and develop new assignments to include new materials for participants.
• Strengthening the learning support provided by tutors and DLCs. There is a need to strengthen the role of tutors and DLCs in providing student support, i.e. addressing questions, explaining difficult concepts, initiating and sustaining discussions among participants, whether online or in face-to-face sessions. All of these activities will require more extensive time commitments from the tutors for which a system of incentives and monitoring needs to be put in place.
• Improving the balance among course components (self-study, VC, tutoring and online discussion) While the blended approach was key to the course’s accessibility and flexibility, the evaluation reveals a need to re-visit the mix and ensure a better balance among the course components. Participants were particularly keen in having more opportunities for exchanging ideas through online discussion forums. Regarding the VCs, there has been a debate on whether it should be used to teach the course or to discuss special topics. The general reaction seems to be that it should not be used to teach the course so as to prevent duplication. There also seems to be a need to provide more time for participants to interact with the resource speakers.

Second and more importantly, there is a pressing need to improve the course from the point of view of equity. This will entail the following:

• Improving course planning: e-assessment of demand, recruitment process. A thorough analysis of demand for the MFTOT in the region needs to be undertaken. Addressing issues of equity will require, among other things, a solid understanding of the underlying characteristics, absorptive capacity, skills, and needs of less privileged learners. A survey to acquire information from target participants will allow for better course design and outreach.
• Localizing the course. Courses that are offered to an international audience always face the challenge of overcoming the language barrier as well as wider differences in cultural context. The fact that 88% of participants in the survey stated the need for the course to be localized into local language and to a lesser degree into the local context, donors need to consider support in this direction. A proposal for localizing the CD-ROM and the workbook has been submitted from Viet Nam and the donor has made commitment to support the activity. The localization of course materials is expected to have a massive impact on increasing the capacity of microfinance practitioners in the region.
• Exploring new technologies that have the potential to expand course outreach. The beneficiaries of MFTOT are somewhat the privileged groups in the capital cities who are not deprived of access to other forms of information or capacity building. Since microfinance practitioners who need the course the most are based in remote rural areas where the poor reside, there is a need to make a conscious effort to expand the opportunity to field-based microfinance institutions. Although the MFTOT was offered to a good mix of professionals in CBT and operations, very few policy makers(except for a few in Viet Nam) participated in the course. Future course offerings may therefore want to feature other technologies that can make expanded outreach possible, such as webcasting.
  
  In order to reach out to areas where the infrastructure and skills for e-learning are severely underdeveloped, less advanced technologies may be more appropriate. For example, a distance learning program in Mongolia uses short-wave radio as a means to delivers lessons to herders while another program in Timor-leste uses motor cycle to deliver cassette tape of lessons and to collect homework from participants in remote villages.

Finally, there is the need to further consider the issue of sustainability and long-term institutional building. To date, the MFTOT has kick-started ICT for capacity building in microfinance in eight countries. While donor support should extend to other countries where the course has not been offered, the question is if the number of accredited trainers produced under the course is large enough to form a critical mass to expand microfinance training on a sustainable basis. Follow up support may be required to encourage accredited trainers to form networks to support one another in microfinance training. Additional support may be also required to build strategic partnerships with local training/educational institutions to localize and institutionalize the course and to ensure that certification obtained from distance learning courses are credible in the workplace.

Based on the experience of the MFTOT, we conclude that distance learning could be an appropriate modality for capacity building, particularly for pro-poor development strategies which are generally underserved by the conventional education system.

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