How Ligbron eLearning Systems added innovation to the curriculum with HYDRA

It takes a village

The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that online learning is an effective way to deliver quality education. The Ligbron Academy of Technology already knew this in 2008 when they launched the Ligbron eLearning System (LES), which uses SMART boards, notebooks and video to deliver interactive lessons to a number of rural schools at the same time.

Over time, the number of participating LES schools increased to over 60, with sponsors requesting more. Running the operations across all schools was no easy task. There are many moving parts that are involved to broadcast lessons to all schools and deliver an effective eLearning solution. Their operations needed to move from being manually run on paper to being digitised, in order to scale sustainably and illustrate value to their sponsors.

LES searched for digitisation solutions, however, they found that there were no holistic solutions that could digitise every aspect of their operations. That is, until The Awareness Company was formed in 2018.

LES implemented The Awareness Company’s HYDRA solution in 2018. HYDRA takes an influx of new and existing data from people, sensors and systems and transforms it into insightful stories that are easily understood and interpreted into action.

LES was able to optimise operations and simplify admin with real-time data at every step.

The value of digitisation

You can’t improve what you can't measure and you can’t influence what you have no awareness of. Getting the right information and awareness is now possible for LES as their processes are now digitised, from operations to maintenance to workforce - and the coordination of it all.

Costly equipment owned by the sponsors such as the SMART boards are security-tracked and maintenance-monitored so they know when the equipment will need to be repaired or replaced.

Data such as which schools log in for the lessons, what time they logged in, reasons for lateness, how many learners are attending etc gives LES insights that they can use to influence a better quality of education when they report to their sponsors. For example, if a school is missing lessons frequently due to loadshedding, that can be used to motivate the need for a generator to be sponsored.

The digitisation of project management has created a simplified admin system to keep track of sponsors and which schools they sponsor.

When technicians travel to schools to perform maintenance and installations, they use company vehicles. Monitoring these trips ensure that both the technicians and the vehicle are safe - and adhering to regulations.

Technicians regularly use a digitised routine checklist, ticking off items such as are the SMART board and projector working, how many hours of battery life remain, is the operating system updated, does the router need to be repaired etc. This builds a holistic picture of each school, and gives LES insight on the maintenance and budget required from sponsors. During the lesson, educators can capture any information they need to, in the same system such as attendance, equipment faults and classroom maintenance required.

Before HYDRA, a report was compiled once a year, done manually by one person, which usually took 3 months. Now that the processes are digitised with HYDRA, automated reports can be generated with a click of a button. This is particularly important for two reasons:

• LES can, in real-time, show sponsors the performance of schools and the conditions of assets so sponsors are aware of the value of LES as well as reassuring them that they are meeting their CSI requirements.
• LES can critically evaluate the needs of these schools and learners and the impact on their grades and performance to achieve their goal of making a positive impact on education in South Africa.