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Addressing Africa’s agricultural education gap

By AGRICOLLEGES international

AGRICOLLEGES international (ACI) is a modern cloud-based e-learning institution, using world-class technology as a platform to address the agricultural education gap in Africa and beyond, by providing students with affordable, accessible and industry-relevant education and training in the fields of agriculture and related agri-industries.

Our unique offering is the cloud-based teaching, training and learning of Agri-Sciences by providing access to information in an online, blended and shared learning environment, available from anywhere at any time. All this at a quarter to a fifth of the cost of traditional bricks and mortar tertiary education institutions.

We use a Blended Learning Model: ACI’s online courses combine e-learning with an academic approach as well as the practical application of the coursework. Combining this with shared-learning results in a three-pronged approach:

  • Students learn independently through the online tool, at any time and from anywhere;
  • Students collaborate online with one another to share information and learn from each other through forums like chat rooms and webinars;
  • Students benefit from practical learning experiences which take place either remotely or at an AGRICOLLEGES international Practicals Destination.

Accreditation:

Our Learning Management System (LMS) is hosted on the cloud and includes advanced tools and functionality to enable a full suite of blended learning opportunities. Desire2Learn’s (D2L) Brightspace LMS delivers this functionality. The shared-learning chat group system enables more refined individual attention by limiting those groups, linked in any one course, to a maximum of 25 students.

AGRICOLLEGES international is AgriSETA accredited to offer a one-year NQF4 National Certificate in General Agriculture as well as various production and skills development short courses. Application has been made to the Council of Higher Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training for accreditation in the Higher Education and Training field and approval is expected soon.

Course development:

AGRICOLLEGES international works with best in class course content developers from Stellenbosch University as well as Subject Matter Experts (SME) representing Agri-industry bodies across South Africa and the world. The association with Stellenbosch University is well defined through a three-year-old collaboration agreement and a number of joint projects are in progress.

ACI has developed a state of the art, modern Life Skills course applicable to all industries as a standalone course with 11 modules. Technology has allowed us to successfully integrate certain aspects of the Life Skills course into our other courses. All coursework is developed in collaboration with the relevant industry bodies, for example Milk Producers Organisation, SA Table Grape Industry, Citrus Academy, etc. The motivation behind these collaborations is to ensure that we address the needs expressed by farmers through these organisations.

Having launched the first course in March 2018, we have successfully graduated 180 alumni with a further 80 students currently on the platform. We boast that our alumni come from 17 different countries around the globe reflecting the true reach and potential of our learning platform from anywhere at any time.

To learn more about us, visit https://agricolleges.com/

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