Creating mobile toolkits to teach peace and conflict studies in Kenya
Mr Timothy Gachanga is a Lecturer at the Institute of Social Transformation at Tangaza University College, Nairobi, and a part-time Lecturer at Kenyatta University.
Mr Gachanga has developed two toolkits, delivered through a mobile phone app, to support his teaching in conflict studies.
The Conflict Resolution and Transformation Toolkit app aims to provide learners with a basic understanding of the field of conflict resolution and transformation and how these concepts can be applied in practice to peace building. It covers 11 topics, and aims to cover both theoretical and practical issues, from the nature of conflict and its analysis to mediation and dialogue.
The Peace and Conflict Reporting Toolkit is designed to support those who wish to learn about reporting in situations of conflict and how to “empower the voiceless and seek common ground in their reporting”.
The toolkits include digital notes, embedded YouTube videos, and links to access online journals or any other digital content relevant to the course.
By creating an app, rather than hosting his materials on an existing website, students can download and access much of the content offline, wherever they are, only requiring a connection to stream content hosted by other platforms. It also makes it easier for him to update the content later.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the app came in particularly handy, enabling students to access content despite the closure of campuses, and allowing Mr Gachanga to reach them and continue teaching more easily.
Students downloaded the apps for self-study and Mr Gachanga connected via WhatsApp or SMS for those who did not have access to internet.
The apps were primarily intended for use by his students at the two institutions at which Mr Gachanga teaches, but its coverage has been much wider. Statistics from Google Play Store show that over 900 students from different countries across the globe have downloaded and are actively using the Conflict Resolution and Transformation Toolkit.
Interview conducted by Dr Augustine Mwangi, University of Nairobi
