MUTUNGA, Gloria Mutheu

Project Title: Online Platform for Informal Vocational Learning to Improve the Rate of Knowledge and Skill Acquisition Among Women in Kenya

Abstract: Early pregnancies and restrictive cultural practices constraint the time, mobility and flexibility required for women to access education. Consequently, the overall economic contribution and labour participation among women is exiguous. More research is necessary to investigate the application of technology in promoting women’s access to Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TVET). Such skills provide prospects for career advancement as well as self-reliance in absence of employment. This is especially relevant to Kenya where more than 50% of women have not attained secondary school education level and above. This exploratory study aims at fostering informal vocational learning among women in Makueni County using publicly available content. The methodology adopted was a three-step process comprising of a prestudy to identify the requirements of a self-paced Learning Management System (LMS), development of the LMS as per the identified requirements, and finally, a post-study to evaluate its effectiveness in learning. Stratified purposive sampling was used to identify 30 women with limited prospects for tertiary education for the study. The evaluation for the LMS was done using phone interviews and involved giving the participants access to the LMS for two weeks. Findings of the study showed that 93% of the participants had effectively learned sufficient skills in at least one of the four learning areas provided in the LMS, and it concludes that offering publicly available content in self-paced LMSs can promote vocational learning among women.