atingi ensures sustainability of e-learning content by hosting courses over an extended period of time, even beyond project end. Thus, guaranteeing long-term accessibility for learners as well as implementation partners.
For GIZ projects, it is very important to consider sustainability strategies from the beginning of their e-learning project and identify the most suited solutions for their context together with their atingi contact person.
There are four different options for courses on atingi after project end:
- Option 1) The project decides to take the courses off atingi. atingi will back up and share the files and delete the courses from the platform.
- Option 2) The project transfers the course ownership to atingi. The courses will be hosted on atingi for up to two more years if certain conditions* are met.
- Option 3) The implementation partner continues to use, share, and promote the courses within their networks. The official ownership is transferred to atingi for hosting and basic maintenance for up to two more years if the courses meet certain conditions*.
- Option 4) The course ownership is transferred to another GIZ project, which then takes over all obligations for maintenance etc., but can also edit and add content.
Already at the atingi onboarding stage, the according GIZ project should start thinking about which of the four options would make most sense for them.
During the course hosting period, they can prepare the sustainability strategy (e.g., through additional onboardings for implementation partners) and in the offboarding phase it will be finalised.
If one of the options from 2 to 4 are selected, an official handover takes place as part of the offboarding. For all scenarios course files will be backed up and shared with the ending project for documentation purposes.
The post-project hosting period for up to two more years is applicable for the options 2 (handover to atingi) and 3 (implementation partner involvement). After the content is either outdated or the hosting period is over, the courses will be backed up and archived by atingi.
Onboarding for sustainability
It is crucial to consider the sustainability of your e-learning course(s) from the very beginning of your project. If you envision your course to remain available and editable after your project ends, there are several aspects to consider from the start.
First, it is essential to identify who will take over your course. If you plan for implementation partners of your project to take over the course, it is essential to involve them from the start. This will help clarify how the course will be managed and used, ensuring that the necessary capacity building measures are conducted within the respective organization and that the product is successfully institutionalized with the partner.
Second, it is important to create your course(s) in a way that editing and re-use are technically feasible after your project has ended. Kindly especially consider the following aspects when creating a course which is envisioned to be hosted and used after your project ends:
- “Longevity” of the topic (e.g., whether it includes regulations, laws, etc., that may require regular updates or become quickly outdated),
- Number of courses to be developed,
- Envisioned duration of the courses to be hosted,
- Pedagogical format(s) (e.g., self-paced, blended learning, moderated courses),
- Authoring tools (e.g. choosing open-source software over licensed commercial tools),
- Volume of courses (e.g., multimedia-heavy vs. text-based; videos are more difficult to adapt while changing text items later on is easier),
- Licensing (e.g., copyright or open licenses),
- Publication modalities (e.g., public, open-link, non-public).
Those aspects are important because they influence the possibility of long-term hosting. To ensure that content can be hosted beyond project duration, it is recommended to develop self-paced courses, using a freely accessible open-source tool (e.g., H5P), licensed under Creative Commons, that are to be published either as public or open-link course on atingi. This way content can also be re-used by others and therefore continue to "live on" even longer.
Offboarding process
Please reach out to your atingi account manager at least six months before the end of your project to plan the handover or archiving process of your course. It is important to review the different scenarios for post-project hosting and discuss with your atingi account manager which scenario is most realistic for your case. If we were not informed about the project end, we can’t guarantee post project hosting.
If you choose to archive your course when your project ends, please decide with your atingi account manager on a specific date to archive and back up all the course files during your project phase. In case your course(s) will be handed over to another GIZ project, kindly inform your atingi account manager to facilitate a handover meeting together with both of your projects.
If you are considering to hand over your course(s) to a GIZ external implementation partner or to atingi, your course(s) will be evaluated by atingi based on certain criteria. A course that is hosted after the project ends will be made available as an open-link, self-paced course. This means that the course will need to be adapted as a self-paced course, meeting our quality assurance criteria of the open-link course library and cannot be edited after the completion of your project.
*Kindly review the detailed technical criteria for hosting courses after project end here:
The atingi team will review the course, and if all criteria for post-project hosting are met, it will be moved to the open-link course library. The offboarding process between you and your atingi account manager will be documented in writing.
Services during post-project hosting
After your project has ended, user support will continue to be provided, ensuring that learners can receive assistance if needed. Additionally, the technical upkeep of the course will be maintained to ensure its proper functioning. The course will remain publicly available, allowing your implementation partner or other stakeholders to share and promote it via a link.
Up to two years after your project has ended, the course backup files can be shared with your implementation partner. Alternatively, the courses can be archived earlier if this decision is made in consultation with your implementation partner and atingi, or in case the course is no longer functioning correctly or outdated. However, after the GIZ project concludes, the courses cannot be edited, and your external partner will no longer hold an administrative role on the atingi platform.