Elevating an Entire Learning Architecture:
The ADB Experience

Executive Summary

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) worked with ADEC Innovations Knowledge Management (ADEC KM) to develop the elearning strategy, set up the elearning platform, and provide the instructional design expertise to implement the eLearning component of the Asia Leadership Program.

The Asia Leadership Program (ALP)  is a technical assistance project of ADB that aims to catalyze and facilitate expanded knowledge solutions on sustainable development and climate change to help empower developing member countries to integrate actions in their respective policies, strategies and programs. It has 6 outputs, three of which focused on online learning content development and outreach.

By combining tried-and-tested learning methodologies and innovative tools, ADEC KM provided a technology suite which included a Learning Management System (LMS), a website, and a Community of Leaders Portal. In addition, our instructional designers and eLearning specialists provided the expertise needed in the development of sector and thematic pre- and post-event courses for the Program participants.

 

The Client

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is an international development finance institution that envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region. It assists its members, and partners, by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to promote social and economic development. Through its Strategy 2030, ADB maximizes the development impact of its assistance by facilitating policy dialogues, providing advisory services, and mobilizing financial resources through cofinancing operations that tap official, commercial, and export credit sources.

 

The Challenge

Taking ADB’s Asia Leadership Program to the next level

In 2012, ADB established the Asia Leadership Program on Sustainable Development and Climate Change aimed at inspiring “change agents” to incorporate new solutions for climate change and sustainable development as well as foster knowledge-sharing among ADB’s client countries.

“The program targets key policy makers and technical officers who are emerging leaders committed to sustainable development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. It also targets environment advocates, members of the civil society, the academe, and those interested or engaged in sustainable development and climate change work.”

Aligned with Asia Leadership Program (ALP)’s focus to develop DMC’s perception of ADB as a strong promoter of knowledge sharing and best practices, ADB’s SDCC-KASC needed the technology and instructional design expertise to support ADB’s various opportunities for virtual and face-to-face learning opportunities, extensive knowledge sharing and dialogues with experts and fellow policy makers and practitioners, and participation in a virtual community of leaders though the Program.

 

The Solution

A dedicated learning experience suite for the Asia Leadership Program – Website, LMS and Community portal

ADB partnered with ADEC KM in the development of an adaptive and mobile-responsive website which contained the latest news as well as relevant information on the Asia Leadership Program.

ADEC KM also set-up a dedicated learning management system (LMS) to host the learning resources for the Asia Leadership Program participants. The LMS became home to many eLearning courses on various sector and thematic topics. These courses were the product of the collaboration among SDCC-KASC, ADEC KM, and sector and thematic group experts.

To complete the learning experience for the program participants, a Community of Leaders portal provided the venue for virtual collaboration and knowledge sharing among the participants even beyond the actual event date.

 

The Outcome

Wholistic experience for Asia Leadership Program participants

The LMS, the Community portal and the website were instrumental in achieving the targets set for the Program which was designed to focus on knowledge-sharing and learning activities.

The 240 enrollees to the 14 eLearning modules made available to the participants via the LMS exceeded the target by more than 50%, with participants providing very positive feedback on the courses’ applicability and their overall satisfaction.

The website played a pivotal role in providing relevant information about the Program and its related activities such as just-in-time research, webinars and other learning events, as well as knowledge products.

The Program participants actively collaborated through knowledge-sharing and blogs via the Community portal with a recorded total number of unique users/visitors of almost 10,000 which translated to more than 60,000 pageviews.

To date, ADEC KM continues to support the eLearning initiatives of the bank through the SDCC-KASC and works with several other various departments in the creation of meaningful learning experiences to the banks’ more than 8,000 internal and external eLearning consumers.