Shikha Sethia recently completed the IFWEA Crash Course in Online Design, a three-day mini-course aimed at helping participants to design their own courses. Shikha is an independent/ freelance researcher and facilitator based in the Netherlands, learning and working to advance feminist and movement-led perspectives on labour rights and economic justice. They have previously conducted research, grant coordination, facilitation, strategy reviews and project management for organisations in the global non-profit sector and academic institutions. In their work, they seek to amplify the voices of non-dominant groups, advance knowledge accessibility and reduce barriers to organising for justice.

How did you come to be involved in the work you do?

I have been working in this field since 2013, when I was a researcher with an NGO working on different themes related to social exclusion in New Delhi, India. This is where I first came into contact with labour movements in India. Since then, I have built on my knowledge and networks towards a more global focus, and conducting movement-support activities primarily (but not exclusively) for informal workers and/or in feminised occupations.

Why did you decide to do the IFWEA Crash Course in online Design?

In my various roles in academic institutions and NGOs, I have been involved with various project outputs that are produced with the involvement and labour of worker movements. However, very little of this knowledge is made accessible to or shared back with these movements, and remains directed towards policy actors and academic researchers.

I took this course – and the IFWEA course on study circle facilitation – to invest in my own skills for better research communication, as well as making research that I am doing on labour rights available to the labour movement in an accessible format. I found both of IFWEA’s courses to be very helpful in this regard, and I look forward to using IFWEA’s OLA platform for this purpose.

What did it involve – how was it organised?

The course took place over a period of three days, with a Zoom call on each day. Time was also needed for homework, specifically for the sample course design. I worked on my own, and received feedback from course participants and the facilitators.

At the end, what can you say you achieved?

I have learnt the basics of designing an online course on the IFWEA platform. I also have a toolkit that I can use for assessing the quality of the course, which will prove very useful when I design my own course on the OLA platform.

How will you use this in future?

I am engaged in facilitating a participatory research study and collective learning process on the topic of Care, with 12 grassroots organisations from all over the world, representing various identities and experiences (LGBTQIA+ people, disabled people, people from different age groups, informal workers, among others). Once the research has been completed, I intend to design an online course/workbook for the OLA platform on this topic, primarily for the participating organisations to share what we learnt together with their membership, but also available to other OLA platform users who might find the topic useful. The translation tool built into the OLA platform will be particularly helpful, as the participants in this study speak different languages. Additionally, this will be helpful in introducing the participants to the OLA platform, where they could also find other useful courses.

Do you think you will be able to pass on these skills to others?

I hope to eventually become skilled enough in study circle facilitation to also motivate and support others in the movements I am connected to, in becoming facilitators in their own right. I also hope to use my experience to advocate for better research communication by NGOs and academics, particularly those engaging with labour movements for their work.

Have you done any other courses like this before, or was this your first?

This was my first course on online course design. I have previously completed workshops on technical communication and data visualisation, for better research communication.

What was good about the course?

The course was taught through the medium of a practical exercise, and delivered a lot of information and skills in a short period of time. The process of peer feedback, in addition to that of the IFWEA staff, was an excellent addition, as it allowed me to see how others were applying their knowledge of course design. IFWEA staff were very involved and gave feedback and input on the course and, more importantly, also made themselves available for more personalised feedback – this is a very caring approach to adult learning and I appreciate the time and effort they put into their course offerings.

What was difficult about the course?

Putting time aside alongside other commitments for this week was not easy, as it required attendance of the Zoom session as well as time for homework. However, there was extra time available after the last online session to complete the course requirements, and recordings were available in case one missed any of the sessions. It was a lot of information to process in a short span of time.