The AT Fellows’ Reflection Corner is a space for fellows to share their thoughts and insights as they work on varied projects through their fellowship.
IDA is finalizing its online course on assistive technology that was produced with active involvement of the IDA-GDI Hub fellows. Fellows co-created the content of the course, ensuring its representativity and inclusion of the widest pool of AT users, and brought in valuable reflections from their own constituencies. In order to optimize accessibility and user experience of the course, the user testing is scheduled to take place in late March, and the course will be published in early April 2024. Its targeted audience is disability rights activists from all over the world with particular emphasis on the Global South. The AT online course will be followed by a closely related course on social protection for persons with disabilities.
Ahmed Abdalla, AT Fellow from Sudan reflects on his contribution to the development of the AT online course.
“Working and contributing to the development of the online course proved to be highly beneficial for me, and I anticipate its successful completion, hoping that it will benefit all intended recipients and institutions.
In terms of process, the project leads at the IDA secretariat hosted a “Needs Assessment Workshop with AT Fellows” on 5th September 2023 to clarify objective, framework and methodology of the AT online course. Following this workshop, fellows were tasked with drafting an essay on the status of assistive technologies in respective country contexts. Along with fellows, I provided my insights focusing the barriers of accessing AT by people with disabilities living in conflict situations. I also provided my feedback on the course content in two rounds of review, as well as made a short interview with an AT users. Throughout all these stages, spanning several months, I engaged in detailed discussions with the project leads, who provided consistent guidance and expanded my understanding of pertinent concepts, emphasizing the necessity of contextualizing content within Sudan’s specific landscape.
During this wonderful journey, my knowledge of the Sudanese context related to assistive technologies has increased, and I have also gained cumulative knowledge through reviewing the initial draft by discussing with the fellows and the project leads at IDA. The collaborative work in the review stage was effective and fruitful, as I listened to the colleagues and their different opinions, gaining a deeper understanding of their local contexts and diverse backgrounds.
The IDA staff leading on this project played an important role in all steps; I referred to them for consultation, to seek advice, and to understand points that needed clarification. This was especially beneficial as dividing the work into team tasks among colleagues was fantastic. It has truly been a beautiful work journey, and thanks to IDA for making this possible.”
