Supplemental Courses

AgriConnect Supplemental Courses

As part of AgriConnect, all students that are registered and in receipt of laptops and connectivity are required to take three supplemental courses over the next couple of months. These courses are:

The three supplemental courses will be undertaken by students using self-paced learning. All courses are online and available on the AgriConnect Learning Portal which can be accessed through: https://www.agriconnectghana.com/ and then logging in using your AgriConnect username and password. 

Supplemental course content under AgriConnect has been designed to fill existing gaps in the curriculum of agriculture and agriculture-adjacent courses of study. It is quite normal for the curriculum of academic institutions globally to lag behind new areas of learning and new and emerging industry trends and standards. Supplemental course content helps to bridge those learning and knowledge gaps and provide students with the opportunity to access the new and emerging requirements in industry, helping them to enhance their own competitive advantage and be highly marketable in the labour market, enabling them to access job opportunities or pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Digital Literacy to Advance Digital Skills Development and Prepare Youth for a Digital Future is divided into six (6) main sections and includes fifteen modules. The Modules which comprise the main course content will be supplemented by learning videos and other creative tools and approaches to enhance instruction and keep the learner engaged. The entire course incorporates 40 hours of learning. The sections are: 

• Section 1: Introduction to Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship 
• Section 2: Computer Basics, Problem Solving, Digital Skills and Productivity Tools 
• Section 3: Internet Basics and Online Safety 
• Section 4: Social Media Platforms and Digital Marketing 
• Section 5: Website Design and Introduction to Computer Programming 
• Section 6: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 

Value Chain Development, the supplemental course content has been designed to enable students to better understand value chains and the linkages between value chains, trade, and market development and how farmers (even small farmers with small plots) can capitalize on the opportunities that these value chains provide. 

The selected 9 value chains that were developed into supplemental courses took into consideration their appeal to young persons, the potential job opportunities, their high economic values, their scalability, the relatively lower start-up capital investment required and above all their ability to serve as livelihood enhancement ventures. The value chains for which supplemental course content was developed are:

Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship - Designed for students with a passion for agriculture and will offer a comprehensive and dynamic guide to navigate the intricate landscape of modern agribusiness. Tailored for aspiring agripreneurs.

This course is for agriculture students, graduates, as well as those venturing into the world of agripreneurship.

• It is designed for students that are intrigued by sustainable and innovative agricultural practices.
• The supplemental course content will serve as a versatile guide, nurturing a spectrum of interests and aspirations within the dynamic realm of agribusiness.
• The course will empower aspiring Agripreneurs with the holistic skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the dynamic agricultural landscape.

All students are required to take either the full course (as in the case of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship) or components of the supplemental courses as is the case with digital literacy or 4 value chain courses as is the case with value chain development. 

The length of time varies per course and in some cases, it is dependent on the modules that you will be taking. Courses range from 3 hours in the case of some of the value chains to 40 hours in the case of digital literacy. Students will be guided on ways to complete these courses, considering your existing course loads.

Approach to Engaging with the Supplemental Courses:

Some Tips for Online Study and Self-Paced Learning

Understanding Self-Paced Learning 

Self-paced learning is a style of instruction in which learners progress through the course material at their own speed and on their own schedule. In self-paced learning, you the student or learner can spend longer or shorter periods of time engaging with aspects of the course material. This enables you to have a more personalized approach to learning in which you can determine you own unique needs and interests. This is totally opposite to traditional classroom-based learning which is directed by an instructor as opposed to the learner.  

Tips for Successful Self-Paced Learning

The following presents some tips to make self-pace learning a success: 

1. Treat your online course as you would any other course you are taking. 

2. Determine how much time you can set aside each week for this supplemental course and importantly include it in your current course timetable/schedule. If for example you have no classes on Friday morning, slot in your digital literacy course for Friday morning. That way you ensure that every Friday from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon you will focus on this course. 

3. Stick to the schedule that you set and review your progress against the course curriculum every 2 weeks. Determine if you need to make changes. 

4. Do not timetable these supplemental courses, such as this digital literacy course for the weekend. As students you want your weekends, whether to study, complete an assignment that is due shortly, party, spend time with family and friends etc. Many of you are young and want to enjoy life! Some of you have commitments as you may already have families. All of this is perfectly fine. 

5. Find a good study space to take the supplemental course and ensure that you are not distracted. Think about spaces like the library or a study hall as opposed to your dorm room for example. You want to concentrate and stay focused for the time that you allocated to your supplemental course. Treat this supplemental online course as you would treat any of your other taught courses or ones that are in classrooms. 

6. In self-paced learning, you can pretend you have to teach the information you are studying to a class or a group of people. This may allow you to express what you are learning out loud and to try to explain what you are learning as though you are teaching others. 

7. Take notes just as you would in a face-to-face class. Remember taking notes also helps with retaining information and better understanding of the content – both for face-to-face and online courses. 

8. Consider engaging with others that are taking the course as this provides an opportunity to engage collectively with the course content or share thoughts or even get help in understanding a concept. This will keep you motivated and accountable. 

9. If you keep getting distracted or zoning out when you are trying to take the course, walk away, take a short break, maybe even have something to eat and drink and then get back to it. Remember self-paced and online learning can be taxing to our brains but we also need to be mentally prepared for self-paced learning.  

10. Limit the use of social media while taking your online courses. Once you start scrolling through a social media page, you often do not realize how much time may pass. Remember online learning and self-paced learning requires discipline, but also builds your discipline – a key value for the world of work ahead!

11. Reach out to the AgriConnect Team if you need help. 

Advantages of Self-Paced Learning

There are several advantages of self-paced learning including:

• Increased flexibility
• Autonomy
• Improved time management skills
• Being able to take the time to better understand the material and complete assignments
• Improving student confidence as you will begin to develop and grow as an independent person/learner
• Encourages learning of new things without anyone helping, which can lead to a boost in one's self-esteem.

Some Key Requirements of AgriConnect – Students that Received Devices Must Complete the 3 Supplemental Courses

All students that have received laptops and connectivity must enroll and complete the 3 supplemental courses. This means reviewing and studying the information provided through the PowerPoint Slide Decks, training manuals and videos and then taking the assessments at the end. 

The requirement for completing each course is as follows:

At the end of each module, students are required to take the assessment which is in multiple choice format. Based on modern-day approaches to learning, the assessments are open book assessments.