The purpose of the Africa Drive project is to offer educators an Advanced Certificate in Education in the fields of mathematics and science. The objective of the learning model is to enable educators to deliver better learning to their students and with this in mind, a highly accessible, blended learning approach incorporating e-learning, classroom learning, workshops and assignments is being used to train in-service educators.

Learning will take place at learning centres where both on-site and on-line facilitators will be present. Learning will be both self-paced and scheduled. The studentwill dictate the pace of learning and progression to more advanced levels willonly take place once complete understanding and application of current subjectmatter can be demonstrated.

Another fundamental shift in this learning model is that learning is ‘demand’ and not supply driven. It was born out of a very real need for educators with relevant qualifications and was therefore carefully designed to meet the requirements of the market.

The content was designed and developed to cater for a blended environment. Blended learning is the most logical and natural evolution of this learning agenda. It suggests an elegant solution to challenges of tailoring learning and development to the needs of individuals. It represents an opportunity to integrate the innovative and technological advances offered by on-line learning with the interaction and participation in the best of traditional learning. It will be supported and enhanced by guidance of online and face-to-face facilitators.

One of the most important factors in creating blended learning solutions is to recognise where it fits in the broader context of organisational learning and development. The potential of blended learning is almost limitless and represents a naturally evolving process from traditional forms of learning to a personalised and focused development path.

In the development of the ACE material, great care is taken to create a learning environment that:
• seeks to engage the learner in an experience that is relevant, inspiring, fun and different
• encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning
• provides learning experiences that are stimulating and use the right medium for the learning, rather than for its own sake
• uses language that is clear, engaging on the level of the second language user and non-bias
• makes the connection between offline and online learning and the work environment, so that students are able to put learning into practice
• provides opportunities for assessment that are valid, reliable and meaningful
• builds opportunities and capacity for online discussion with others in a safe and secure environment
• provides equal opportunities for all students
• encourages the students to take part in action and invite feedback from their peers and management
• offers the right level of support through online and face-to-face facilitators
• offers technical support at the learning centres.