OpenWASH modules

The OpenWASH materials have been arranged into five content areas called modules. The titles of the five modules are:

• Ethiopia’s One WASH National Programme
• WASH: Context and Environment
• Urban Water Supply
• Urban Sanitation and Solid Waste Management
• Urban WASH: Working with People.

The modules can be used individually or in combination. They are designed to ‘stand alone’ and they do not cross-refer to each other. You can use one or more modules in any combination as a programme of study, according to your requirements. They can be studied in any order. The Learning Outcomes for the five modules are included in the Appendix.

The modules have been written by Ethiopian expert authors with the support of experienced members of Open University academic teaching staff. The style of writing follows pedagogic principles and techniques for distance learning that have been used over many years in Open University courses. This means that the modules are designed for independent learning by someone who is reading and studying on their own. They have several features that are designed to ensure active learning by the student. Using these techniques creates greater flexibility because the modules are more resilient to variations in the resources available for teaching and learning in a classroom context. It enhances their value as the basis for training because the approach puts the ‘teacher in the text’. In practice, the modules can be used in a combined approach that is partly face-to-face teaching in a classroom and partly independent study. They can also be combined with practical training, work experience or other learning activity.