Turning a social mission into an immersive online learning experience

The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) has delivered its ground breaking Lessons from Auschwitz (LFA) since 1991, teaching more than 40,000 young people from across the UK about the Holocaust.

Traditionally relying on in-person interactions and spaces for its LFA course, 2020 saw the charity embark on a digital transformation project with Manifesto to ensure this flagship project could continue to be widely available for a digital and remote age.

Moving in-person educational courses online

HET’s core focus through its fundraising is to help students understand why the Holocaust happened. That the people involved were real people, not just numbers. And that keeping conversations around the Holocaust alive will always carry contemporary relevance.

This project marked the first time HET had ever digitised an offline experience. This is why the HET team needed to feel empowered in making decisions throughout the course creation.

The learning platform had to be educational, accessible, and – above all – offer a memorable learning experience. The charity wanted to treat this development as an opportunity to explore new and emerging technologies, with a focus on looking towards a future in which this digital platform, and these digital learning experiences, could complement HET’s in-person projects when they return.

A content strategy and design revamp

Manifesto delivered a series of workshops to define the course syllabus. Once the content strategy and design template were nailed down, a clear vision for the build was in place. All design ideas were screen shared with HET, acceptance criteria was co-written with the charity, and Manifesto held training and demos to up the educators’ skills and confidence. 

Designed for young learners, the virtual site visit embraces new mediums of learning. The learning management dashboard was divided into self-guided and guided modules. Features include quizzes, “ask the educator” questions, integrations to further learning resources, end-of-module recaps, interactive seminars with Holocaust survivors.

Internally, HET required a bespoke user-interface for its management team, as well as a separate registration website to manage sign-ups to the course. Manifesto therefore built a whole new workflow from point-of-registration, all the way to application. The team also came up with a new logo, look and feel which saw the team produce around 65 different design screens.

Delivering access to all

Manifesto delivered both HET’s registration site and learning platform in under six months. The charity has already enrolled more than 900 students for LFA Online. By managing expectations and not selling unrealistic visions, Manifesto effectively juggled factors such as time, people and money despite the fast pace and deadline pressures.

Through a collaborative approach, engaging content, bespoke technology and eye-catching design, the online experience HET achieved with Manifesto has proven impactful with its users.

One participant said: “I’ve never seen the Holocaust’s events humanised to such a degree.“

Whilst students in mid-Wales, who were previously unable to physically travel to in-person seminars, are benefiting greatly from remote course access across devices.

The balance of creating educationally robust and historically rich content, while also pushing the boundaries of an online learning experience, ensured HET’s core messages were lifted beyond the confines of a laptop screen. One of the greatest successes is the way in which the platform has reduced barriers to access HET’s learning material and effectively extended the reach and influence of this charity and their important message.

The Lessons from Auschwitz course has since been shortlisted for a Lovie Award, and won the Leader of the Pack, Not for Profit Acquia Engage Award.

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