Module & Timelines

Module 1: Understanding Childhood & Child Development

Dates: 05 - 15 May 2026
Explores childhood through an African lens, recognising the role of family, community, culture, and lived realities in shaping how children grow and learn. It challenges dominant global narratives and centres African children’s experiences, identities, and developmental needs in both physical and digital spaces.

Learning Outcomes
  • Compare childhood across generations and cultures
  • Explain major child development theories and their relevance.
  • Assess the impact of technology on childhood development.


Live Session - 05 May 2026, 6PM East Africa Time (EAT): Zoom Link
Dr. Roseline Olumbe (Kenya)
Head of the Institute of Child Development, Daystar University

Module 2: Working With Children

Dates: 19 - 29 May 2026
  • Focuses on ethical, respectful, and meaningful ways of engaging children as active participants, not passive recipients. It emphasises safeguarding, power dynamics, and culturally grounded approaches to working with children across diverse African contexts


Learning Outcomes
  • To increase understanding of emerging threats to children in digital environments.
  • To evaluate tools and practices for addressing new safety challenges in the Global South.
  • To design proactive strategies to enhance digital safety.

Live Session - TBC
Prof. Elvis Fokala (South Africa)
Associate Professor, Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (UP)

Module 3: Designing for Children

Dates: 02 - 12 June 2026
  • Introduces child-centred design principles that prioritise children’s safety, dignity, and agency from the start. It explores how to design digital products and experiences that are intuitive, inclusive, and relevant to African children’s everyday realities.


Objectives:
  • To introduce human-centred, child-centred, and safety-by-design approaches.
  • To develop best practices in designing safe and engaging technology for children.
  • To integrate participatory design processes involving children.


Learning Outcomes:
  • To create prototypes following child-centred design principles.
  • To apply safety-by-design frameworks in digital tools.
  • To identify and analyse the role of children in participatory design.










Live Session - TBC
Dr. Kruakae Pothong (UK)
Visiting Research Fellow, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Ms. Polina Lulu (Canada)
Founder, Researcher & Child-Centric Design Expert, Young & Wonderful

Module 4: AI and Children in the Global South

Dates: 16 - 26 June 2026
  • This module unpacks how AI systems are shaping children’s lives across the Global South, often without their realities being considered. It challenges fellows to critically examine bias, access, and equity, and to imagine AI that serves and protects African children.


Learning Outcomes:
  • To understand how AI impacts children’s safety in digital spaces.
  • To evaluate AI models from a Global South perspective.
  • To have enhanced understanding and skills in designing and training AI models for children in the Global South.



Live Session - TBC
Mr. John Zoltner (USA)
Founder, AI4SocialImpact
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