CASE STUDY: How Can an eLearning Course Help Identify and Support Children in Need?
Read the article to learn how we helped design a clear, effective, and engaging learning experience that supports professionals in identifying and helping children in nee
It is everyone’s responsibility to help children in need. Beyond our roles as fellow citizens, parents, or even neighbors, the adults who work directly with children, whether in kindergartens, schools, extracurricular programs, clinics, or elsewhere, have a heightened duty of care.
To explain what signs (including the less obvious ones) may indicate a child’s need for help and how to respond if a child or young person requires support, we developed a compact, clear, and engaging eLearning course. To date, more than 1,000 professionals working with children and youth have already completed it. The course is freely accessible to everyone on the Lasteabi website and directly through the Digiriigi Akadeemia platform.
➡️ Learn more about the course concept, instructional design project, and results below!
🔎 1. Client and Purpose
Client: Child Welfare Department, Estonian Social Insurance Board
Sector: Social Welfare
Need/Problem: The client’s goal was to create a simple and clear eLearning course that would help adults, especially professionals working with children, recognize children who are in need or at risk, provide appropriate support, and make the necessary notifications to the right authorities.
🛠️ 2. Our Solution
Before creating the course content, we conducted in-depth research on the target audience: various professionals working with children. We learned that fears and myths often hinder the ability to notice and report concerns. The course needed to dispel these misconceptions and clarify who to turn to in specific situations and how to support a child in crisis.
Participants also expressed the need for real-life examples and opportunities to analyze cases based on new knowledge to build confidence in handling similar situations.
Design approach:
To keep the course relatable yet compact for a wide audience, we structured it around the step-by-step process that anyone can follow to help a child: Notice, Support, Report (“märka”, “toeta” and “teata” in Estonian).
We focused on presenting information simply and visually.
- Theoretical concepts are introduced through visual diagrams and interactive illustrations.
- Real-life examples and case studies are shared through images and audio clips.
The course also integrates the experiences of professionals themselves, using quotes, examples, and a summary panel discussion at the end of each module.
To support self-reflection and learning transfer, the course includes a Development Journal and analytical questions that help participants connect the knowledge gained to their own practice.
The course can be conveniently completed on any device, at a time and place that suits the learner.
📊 3. Results and Feedback
To measure the impact—how the course changed participants’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes—we used a self-assessment questionnaire at the beginning and end of the course. Comparing these results showed the greatest improvement in three key competencies:
Here’s what some participants said:
"Very useful and interesting course. I couldn’t stop until I finished!"
"Visually appealing and easy to understand material."
"Well-structured and immediately applicable in practice."
"I now feel much more aware of how to help children in need and where to turn for help."
Client feedback:
“The collaboration went smoothly, and as a client, we felt that our vision was fully respected. We were able to make important changes during development, and the final product is compact, understandable, and exactly what we needed after the amendment to the Child Protection Act.”
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Subject Matter Experts: Elise Ojasoo, Kardo Karon, Mariana Saksniit, Hannela Teaste
Project Manager: Õpidisain OÜ (Helina Loor)
Learning design and technical implementation: MindShifters OÜ (Jaanika Siiroja), Õpidisain OÜ (Helina Loor)
Video and audio production: Dimension Media OÜ (Tarvo Tammeoks)
Language editing: Mariliis Sild
Special thanks: Kadi Kask, Karl Rinaldo, Anne Rannaveski-Poola, Marta Pulk, Helena Heidemann, Kaja Toom, Jarmo Liivak, Kelli Neitsov, Mathias Loor, Lauren Lipp, Marie Purge, and all course testers
Year of completion: 2024
The development of the eLearning course was co-financed by the 2021–2027 European Social Funds, measure 21.4.7.9 “Services for Children and Families are of High Quality and Meet Families’ Needs”, action 2.3 “Development of a Cross-Sectoral Child Protection Model”.
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✨ Interested in taking the course yourself? You can find more information here.
💡 Got an idea for creating new e-learning? Let’s talk: hi@mindshifters.ee
