More than forty courses are available at present, and before the end of 2010, there will be sixty. "We do not only offer development-related topics, but also content of general interest", Senior Project Manager Christian Gmelin explains. People can choose among seminars about Human Rights, Climate Protection, Healthcare, AIDS, Malaria, but also Financial Management, Marketing, Sustainable Economics, Business and Communication, Knowledge Management, and various IT skills. The entire portfolio can be booked in the online shop.


The biggest benefit for emerging and developing nations is the possibility to study independently of presence training and travelling. Even though the internet infrastructure is still poor, especially in some parts of Africa, developing countries regard online programs as a great opportunity. "They now have access to knowledge they did not have before", says Gmelin. Online training is particularly interesting for areas with low population density like some parts of the Philippines, where the population is spread out over thousands of islands. There, eLearning means that some people, for the first time, get the opportunity for professional training.


Gmelin notices a strong feminization in eLearning. "Outside Germany, people do not regard eLearning as an IT and technological matter", Gmelin says, "but as a useful tool for education and training." In this context, women become producers and create their own online courses. And women like taking part in the seminars since it allows them to participate in further education and professional training in regions and cultures where female education is usually not tolerated.


But InWEnt is not only aiming at knowledge transfer, but also at making the partner individuals and institutions independent of external help. For this reason, the organization for international cooperation also offers the participants courses on how to establish their own eLearning material. As the InWEnt E-Academy courses are free of charge - only services, platform usage, support, and tutors have to be paid for - some modules may be used by partner institutions and individuals for their own content and in this way serve as multipliers. "We want to enable them to become competence centers", Gmelin underlines. In the long run, less-developed countries are to organize their own education and training for people, companies, and staff.


So far, the GC21 E-Academy offers courses in four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Online programs in Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and others are soon to follow. But when, for example, twenty people from different countries gather in the virtual courseroom to learn about Project Management, the seminar will be held in English.


"At Global Campus 21, the participants cannot only learn together but also discuss and share their experiences and collaborate on projects", Gmelin explains. More than 1,200 users with tutor permission are available for moderation of groups and supervision of courses; 150 of them are qualified for online authoring tasks. By the end of 2009, more than 66,000 users had registered since the creation of the platform. Currently, their numbers grow by almost 9,000 each year.