Digital rights group banks on gamified learning to sensitise university students on inclusion

 

Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director speaking at the game launch at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa on July 18, 2025. [Teresia Karanja, Standard]

A digital rights group, Paradigm Initiative, is now targeting institutions of higher learning with a new gamified learning experience on digital rights and inclusion.

The Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) is a custom-designed board game created by the NGO with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF).

The innovative learning tool aims to transform complex digital rights concepts into a fun, accessible, and engaging board game, highlighting online safety, digital inclusion, and responsible digital citizenship.

In Kenya, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi hosted the pilot experience, after the University of Lagos in Nigeria and the Dakar American University of Science and Technology (DAUST) in Senegal.

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Speaking at the game launch at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director, said PIN’s vision is to reach 20 million youth across the African continent through Digital Inclusion and Digital Rights interventions in the next five years.

According to him, the game allows young people to learn about digital inclusion by having fun, with the first target being tertiary and university students.

“From Lagos, to Dakar, to Nairobi.. we will use the vehicle of our new Digital Rights and Inclusion Board Learning Experience (DRIBLE) which entails using gamification, training, multimedia materials, tools and other interventions to connect African youth with digital opportunities and protect their digital rights,” he said.

Gbenga took the students through Paradigm Initiative’s journey and urged them to use connectivity to make the best of the opportunities that come their way.

The major problem we have across the continent is that there are so many young people who are not connected, and for the few who are connected, they don’t have access to opportunities. This is why the DRIBLE tool is a game changer for us in bringing the gaps between connectivity and digital opportunities,” said Gbenga.

His remarks were echoed by Nnenna Paul-Ugochukwu, the organisation’s Chief Operating Officer, who said the learning experience is instrumental in raising awareness of digital rights among the youth, building their capacity to address digital rights and inclusion issues in their communities.

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Cheryl Akinyi, Program Manager, Democratic Futures in Africa at Open Society Foundation (OSF), in her sentiments, challenged students to develop home-grown technology solutions rooted in the realities and aspirations of the continent.

“There is so much talent across Africa, yet the dominant narratives and innovations in tech are still being shaped by actors from the global north,” she noted.

“We must decolonise and democratise the tech space, cross-pollinating our ideas, investing in our own solutions, and taking up space not as bystanders, but as critical players in shaping the future of technology,” she added.

The launch of DRIBLE builds on the progress the organisation has made over the years in tackling the challenge of digital exclusion across Africa.