Rarely do we find one single tool that can meet all the known requirements of a Learning project; good content development is not just about the tool or even good looking content. There are so many other factors to consider. Primarily we consider the capabilities of our learners, specifically how they learn, how (and if) they will access the content and how their progress will be tracked and reported.
For us the learner is always the first priority, closely followed by the processes. Irrespective of the subject matter to be developed or which tool(s) are to be used, comprehensive processes accelerate both content development and the learner’s understanding of the subject matter.
Larmer Brown were given a fantastic opportunity to present at the Learning Technologies show earlier this month. We gave a joint presentation with our partner, dominKnow Learning Systems, showcasing our recent project for Connect Plus Services (CPS). This was a great example of a project where we utilised three different tools to deliver a blended learning solution that met the relatively unique requirements of the CPS learners.
CPS were responsible for making on-road changes at the Dartford Crossing to enable the implementation of a new free flow traffic charging system – the Dart Charge project. Personnel involved in all areas of the project required training to ensure they fully understood the changes to road layout and procedures at every phase of construction. One of the key challenges was that each phase of training had to be delivered and the learners assessed before the actual construction began. It was therefore vital that the learning content provided an accurate visual representation of each change to road layout, truly work in progress. CPS also needed to ensure that competency could be assessed, tracked and reported, given the high risk health and safety considerations of the project.
We leveraged three separate tools to meet the complex requirements of the project — Engage Lean Process Modeler, to help map out all of the processes that needed to be captured at each phase of the project; dominKnow Claro, the HTML5 content authoring tool which enabled us to create dynamic and engaging content; and UPK Professional for content management, delivery and tracking.
Our learning solution delivered eLearning, classroom training and competency assessment as well as point-of-use support for all operatives throughout the project. This blended learning approach suited the learning style of CPS operatives across each of the roles, however during the first training phase it became evident that many of the learners displayed resistance to the assessment and tracking aspect of the programme. As practical learners who had been in their current roles for 15 years or more this resistance was not totally unexpected. To avoid resistance in the subsequent phases our Instructional Designers introduced game based assessments during the learning phases, using a combination of video, animation and gaming under the pretext of consolidation. The results were outstanding. By re-working our approach 92% of the learners achieved the 100% pass rate first time.
As always the success of any learning project is down to the learner embracing the change second only to the retention of the subject matter. CPS has confirmed that with zero incidents during the first three months following construction, the success of this programme is evident.
Read the full Connect Plus Services Case study on our website
