E-learning for industry and manufacturers

Not something your business could benefit from?

Think again!

What do your operators do when everything is running smoothly and production is happening? Play cards? Chat?

That's downtime; time when they could be improving their knowledge of systems and procedures. If you have an intranet, you can provide online training information in a way that will engage them.

E-learn during downtime

Training a workforce on shift can be a headache for any training officer. Only a few operators can be called upon at any one time, so a whole production line rarely gets to learn the same process information. Putting much of the training online allows operators to study at a time convenient to them, and their progress to be monitored.

The training material can be cross-referenced to policies and procedures already online. Information loss or bad recall does not become a factor, as the information is always available at work as a reference tool, and all operators are seeing exactly the same information.

Learning to suit the learner

Your e-learning can be based on formal qualifications, such as NZQA or AQTF standards, or tailored to fit the needs of your organisation. The key to good learning design is that it should be created to fit the expectations of the learners - your staff.

This means taking account of their preferences in:

• Language
• Visual media
• Recreational pursuits

One example

An example of this approach is when we worked with the RNZ Navy to develop pilot modules for e-learning. We talked to the naval ratings who were likely to attempt the online learning; we listened to the language they used and discussed with them their learning preferences.

We took the formal language of the Defence Force Orders and turned it into ratings' language. Then we designed the learning to look like a game console and the assessment to mimic a game where the learners fired on and sank ships. It was plain old learning, but the users loved it.

Customising training

Provided that the intranet is carefully planned, training can be as customised to your needs. It certainly makes sense to match the training to the workers most likely to use it. For instance, courses can be designed so that when a particular operator logs on they will be presented with only the modules you believe they need.

Or you can have a system that allows the worker to take a pre-test and then study only the areas where a lack of knowledge is identified. Final assessment will provide information on the areas where you might need to do follow-up training.

Using CD-ROMs

You may decide that training modules should be made available to workers on CD-ROM, so that they can take the material home and study from there. Intranet stored modules can be designed so that you can burn a training CD for an individual worker, but they take their assessment online. No matter what your organisation training needs, we can work with you to design a suitable system.

Serious learning

If an organisation is developing extensive online learning environments, where courses or individual trainees study in real time with ongoing support from tutors, then the training of tutors needs to be considered in addition to the creation of the program.

There is a huge difference between putting up material online for individual reference and creating a blended learning environment that takes the best of online opportunities and leverages it to the greatest advantage of the learner and the organisation itself.

Our educational designers would be happy to discuss this further with you. Please email us for more information.

If you think your organisation is not ready for e-learning Click here to find out about print resources that could achieve similar results.

Edutech KM Ltd

PO Box 25-241, Victoria Street, Christchurch;
phone: 64-3-337-0234
fax: 64-3-337-0235
info@edutechkm.com
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