Distance Learning Technology Selection for Asynchronous Safety Training

Example 3: Asynchronous Training

In an effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their learning from the modules.

One technique I have used for equipment training is designing a multimedia interactive learning object using an Adobe product called Captivate to create a simulation (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek 2012).  I like that it can be used as a stand along object or converted to a SCORM package and loaded onto a Learning Management System for automated tracking and scoring.  I have placed stand along objects on a webpage allowing easy access to just in time training.  Staff don’t need to log in to the LMS however this does not allow the training to be tracked automatically.

I recently developed a module showing staff the proper way to clean an IV pump.  One would have thought the manufacturer would have developed something like this but since we could not find one, we developed it ourselves.  During the analysis of the problem, we identified that many staff members felt this task was someone else’s job so we used the opportunity to address this issue with our specific target audience as well.  The start screen showed 3 large buttons branching learners to a video showing a skit acted out by our own staff showing that anyone can clean a pump how to do so, a close-up picture of the front of the pump for staff to click on for more information and finally button to report a problem with a pump that automatically sent notification to our Biomedical Engineering Department.  We chose to put this on a webpage instead of our LMS because there was a widespread belief that only the Environmental Services Department could clean a pump when in fact anyone is able to once they have been trained. 

I think a similar technique could be used for each piece of machinery on the plant floor, possibly eliminating the button to report a problem if there are established methods of doing.  My first choice would be to use an LMS to track completion and competency if one is available since the leadership has expressed this concern.  The first branch would link to a short video on the safe operation of the machine.  The next branch would be an interactive practice exercise using a drawing of the equipment asking learners to identify important elements of safety, and finally the last branch would be similar to the practice however it would be scored and information passed to the LMS for tracking.  If the use of an LMS is not possible, the learning object(s) could be used from a CD as well (Smith Nash, 2005).  This again cannot be tracked automatically however the results could be printed or the last branch could be eliminated completely and a supervisor or trainer could observe the staff member performing on the actual device using a paper-based competency. 

The use of video for training can be found on several popular websites such as Lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com/) and Microsoft .com (office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/training-FX101782702.aspx).   Simulation is often used in high risk situations such as medicine (http://www.laerdal.com/doc/86/SimMan) and firefighting (http://bullex.com/product/bullseye-workplacesafetytraining/).

References

Bullex, (n. d.) retrieved from http://bullex.com/product/bullseye-workplacesafetytraining/

Laerdal Medical, (n. d.) retrieved from http://www.laerdal.com/doc/86/SimMan

Lynda.com, Inc, (n.d.) retrived March 23, 2014 from http://www.lynda.com/

Microsoft (n. d.), retrieved March 23, 2014 from office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/training-FX101782702.aspx 

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Smith Nash, S. (2005). Learning objects, learning object repositories, and learning theory: preliminary best practices for online courses. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 1. Retrieved from http://www.ijello.org/Volume1/v1p217-228Nash.pdf 

Distance Learning: My Experience as a Student and Instructor

If asked to explain Distance Education a week ago, I would have described my first experience with online classes at the undergraduate level.  As a single parent working full time, I didn’t have a lot of options when I decided to go back to school but I knew I needed to do it for myself and my family.  Like many other distance education students, I had to balance work and family and wanted to limit additional time away from home (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek 2012).  When I first started, broadband internet was not widely available in my area and dial-up consumed our only phone line in the house so family resources were a bit of a struggle for a while.  As technology and access improved though, it all leveled out. 

I am not much of a writer so I selected College Composition as my first class, in hopes that I would become a better writer and be able to use the new skills in future classes.  The instructor used a lot of different font colors, sizes and styles in the announcements.  Being new to the online environment I was nervous anyway and missed an important element in the first assignment.  That little misstep really through me off course for the whole term but it was just the first in a long series of problem understanding this particular instructor.  I thought I might just give it up at the end.  Luckily I stuck with it and found that most of the other instructors I encountered possessed the basic skills required to teach distance education (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).

I had never thought of distance education for elementary, junior high or high school but recently I found out that my nephew Hunter started attending one.  Last year, in seventh grade his grades suddenly dropped from A’s to D’s and my brother was naturally concerned.  He found out that class sizes had grown to 35 -45 students.  The school had severe overcrowding problems which is one of several reasons a school district chooses to offer a site-based distance education alternative (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).  Now he attends each of his classes once a week and does the rest from home online. My brother’s schedule allows him to be home with Hunter but this option may not work for a typical family where parents work out of the home.  His grades have improved to B’s and C’s at this point.  I think that his father is also playing a larger role in his education now either because of the decline last year or simply because distance education facilitates parental involvement better than a brick and mortar school.  It seems to be working very well for my nephew and I expect we will see more distance education to combat teacher shortages and overcrowding in schools.  This could leave more underage children in the home without supervision which may be acceptable for upper level classed by certainly not elementary level. 

My nephew’s experience got me thinking about my own children and if they would have been more successful if they had the choice to attend school online.  My oldest graduated in 2011 and spent her first college year living away from home on the campus of a large university.  She passed most of her classes but really did not like it she switched to a smaller college and became a part time student.  She drove an hour to school twice a week, lived locally but still didn’t enjoy the experience.  For her third attempt, she chose an online school (the same one I graduated from) and is doing great.  If her high school had incorporated more online learning, she may have found this avenue much sooner.  My son attended a different high school but also did not participate in any online learning activities.  With so many colleges and universities offering this mode of learning delivery, it seems that we should expose children early in their educational journey to the alternatives. 

Using the traditional definition of education that is “institutionally based” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek 2012, p. 33), I wasn’t sure I would be able to use much from this course in my profession.  The definition is expanding to the corporate setting and will make learning more accessible to staff.  Many corporate educators lack the expertise and comfort level with technology so successful distance education may require changes.  We already take advantage of our Learning Management System to deliver e-learning to staff but we have not explored delivering anything synchronously using technology or even involving instructors or trainers past the point of designing the content.  We don’t yet use much in the way of evaluation of our e-learning and that may really enhance the quality of our courses (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008).  In order to take full advantage of this mode of delivery, we will need to prepare our educators and trainers to work in the online environment. 

Distance Learning has been around since the 1800’s in various forms (Laureate Education, n. d.).  Technology has certainly had an impact on the methods and modes of delivery with newer technologies replacing the old in most cases.  Though many developing countries may still use radio broadcasts, a deeper shared learning experience can be achieved through the internet (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek 2012).  This is where the future of distance learning lives.  We need to explore distance education not just for those that have little or no access to education otherwise, but also because this may be a mode of delivery that works even better than the live instructor-led model we are so accustomed to. 

References

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5), 63–6 7.

Multimedia Program: "Distance Learning Timeline Continuum", Laureate Education, Inc., n. d.