Lambda Solutions e-Learning 2.0 Online Training and Moodle Experts

Did you know that Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations require all employers to provide training on safety procedures for their employees? For most organizations, these training sessions are mandatory and should be repeated annually. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), WorkSafeBC, Canada Safety Council and Department of Justice Canada provide wealth of information on workplace safety and emergency preparedness.

Unlike 10-15 years ago when environmental disasters were viewed as unlikely events that might take place in the distant future, recent thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes in the US and severe snowstorms here in BC made them very real bringing the question of emergency preparedness to the forefront of many organizations. Obviously, the best way to be ready for emergency is to be prepared and preparedness involves training. Many employers across BC are taking action and implementing emergency preparedness training in the workplace.

BC Hydro has recently commissioned Lambda Solutions to develop an emergency preparedness course for their Edmonds location. The course focuses on emergency evacuation procedures in event of earthquake, fire or a bomb threat and will be mandatory for all employees and contractors who work in that location. Encouraging every occupant in the building to take the course promotes a sense of community and increases overall preparedness.

To make the mandatory training easy and fun, Lambda built the course using a problem-based approach that involves edu-gaming and individualized evaluation immediately upon completion. Built on Lambda's ClearView (LCV), the course features 3-D graphics, virtual space and real-life scenarios. On average, it will take about 15 minutes to complete the course. The shortness of time allocated for the course is designed to emulate a sense of emergency, similar to a real-life situation.

Once the pilot at Edmonds location is completed in late March, BC Hydro Training Team will implement the course in other locations across BC. Lambda Solutions built this course modularly, which means BC Hydro will be able to replace the graphics to seamlessly customize it for other locations.

In January 2007, Kumon North America, chose Lambda Solutions to develop their first online orientation for their franchisees. Based in Chicago, Kumon North America is the head office for international math and reading training centers for children in Kindergarten to Grade Twelve.

Kumon first started 50 years ago in Japan by Toru Kumon, a teacher and parent who wanted to help his son do better in school. Mr. Kumon developed a unique instructional method that helps students excel. Today Kumon Math and Reading Centers are present in 43 countries with 400 Centers (franchises) in North America alone. Franchises are required to undergo extensive training. Jason McIvor, Director of Sales at Lambda Solutions, answers questions about the project.

Usually learning providers have to look for business, i.e. bid on RFPs and pitch to clients, not in this case I hear?

Yes, Kumon North America actually contacted us just before the Holidays last year. Their staff in Chicago found us through their own research. They contacted six or seven other companies along with us and RFQ-ed this project.

Why did an international training company based in Chicago choose Lambda Solutions?

They chose us for several reasons. First, they were very impressed with our customer service - we responded to their RFQ promptly and efficiently. Second, they felt very confident in our instructional design capabilities to bring this course together. Third, because of our previous experience we've successfully developed orientation courses for Blast Radius, BC Hydro and TK Shipping. Also, Shevy Levy, Lambda Solutions' President, holds a Master's Degree in mathematics and has a teaching background, so she knows the culture and has the expertise. Finally, we were competitive in terms of our pricing.

Can you highlight the key aspects of the project?

For franchise training, Kumon franchisees are required to complete two-four day face-to-face training sessions in Chicago. To make the training more efficient, they plan to make their Orientation module that focuses on administrative procedures, online. Using Lambda ClearView technology, Lambda Solutions will repurpose an hour and a half session for online mode and will host it so the learners can login via a secure site, complete the course and take the tests; the learners will take the course in between the two four day sessions on their own.

What is unique about this project?

This is the very first of a kind online course for Kumon North America. They want to put a solid first step forward and see what they can do with online learning. The fact that they chose Lambda Solutions to guide them through this process is pretty exciting. Also, just like us, they are in the business of training and I am sure we will learn from them as much as they will learn from us.

In the January issue, we introduced the concept of Social Learning and briefly talked about social learning software tools. As a continuation to this discussion, this article introduces the concept of Constructivist Learning and discusses how online social learning tools can be used in the workplace.

As its name may imply, constructivism emphasizes the building (i.e. constructing) that occurs in people's minds when they learn. This suggests that learning from our environment (through our senses) is an active, rather than a passive, process because we are actively engaged in the creation of our knowledge. Both theories (social learning and constructivism) play an important role within the context of online learning. When using social learning tools such as blogs, podcasts and wikies, online learners can create a community of practice around a particular subject matter where they can exchange ideas and interact with each other.

But let's bring this theory discussion closer to our day-to-day reality and introduce some examples. Most of us take advantage of social learning tools when we research a purchase of a new big-screen TV, plan a trip, or a wedding. There are many Internet sites devoted to various subjects where users can post and exchange ideas. In the R&D world there are online communities and Blogs dedicated to various technical subjects such as Java and PHP. Developers who use them work together to improve a product, innovate, and exchange knowledge.

There is growing interest among businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies in using blogs rather than email for internal communications. Managers use blogs to coordinate collaborative projects, while engineers post updates about software configuration and server repair procedures on blogs. Some use social learning tools for archiving to preserve data that would otherwise be discarded and lost.

Social learning tools are affordable as they do not require a lot of technical support. One should keep in mind that to be effective, these tools should be used wisely and strategically. A number of eLearning companies, including Lambda Solutions, provide advice on how social learning tools can be successfully implemented and used in the workplace. To learn more on how you can benefit from these tools at the workplace visit the links below:

Resources

• C|Net's guide to workplace blogging
• How Tor works
• Anonymizer's Anonymous Surfing
• A list of fired bloggers
• The Bloggers' Rights Blog
• A Technical Guide to Anonymous Blogging (An Early Draft), by Ethan Zuckerman
• EFF's Legal Guide for Bloggers, a larger, more comprehensive look at the legal issues facing bloggers