Why e-Learning should be the obvious choice for safeguarding training, but is often overlooked
E-Learning should be the clear number 1 choice when considering staff safeguarding training and compliance with requirements. On every level it makes total sense, whether it’s cost or effectiveness of learning.
With training updated as requirements change and courses accessible 24/7/365 on any PC, Mac, Tablet or Smartphone, why would you look anywhere other than the e-Learning sector?
The answer is simple - there is e-Learning and then there's e-Learning, and here’s the big issue and where the doubt creeps in. How can you tell the difference between one company’s service and the next, and be sure you comply with requirements?
These are the fear factors which lead schools/academies to rely on external trainers, cascaded training or sending staff out on training courses. But we know these traditional methods are problematic. How can you be sure external training meets latest standards? The expertise is often lost in cascaded training, often diluted through the process of delivery, and offers little scope for differentiation to meet the participants needs. Change is sometimes hard to face, even if it will make things better again both in terms of cost and effectiveness of learning!
So here are some tips:
- Always ask your potential supplier to take you step-by-step through their system. Is it complex in terms of setup and administration? It shouldn’t be!
- Take a look at the quality and sophistication of the presentation. If it doesn’t engage you, it won’t engage your staff!
- Make sure you get access to the whole system for as long as you need, don’t be guided just to what companies want to show you (their best bits).
- Ask how often the content is updated and how you will know if there have been changes. The best systems offer immediate updates as legislation, statutory guidance and inspection requirements change.
- Remember, poorly designed and overly complex system architecture and content often leaves users disappointed, disillusioned and most importantly, inadequately trained. This problem starts with the system interface and user account setup but is an unnecessary issue as good system design can overcome this problem and help, not hinder the user.
- Next, the user needs to be fully engaged with the particular training course. This can only be achieved by gathering content from key experienced practitioners from the education sector combined with engaging written content and digital media that only the best providers achieve effectively.
- Does the content offer a solution that all your staff, regardless of their ability level, experience and language requirements, will understand?
- Engagement is everything. The last thing users want to see is static content that they could have produced themselves. Engaged learners learn and poor content and system design will disengage the user in seconds!
In a recent piece of feedback regarding our Safeguarding Suite, one of our customers emailed simply:
“Thank you for making my job easier.”
I loved it. There really is no better place to be than that. We have a great product that is protecting children and making practitioners’ lives easier and less stressful.
At SSS we pride ourselves on providing a service to our customers, who can be safe in the knowledge that we are looking after the training that they are required to complete.
This is what great e-learning can deliver.
Jonathan Case
BSc (Hons) Env Health
