Almost a year on since COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic and with the UK in another national lockdown, millions have had to adapt to a new way of working, whether that be working from home, working flexibly to home-school or finding themselves on furlough.
The pandemic has had a significant impact on the way we study and how we can use the extra time to continue our professional development. When the first lockdown hit, our electrical training centres had to close their doors to the public and like many other industries, everything stopped. During this downtime, we were able to adapt our training materials, invest in technology and introduce the Virtual Learning lounge.
Virtual Learning is a fantastic way to give delegates the opportunity to learn from the comfort of their own home, whilst still receiving the same level of content and interaction you’d get from attending one of our training centres.
We began by offering the City & Guilds 2382-18 18th Edition course and the Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) courses BCM00 – BCM06. Fast-forward 9 months, and we now have 18 courses in our virtual offering, with more in the pipeline. We have introduced the Safety Pass Alliance courses, IOSH Managing and Working Safely, CompEx Foundation, Duty Holders and our Electrical Safety Awareness course.
In addition to this, we have extended our offering to include closed virtual courses, specifically for companies with multiple delegates who require training. The benefit of a closed course is that we are not limited to our standard virtual offering and can deliver a range of our most complex courses using a blended approach of online learning for the theory elements and an onsite visit for any practical elements required (COVID controls and risk assessment dependant). If you have several delegates in need of training, get in touch to see how we can offer a tailored approach to your requirements.
One client who has already made the most of our closed virtual learning is Lifescan Inc. They recently completed 8 virtual courses with us, enabling their delegates to learn remotely.
Terry Dickson, Maintenance Team Leader said: “I wanted to send through a message of thanks for all of your help throughout the (virtual learning) process.
“Everyone has been very helpful and responded quickly to any queries or changes needed which has made my job nice and simple.
“I completed the course myself and thoroughly enjoyed it, obviously with the restrictions it’s not the easiest way to present and a classroom-based course would have a different feel. The feedback about both instructors has been positive, you really feel for them not seeing the attendees faces but always well presented.”
The virtual learning environment has been a big change for delegates and tutors across all industries, however we believe it is a fantastic way to continue development and further your knowledge in a time where we must all stay apart.
To ensure you are getting the most out of your training and are recognised for successfully sitting the course, each of our courses include an assessment that can also be delivered remotely, either via Microsoft Forms or by the training providers own examinations portal.
We are delighted to announce that we have recently implemented remote invigilation for the City & Guilds 2382-18 course, meaning there is no need to come to centre to sit the 18th Edition exam and instead you can do this at home after the course.
This opens even more possibilities for delegates from further afield who may have been thinking about completing the training, but who may have been concerned about coming into centre to sit the exam due to local travel restrictions.
Remote invigilation requires the delegate to have their camera on whilst sitting the exam and sharing their screen so our centre invigilator can determine all provider requirements are met and the exam is conducted fairly.
This is a straightforward process and we’ll talk you through every step of the way. If you’re hesitant about using technology for learning, please do get in touch. We’ve created a process that simply mirrors the classroom online. Our training is delivered in real time using video conferencing software, giving you the opportunity to watch and listen to the tutor, follow the presentation live and interact and ask any questions you may have. All you need to think about is joining the course on time!
There are so many possibilities with virtual learning and we are continuously finding new ways we can progress in this area. Keep an eye out for our ‘Buy and Keep’ sessions coming soon!
