Limbic Learning

Following the introduction of e-learning in 2006, the majority of training at The Royal Naval School of Marine Engineering (RNSME) was still done in the traditional way: in the classroom. But The Royal Navy wanted to take things to the next step. They wanted to get the best from e-learning and traditional training delivery. They wanted a blend…

The Royal Naval School of Marine Engineering (RNSME) is located at HMS Sultan, a shore establishment in Gosport. RNSME's first piece of e-learning was introduced in 2006 and focused on the most junior of marine engineers, Engineering Technicians (ETs). Consisting of courseware that was used in the classroom to support teaching, the e-learning was also available out of hours for trainees to review and use at their own pace. Word of mouth feedback from ships confirmed that this new wave of ETs was proving to be more confident and knowledgeable.

Issue

RNSME now wanted to build on its ET course and introduce e-learning into its LET course - only this time with a blend.

The Leading Engineering Technician course is the next stage on the career ladder for a marine engineer, and the training given is substantial: a 42 week City & Guilds accredited course comprising just over 1,200 hours of training time per trainee, which on removing practical and Key Skills training still left some 450 hours of class time.

The bottom line was to introduce technology where it would add value without compromising the quality of the training, and seeing if more time for hands-on practical work could be gained.

Approach

One crucial aspect to designing a blend is this: just because you can turn things into e-learning doesn't mean that you should turn it into e-learning. It's very easy for an e-learning vendor to apply the formula blend = maximise e-learning element.

On the other hand, it's very easy for a traditional training company to apply its formula of blend = maximise instructor led element.

A more balanced approach allows us to consider all things equal as we consider the learner and the learning outcomes, and then decide on which modes of delivery we'll use:

blend = learning design + learner experience + delivery modes

Naturally this falls within the constraints upon the blend: primarily cost, Subject Matter Expert (SME) availability, and organisational readiness.

With experienced instructors and classroom time available, and demonstrations and hands-on practical plentiful it was truly a case of understanding how and where e-learning would add value. The 'blending challenge' for SMEs was understanding how the different modes of delivery and the varieties of e-learning worked together to deliver a learning experience more powerful and effective than trainees had ever had.

E-learning comes in numerous forms (download our what is e-learning podcasts for more), and following research and analysis of the content, culture and aspirations of the RNSME a core subgroup was adopted:

• Courseware. Short 10-15 min interactive self study e-learning lessons. Tutorials designed for underpinning knowledge, and scenario based lessons for application practice
• Virtual laboratories designed to be used in the classroom for trainees to explore and discuss laws and concepts
• Animated demonstrations designed for classroom facilitation so that trainees can follow and understand the operation of complex systems
• Video vignettes to show simple processes and methods
• A wiki containing all course materials, including more in depth information to satisy curious trainees. Thw wiki is based on the Mediawiki engine (as used by Wikipedia) to ensure instant familiarity
• Moodle to replace the traditional classroom favourite, PowerPoint, to conduct lessons. Moodle would be the RNSME learning portal both inside the classroom for the instructor, as well as outside the classroom for the student. Moodle lets instructors add additional materials (quizes, documents in various forms) and provides online forums for all

The big challenge was to ensure that we added real value with the e-learning, maximised the instructor's positive impact, and increased practical work where possible. To get this right it was essential that LIMBIC spent significant time on site at HMS Sultan. Working closely with the RN project team and over 20 SMEs the project became a real partnership.

LIMBIC's team engaged with SMEs in groups and individually to discuss the ideas involved in learner centred design, to discuss all the various modes of delivery available, and to discuss what and where e-learning could achieve desired outcomes. Having LIMBIC's technically strong learning designers on the project, two of whom qualified in engineering, helped significantly too.

Chief Petty Officer 'Scotty' Nicholson worked on two modules, taking on not only the traditional SME role but a high proportion of the instructional designer role too. Scotty spent a lot of time with LIMBIC's learning experts: "For so long things have been done in the old 'traditional' way. Working on this project with the learning designers changed my philosophy on learning. It's immaterial in a way that our blend has an e-learning side to it; even if it didn't the whole approach by the LIMBIC team to the blend brought a new way of thinking about delivering training.

"Working together has been absolutely brilliant. I've been able to talk about all the ideas I have for the course, and then following discussion and a few iterations we end up with a blended course that's both shaped and finished."

The design of the course means that no two modules have the same blend, each one being tailored to play to the strengths of self study e-learning, instructor led activities, and practical work. In practice this means none of the e-learning elements by themselves provide sufficient learning opportunities for trainees. Instructor and practical activities are crucial.

The learner centred blend has resulted in a significant shift in the traditional role of the instructor. Gone is the 90%+ activity during class time of imparting knowledge to the trainee - after all, the e-learning courseware can now do this for the majority of cases. The instructor's role has become more facilitative. But not only that, the instructor now has to be a motivator and a mentor.

Mr Andy Tower, MOD employee and ex RN, acted as the SME on two modules (Health and Safety, and Environmental Compliance) and was the first to pilot the new blend. "I worked closely with the team designing numerous credible scenarios that LETs would find themselves in, as well as being hands on in writing the theory. Working with Heidi was a joy - she got up to speed very quickly with the content and produced excellent work. I learnt a lot about just how much work goes into producing e-learning for the students."

Andy's been the first instructor to pilot the new technologies on a course: "It's interesting how some students work their way through the e-learning by dipping in and out, whilst others work methodically through from start to finish. From the pilot runs it seems that allowing about 30 minutes' for e-learning activity with 15 minutes of me clarifying points and providing further guidance is a good way for the students to learn.”

Not only do the students have media rich courseware and several other resources at their disposal, but by using Moodle the instructor can continually enhance the learning experience. Moodle lets Andy and his fellow instructors add new materials, quizzes, activities, and links to learning resources quickly and easily: "Currently I'm putting together a 20 question quiz to drop into Moodle, and this is where we'll go in the future. And if at any time a student reaches a point where they need further clarification or more information I direct them towards certain web sites."

As Andy says in summing up his role in light of the new blend: "The instructor's role is definitely becoming much more facilitative."

Looking to the future...

As part of their blended solution the RN are currently on track to have approximately 30 hours of self study e-learning courseware, with up to 5 hours worth of instructor led media rich e-learning.

Taking a conservative estimate that e-learning replaced half of the 'old' classroom time gives us a six-fold compression for the content now redisigned as e-learning.

Put another way almost 200 hours (30+ days) looks to have been freed up that can now be used for higher value classroom events such as discussion, practice and case studies; more opportunities for trainee reflection; and more time to devote to practical activity.

Over the coming months the RN is monitoring the new course and its implementation, to evaluate the actual delivery times as well as feeding back into the blend to improve and learn from experience.

Lieutenant Commander Tracie Price headed up the implementation: "Keith worked closely with us to understand not just our vision, but also the culture and ethos of Marine Engineers in the Royal Navy. Using imagery and Marine Engineering branding he designed an e-learning environment that our sailors immediately identified with and engaged in.

"As a direct result of Limbic's work, the RN will now be delivering training that appeals to the modern generation and, more importantly, we will be sending engineers that are more competent and confident to the Fleet."

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