Partners+in+Plastering+Case+Study

=Partners in Plastering﻿ =

=Executive Summary =

The aim of this project is the development of a media rich online resource, validated by industry, and available to apprentices in the workplace via a hand-held Tablet PC. The resource will be aligned to two units of competency fundamental to the industry - fitting plaster boards to walls and ceilings.

Developing e-learning resources for training in the plastering trades presents excellent opportunities to explore interactive online delivery that engages the student, provides valuable learning experiences and assesses students on the required underpinning knowledge for off or on campus delivery; followed (as required) by assessment of practical skills in the work place.

This mobile technology - Tablet PC - will enhance a training organisation's cultural shift to create an effective learning environment in the work place for apprentices.

= = =Background=

Traditionally trades like plastering are overlooked as candidates for e-learning because of the high hands-on component. Current delivery involves attendance on campus over a set period of hours/days; using paper based learning resources.

Our learners are savvy to technology, they want to use it as a learning medium, and as an alternative to static print based material.

Employers of plastering apprentices also want more flexibility as to when their apprentices attend training and/or the option to undertake on-the-job training supported by a quality training resource.

It was evident to all concerned that apprentice plasterers were ready for e-learning!

The Skills Institute from Tasmania linked with local employer Hi-Lite Plaster and resource developer eLearning Australia from Queensland to create the team for this project to build the e-learning resources.

The Skills Institute provided project management, teacher and apprentice input and the location for the video filming and some of the static photography.

Industry partner Hi Lite Plaster provided feedback on the development of the resource, including industry currency, and made available their apprentices at their workplace for the field trial of the tablet pc. Hi Lite plaster had been using The Skills Institute as their RTO for some years; a partnership in this project was a natural progression.

eLearning Australia undertook all the video filming, photography and the building of the resources using the Articulate software. The e-learning resource was also hosted on their Moodle platform for the duration of the project.

This project represents a leap forward into the use of modern technologies for training plastering apprentices.

Had this project not been funded, it is very unlikely that, in the foreseeable future, these resources would have been developed and the mobile technology introduced as an alternative delivery methodology.

=What was done=

The Skills Institute team met with eLearning Australia in November to plan out the project. Two important issues were identified for the project timeline. The unavailability of the teachers due to the upcoming Christmas school holiday break and the limited availability of eLearning Australia due to commercial reasons.

A plan was devised so that all work involving teachers - demonstrating skills for filming, learning design of resources - would be completed before the Christmas break, allowing eLearning Australia to work with the video to commence building the e-learning resources during January. February/March would be field trials with teachers and industry with review, feedback and modifications to the resources as required.

This plan worked reasonably well, but it meant doing all the filming "up front", before any real scripting had been done for the resource.

It was not possible to re-do the video due to travel/cost of those involved and the use of professional voice over meant that we had to use the original footage which was all but complete by January. In practice, we had to write the resource to fit the video. Doing it again, we would write the resource and then film as required.

February/March was a very busy time of review and feedback between, apprentices, teachers and resource developers to make sure the resources were as good as we could get. Feedback about the quality and setting of the video (sunlight, shadows etc.), mistakes (there are two) in the video and other small problems could not be acted upon as the filming had been completed during the previous December.

However, the very positive feedback on the overall quality of the resource did put the video issues into perspective.



=Benefits experienced=

This project was an excellent learning experience for all involved, particularly the teaching staff who had never created e-learning resources.

The attention to detail required to ensure the resource aligned to the training package and the input into the learning design were both new experiences for the teachers. This will provide a solid platform for the individuals and the training organisation to further develop new e-learning resources.

The partnership with eLearning Australia as the resource developer was very successful and demonstrated just what could be achieved as an example for further projects.

As a training organisation, we now have a complete e-learning resource addressing two of the fundamental tasks that a plastering apprentice is required to undertake - fitting plaster sheets to walls and ceilings.

Apprentices can now access an online plastering resource allowing them to interact with engaging, interactive content at their own pace.

An e-learning solution is now available in this trade area to reinforce safety standards, and connect with students who have difficulty learning in conventional ways.

This project provided a "break through" in the type of resources being used in training of plastering apprentices and sets the the scene for the development of more resources and a new teaching and learning methodology.

=Lessons learnt=

For most of the team, this was the first time they were involved in a project that ran over the Christmas/New Year period. Whilst some of the team remained at work during this time, the teaching staff were away from late December to early February. Whilst we had planned for this to occur with those at work still able to undertake project based work, a certain amount of momentum was lost for nearly two months in the middle of the project time frame.

This planned absence forced some tasks to be performed out of logical sequence, causing problems further into the project. The video task was undertaken very early in the project to fit in with the commercial needs of our resource developer.

With only a basic understanding of the project output we hoped that we would cover everything that we could possibly need. As the resource was developed, and based on industry feedback, it became apparent that the video work could have been done differently, but the opportunity had passed.

Looking back, more planning and preparation could have been done prior to the video shoot.

The location of the wall frames, lighting, visible product labels and PPE were all identified as areas for improvement.

Additionally, the task of obtaining industry feedback and modifying the resource was conducted over a long period of time. This was due to teaching commitments, availability of apprentices and commercial workload of the resource developer. Doing this part of the project again, we would condense the feedback trial to a shorter time frame, gather all our evidence and provide this to the resource developer in one go.

=Framework connection=

The national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework funds and supports E-learning Innovations projects which aim to embed e-learning into the national training system by supporting and enabling innovation in training design and delivery, at the state and territory level.

This project produced two e-learning resources for the plastering industry.

Training for this industry is still very much in the traditional, class room based, block release mode.

The e-learning resources and the delivery via the internet to mobile technologies represents a significant culture change for those involved in training. The availability of this resource will provide an example for further e-learning resource development, assisting to embed e-learning and innovative use of technologies in training in the plastering industry.

=Acknowledgement=

This is a Tasmanian E-learning Innovations project output, developed by The Skills Institute, eLearning Australia and Hi-Lite Plaster with seed funding from the Framework.

=For more information=

For more information on the Australian Flexible Learning Framework: Phone: 07 3307 4700 Email: enquiries@flexiblelearning.net.au Website: flexiblelearning.net.au