E-Learning replaces face-to-face training at Housing NSW

Developed in conjunction with Australian e-learning development and services company The Learning Group, the new e-learning platform will be used to train 1,000 customer service personnel during the next three months.

Staff will be trained in the creation of client records and personal information management which is a topic that has encountered increasing legislation in recent years.

Training takes place during a period of 60 minutes, featuring screen pop ups, cartoon characters and graphics. It concludes with an assessment of five randomised questions.

The project was instigated by Housing NSW in March 2007. According to Donna Seagrave, Housing NSW’s manager for Learning and Development, the e-learning platform replaces what used to be an expensive face-to-face process which required a dedicated trainer to travel for up to three months.

"By creating the material online we’re not only reducing our carbon footprint, but we can now offer staff a new level of course accessibility and reduce the time it takes to train staff," Seagrave said. "It also means that training can be held whenever a new staff member joins.”

"Regional offices, in particular, are keen for e-learning because it is far less disruptive," she said. "The idea is to embrace e-learning for mandatory training and to use it as a complement to face-to-face training."

Course content was developed by Housing NSW staff using The Learning Group's online, hosted environment called LearningRoom and an Ensignia Learning Management System.

During its 15 years of providing learning solutions, The Learning Group has also worked with the Department of Defence; large Australian banks including the Commonwealth Bank and St George; and some IT companies including Cisco Systems, IBM Learning, and Fuji Xerox.

"Companies use LearningRoom's LearningMail capabilities to send out small pieces of learning or communications to employees, linked together in sustained learning campaigns - short tutorials, overviews, refreshers, case studies, quizzes, surveys, pod/vodcasts, webquests, and blogs," explained Mickey Clark, managing director of The Learning Group.

"It can reduce an organisation's cost to train, reduce employee time to productivity, and increase employee take-up rates," he said.

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