Konnect

Childcare workers have a full schedule, so how do you get them get acquainted with a new daycare app? By using the power of storytelling throughout the course.

How do you create an informative, interactive, time-efficient and fun training for childcare workers? The training has to guarantee consistent quality and a brief runtime, and it shouldn’t be too complicated. It would also be fun to involve the parents and their children at the same time, but how do you substantiate such high expectations?

Konnect has developed an e-learning course to educate childcare workers in an intuitive way as they get acquainted with the app. This e-learning uses a storytelling method to guide the childcare worker. It also involves the parents and children in the process and consists of ten chapters filled with simulations of the Van Kampen family to demonstrate how the app should ideally be used. In addition, the virtual tutor, Iris, helps to set the learning objectives. She also introduces every new chapter and summarises the end of every chapter as well.

The variety in exercises makes the training appealing; the childcare worker can, for example, send a picture of a child or allow a child to write in an electronic diary. The parents won’t have to miss a thing, as they can access these messages from a distance anytime they want.

Thanks to aNewSpring, the e-learning course has a modular structure. This allows the course to be tailored for any organisation. It is also possible to add several other content chunks from outside the platform. Video instructions in Camtasia, simulations in Go Animate and SCORM, and software simulations through Adobe Captivate, for example.

Since September 2017, over 4,000 daycare workers have successfully taken the course with relish. It takes a maximum of about two hours to do so, and it’s easy to pause the course when something comes up. You can pick up wherever you left off, anytime you want.

How did you train people before you had the e-course?

"Before we had an online learning environment, we used to educate our trainees in a classroom setting. The classes often took place in the evening, which was somewhat tiring for the teacher and the trainees. It was also hard to maintain a consistent quality because the teacher and/or the trainees might not be as alert at all times. In addition, it’s complicated to keep the trainees’ entry level on tablets and software in mind.

However, we’ve succeeded! Every trainee can take all the time he or she needs to complete the e-course instead of rushing through the information in class."

Did any major organisation request an e-course specifically made for them?

"We’ve thought about allowing this, for example by adding a tailor-made introductory video. It would have been possible in aNewSpring as well, but we didn’t go through with this idea because our course had been bought as a whole. At this point, we do have customers who provide only a part of the available courses to their employees.

Thanks to aNewSpring, it’s easy to decide who gets to see which courses when you’ve arranged your portfolio well."

Did you face any other challenges whilst designing the course? Would you have done things differently?

"The biggest challenge is to simulate how the software will do on tablets. A lot of existing software packages aren’t ready yet to function properly on a tablet, so we had to come up with an alternative by incorporating it on a web browser."

What did you like about designing the course? Is there anything you’d like to add?

"It’s awesome when you can engage your clients in a catchy learning journey that emphasises the handiness of the course or when the feedback you receive from your clients is as positive as ours. Varying between animations, simulations and videos also makes it fun to actually design the e-course."