Teignbridge Council teams up on e-learning
Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 44, Issue 4
A partnership in Devon, UK, is set to launch a new method of e-learning for staff across seven local authorities and other organizations.
The e-academy has been created by Teignbridge District Council in partnership with on-line training provider Learning Nexus, establishing a new model for providing staff with access to more than 200 courses.
Unlike many e-learning solutions, the e-academy enables new members to buy-in at any time, purchasing as few as 50 individual user licences for a small amount per user per year, offering full access to courses and better value for money than going it alone with their own provider. There is also a small annual fee to maintain a fully branded member area, through which staff gain access to courses.
The system has been made possible by Teignbridge Council buying licences in bulk, enabling it to sell smaller quantities of licences on to other organizations at the bulk-discount price. The council will manage the system in-house with support from Learning Nexus, and will provide access directly to members in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.
The scheme offers quality training to public-sector organizations with all the functions of more expensive systems. Members are able to: create their own branded courses and upload them; manage all of their on-line learners in one place; analyze different training needs; track progress; and gain access to on-line work-station and risk assessments. For an additional cost, the system enables members to bolt-on qualification courses for the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Prince2 Foundation Project Management and Accredited Finance for Non-Financial Managers.
Councillor Mike Walters, Teignbridge Council’s executive member for corporate services, said:
We are proud to be spearheading this new system. It is already proving popular, with many partners buying in before we have even launched for the first time.
This is exactly the kind of innovative thinking that local government needs. It brings fantastic value for money, offering cut-price courses that do not scrimp on quality. Importantly, it also helps smaller public-sector organizations to gain access to training that they could otherwise never afford,bringing new skills to more staff.
The model has been developed over eight months by the council’s human-resources team and Learning Nexus, which is now planning to introduce the scheme in other areas.
Courses offered by the new system include: health and safety; managing diversity and workplace legislation; management and workplace skills;information-technology training; social care and health; and languages.
The e-academy allows members to tailor many of the 200 courses to their specific organization, adding information which is relevant to their employees and ensuring best practice is kept up to date.
