IHRDC began delivering training programs more than 50 years ago when our founder, Dr. David Donohue, made the transition from the faculty at Penn State University to study law at Boston College Law School. In those days our offerings were limited to courses on technology, and the delivery tools consisted of three-ring binders, a slide or overhead projector, a blackboard, and a very knowledgeable instructor to deliver the content. There was no Internet, Wi-Fi, tablets or mobile phones to deliver video, text, and graphics — nor simulation games to enhance the learning process.
Today our company has successfully incorporated all these technical innovations into a broad range of instructional programs. We have also maintained our dedication to innovation and excellence to build the most effective training and competency development resources available in the industry today – earning a reputation along the way for being an industry thought leader. The foundation of that thought leadership as applied to instructional programs is the Adult Learning Principles which state:
- Adults learn best from each other rather than from a trainer …
- When they are actively engaged in the learning process.
- Dealing with real problems – the more real, the better and…
- Solving problems that have practical and immediate application to their jobs.
Thought leadership also requires an emphasis on the essentials of adult learning programs which include:
- Integrating program learning objectives with competency development.
- Ensuring that course attendees are all working from a common knowledge base.
- Employing in-house instructors that have empathy, deep industry experience and strong communication skills.
- Offering solid, meaningful, and current course content.
- Including action learning elements such as simulation games, case studies, and individual company board games.
- Issuing assessments and feedback to stimulate attendees to participate actively in the learning process.
Thought Leadership also means exploring various ways of delivering the content for Instructional Programs. This includes: “On-site” Learning Formats – both public and private. Public offerings invite attendees from multiple companies to network and share experiences, while course content is specified by the sponsor. In private offerings the instructor travels to a designated company and teaches for a period of one to five days. Content can be modified to fit the needs of the contracting company.
The other instructional choice is “virtual” learning and IHRDC offers two formats: Virtual Mentored Learning (VML), where there is no travel for either the mentor or the attendees unless attendees live near each other and choose to meet at a common facility. The IHRDC web-based, online VML blended learning course structure typically consists of two hours of individual e-Learning assignment per week, followed by a one-hour virtual discussion session (with a mentor) who then assigns relevant simulation game sessions or practical assignments to teams of participants. These programs are usually offered in weekly sessions over a 5–7-week schedule so that learners only dedicate 10-20 percent of their work-week to learning.
Virtual Courses (VC), the second format, are delivered in the traditional, blended learning instructional format, including lectures, case study discussions, e-Learning assignments, and simulation games to make the learning effective and enjoyable. Sessions typically run 2-5 hours per day.
To be effective, virtual learning requires a variety of learning formats. That’s because continuous lecturing produces inattentive students.
Thought Leadership also dictates that virtual learning needs more than just robust content to be effective. It requires:
- A robust learning platform with access to a variety of learning resources including carefully prepared learning objectives, lectures, simulation games, just-in-time learning nuggets, on-point case studies, e-Learning, team assignments, presentation templates. It should also include attendee registration, certification quality control assessments and participant assessments. program surveys and assessments.
- Tablet access to program resources using an effective delivery system and team rooms to manage either Zoom sessions or Microsoft Teams, with sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the needs of both students and instructors.
- Clear communication with attendees about what is expected of them to successfully complete the program.
- A kick-off session to set goals and objectives, completion requirements and enable participants to get acquainted and answer questions.
- Expert and committed instructors who can spark discussions among participants along with experienced mentors who can guide teams with action-learning exercises.
- Web access to program resources that remain available to learners for their near-term use.
- Recording of sessions so that they can be accessed by those who miss the live versions.
This proven package of innovative programs is the direct result of IHRDC’s application of its Thought Leadership to the creation, design and delivery of oil and gas training materials. You can access the schedule and details here of our extensive collection of live, blended, and virtual, competency-focused instructional programs. We would be delighted to have you join us.
More on IP Thought Leadership: https://ihrdc.com/instructional-programs/adult-focused-blended-innovative/