Offshore eLearning Sans Internet Access

Oilennium Ltd., a Petrofac Training Services (PTS) company that provides eLearning training services to the oil and gas industry, announced that since Dolphin Geophysical deployed the ConTrainer on its global fleet of seismic vessels, the company has experienced an improvement in its ability to deliver health, safety and technical training to its crews offshore.
The ConTrainer, a standalone Learning Management System (LMS) that features training content for the oil and gas industry on a small computer system, offers eLearning modules offshore and in remote locations.
Developed by Oilennium, the ConTrainer was created in response to demand from oil and gas companies seeking to provide interactive learning for employees working in remote locations where access to the Internet is intermittent.
Norway’s Dolphin Geophysical, which supplies marine geophysical services with its fleet of seven seismic vessels, recognized a need to train its crews consistently, whether offshore or docked in harbor.
“Before we began using the ConTrainer, our efforts to train crews on vessels via eLearning systems were compromised by constrained VSAT access to the internet, which most eLearning systems require,” said Mike Hodge, Vice President of QHSE for Dolphin Geophysical.  “To test the effectiveness of the ConTrainer, we conducted a three-month trial on two of our new 3D vessels Polar Duke and Polar Duchess, in international waters. We were able to monitor learners’ progress from our global headquarters in Bergen, Norway. We were impressed by the rapid uptake by our crews. The compelling, media-rich quality of the programs really engaged them, and fuelled their desire to progress, which in turn enhanced retention.”
Because the ConTrainer is not dependent on unbroken connectivity to the Internet, it has meant that during downtime caused by bad weather, for example, crews can take advantage of that time to progress through some of the 50 courses available on topics ranging from leadership and management to those with a technical or HSE focus. With the ConTrainer, downtime is never “lost time.”
During the past two years, Dolphin Geophysical installed ConTrainers at its Bergen base and throughout its entire fleet. Approximately 424 registered users have access to 50 courses that can be viewed any time. The training program has been so successful that Oilennium has been commissioned to provide another 20 modules, including two bespoke courses dedicated to a company safety induction, that are scheduled for installation on every Dolphin Geophysical ConTrainer in 2015.
In addition to delivering consistent health, safety and technical knowledge, Dolphin Geophysical’s training department is kept up-to-date on the progress of every user. This is achieved through a custom, graphic online dashboard, which provides a snapshot and long-term results in an easy-to-view format. Every day at the same time, each of the eight ConTrainers sends a report on user progress, allowing training managers to assess the level of eLearning on a vessel-by-vessel basis.
Every ConTrainer is populated with an on-site version of the Oilennium Learning Management System, the interactive learning modules and learners’ user details. The unit, which can be connected to the client’s network or standalone, is then placed in the remote location where employees are working, and internet access is limited or unreliable. As a part of their competence development, employees can access the LMS, and progress through the learning modules. The modules fall into four broad categories: 1) Introduction to Oil and Gas, 2) QHSE, 3) Technical Courses and 4) Leadership and Management. Tailor-made or existing modules can also be installed remotely from the UK office onto the ConTrainer, making them readily available.
www.oilennium.com
 

(As published in the November/December 2014 edition of Marine Technology Reporter - http://www.marinetechnologynews.com/Magazine)