Page 41: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q1 2012)

?www.maritimeprofessional.com | Maritime Professional | 41No safety-critical training organization can afford these fun- damental training shortcomings. Therefore, new techniques are required to teach seafarers the knowledge which forms a foundation for the skills acquired through hands-on training.This issue has been recognized by a number of vessel op- erators and therefore we are beginning to see some excellent examples of the use of new technology in familiarization and job training. One example is BC Ferries ? one of the largest ferry operators in the world. BC Ferries is a user and de Þ ning customer of MarineLMS ? the Þ rst learning management sys- tem (LMS) created speci Þ cally for maritime familiarization and job training.WHAT IS MARINELMS? MarineLMS was created in response to BC Ferries? desire tohave the best trained mariners in the world. It is now avail- able to other vessel operators, maritime schools and shipyards. An LMS is web-based software used for the delivery, man- agement and tracking of training. Trainees use an LMS to ac- cess the learning materials provided by the training organiza- tion and to take exams. Trainers use the LMS to track trainees, deliver exams and to connect and communicate with other trainers in the organization. Training managers use the LMS to access training reports and analytics which can identify problem areas in need of improvement. In all, an LMS is a central location for all training-related resources, management functions, and analytics to support continuous improvement. The beneÞ ts are so powerful that the majority of large training organizations (universities, colleges and corporate training en- vironments) use an LMS to deliver and support their training and education activities. MarineLMS at BC Ferries TRAINING AND REFERENCE MarineLMS provides centralized access to BC Ferries? learningmaterials and activities for job training and familiar- ization. While the majority of the use of MarineLMS occurs by trainees and their trainers, the training resources remain ac- cessible and always up to date for all employees of BC Ferries for use throughout their careers.ANALYTICS AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MarineLMS provides a comprehensive set of learning ana- lyticswhich help training administrators monitor the success of their training program. For example, reports indicating, on average, how long trainees spend on each page of learn- ing content highlight poorly written pages or those in need of consolidation or division. Likewise, exam analytics indicate poorly performed questions and exams, and highlight com- mon misunderstandings by providing answer distribution re- ports. These are incredibly useful in identifying training prob- lems before a safety or performance issue emerged as a result. They also form a core set of key performance indicators which can be tracked as part of a program of continuous training im- provement - something that all vessel operators should either have in place or be planning. Job shadowing is so highly variable in delivery that it is dif? cult to codify and train to company-vetted best practices. Mariners being shadowed pass on, to some degree, their own way of doing their job. This can be dangerous. Even if the mariner being shadowed is highly skilled and knowledgeable, they may be a poor trainer or a poor communicator.