Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2013)

36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? MARCH 2013
? What position they are training for,
? What vessel they will be operating on, and
? What route they will be operating onWith the answers to the questions above, the LMS assembles the required knowl-edge on demand and generates a custom-ized, up-to-date, seamless, and cohesive learning package for that employee, in that position, on that vessel, while operat-ing on that route. The effect is as though someone created, by hand, a learning program speciÞ cally targeted for that em- ployee. These learning materials (avail- able online or on paper) are now used to support comprehensive vessel-speciÞ c training for that employee at BC Ferries. The same is true for assessments. When a test is about to be administered, the LMS asks for the position, vessel and route be-ing trained. The examination is then creat- ed on demand to address the competencies and knowledge speciÞ c to that combina- tion. The Advantages of Adaptive Learning For the LearnerThe advantages of adaptive learning are reasonably self-evident for the learner. He or she is provided with a learning program which is speciÞ cally targeted at the knowl- edge needed. It is cohesive and seamless and does not require the trainee to judge whether this or that bit of information ap-plies to their position while on their vessel and route. It all applies. More importantly, adaptive learning makes this kind of deep vessel-speciÞ c (and route-speci Þ c, in this case) training possible where otherwise it would be a practical impossibility. For the Training Organization (this is important ?)The advantages to the training organiza- tion are possibly even greater. Aside from the greatest beneÞ t of improved training, adaptive learning creates efÞ ciencies in learning content creation and maintenance - the same ones that make vessel-speciÞ c training possible. To understand them, a small bit of background is required. When creating learning materials for an LMS which supports adaptive learning, one ?learning module? is created for every ?thing? that needs to be trained. For ex-ample, if in a ß eet of 50 vessels there are three different ECDIS systems, then three modules are created for ECDIS training - one for each different ECDIS system. If four different RADAR units are dispersed across the ß eet, then four modules are cre- ated for RADAR - one for each unit. This is replicated for the various equipment TRAININGMR #3 (34-41).indd 36MR #3 (34-41).indd 362/26/2013 4:24:45 PM2/26/2013 4:24:45 PM