Learnscape offers easy online training platform

Online training platforms can help companies make the most of scarce skills and tight training budgets, says Rachel Mc Dermott of Aspire Solutions, which has recently launched its Learnscape platform.

“Many companies have a lot of training material but not enough people to deliver it,” says Mc Dermott. “Putting your material online means you can reach more people with fewer resources – and managing your training programme becomes dramatically easier.”

Training administration is one of the most time-consuming and frustrating elements of the typical HR department’s job, Mc Dermott points out. “Keeping track of who has done what course, whose certifications are about to expire and who is progressing as they should towards a certificate can be a nightmare, especially when you are chasing paper registers that some people always forget to sign.”

Mc Dermott says that because Learnscape is based on a single central database, managing trainees and drawing reports is a simple matter. “You get much better oversight of training, with real-time reporting and statistics; and doing a skills audit is a simple matter of generating a report.”

There is a learning advantage along with the administrative advantages, adds Mc Dermott. “Most people prefer to work at their own pace, which is only possible with this kind of centralised online system,” she says. “While they’re going through a training module learners can stop, start, replay something they’re unsure of and make notes as they go along.”

There are advantages for trainers as well, she adds. “It’s easy to upload course notes, but also pictures and sound; and trainers can record a voiceover narration for their slides to give a much richer, more interactive experience.”

Multiple-choice assessments and evaluations are equally easy to create with built-in functionality, giving learners instant feedback on their progress. “Learnscape is a powerful tool that trainers can use to multiply their effectiveness,” says Mc Dermott.