The new normal in teaching?
We have all had to make changes recently, most enforced and some to enable some form of normality in business. As a business that relies on face to face contact with our clients, we have had to adapt and look at new ways of giving them some means of ensuring mandatory qualifications are still available. This has meant being flexible and working with many organisations, awarding bodies and clients, thankfully, we have managed to keep busy when others are failing.
Necessity is the mother of invention so we set to work on how we could carry our offer of quality training to our customer base in these strange times and online training seems to have filled the gap.
I am not a fan of online training as I believe learning taking place can be best assessed by being with the learners and interacting as a group, all of which are not possible at the moment for obvious reasons. However, we have been pleased by the recent learner and client feedback which suggests that our online training is a credible alternative to face to face.
One of our clients’ Skills in Distribution based in Stoke on Trent has played a vital role in the success we have had with online delivery. Adam Bunting, the director at SID, has been really helpful during the setup and inception of online training for Driver CPC as this has enabled him to offer his clients a way forward without causing interruption to their planned training and kept us busy. Due to the excellent feedback Adam has received from clients, he has asked us to supply further dates for online training which helps both our businesses.
Today (25/05/2020) the Prime Minister has announced further relaxations with outdoor markets and car showrooms now able to open next week and by mid-June all none essential retailers will be allowed to begin trading again. For many, this is a welcome stimulus for the economy and hopefully, it will lead to giving our clients the confidence to start face to face training once again.
The question is, will we still offer online training when normality returns? The answer has to be yes as not only does this enable us to provide Driver CPC training in Sheffield, it allows us to deliver Driver CPC throughout the country to clients we probably would never have had contact with. The DfT has also extended the deadline for us to carry on our provision of online training so, we will continue until such time as demand fades.
For Adam at SID, normality cannot return soon enough as his company just like ours relies on face to face contact with his learners when delivering Forklift Training and LGV training, neither of which can be completed fully online. In the meantime, he will carry on offering Driver CPC to his clients online which means his clients and their employees will remain compliant with the relevant industry legislation.
Is online training going to replace face to face? No is the answer. Has it bridged the gap and most importantly been well received? Yes, some would say that is a good result.
If you or your company are interested in our online Driver CPC in Sheffield or nationwide then please feel free to get in touch.