flexible learning in ACE

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Online Induction program for staff @ BEST

This scenario illustrates how a centre found an innovative online solution to make its induction process and in-house information resources more accessible for staff.

Who we are

BEST
Southern Western Port

E: jcook@best.org.au

BESTInc. is a community based, not-for-profit organisation which began in 1977 assisting young people under the Commonwealth Youth Support Scheme. BESTInc. continues to be involved with disadvantaged youth providing social and welfare support. In addition it provides a broad range of others services to the community. As a Registered Training Organisation, BESTInc. provides pathways into training and employment through a range of programs including prevocational training, work experience, job placement, traineeships and apprenticeships. It also provides adult education programs including English as a Second Language, Computer short courses, and accredited courses e.g. information technology, business administration, Certificate in General Education for Adults. In addition it runs some traineeships in boat building and engineering (Cert I & II in Boatbuilding and Cert I in Engineering.)

BESTInc. is located in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Cheltenham. It is on the boarder of two local government areas, Kingston and Bayside City Councils. We are located very close to public transport facilities as well as local shopping centres including Westfield Southland. The area is has a high density of small businesses including many small manufacturing companies. It has a large residential population with no one age group being dominant. There is also a broad spread of socio-economic groups.

BESTInc. has other service locations in Mentone, Mordialloc, Oakleigh and Ringwood.

The initiative arose out of the need to streamline the induction process for staff and provide an up-to-date body of information for reference for all staff. A longer term gaols was to incorporate learning modules produce internally or linked to external sources (eg TAFE VC). Initially this was to be available on the LAN at Cheltenham and planned to be incorporated into an intranet when that project was under taken. Eventually it was to be accessible from all locations via a VPN.

With the increasing requirements from legislation, funding bodies, quality frameworks and other legal and administrative matters as well as orientation to the organisation and its services it was felt that an online resource covering many of these matters would make the induction process more efficient. Information could be provided easily and timely. In addition it would provide a ready resource for all staff as a reference and source of up to date information.

Expertise. For completing the first stage of an interna resource on the LAN expertise in design and development was a concern. One member of the staff with some basic knowledge of Adobe Dreamweaver under took the first stage. His expertise was enhanced by involvement in online learning courses and activities and the ‘practice makes perfect’ principle! (well at least ‘practice leads to improvement’)

Accessibility. All people at the Cheltenham location had access to the LAN, however those staff which were at other locations did not have access. To at least provide some resources the electronic quality manual was issued on a CD and loaded on to the local PCs. Full accessibility from all location will need a VPN

Content. The design and content were kept as simple as possible. Initial content included the history of the organisation , mission and vision , summary of services, access to electronic quality manual which included polices, procedures, forms and other documents, location of fire equipment and evacuation and links to external relevant sites. It was to include an induction checklist and quiz. Provision for in-house or linked courses were allowed for.

• Limited expertise and time lengthens the process (obliviously!)
• Provided a support to the essential face to face induction process as well as a general resource for all staff
• Online facilities, if well designed, are valuable for all staff. A simple web paged program allows familiarity with online learning process to be enhanced and therefore increases the likelihood to use this form of delivery in other areas.
• Communication and encouragement to use the facility on a regular basis is constantly needed.
• Maintaining even a simple resource base is time consuming and needs a concerted effort to keep it up-to-date.

Integrate into Intranet. A Melbourne University student team developed an intranet for BEST Inc. at the end of 2003. The induction program will now be integrated into this.
Provide accessibility to all staff possibly via VPN.

• Expand the content of the online resource to include:
• Learning modules on OH&S and other legislative matters.
• Short fun quizzes to test the level of understanding and awareness of staff on matters such as privacy, equal opportunity, harassment etc.
• Links to courses on TAFEVC and internal staff development modules.