Kimberley+Link

=WA10BP487 Kimberley Link= 

=Executive Summary=

The Pivot Institute formerly known as the Pivot Solutions Pty Ltd was founded by Elisa Uyen in Broome in 2000, starting with just one trainer and seven courses to seven trainers and 25 courses being offered in 2010. Currently, Pivot employs nine staff and conducts training at 15 locations in WA.

For this project, Pivot Solutions partnered with WA Country Health Services (WACHS), Kimberley Region and Fremantle Hospital and Health Service (FHHS).

 The 2010 E-learning Innovations program Kimberley Link aimed to develop an enhanced online Learning Management System (LMS), and provide social networking opportunities to assist in the blended delivery of the Diploma of Management to learners from the WACHS Kimberley region and FHHS.

=The project was spearheaded by the Director of the Pivot Institute, supported by a training design consultant, a subject matter expert and facilitator and an instructional designer. Another team member was engaged as the accounts manager, delivery and activities manager and also acted as the client contact for WACHS and FHHS. Project team members were in constant touch with the student community and liaised with the social network community. = =Background=

media type="file" key="MOVO21.flv" align="right" width="360" height="270" The e-learning program was developed for learners from WACHS and FHHS for the Diploma of Management. This cohort of health professional learners includes nurses, doctors and other health care professionals and managers who have immense and varied experience dealing with people but often limited experience with computers. The majority of learners are aged over 40 and have been working in the health industry for a number of years. Learners from the Kimberley region are geographically isolated and do not have the opportunity to network with other learners as easily as the FHHS group. Pivot’s relationship with WACHS has been in existence for some time. Pivot also conducts the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment for WACHS and for FHHS, the Diploma of Management.



This project was needed to provide ongoing and continued support to our existing and new clients WACHS and FHHS, respectively.The Pivot Institute shares an ongoing relationship with WACHS. The relationship not only provides an opportunity to network and link with existing contacts, but it also helps provide further support when it comes to online training programs. WACHS has recently expressed interest in extending the business liaison and providing e-learning opportunities to nine regions across Western Australia.

=What was Done?=

Having lived and worked in the Kimberley region, the Director, of the Pivot Insitute had a vision to up-skill and train people who live in the region being well aware of the geographical problems and constraints faced by isolated students who are interested in attending face-to- face classroom training and/or professional development. Determined to address the problems, a successful grant application was submitted for developing e-learning resources for WACHS and FHHS in the Kimberley and Fremantle region, respectively.

The biggest issue that confronted the project team, was the decision as to which LMS should be used. A thorough and comparative analysis was made of Moodle and Drupal and it was decided that the project would use Moodle. Due to its open source programming code, Moodle gets updated regularly. With this in mind, the team attended a 2 day training session at the Pivot Institute, covering Moodle basics including how to host and maintain the learning content in an online classroom.

During the initial meeting of the team, in conjunction with the Framework’s e-Learning Coordinator, it was also discussed how learning content can be created with the help of Wimba Create and eXe. The course structure and the Pivot course home page have been designed so that they have a look and feel of an e-learning course. Units of competency (UOC) were created in Moodle, populated with content, resources, assignments and templates. This learner-centric approach gives the learner the freedom to either go the linear way or chose the content piece that they'd like to approach first. =Benefits experienced by Pivot Institute= **Staff:** This project provided a great learning experience for all team members in relation to the various LMS available, an understanding of how and where to download learning objects from and also exposed them to the vast quantity of resources currently available. This information can be used to provide further opportunities to create and develop more online training material. **Learners:** Learners benefited from the inclusion of additional resources, such as templates, samples, and other job aids. The online course can be used to provide students with a unique opportunity to network with online student communities. The LMS can be used to provide ongoing support for face-to-face students contact.

Downloading and using content from the Framework’s LORN proved a challenge. WestOne provided ongoing support by assisting project team members with these tasks.  The time spent creating a learning environment i.e. setting up the classroom and populating the LMS with content proved very time consuming. However, as a quality online course was successfully produced, the resultant course template can now be used as a roadmap for the development of more courses.
 * Lessons Learnt **

Content and templates were developed for the Diploma of Management qualification. This was uploaded onto the Moodle site. Below is a copy of the Pivot Moodle Homepage for the Diploma of Management: **Pivot Online Training** <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> The screen grab above, shows the outline of the UOC for the Diploma of Management qualification. Templates for the UOC’s were designed and the content uploaded into the LMS. Testing of the online course was completed using learners from the FHHS. Student responses were extremely positive. In particular, it was noted, that the templates provided gave the learners clear direction and guidance on how to achieve certain objectives and complete the relevant assignments. Pivot Online TrainingFeedback received about the templates, from a learner at FHHS: //"Love the templates, stops people like me waffling. In general, a great way to deliver the information. Very impressed."// =<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> Reflections and suggestions= This project was a journey of learning and growth for the Pivot Institute. Even though the team has much more to learn about using an LMS and Moodle in particular, the project team members have come a long way. With more time, further experience and professional development opportunities, PIVOT aims to develop more quality learning content. The Framework’s WA Innovations Team10 Conference, attended by project team members opened a plethora of opportunities and ideas for delivering training, online and face-to-face learning and development of resources in the future.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The Results **

<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Team10 Kimberley Link Presentation. =<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> Framework connection= <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> The national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework funds and supports [|E] [|-learning Innovations] projects which aim to embed e-learning into the national training system by supporting and enabling innovation in training design and delivery, at the state and territory level.As a follow on from this project, Pivot is planning to develop and deliver other nationally recognised qualifications through the LMS. =<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Acknowledgements = <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">This is a Western Australian [|E-learning Innovations] project output, developed by Pivot Institute for The WA Country Health Services and Fremantle Hospital and Health Services, with seed funding from the Framework.

<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> =<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">For more information = <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">

<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Elisa Uyen <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Director,Kimberley Link Project, The Pivot Institute, Level 2, 231, Adelaide Terrace, Perth, WA, 6000 Phone: (08) 9221 1803 E-mail: sumita@pivot.edu.au

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<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Sumita Parti <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Training Design Consultant, Kimberley Link Project, The Pivot Institute, Level 2, 231, Adelaide Terrace, Perth, WA, 6000 Phone: (08) 9221 1803 E-mail: sumita@pivot.edu.au

<span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> For more information on the Australian Flexible Learning Framework: <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> Phone: (07) 3307 4700 <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> Email: enquiries@flexiblelearning.net.au <span style="color: windowtext; display: block; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"> Website: [|www.flexiblelearning.net.au]