OSDC is currently exploring the possibility of developing some of our
training courses into online learning resources.
Our initial ideas will blend traditional elearning techniques with our unique training resources, use of webinars and blended learning.
There are a number of challenges to doing this in relation
to equality and diversity training, especially, if like us, you want your
participants to leave the training feeling like they have been challenged in a
positive way, they have had an opportunity to reflect on their own
practice and learn from each other. There has been some criticism of online
equalities training, as there is a feeling that effective equalities training
needs to empower and enable culture and attitudinal change, which requires good
facilitation, discussion and reflection – these things can be hard to achieve
through online learning (or at least within the online learning we have
viewed). We find one of the most effective ways of delivering
equalities training is through the use of scenarios which enable people to
think through how they would actually respond to real life situations.
There are obvious advantages to buying online courses for
large institutions in terms of cost saving and staff being able to complete
courses in their own time/at their own pace. However one complaint that we have
heard from local authorities is that they find it difficult with the current
systems to track who has completed a course and who has not. Many of the
current available resources are quite generic and corporate and not necessarily
sector specific, when OSDC delivers training in the traditional way we always
tailor it to ensure it is relevant to the audience and sector specific, even if
the outcomes and many of the exercises are the same people feel like that can
relate to the scenarios we provide them with.
Our challenge, therefore, is to create online equalities
training which has the benefits of being low cost, accessible and flexible
while remaining sector specific, drawing on relatable examples/scenarios and
creating the positive culture change needed in organisations in order to
achieve real equality.
Our initial ideas will blend traditional elearning techniques with our unique training resources, use of webinars and blended learning.
Watch this space for future developments.
