What is necessary in order to develop eLearning solutions for the automotive trades? In 2011, the Dr.-Ing. Paul Christiani GmbH & Co. KG, a company providing technical training content, installed a platform: It contains twelve modules, which on the one part convey basic knowledge as regards, for instance, motor control systems or vehicle lighting, yet also include other, very specific topics, such as hybrid technology. In product manager Gilbert Werner's opinion, eLearning in the field of automotive technology is a step well worth taking.
As a supplier of training material for the technical-commercial vocational training and continuing education market, Christiani looks back on 80 years of experience in the market. For some time now, you have been including in your portfolio eLearning propositions for automotive businesses and training centres. What led to this decision?
Gilbert Werner: We participated in an EU project; our partners came from Sweden, where the software was developed, and from Spain, where the translation work was provided. We contributed the expert know-how, since the content was by no means unfamiliar to us.
Moreover, as a by-product of sorts, the project yielded also a technical dictionary for the iPhone, which as yet is available in German, English and the Swedish language.
For a long time now, Christiani has been producing text and training books as well as examination and working materials for the automotive trade and other fields of application.
In addition to our service proposal at training stands and in the printed media, we at first concentrated our efforts in the digital field on Computer Based Trainings (CBTs) and Web Based Training (WBTs). However, online content can be updated in a better and faster manner.
Even so, surely you were not able to simply pull out of a drawer all content you now have intended to produce by way of eLearning modules, were you?
Gilbert Werner: No, not all. Indeed, we went to a lot of effort, researched with German manufacturers as well as abroad in order to find out what material they could provide us with. In doing so, we met with a vast amount of interest and willingness to cooperate.
To some extent, these companies had already at their disposal digital training content. We either included or adapted this content. Yet we also produced a lot of content ourselves, such as circuit diagrams and graphs. In any case, we put great emphasis on presenting the content in a clear-cut and precise way.
Who exactly is your target group?
Gilbert Werner: Our content is not limited to individual manufacturers. Our target groups include individual users, businesses, training centres and vocational colleges. Larger businesses and training centres in particular also use the learning management system that is part of the service proposal in order to control whether the content was successfully worked through by the student.
Where automotive technology is involved, the uninitiated have a strong tendency to also think of learning by doing. How does eLearning fit into this picture?
Gilbert Werner: Provided that vocational colleges use our models to augment their lessons, this probably makes a lot of sense. Having said that, though, eLearning also requires a certain amount of individual initiative and the users' genuine desire to increase their knowledge. When working through a module in one go, this takes between two and four hours, depending on the subject matter.
Yet our target group is not limited to apprentices: Master craftsmen, career changers and automotive business people likewise can increase and deepen their knowledge with our service proposal. Because of the increasing amount of electronics, automotive technology by now has developed into quite a demanding expert field, which requires on-going continued education, just as is the case with other technical occupations.
For some time now, Christiani has been also active in other European countries: So surely this project must have been a rewarding experience for you?
Gilbert Werner: Absolutely, yes. Through our Swedish partner, we were able to establish contacts to other manufacturers as well. For Scania, our Swedish partner created an internal solution, adapted to the enterprise and its requirements.
Does this mean that new forms of cooperation and new projects arose that you had not expected at all?
Gilbert Werner: Indeed, this was not evident when the project began. Yet of course this is of great interest to us.
You expressly state that some of your eLearning modules are available in as many as 14 languages. Yet isn't technology always the same? And isn't English actually the global language for expressing and explaining technical issues?
Gilbert Werner: Products that are specific to a manufacturer, such as for the manufacturer of commercial vehicles Scania, are even translated into as many as 23 languages, including, for example, Korean. It cannot be assumed that all persons maintaining and repairing cars have a command of the English language. In the business of conveying technical content by way of eLearning, you have to take this into account, even though translations cost a lot of money.