E-learning courses meet learnership requirements

School of Shipping has launched a locally developed e-learning platform for the freight industry that meets the requirements of learnerships from the Transport Seta, says School of Shipping e-learning director Colin Doyle. “It is already being used to facilitate training of new learners and those on existing learnerships as well as private students who have chosen to study via computer rather than in a lecture-based environment,” he told FTW. “Students study at their own pace from home, an office computer or even an internet café, with built-in checks that indicate when assignments are due. There are also alerts for employees if learners or students are experiencing difficulties,” he said. People can now receive their tutorials from anywhere in the world and complete assignments which are then marked by accredited examiners. While studying, unlimited interaction is also possible with online subject matter experts or tutors who are contracted by School of Shipping to respond to queries within a stipulated time, he added. The system automatically alerts students about impending deadlines for assignment submissions and uses a yellow and red card format to indicate overdue material. The yellow card allows some leeway for action by the learner but a red card reflects that material is grossly overdue and, in effect, red flags both the learner and the relevant human resources personnel of employers. “People are fitting their studies into sometimes busy schedules, so we have adopted an almost fun approach to alerts using the sporting yellow and red card system. However, the overall objective is the serious business of enabling learners, existing staff and others to advance in the world of freight forwarding with quality education,” he said. Doyle believes the School of Shipping acts as an end to end e-learning enabler by providing accredited course material and administering e-learning courses on behalf of companies.