We are pleased to welcome DG (Digital Generation) as a member of ADESSA.
With over 21 years’ experience in the ICT sector with global OEM partner statuses, DG is one of the leading black women-owned ICT companies in South Africa. DG can be trusted to deliver holistic, innovative and value added solutions into education.
DG can transform the ICT lifecycle management landscape through innovation, world-class technology and exceptional client service!
With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have adopted a fully or hybrid remote approach to working. With an established workforce, this is a manageable transition, however, organisations will need to think about how they effectively onboard future employees.
The dramatic shift away from established office working, to the majority of workforces now working from home, has revealed significant benefits that have led to many organisations making the change a permanent one. Employers are realising that they can significantly reduce overhead costs and are no longer geographically limited in their hiring choices. Many businesses are also adopting a hybrid approach to capitalise on work-from-home advantages and mitigating the disadvantages. The hot desk is ready to make a comeback as businesses offer smaller, flexible office spaces for team members to drop in one or two days a week. However, the need for effective onboarding is more essential than ever. Organisations need to ensure that they are able to onboard future employees seamlessly.
Whether you’re an experienced onboarder or just starting out, the first step is to identify the content that new employees need to know to get started. Don’t give in to the temptation to try communicate everything at once. That approach will overwhelm your onboarding programme and will likely leave you with a new employee who has struggled to retain the basic and most important information they need to function in their role. The best approach is to determine two or three learning objectives. This can be done by refining the information to cover what your new employee needs to be able to do in their role. Potential learning objectives may be:
Clear learning objectives will help you to carefully review all potential content and evaluate the value of each piece to identify what content is truly relevant to your onboarding programme and what is better placed elsewhere. These will help you to order your content into what is most urgent, informing your content creation roadmap.
All training content needs to be informed by your onboarding learning objectives. If you have existing onboarding material that needs to be converted, it is useful to bear in mind that no content is unusable; all existing legacy content can be adjusted to suit delivery through an online training methodology, organisations just need to understand how to utilize what currently exists. An experienced online training service provider, like FUEL, is more than capable of ensuring that all existing content is revised and utilized so no skills knowledge is lost during the implementation phase. FUEL excels at successfully converting existing training content into engaging, online training modules for maximum return on investment. We offer a full-service production service, from script to screen. Our ‘Presenter to camera’ methodology provides a vital transitional link for learners moving from classroom-based learning to online training. Our green-screen studio is equipped with state-of-the-art camera and lighting equipment and we offer a range of production packages to meet both your learning objectives and your budget.
Assigning a Training Leader to a new employee, will ensure that they get the support and motivation that they require when making the shift to working online. For many employees who are used to having the support of colleagues in the office environment, the shift to working remotely will be challenging.
A training leader will be able to monitor the progress of learners through their modules and can offer regular check-ins with those who are struggling to adapt to the new way of working. The most unique challenge of all virtual activity, including training staff to work online, is social isolation. Check-ins help remote workers feel a sense of community. If those workers are left ignored for too long, it could potentially impact employee health and wellness and be a drag on productivity.
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Fairlands Laerskool, is a government primary school based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Under the guidance of the SGB and IT manager they implemented CLEVERTOUCH displays into their classrooms in 2019.
The school is currently using the CLEVERTOUCH V Series Displays in their Maths and Science classrooms.
The classrooms had a mixture of interactive whiteboards and standard whiteboards. The cost of the projector globes and the annual license fees of the software being used, as well as the cost of teacher laptops, became too expensive to maintain. Hence, they looked for an alternative solution.
“We chose CLEVERTOUCH because it is an all-in-one solution. With the built in android device, teachers do not require anything else to teach. Teachers are able to walk into the classroom and teach immediately. We researched many other solutions and this was the most cost effective and easiest to use solution,” says Francois Pienaar, IT Manager.
Check out how the teachers are using CLEVERTOUCH in their classroom – click HERE
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Mrs Zaskia Kuun, Deputy Principal of Monte Vista Primary School, says that the use of Clevertouch boards, sourced from IAS-AV, has been “a positive experience”.
Ms Kuun says: “We purchased the Clevertouch boards in 2018. Since then it has been embraced by all educators; we currently have 29 Interactive screens. Our learners are very visual and grow up knowing how to use screens (tablets, phones) and technology. This is a familiar medium for them and engages them in lessons. The end goal for every educational institution should always be to maintain high academic standards and to prepare learners for the ‘real’ world. When they leave the school they should be able to face challenges with a framework of familiar knowledge. Our learners are being exposed to technology from grade 1 and feel comfortable in using this medium on a daily basis. We do not want to bring tablets into the classroom as we feel that the board provides a good balance between being exposed to technology and still learning valuable skills like writing, planning, spatial awareness and creativity. The support and after sales service that we have had has been phenomenal. The one learner called it a ‘tablet on steroids’. The fact that all the software and training is free, there are no projector globes that needed to be replaced or additional teacher laptops to be procured, it meant that the SGB would not need to find additional funding. The Clevertouch Screen is an all-in-one teaching device, that is simple to use.”
The impact of COVID-19 on education could be felt for as long as ten years. By the end of 2020, it was estimated that despite efforts made in both the private and public schools, “children lost a full six months of learning and even now they’ve gone back, it’s patchy because they can only go one or two days a week,” a statement made by education expert, Professor Nicky Roberts.
Furthermore, South Africa is not unique. According to the UNESCO Monitoring Report, 192 countries had implemented nationwide closures, affecting about 99% of the world’s student population, and a total of 1.75 billion learners.
Simultaneously, the pandemic forced disruption in ways of learning. Innovators accelerated blended learning, distance learning and open educational applications to reduce disruption to education, following a suggestion by UNESCO, and in so doing, propelled e-learning by three to five years. 
With the third wave of COVID-19 currently hitting Europe, open schools may once again be under threat with online education as the only real alternative. The challenge for parents and educators is sifting through the mountain of new digital education programs on offer – from maths and science to coding and drone technology. How does a parent or school discern the quality, credibility and differentiators of each education platform? It’s not easy. Meanwhile, education companies need to work harder to stand out in the tsunami of content in this evolving industry.
Steve McDonald, the co-founder at animation and video studio, 3rdfloor, explains, “The industry is in total flux. Online education platforms are desperate to stand out. They want to catch the attention of learners and educators and hold it. Their websites and social media are their shop window, so that initial impression really matters. Google Analytics shows that the bounce rate – the percentage of people who land on your website and then leave without visiting another page – is almost 57%. In other words, you have to make it count.”
Animated videos help businesses and organisations simplify their message and show their target audience who they really are. A good video will draw on a number of tools from the animation toolbox – animated infographics, custom character design and a style that is made to catch the attention of the viewer you are speaking to.
“Animated videos are also extremely versatile: we often make multiple versions in different languages, edit videos into bite-size ‘cut downs’ for various social platforms, pull out gifs and images and even offer a full digital asset library which our clients can use across their entire brand,” he adds.
3rdfloor is currently creating a series of animated videos for MySociaLife, the South African digital life skills program which teaches online safety, media literacy and social media awareness in schools.
MySociaLife’s founder, Dean McCoubrey, says, “We educate students and parents, teachers and psychologists, and we teach eight different modules about the complexity of life online. It’s a lot to explain: we didn’t believe that our story could be told in 90 seconds. The animated explainer encapsulates it all so concisely, and the animated characters make the program memorable. The feedback has been phenomenal.”
Warren Willmott, Animation Director at 3rdfloor, adds: “Every client is different, so we conceptualise and design the entire visual universe according to the brand and message that your video needs to convey. Not only does this help you stand out from the crowd, but it also gives your message longevity.”
He also proposes some considerations for educators looking to produce animated videos:
The making of the animated video is here: https://vimeo.com/528828133
“To stand out in the digital noise that is the media environment of today, you really have to be able to tell a story on multiple levels. It’s visual, informative and emotional, and if you can strike the right balance, your video will connect with people and be remembered.”
For more information, contact Kaeleigh Elliott at newsdesk@mediaweb.co.za
To see 3rdfloor’s work, visit: 3rdfloor.tv
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered traditional workplace dynamics, and we now witness the “New Normal” of remote operations. While the percentage of organisations with remote workforces may diminish over time, it is clear that working remotely will continue to be an integral part of organisations in the future. This includes organisations who need to train their teams; organisations who have traditionally had an onsite or trainer-led approach to their employee training will have experienced a significant impact. With the training landscape continuing to evolve in favour of online training solutions, it is clear that Learning and Development teams will need to adjust their strategies in order to deliver seamless training results.
The onboarding phase of employee development is perhaps one of the most challenging process faced by an organisations Learning and Development team. There is a need to constantly ensure that new team members have been onboarded in such a way that they are immediately exposed to the company culture, this has become particularly important in remote workforces. The process of a smooth onboarding cannot be overstated – it is not only essential for the easy handover of employees, but also to ensure that the work culture is handed over with a clear idea of how to use the training platform sustainably. The least challenging way to effectively onboard new employees is through a simple, easy-to-use Learner Management System (LMS). FUEL’s unique LMS has been developed to ensure that all users are constantly engaged in a dynamic, yet cost-effective manner and are continually assessed against their roles and given the required training at the right time in accordance with their learning pathways. The LMS is created in line with an organisations corporate identity, and enables managers to administer users and track learners progress.
Effective change management plays a vital role in the success of online training implementation. Large businesses that are looking to revise their employee development strategy, often have a defined Learning and Development team, with well-established budgets and training strategies in place. However, with the majority of the world’s workforce now working remotely, and the rise in online training and technological advancement, the accepted traditional training practices are becoming archaic, costly and unsafe in comparison to the efficiency of online training. The biggest challenge to businesses in this situation, is the effective integration of online training into an environment used to traditional training methods. Weaning the work culture onto new methodologies requires diligence and guidance from a trusted online training service provider.
As with the integration of online training into a workplace culture that is set in traditional training patterns, content becomes a challenge. All training content needs to be revised to suit the new training strategy and adjusted to suit the online training methodology. No content is unusable; all existing legacy content can be adjusted to suit delivery through an online training methodology, organisations just need to understand how to utilize what currently exists. An experienced online training service provider, like FUEL, is more than capable of ensuring that all existing content is revised and utilized so no skills knowledge is lost during the implementation phase. FUEL excels at successfully converting existing training content into engaging, online training modules for maximum return on investment. We offer a full-service production service, from script to screen. Our ‘Presenter to camera’ methodology provides a vital transitional link for learners moving from classroom-based learning to online training. Our green-screen studio is equipped with state-of-the-art camera and lighting equipment and we offer a range of production packages to meet both your learning objectives and your budget.
I order to ensure the success of your new online training platform, support is vital. Your Learning and Development team is the first area of support; encouraging employees to engage with the training content and explaining its value. Employees are eager to engage with training content once they realise the value is what is offered. Without the support of the Learning and Development team, and organisations online training platform runs the risk of failing before it has the chance to fully integrate into their work culture.
It is also essential to bear in mind that for many employees, this may be their first time interacting with an online training platform. Having easily-accessible technological assistance available to employees with help to guarantee the successful adoption of the online training platform into your work culture. FUEL’s Customer Support department is dedicated to ensuring that our users are supported in their learning endeavours quickly and efficiently, and that service levels are met and exceeded. Our Support Centre makes regular inbound and outbound calls to all your training sites to provide general information and training. Our team takes great pride in the role we play in educating the thousands of users we support and will continue to find ways in which to improve our service to our end users.
The organisations Learning and Development team is a strong influencer when it comes to ensuring employee engagement with training. Making the LMS the go-to platform when any sort of training or workplace assistance is required will contribute to the success of your training strategy. The LMS needs to be treated as only one part of a whole – it cannot stand alone as an island where occasional training is done. Employees need to think of it as their resource whenever they feel they need some assistance in learning how to complete a work-related task, or job.
There are plenty of opportunities and challenges facing businesses that are looking at revising their employee development strategy. Ensuring that you work with a trusted online training service provider will ensure the successful implementation of an online training academy into your business.
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