Interview with Corinne Leuba, trainer and office application manager
1/ Can you tell us a little about your school and what your role is?
The EHG - Geneva Hotel School - is a vocational school that awards the "ES" hotel and restaurant owner diploma. Our students go on to become executives in the hotel and restaurant business as well as tertiary sector companies (banks, tourist offices, insurance companies...). They benefit from a very comprehensive education including courses in accounting, office applications, human resource management, marketing and so on, in addition to courses that are specific to the hotel business. The courses are clearly management-oriented. For more information: www.ehg.ch.
I'm an office application trainer and manager.
2/ Before using MEDIAplus eLearning, how was your office application training organised and what reasons made you change it?
The EHG has not changed the way it organises its office application courses: basic Word in the 1st semester (16 hours of lessons), advanced Word in the 2nd semester (36 hours of lessons), basic Excel in the 3rd semester (36 hours of lessons), advanced Excel in the 4th semester (36 hours of lessons). However we've chosen to provide e-learning as a complementary tool to help students improve their skills, in order to compensate for the significant differences in ability in the field of office applications, resulting from the wide range of backgrounds our students come from.
3/ What did you like about MEDIAplus eLearning? And in concrete terms, what system have you set up? Do the training courses apply to all students, all over Switzerland? Do they train at their own workstations? At a resource centre? From home?
I chose MEDIAplus eLearning for its ease of use, its wide range of programmes for different levels, and its length of 3 years. I provide students with a special programme I've created for the course they are taught every semester, as well as the 2007 migration programmes. Once they are up and running they are supposed to use e-learning outside lessons to revise a subject or progress at their own pace (they each have a laptop). Initially I provided it for all students, but after realising that some of them would stop using it after the introductory lesson, I now offer it as an option. From this semester onwards I've been asking them if they think they will be spending time on this programme and only offer it to motivated students. Most of my students request it.
4/ What type of learner support have you chosen and why? How does it work?
As I mentioned above, they are supposed to use e-learning outside lessons and can always contact me if they are having a problem using it, or to ask questions about a specific topic. At the moment I don't use the assessments at all but I wouldn't rule out using them in the future.
5/ After several months' use, what is your assessment of the system? Are you satisfied with it? How have users reacted?
Those who have used it seem satisfied. We are planning to add this question to our end-of-semester assessment questionnaire. I've added exercises (or resources) to several modules and intend to do so for all the modules, as I think that even after having passed a topic or module, you don't necessarily have all the skills you need to work in a real environment.
6/ Finally, what advice would you give to training managers who want to change over to the e-learning method?
They shouldn't think that this programme can replace a trainer, and if it's not used as an option, like at the EHG, they must provide the appropriate monitoring and support, or carry out frequent assessments. The managers I spoke to before getting started had already warned me that the main problem was learner motivation, especially in the long term. Creating your own programmes takes a lot of time at the start. I would advise them to adapt to the available programmes if the situation allows it. The exercises (or resources) that I think are essential to complete the modules are also time-consuming.
I've recommended it to a training manager at the CICR for distance learners (in the field) as I think that this programme gives good results in this situation.