New learning platform at Energy Academy wins LCL’s first Innovation Award
18 Oct 2024
Mark Krull, MD at Logic 4 Training and LCL Awards, Kevin Long, Centre Manager and software developer, Neill Ovenden, Operations Director at LCL Awards
Our independent team of judges - Stewart Clements of HHIC, Charlotte Lee of the Heat Pump Association, Brett Forster of NAPIT and Hattie Hasan, of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, were struck by the breadth and scope of entries in this category; from innovative industry partnerships and post learning career support, to community work and the development of specialist learning software, as demonstrated by the winners - Energy Academy in Sittingbourne, Kent.
Energy Academy has developed an out-of-hours learning platform to give candidates full access to course materials and online tuition, remotely, allowing them to learn at their own pace. Designed and built by centre-owner, ex-gas engineer and now software developer, Kevin Long, this digital learning tool has improved pass rates for the Energy Academy’s trainees.
Kevin explained the rationale behind developing the software:
“I’ve done a lot of teaching over the years and have found that when learners get stuck on parts of training schedule, they often pretend they’ve understood, so as not to lose face with their peers. This is a problem, as when they miss one stage, they can fall behind on what follows.
“Providing access to course and training material out of hours is a challenge. It’s time-consuming and costly for us to print large number of documents and hand them out, so with this in mind I decided I would build an online training platform that could give our candidates access to the learning material they need in a digital format. A user-friendly platform that could be accessed by them – and us - wherever and whenever it was needed and the chance to go over any sections they struggle with again, in their own time, so they can catch up.
“I’m a gas engineer, not a programmer by trade, so rather than writing the programme from scratch, I adapted some existing software and taught myself as I went along. It worked well. There were various add-ons to the programme that I could develop to fit our requirements. Flexibility was important as we wanted, to give ourselves and our learners the opportunity to use the system anytime from anywhere. Learners are able to access the software securely - not only to view course material but to also submit assignments which can then be assessed and marked remotely by our assessors.
“Security was paramount. We need to protect the candidates’ personal data, but also control what they can access in terms of course material, to ensure that the normative documents - to which they have controlled access - can’t be downloaded or printed out. Everything is password protected from both sides.
“Initially I built the system for the Managed Learning Programme (MLP), but due to demand on other courses it has expanded to cover other qualifications. We now use it for our Level 4 Gas Management in Social Housing. It works very well for this course as candidates have two years to complete their training and the platform gives them the facility to look back over and refresh their knowledge as they go.
“Developing the platform has taken a lot of my time, but the results speak for themselves. We have had higher success rate in candidates passing the qualifications since we brought the programme in. I’m very grateful to LCL Awards for their ongoing support of the project and I’m thrilled that our efforts have been recognised, in winning the Innovation Award.”
Mark Krull, MD at Logic 4 Training and LCL Awards, Kevin Long, Centre Manager and software developer, Neill Ovenden, Operations Director at LCL Awards
Our independent team of judges - Stewart Clements of HHIC, Charlotte Lee of the Heat Pump Association, Brett Forster of NAPIT and Hattie Hasan, of Stopcocks Women Plumbers, were struck by the breadth and scope of entries in this category; from innovative industry partnerships and post learning career support, to community work and the development of specialist learning software, as demonstrated by the winners - Energy Academy in Sittingbourne, Kent.
Energy Academy has developed an out-of-hours learning platform to give candidates full access to course materials and online tuition, remotely, allowing them to learn at their own pace. Designed and built by centre-owner, ex-gas engineer and now software developer, Kevin Long, this digital learning tool has improved pass rates for the Energy Academy’s trainees.
Kevin explained the rationale behind developing the software:
“I’ve done a lot of teaching over the years and have found that when learners get stuck on parts of training schedule, they often pretend they’ve understood, so as not to lose face with their peers. This is a problem, as when they miss one stage, they can fall behind on what follows.
“Providing access to course and training material out of hours is a challenge. It’s time-consuming and costly for us to print large number of documents and hand them out, so with this in mind I decided I would build an online training platform that could give our candidates access to the learning material they need in a digital format. A user-friendly platform that could be accessed by them – and us - wherever and whenever it was needed and the chance to go over any sections they struggle with again, in their own time, so they can catch up.
“I’m a gas engineer, not a programmer by trade, so rather than writing the programme from scratch, I adapted some existing software and taught myself as I went along. It worked well. There were various add-ons to the programme that I could develop to fit our requirements. Flexibility was important as we wanted, to give ourselves and our learners the opportunity to use the system anytime from anywhere. Learners are able to access the software securely - not only to view course material but to also submit assignments which can then be assessed and marked remotely by our assessors.
“Security was paramount. We need to protect the candidates’ personal data, but also control what they can access in terms of course material, to ensure that the normative documents - to which they have controlled access - can’t be downloaded or printed out. Everything is password protected from both sides.
“Initially I built the system for the Managed Learning Programme (MLP), but due to demand on other courses it has expanded to cover other qualifications. We now use it for our Level 4 Gas Management in Social Housing. It works very well for this course as candidates have two years to complete their training and the platform gives them the facility to look back over and refresh their knowledge as they go.
“Developing the platform has taken a lot of my time, but the results speak for themselves. We have had higher success rate in candidates passing the qualifications since we brought the programme in. I’m very grateful to LCL Awards for their ongoing support of the project and I’m thrilled that our efforts have been recognised, in winning the Innovation Award.”