AA Driving School soft skills training for trainee instructors goes online with Kallidus
Kallidus, the leading provider of learning and talent management solutions, has partnered with the AA Driving School to create a cutting edge online learning centre for trainee driving instructors.
Kallidus has developed a series of five new interactive soft skills e-learning courses which trainee instructors are able to access through Kallidus Learning Management System (LMS) via PC, tablet or desktop computer. The online learning centre gives pupils greater flexibility and control over their learning and will also help speed up the qualification process in the future.
Said Gill Balshaw, Head of Learning and Development at the AA Driving School: “This initiative is the result of a true partnership between AA Driving School and Kallidus. Kallidus has delivered a great learning platform and has effectively simplified some very complex material into bite-sized e-learning modules. The Kallidus team have demonstrated real creativity in developing engaging content which will help ensure all trainee instructors benefit from a consistent and high quality learning experience.”
It typically takes between nine and 12 months to become a qualified driving instructor. Pupils have to pass three tests assessing their competencies in driving theory (e.g. the highway code), driving proficiency and instructional ability.
Gill Balshaw added: “Kallidus has developed five new e-learning modules covering the fundamental soft skills required to pass the instructional ability test. This has always been the hardest component of the programme to teach consistently and the hardest element for pupils to pass. Our new e-learning modules will help speed up learning while ensuring greater consistency in knowledge, and that our trainee instructors have the core competencies and behaviours they need to be effective driving instructors”.
The AA Driving School has traditionally relied on teaching instructional ability skills through in-car training via a network of more than 100 skilled trainers. The addition of the new e-learning coursework will enable the AA Driving School to provide a more blended and flexible approach to learning and will reduce the hours trainees spend in the car. A flexible learning solution is particularly important given that many trainees are undertaking a career change and have to fit training in while still working in their current job, while others are trying to juggle learning with the demands of family life.
The new instructor ability courses build on the success of the bespoke e-learning modules Kallidus initially developed for the driving theory syllabus which have helped to make paper-based learning for pupils a thing of the past. The five new courses cover core competencies; levels of instruction; learning styles; lesson planning and client centred learning, and also include pre and post-assessment questionnaires.
Said Rob Caul, CEO of Kallidus: “We are delighted to be part of such an important initiative. Online learning is all too often used by organisations purely for developing hard skills and so it’s great to see the AA Driving School innovatively using learning technologies to engage trainee instructors as part of a blended approach for soft skills development.”
Kallidus LMS is not only proving to be a valuable platform for delivering online learning but provides the AA Driving School with the ability to monitor how driving instructor pupils are progressing through their training so that any additional support can be given when required. Anyone who goes on to take out an AA Driving School franchise will be able to continue using the Kallidus learning platform after they have passed their Driving Instructor Training exams as a way of managing their CPD.
- ends -