Removing the blank looks – using eLearning to explain PSI

Angele GIULIANOangele@acrosslimits.com

The Background

● PSI Directive is relatively new

● Transposition in many member states is very recent (e.g. Malta in Feb 2007)

● Governments have not taken the role of teaching about PSI

● Both public civil servants and private companies/stakeholders are ignorant of obligations and opportunities

● Blank looks or feigned knowledgeable look are common!

Training Styles

● Education styles

● Face to Face (F2F) teaching (including workshops, conferences)

● Traditional distance learning (books, paper materials)

● Learning videos, CBT, Multimedia CDs

● Internet based teaching & learning (synchronous & asynchronous)

● PSI teaching could be a blended approach – either tutor lead or self-paced

Why E-learning? The eLearning Blend

Options to be explored

● Recorded video lessons / interviews / workshops placed online (similar to Youtube)

● Asynchronous teaching space with learning objects, modules, thematic courses (using Moodle or similar)

● First person simulations to teach public servants the steps and decisions to take in different situations ( using decision based systems like Quandary from Half Baked Software http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary.php )

● Creating a Learning Video DVD that can be given to government information offices to put on in waiting rooms

Costs, Time, Content

● Strength = a lot of great material is already within the EPSIplus portal, the Forum, Case studies etc

● Technology used can be open source or free for educational purposes

● Time to plan and carry out learning solutions is NOT trivial however and would be difficult to go for without some funding

● If we are targeting general public/larger stakeholders circle, all materials need to be translated. Again NOT trivial expense/time

● If we choose tutor/mentor led approaches then their time has to be re-imbursed

Ideas? Discussion?

●Feel free to agree or disagree● Is this also a problem in your country?●Who would benefit most from PSI teaching?●Should there be courses for civil servants &

courses for private stakeholders?●How could we reach our targets?●How do we fund the material creation?

Thanks for your attention(Thanks Chris for your patience!!)

Angele GIULIANO (angele@acrosslimits.com)

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