Vaillant Partners with Mind Click to Transform Training
Leading heating and hot water solutions manufacturer Vaillant has teamed up with e-learning experts at Mind Click to revolutionise the training that it offers to installers. With Mind Click’s help, Vaillant has added e-learning content, online simulations and e-assessments to its training offering, creating an award-winning blended solution that’s easily accessed through a new custom Totara learning management system (LMS).
Vaillant runs an ongoing training and certification programme to teach installers about the features of its products and how to set them up in customers’ homes. Before teaming up with Mind Click, Vaillant had solely offered this training face to face through its seven nationwide training centres.
To support the existing training programme, Mind Click created a series of e-learning modules, online assessments, standalone activities and instructional videos to walk learners through some of the key learning points. These online resources can be accessed prior to attending any classroom based learning so that time at the training centres is focused on hands-on training, as well as providing learning for users who can’t physically attend, and as on-the-job support following classroom sessions.
Many of the online resources are designed to actively support classroom training, such as the interactive circuit boards simulation, which allows installers to practise wiring up a heating system without having to go anywhere near live electricity. iPads are also used in the workshops to administer pre- and post-session assessments, so that attendees can see how much they’ve improved over the course of the day.
At the heart of the solution is a custom Totara LMS, which provides instant mobile access to everything that users need, wherever they’re based. What’s more, the LMS has been designed with a unique parallax scrolling 3D interface to echo the physical reception of a Vaillant training centre.
Steve Keeton - Technologies Director for Vaillant Group, comments, ‘When we began this process, we knew we wanted to avoid the online equivalent of death by PowerPoint. We were really looking for a partner who we could trust to get it right, and quickly realised that Mind Click was a great fit. They have helped us take a creative approach to the e-learning and deliver a solution that our learners have really engaged with.’
He continues, ‘We were new to e-learning and the Mind Click team have been fantastic in guiding us through the process. The blend of the different resources seamlessly links into our face-to-face workshops. It has worked so well that we are already extending our online learning offering into new areas.’
Mind Click Managing Director, Sean Reddington, remarks, ‘Vaillant’s investment in their installers is perfectly demonstrated by this blended solution. The e-learning and performance support is used in a practical way throughout the programme, and the formal learning content complements hands-on experiences during the training. Plus, Totara LMS provides ongoing access to useful material when users are back in the field, which they can easily access via their own smart phones or tablets. We are excited to build on this approach as Vaillant continues to lead the way in its industry.’
The e-learning has already been recognised for its excellence with the Graham Plumbers Merchant Supplier Award for Contribution to Knowledge where the judges praised its bite-sized approach and engaging design.
View the Vaillant case study in full.
About Vaillant
Vaillant offers its customers worldwide eco-friendly, energy-saving heating and hot water systems that make increasing use of renewable energies. Its product portfolio encompasses high-efficiency boilers, solar-thermal, heat pumps and large output boilers for light commercial use as well as a range of intelligent controls.