A subsidiary company of MidKent College, MKC Training was created as part of a 30-year PPP (public-private partnership) contract to deliver construction, engineering and health & safety skills and qualifications to the Royal School of Military Engineering. They provide a blend of world class digital and face-to-face education and training to both commercial and defense markets within the public and private sectors.
We wouldn’t have gotten where we are without itslearning – their support package is superb!"
LMS selection process
When MKC Training decided to branch out into commercial work they felt it would be crucial to have their own dedicated learning management system. So, they took their time and thoroughly vetted 16 LMS platforms – conducting interviews to see which best met their criteria.
Dr. Dynes describes the process, “It was quite a long project. We narrowed it down to two and brought in the rest of the senior leadership team to pose questions to platform representatives – itslearning came out on top."
"MKC Training is accredited cyber secure, so it was essential that any LMS was fully compliant with all our cyber security needs. itslearning is certified by one of the most widely recognized international standards for information security: ISO 27001."
Support from itslearning
itslearning provides tailored support for the MKC Training implementation in the form of an account manager, a pedagogical consultant and a technical integration consultant. The latter helps them integrate tools into itslearning, providing them with a central point of access to all their digital tools. Along with Dr. Dynes, they’ve co-developed a training plan for MKC Training.
Dr. Dynes adds, “We have our own dedicated learning technologists – creators and enablers of content – but for someone to help us put that onto the platform to get the best out of it, that’s been really helpful.”
“Relationship wasn’t identified as one of our selection criteria, but as we moved forward it became obvious that it was important. itslearning responds quickly with what we need – that is key to how we operate – that dynamic flexibility. It’s a real success! The support package that you get when you sign up to itslearning is second-to-none. It really is beneficial.”
Implementation process
Phase one of the implementation process – uploading internal management training to itslearning –is complete. “The first thing we did was upload all our continuing professional development training, to familiarize staff with the platform and create a level of excitement for what they can do with their own courses”.
Phase two, which is in progress, consists of redesigning courses for the commercial market within the platform. “This will enable us to make use of a combination of remote but live interactions – a bit of synchronous and asynchronous learning, which enables us to do so much more,” Dr. Dynes explains. “Those working with our commercial delivery are chomping at the bit to use itslearning. They’ve seen the benefits of it – they’ve seen how effective and useful it’s going to be”.
Staff reaction so far
“It's early days, but staff has responded very positively so far. As with any change, when you’re trying a new system, you’re always going to meet a little resistance. It’s about people getting used to a new platform, and they will very quickly.”
“One of our key benefits was that every training session was recorded. I’m not a technologist, but to demonstrate how it all works, I used those videos to create my own learning package and put together an itslearning course. I found the platform easy to use. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”
Above is a screenshot from Dr. Dynes' itslearning course.
Advice for other institutions
John emphasizes, “You’re investing in a company and their capabilities. Both organizations need to work very effectively together. Make sure you’ve got a good relationship with the team, and the support you’re getting is what you need to take your organization where you need to go. Make sure you get a really good support package. You need it and the support package through itslearning is superb!”
For more information about MKC Training: www.mkctraining.com