Learning Technologies
From VR to e-learning and much more
My journey into digital learning and development began at the BBC, where I produced learning content for the BBC Academy – the corporation's staff training and development department. I managed the Academy's content production team and afterwards took this work forward as a freelance consultant.
VR at BP
Digital media offers endless opportunities for training and learning. But which technologies are most effective and worth investing in?
That was the question we set out to answer with our exploration of Virtual Reality (VR) and its ability to influence workplace behaviour. The result was a two-part immersive scenario called 'Alia's First Day'.
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The research project was led by BP Learning Manager Mike Kibblewhite
BP L&D identified remote worksite orientation as a suitable application for immersive media.
Workers could familiarise themselves with hazardous or remote locations before arriving on site.
Another potential we explored was streamlining building inductions for visitors to BP premises, which was the inspiration for this 360° video.
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BP's Sales, Retail & Marketing team engaged me to create video versions of slideshow presentations. This presented a number of challenges:
- the slide animations needed to be reproduced in video
- the animations and transitions needed to be synced to the soundtrack
- the audio quality of the soundtrack was sub-optimal and outside my control.
I used Apple Motion and Final Cut Pro to overcome the animation and synchronisation issues, and Adobe Audition to restore and enhance the sound quality.
The result looks like a perfect capture of a live presentation, but a surprising amount of work went into it. I later applied the techniques I learned to produce a similar video, in German, for BP's Aral brand.
The BBC Academy
I worked with Myles Runham as Editor, Digital Content, transforming the BBC's internal learning and development function.
Our goal was to deliver world-class training for BBC staff and the wider broadcasting industry based on the 70-20-10 model for learning and development.
The model holds that individuals obtain:
- 70% of their knowledge from job-related experiences
- 20% from interactions with others
- 10% from formal educational events.
Please note that these resources do not reflect updates to processes or legal changes since 2015.