There are many benefits from using Online Learning! 

Learning is as close as your laptop, tablet, smartphone or desktop computer at any time, day or night, every day of the year. You don’t have to dress up either!

Because it’s web-based you can use Macs, iPads. PCs, smartphones or other operating systems to access the program. Edits can be made quickly and easily and are immediately available to everyone. Compare that to updating a paper or DVD based system! OK, updating a video or a PowerPoint with voice-over might take a little longer, but the results once posted are immediately available to all users.

We can use video and audio as well as plain text. This has the potential for an explanation of any topic to be so much more powerful, and the impact is much more memorable than a page of plain text. One objective will be to add interactivity to a topic when it adds value, and we may even be able to add chat-rooms where members can ask questions and receive answers from peers as well as State Officers. But one step at a time, – think kaizen! (see bottom of page for a definition)

You can reference the material from home, or even from a Branch meeting, so travel expenses are reduced and the costs of renting meeting rooms and providing lunch and refreshments are minimized.

If you are new to a role at your Branch you can learn all the key expectations immediately, you don’t have to wait until a training session is organized!

There is a perception that the only way to learn is in a conventional Face-to-Face (F2F) session. Online Learning is a big change, and some of us really don’t like major changes!

Some people think online training is impersonal and prefer the Face-to-Face (F2F) training we all grew up with. However, the attendance rate at SIR F2F sessions has not been really great. The RAMP sessions last year did not have even reach a 20% attendance level. That’s a waste of time, money, and the training team’s commitment.

I have taught online (part-time) for more than 15 years and found that any online student who wanted to learn had at least the same opportunities that the ‘on ground’ or F2F learners had. I am convinced that if you want to learn, you will, and that’s the whole point of self-improvement.  I’m strongly in favor of continuous improvement, the Japanese even have a word for it “kaizen”. The concept was responsible for the development of Toyota’s reputation for quality. If your branch hasn’t already done so, what would happen if they bought into the concept of continuous improvement? Incremental improvements… continuously applied. Good things would happen, I’ll bet!

This current website is only a beginning, it will be continuously improved both visually and for content. It will improve faster if you, the users, help identify the needed changes. Let us know what you think, and changes will be made. Are there any missing topics that would help you in your role? Have you ever wished there was a quick answer to some new problem that you think nobody else has ever faced? If so, identify these needs and let us know. A comment/suggestion form is provided via the menu at the top of the page.

Now click on the ‘Next Lesson’ button at the bottom right of this page for the next topic.