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Online Trainers: Bas van Kollenburg – 40% Less Theory with LMS Moodle

Picture by Indigo Skies Photography

Bas van Kollenburg is the owner of two training companies, both very practice oriented, but otherwise totally unrelated. Soterios provides first aid courses, while Fantasea Divers is all about diving instructions. Read on to find out how Bas cut back on his theory lessons by at least 40%.

Years ago, Bas relied on books and videos to convey the theory behind his training. But above all, Bas had his trainees sit through hours of class room instruction before they started practicing. As you can imagine, this was no fun for first aid practitioners, nor for divers.

But then Bas found out about Moodle, the most widely used learning management system (lms). Ever since, he has been using lms Moodle to cut back on class room based theory lessons. Instead, his trainees log in to lms Moodle where they read pdf documents online, but also take online tests.

For some types of training, Bas uses these online tests as a “semi” requirement for access to his classes. One week before the actual class starts, he skims through the results of the online tests in lms Moodle. Everyone who has not completed their test yet, receives a reminder message.

Many of his online first aid courses – the theoretical part of it – are freely accessible. These online courses also serve as marketing material for his class room based courses. After all, you cannot realistically provide first aid without having had some practice in a class first.

Bas has also reorganized his diving instructions around lms Moodle. Here, it’s byod: bring your own device. Trainees access the diving theory presented in lms Moodle through a variety of devices, such as tablets and smart phones. Because these lessons are definitely not freely accessible, Bas hands out ‘course keys’ to his trainees. Each key gives you access to a specific course. In this way, Bas controls who gets to see what exactly.

All in all, Bas has managed to cut back on presenting boring theoretical lessons by at least 40%. He’d like to do even more with Moodle, but he’s facing time and regulatory restrictions (for instance, for his diving classes he has to hand out a book to each trainee). Nevertheless, as a trainer, he gets to do much more of the fun stuff, compared to ‘the old days’. His courses are now, in the words of Elvis Presley, a little less conversation, a little more exercise.