KPA Expands Offerings with Online Safe Driver Training
New Online Training Course Uses Multiple Teaching Strategies to Engage Adult Learners
Lafayette, CO (KPA, November 1, 2011) – KPA offers a new online training course that teaches safe driving habits to workers who are required to drive as part of their job. The course trains car salesmen, valets, and shuttle drivers how to increase the number of safety precautions they take every time they get behind the wheel. It uses multiple teaching strategies including attention-grabbing videos, interactive experiences, and a series of lessons that adjust to an individual’s learning pace.
Vice President of Products and Development at KPA, Eric Schmitz, calls the training course “a new twist on a classic lesson.” He explains that the course moves along at the learner’s pace, which is important for retention because “today’s online learners are very comfortable with interactive technology. Many adult learners are used to computer games that move at the player’s pace, so it makes sense to take important content, such as life-saving training courses, and present it in a style that they are comfortable with.”
Learners advance through five different sections. They start with a self-assessment of their current driving habits. From there, the course moves through the basic safety issues around driving. It includes driving distractions, accidents, planning before you drive, defensive driving, and concludes with practical applications. The entire course takes the learner from knowing what it takes to be a safe driver and helps them internalize the lessons and apply what they learned every time they get behind the wheel.
In a voluntary survey, 125 participants completed the course and rated their experience. Ninety-five percent responded that the interactive elements in the training are helpful for learning, and 92 percent responded that they will apply what they learned within a week of completing the course.
The videos and situations featured in the training sessions are built around real-world events that face employees who are required to drive as part of their job. The course uses all of these teaching strategies to focus on today’s most important issues. For example, it reinforces the importance of not texting while driving, the course goes over how to perform evasive maneuvering, and teaches learners how to maximize fuel efficiency by planning routes in advance.
