Simplicity

Overview

Landauer provides services to determine exposure to occupational and environmental radiation hazards in the workplace. Since 1954, the company has provided radiation dosimetry services to hospitals, medical and dental offices, university and national laboratories, nuclear power plants and other industries where radiation poses a potential threat to employees. Landauer manufactures and markets its Luxel dosimeters (radiation detection badges) to measure exposure levels. Landauer understands that effective training is required to keep radiation exposure levels to a minimum in the workplace.

Business Challenge

Landauer wanted to develop a program that would educate different types of learners about radiation safety. Those who are exposed to radioactive material represent a broad spectrum of educational and socio-economic backgrounds from doctors to housekeeping staff. The primary challenge of this project was to create an e-learning program that would be comprehensive yet interesting and fun to use. Landauer sought the expertise of Design Access to develop a highly creative and interactive e-learning solution for learners whose job function involved some radiation exposure and thus annual OSHA-required safety training.

Solution

Design Access developed a solution that achieved each Landauer goal. The course content included the different types of radiation, how it is measured, and how and where radiation might exist in the workplace. Through original and interactive note, users learned warning signals, protective measures, and the appropriate times to contact a radiation safety officer. The creative momentum of this training program was enhanced by customized sound effects, animation sequences, and visually compelling interactive exercises. This approach proved effective in optimizing knowledge retention.

Results

Hospitals found that this training was more cost-effective and comprehensive than traditional DVD or instructor-led courses. A customized tracking system logged user completion and performance. The course was accredited for 1.5 continuing education units (CEUs) by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and is in use by thousands of hospitals and other institutions.

Design Access’ e-learning tool proved to be the best method for meeting governmental training regulations and effectively educating learners about radiation safety. This cost-effective solution provides critical safety information through an engaging and personalized experience.

This program won both the National AXIEM Award for Excellence in Electronic Media Safety Training, and the Silver National CINDY Award for Technical/Safety Training.

Simplicity

Landauer wanted to create a simple solution to teach the program’s learners about radiation safety. It had to be easy-to-use, fun, and interesting. Landauer Radiation Safety was the perfect solution to meet their goals. The program is sprinkled with fun, interactive, animated sequences to keep the learner engaged and interested in the content. To ensure the learner understands the material, it contains simple knowledge checks throughout. It is designed with fun, cartoon illustrations and a professional voice-over sound track.

Simple Dialogue, not Boring Monologue

Not all situations warrant sophisticated solutions with video guides and simulations. In some cases, the simple approach is the correct one to take. Simple does not automatically mean “page turner.” By observing a few basic rules, Design Access creates simple solutions that are both competent and professional.

What saved Landauer from becoming a page turner (and earned it user acclaim, ASRT approval, and two separate training awards) was the simple idea that good e-learning is a dialogue, not a monologue. The learner will listen if they see that what you are saying matters, and that they will have their chance to respond.

To give the learner a chance to respond, we sprinkled interactive exercises, diagrams, and knowledge checks throughout the training at regular intervals. To participate, the learner had to draw upon the information just presented! They felt “listened to” and were motivated to pay attention.

Good e-learning (and communication) is a two way street. The learner should be given the chance to rehearse and apply their new-found knowledge. The moment they need to use the information, ideas are compared, and connections are made. The learner decides whether to keep or discard this new knowledge.

We started this course with a foundation of well-organized content, gathered from subject matter expert interviews. Using a simple paging interface, we added diagrams, pictures, interactions, animations, and a game show quiz. At every step, we were careful to balance our efforts with the client’s budget. We chose carefully which diagrams to draw, which interactions to build, and which concepts to animate.

To economically produce a fun test, we used our custom Design Access test engine. This engine has been refined over time, and supports all sorts of graphic looks and themes. The test engine reads text files and presents the questions using fancy graphics and sound effects. The trick is to make the graphics and the sound effects reusable. So the sound effects for the host, the audience, and the music are all reusable and can be used for any question. The same goes for the graphics. The result is a professional game show that looks like a custom exercise, but can be reused for as many questions as needed.

Whether you’re on a tight budget, or you just want to get the most for your money, we know the tricks that get results.

Design Access creates custom solutions that teach, inform, and inspire. We combine business expertise, design creativity, and technical mastery to develop innovative solutions to our customers’ business problems. We have partnered with over 60 Fortune 500 companies to help them achieve their communication goals. Let us put our experience, talent, and energy to work for you. Give us a try!