I would like to introduce myself as the OC of the recently formed RAFAC Training Resource Team, based within the wider training team HQ RAFAC. I have been performing a similar role since 2019 as the RAFAC’s e-learning developer but have recently been able to set up a new team with five enthusiastic volunteers who are working with others across the RAFAC to produce new, up-to-date training material.
You will probably have seen some of the work me and my team have already completed. Work has included the Cadet Training Portal and associated pages, the How To Guide concept and Mandatory Training Safeguarding and Security courses. We have also started re-writes of classification training modules (The ATC, Air Power, Leading cadet subjects etc.) and have produced cadet notebooks, blue leadership packages, classification training revision packages and are the owners of the space syllabus.
Despite all of this, I recognise that we have a long way to go to update a large amount of outdated and inadequate training resources. The setup of this new team will go a long way in helping the organisation achieve this.
I’m here to answer any questions about training, inform you of any updates and generally let you know how the team is getting on. You can also contact me if you have any existing resources that could be shared or have any ideas on how to improve any aspect of our training.
My team is not to be confused with the Training Development Team (TDT), who are involved in developing shooting and fieldcraft training.
Looking forward to your updates as we move forward.
I personally have found the new look courses to be very good, and can’t wait for the full classification syllabus to have an update. The senior/master materials are awful and desperate for an overhaul.
Thanks for coming on and engaging this forum. We know the manner in which we’re regarded at HQ (or not, as the case may be), so someone taking the time to join in is welcome and much appreciated.
Not that it’s of much relevance but hopefully you can clear this one up - is access to the Training Portal section of SharePoint via a cadet’s CIN@rafac.mod.gov.uk accounts deliberate? There’s been a bit of a debate locally as to whether we shouldn’t be encouraging it in case it is just a bug.
If it is deliberate, it’s worth noting cadets currently have access to irrelevant stuff (like Command & Leadership School) as well as the Certificate files (which they definitely shouldn’t be able to access lol…), but aren’t able to access sections like the Security Advice Hub which might genuinely be useful for potential staff cadets as they’re required to go through it to complete their AVIP workbook.
Hi. @AMW It’s not deliberate, and we haven’t switched it on. I think the permissions are set to ‘everyone’, and as the cadets have an Office365 licence, they fall into that. I’m not sure if it should be like that; I know it was switched off, but it seems to be back. I hope that makes sense
I completely and wholeheartedly agree with this! Although my team aren’t involved with the IT side of the implementation of Bader Learn, I have been told that progress is positive!
Thought I’d come on to this forum to share my views, really appreciate you coming on here for starters.
The new resources are great in visual style, look and content - but I’ve had numerous comments on actual usability of the browser based ones in teaching a group. Staff having to constantly click on the next button with a mouse or move it around to other parts of a screen (USB ‘Clickers’ just don’t work), no presenter view available for a second screen (useful for seeing what’s coming up next, notes on the particular slide page etc…) and a heavy handed move away from letting Squadron staff inject their experience and skills which makes us feel what the point of us is? - it feels like a serious downgrade from PowerPoint so much so that staff are just heading back to the old PowerPoint files despite the outdated information / style.
On the other hand the Aircraft Recognition Powerpoint is a great blend of both - It looks fantastic, is heavily usable and adaptable and easy to teach from… It’s perfect. I know one of the comments was access to PowerPoint for Squadrons but I don’t think this has been even small of an issue with so many avenues possible - PowerPoint Viewer, Online Browser PowerPoint, Google Slides, OpenOffice etc…
I really think a serious consideration should be made on this new style and if it’s worth continuing down as I have heard the same from many colleagues across my Wing that are struggling and giving up on them.
I’d seriously suggest at first getting a group of people sat down for a lesson - try teaching ATC History (New Style) from a projector - with a second monitor, single monitor, no monitor, usb clicker, no clicker, then teaching Aircraft Recognition (Powerpoint) the same way and see what is easier to use? Because I guarantee from my own experience it’ll be the Aircraft Recognition.
Again, loving the refreshed content so please take this as all constructive, but this new style teaching has become the bane of teaching classifications lately, it just isn’t suitable like a PowerPoint file is (so much of the world, univerisities, colleges etc use PowerPoint / Google Slides which are all adaptable with each other) and it seems like all feedback on this is going unnoticed - just an uninterrupted move down a path that isn’t working very well for us.
I have to admit I feel the same. I love the styling, the branding, the content is great but sometimes actual usability isn’t there.
Air power, for example, the pack you download, burn as an image and then run is OK, but doesn’t give me as an instructor any more details than I can read on the screen, and the content doesn’t cover the questions in the exams.
They are perfect as self-study for individuals (providing the content matches the exam questions!), but to teach from they are quite clunky.
Also I found with one course I was teaching using the new format, because I’d clicked ahead during the break to double check content, I couldn’t then run that section without quitting and starting again from the very beginning.
I’m sure i recall conversations around the content not being “instructor-led friendly” and am firmly in that camp too. There’s a definite bias to a self teach style of material.
But, (Tom_Grocott maybe you can offer an update here?) I’ve seen it said in response that different versions may be produced? I imagine the priority is just get everything revamped with updated content for now though…
You are right in saying that the courses are probably more geared towards self-study, rather than being easy to use for an instructor. Many of them were produced during Covid when this was a necessity.
The level of interactivity and immersive content is something we cannot do with PowerPoint, but I understand the concerns that they are not as easy to use as the courses they’ve replaced. I am looking at ways to make the courses easier to access. With my larger team I am now able to do this.
Part of this will be producing a one-page guide on how to make the most out of the presentations, as many of the things people want to do (like making the courses full screen can be done easily).
Future work includes:
Retro-fitting courses so most PowerPoint-style clickers will work.
Producing duplicate courses with the minimum timings/restrictions, making them easier for instructors.
Producing real offline versions of courses, rather than the ISO files we are having to use a present. These were a compromise whilst waiting for Badet Learn. Bader Learn will enable us to do this through a ‘Moodle’ app.
The content was looked at very carefully to ensure it did meet the assessment questions in the exams. If there are places where it doesn’t then please get in touch and I can try to get it sorted. Ulitlearn is very broken though, so I have to be careful what I change!
There are issues with Ultilearn however, meaning the latest version of the exam (v3) won’t finish properly if a cadet doesn’t pass first time round. It could be that the cadet is accessing v2, which doesn’t exactly align with the new syllabus.
This will be sorted when Bader Learn is released; the new questions are on there ready to go!
Something that would also help - perhaps in the short term - would be a list of video and other online assets in the instructor folder. This way they can be cued up or downloaded for situations with poor or no wifi.
Most new subjects we have produced have delivery guides. These were requested by testers of the initial courses and contain session plans that instructors can adapt and work with. Each new course we produce will come with one of these, and we’ve got a Radio and Radar course being tested now with a delivery guide. These guides also upskill instructors who may be less familiar with the content.
There are squadrons out there that have excellent instructors but the overall picture unfortunately is that the majority of units are not equipped with the staff numbers and skills to teach the entire classification syllabus without assistance. Gone are the days when you might have lots of people from the forces or industry with the free time and expertise to teach our more technical subjects. The majority of squadrons don’t teach the senior and master cadet subjects anymore and allow their cadets to self-study. This often means the cadets look up the answers on the internet during the exam, which IMO completely de-values the BTEC qualification in the process.
In the past, the RAF used to run courses for us to upskill instructors, but uptake was very poor and they don’t have the capacity anymore to help us. So me and the wider training team had to find a way of providing good quality material to the majority of squadrons who don’t have the resources to instruct the classification subjects to a good standard. We still have a very big problem of units using old versions of PowerPoints, and were told very loudly by lots of people that having PowerPoint presentations was not the answer.
Producing the courses in the format we now have means that cadets can work through the material themselves, or work with their peers in small groups, or have the subjects delivered by an instructor. I do appreciate we haven’t got it completely right though on the instructor front, so will be making changes to the courses to make sure that they are easier for an instructor to deliver. As much as i’d like to, we don’t have the resources to produce PowerPoint presentations alongside each course, but there are ways which I’ve mentioned in another reply that will hopefully make them easier for instructors to deliver if they have the skills and resources to do so.
