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The Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA) is proud to announce that it is relaunching the Government Learning Technology Symposium (GLTS) in 2016. The FGDLA is aligning the GLTS (http://www.glts.fgdlaevents.us/) with NewBay Media’s Government Video Expo and Government Video Magazine to make it an integral part of the 2016 Government Video (GV) Expo (http://www.GVEXPO.com).

The vision of the FGDLA is to continue the prior success of the GLTS and establish it as an annual conference in the Washington, D.C. metro area focusing on distance learning in the Federal Government.

In 1998, a group of Federal Government agency representatives held the GLTS at Gallaudet University’s Kellogg Center, Washington, D.C. Those representatives worked for agencies that included the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Air Force, and the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), and Veterans Affairs (VA). Representatives of the supporting Federal Government agencies planned the symposium, and the Graduate School, USDA, coordinated conference logistics. The purpose was to create a venue in the Washington D.C. metro area to network and share best practices concerning distance learning in the Federal Government. However, due to the lack of sponsorship and financial resources, the last GLTS Symposium was held in 2001.

Today, the FGDLA plans to reignite the vision of GLTS and establish it as a meaningful and relevant part of the Government Video Expo. This vision includes establishing the GLTS as the premiere Federal Government distance learning conference in the Washington D.C. metro area.

The 2016 GV EXPO & GLTS will be held at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, December 7 and 8, 2016. The GV EXPO is the East Coast’s largest technology event designed for video, broadcast, and audiovisual (AV) professionals. The GLTS, co-located with the GV EXPO, includes two days of consecutive sessions featuring presentations on instructional design and the ADDIE model, gaming, mobile learning, instructional design basics, video and animation design for distance learning, LMS integration, and much more.

FGDLA Info Sheet: https://static.secure.website/wscfus/4899501/3421285/fgdla-partner-info-sheet.pdf

GLTS Flyer: https://static.secure.website/wscfus/4899501/3148091/glts-flyer3.pdf

How the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division Educates ID-Checking Store Clerks

Curt Dowdy

The most attractive feature of online education is its vast scope of reach at a reasonable cost. Be it a corporation that needs to cater to employees across multiple locations, an organization that needs to train its allied partners, or one that needs to disseminate information to the public; today an eLearning route to reach distance learners is more powerful than ever.

The issue of educating store clerks on how to check IDs for alcohol and tobacco sales had become quite a burden for the State of Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division (ABD). In order to overcome multiple hurdles, the ABD implemented an eLearning course and a Learning Management System (LMS).

Prior to 2010, the Iowa ABD offered a program to teach fundamentals of checking IDs in face-to-face classrooms around the state. They utilized off-duty police officers in each of the counties to conduct the training.

This posed several challenges.  First, the availability of training officers and facilities varied widely county-to-county and month-to-month.  In addition, new store employees might be on the job for a long time before getting certified in ID-checking.  Second, the actual training delivered was inconsistent between the trainers leading the classes.  Third, it was sometimes difficult to centrally monitor who had been through the course and who had not.  Finally, it was quite expensive to cover both the trainers and the facilities used by the program.

By implementing the training online, Iowa ABD was able to significantly increase the number of people trained each year compared to its previous face-to-face classes.

"Since the launch of the tobacco course in 2010, and the alcohol course in 2012, the programs continue to certify more than 100 unique users per day. As the online format offers flexibility of time and place, nearly 80 percent of all users complete a course in one session, making learning immediate for the ABD’s diverse learner base,” says Erin Bothwell, Program Planner, Iowa ABD. This data is recorded by the LMS tracking system for easy monitoring by the system managers.

Reduced Training Costs

Prior to the launch of the eLearning course, the Iowa ABD would conduct more than 300 classroom sessions per year. It involved costs, ranging from scheduling time and travel for instructors and learners, to setting up classrooms, to preparing and distributing training materials. Implementing the online program provided a number of cost-benefits for the organization.

Moving online also mitigated absenteeism from classes and hence the loss incurred from candidates not showing up. By replacing more than 300 annual face-to-face sessions with an eLearning course, the Iowa ABD was able to cut costs and increase fidelity to the training content.

Improved Quality of Training

The entire target audience has access to the same content and this ensures consistency in delivery. The course uses animated scenarios to model important skills and includes assessment and certification, thereby increasing the learner’s sense of worth. Moreover, assessments help track what knowledge learners acquired and how long they spent on the course. These are important metrics to measure the quality and impact of the training.

The Impact Speaks for Itself

Since the training was launched, more than 131,000 alcohol and tobacco vendor employees have registered for the class, which helps the state of Iowa minimize the number of underage purchasers of alcohol and tobacco products.

Moving training courses from the traditional classroom style method to an eLearning platform has enabled the Iowa ABD to reach its large and scattered learner segment, cut down on expenses, and improve the quality of training.