The works council seminars offered by the German union IG Metall have been supplemented for years by learning material provided by Bund-Verlag – primarily in the form of printed information. This printed information is now being complemented by digital content to make the training more flexible and productive as well as to improve the learning experience. youknow has been hired by Bund-Verlag to implement a LMS, an authoring tool and a learning app.
About Bund-Verlag
Bund-Verlag is a publishing company with about 50 employees that focuses on labor and social law. Its primary target group is members of works and staff councils. IG Metall acquired a stake in the publishing company in 2009. Bund-Verlag provides IG Metall with a wide-ranging amount of learning material that supplements the union’s in-person seminars.
The situation
IG Metall regularly conducts seminars on a range of subjects that are supplemented with self-learning material – all of which was provided in printed form in the past. The union is now planning to enhance the printed information with digital content. The aim is to facilitate the easy and fast examination of the learning materials, encourage discussions among learners and simplify the feedback process. For this purpose, IG Metall asked Bund-Verlag to request the development of an app that would complement its seminars. The app was to be designed in such a way that Bund-Verlag could maintain the content and IG Metall could perform the job of user administration.
The solution
An authoring tool was implemented so that Bund-Verlag could update content as needed. For this purpose, youknow developed a responsive set of templates bearing the corporate design of IG Metall that facilitates the CI-compliant display of learning material on all end devices.
youknow also set up a learning management system that IG Metall can independently apply to manage users – both those who use PCs and mobile devices. This function enables the digital learning modules and seminars to be managed, an essential option for IG Metall and its courses. Such functions as the mass registration of users or a full-text search that takes users directly to the desired place in a course or module create a significant amount of added value for both administrators and learners. Learners also have the option of creating collections of material and favorites, a function that improves the learning experience and facilitates more efficient learning.
Login mask of the Learning Management System
Course overview in the Learning Management System
An app that enables learners to study all content offline at any time or place was developed for the LMS. The app can be installed directly on the end devices of learners. As a result, they can take along their material from the in-person seminars and can study it wherever and whenever they like. Push notifications remind learners about the modules that they still have to complete. The app has already been downloaded more than 3,000 times.
Feedback and goal achievement
The digitalization of the learning materials is paying off in many ways for the LMS administrators of IG Metall, the authors at Bund-Verlag and learners:
Thanks to the learning management system, IG Metall is profiting from more flexibility and productivity. An automated import process for the data of seminar students and simplified management of learners have streamlined work. The LMS also facilitates a dialogue with learners outside the in-person seminars. Finally, the LMS provides a range of reports that can be used for such purposes as consideration of ways to optimize the seminars and learning modules.
The authors at Bund-Verlag can use the intuitive authoring tool to easily and quickly create content on their own – for both the customer – IG Metall – and themselves.
And last but not least: The app takes the learning process for students attending IG Metall seminars to a new level. Important supplementary material for the seminars is now available online and offline. Communication with other learners can now be performed with the app. Favorite lists with content can be created and shared with other learners, and students can start preparing in advance for upcoming seminars.
“By using flexible tools and drawing on youknow’s vast experience, we have added a highly professional partner to our team for the development of IG Metall’s portal. Thanks to our extremely good working relationship, we are relying on the technology and expertise of youknow for our upcoming projects as well.”
Irmgard Schmalix, editor at Bund-Verlag GmbH
What’s next?
The app, the learning management system for IG Metall and the authoring tool will be continuously enhanced. As part of this work, other means of communication for the app will be developed.
Bund-Verlag also decided to add its own LMS while carrying out the project with IG Metall. The system is currently being developed and is scheduled to be rolled out in 2021. The LMS will also be linked to the webshop of Bund-Verlag.
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