The ambitions of Friluftsfrämjandet in this project were high. They wanted to create an engaging and visually appealing education that got participants thinking. At the same time, resources were limited. We needed to divide work to get a great education. It required a huge deal of commitment and close cooperation between our teams.

The solution became a co-production, where Friluftsfrämjandet also contributed to the work of the project. Learnify EdTech supported concept work, project management, script coaching and film production. The collaboration between Learnify and Friluftsfrämjandet produced brilliant results. The final result was a great education, with beautiful pictures, informative texts and thoughtful reflective exercises.

This project is an example of a truly successful collaboration. By sharing the tasks we have, together with Friluftsfrämjandet, we created an education that lived up to the high ambitions that initially existed. Above all, we saw two strengths within ourselves that enabled this investment; outstanding collaboration, and our easy-to-use authoring tool, Learnify. With this tool, Friluftsfrämjandet has been able to produce large parts of the education itself, and will also be able to maintain it in a simple way in the future.

According to feedback from previous years’ productions, we needed to find a way to offer diversified content in ÅKU 2019. At the same time, we wanted the seventeen sections to be interconnected and a cohesive whole, even though the topics ranged from GDPR to insurance distribution.

We divided the work of the animated fact sequences between three animators. By doing this we got a varied graphic feel. In addition to the animations, we filmed lectures, interviews and discussions with subject matter experts. By adding animations and graphics to these films, we were able to present the facts in a clear, concise way. To create further variation, and leave room for users to test and reflect on their knowledge, we added interactive exercises and shorter knowledge tests in several sections.

Since we have an animator, a photographer, an audio technician, and developers available internally within the company, we were able to produce much of the material for the training ourselves. This streamlined the coordination and communication of the work. It also allowed us to take advantage of the skills we have at our disposal.

In 2014, Teknikcollege conducted a preliminary study with companies and trainers to identify successful examples and requested support in supervisory work. The results of the feasibility study showed that there was a demand for support and updated material in order to be able to smoothly carry out qualitative supervisor training and give the students a high-quality practice. Because we wanted the education to be largely based on concrete scenarios that reflect everyday life for supervisors and students, the challenge was to find real-life situations, in a challenging environment.

There was a need for both teacher-led and web-based education, and therefore we made a combined solution. Today, the digital product is available both as web-based education and in a version adapted to be implemented at a teacher-led meeting. These options complement each other in that the web version can serve as a rehearsal for participants from the teacher-led meeting, or a completely independent education for the person who wants to implement it individually.

The versions are divided into two parts with four and five sections per part, respectively. The participants take part in filmed scenarios and get to reflect and answer questions about what they have seen. They also interact through social exercises where they, for example, have to take a stand on and evaluate claims. Several exercises are reflective questions where the participants can also choose to share their answers with other participants, and take part in how they have responded in turn.

According to Teknikcollege, all short-term goals (1 year) were fulfilled for the project. This refers to the number of supervisors who completed the education (approximately 600 people), implementation in the Teknikcollege regions, and that there is a greater degree of systematic work in the work with learning at the workplace. Several participants argued that the content of the education raised many new ideas in their work with supervision. The evaluation also showed that the films really captured how it can and should be in practice.

In this online education, we needed to convey both emotion and knowledge in a concise and easily accessible way. The imagery needed to feel relevant to the target group, so – to our great pleasure! – we had to go into nature to do some parts of the production. We also needed to convey children’s feelings and experiences in a credible way.

The solution was a core storytelling e-education that included several film introductions. With the help of film, we could be in the right setting, in nature. We also let a subject expert convey facts about asthma and allergies, in his own words. And so, we filmed interviews with the children themselves. Allowing the children to express their emotions and experiences became an effective way of conveying why this knowledge is important. We produced all the films with our in-house resources. The production was a co-production with Friluftsfrämjandet and Astma and Allergiförbundet.

Many companies in our industry do not have their own in-house film teams, but rent filmmakers as needed, which of course affects the costs and logistics of the project. Because we have all the expertise in place, we can create effective, high quality film in a short space of time, even for smaller projects. Having in-house resources like these enables a strong creative process in which the screenwriter and photographer have a continuous dialogue about the visual narrative.

In this project we also benefited greatly from our own developed authoring tool. The prerequisites were such that our partner needed to be able to produce a part of the training itself – which is quite possible with our easy-to-use tool.

Lärarförbundet wanted a web-based training which would complement the teacher-led training of new agents, where some training also would be accessible for all members. The training needed to be easy to find and to use in the daily life of agents based on time and place. Our team thus had a broad audience to deal with, and in addition, the content had to be adaptable based on varying conditions.

The web-based training that we built consists of three sections where participants get to know several situations that may be common for new representatives. These situations are featured with dramatised films. A guide in the role of an experienced representative leads and supports participants through the training. The films are mixed with animated facts sequences, exercise questions, reflection tasks, and social exercises that allow participants to share their responses with other participants and be inspired by each other. This helps participants to continuously test, apply and reflect on their knowledge. The training works on both computers and tablets, allowing participants to implement it whenever and wherever it suits them at their own pace.

The content of the training could replace a previous teacher-led day for the participants. At the same time, the web-based training contributes to pre-knowledge and support for discussion meetings. Another strength of the training itself is that the examples are well rooted in the realities of the representatives, and the social exercises let the participants learn, feel supported and be inspired by each other.

In the requirements specification we received from Skolverket, there was an extensive list of knowledge requirements that participants needed to achieve. The subject of validation is wide, and for a beginner, there is a lot of information to start with to work in an effective way. The practical steps of the validation process also require exercises. We needed to find a solution that combined facts with relevant yet simple forms of practice. These, in turn, must capture the aspects of the content that the participants might need to practice more. We also wanted the content to reflect the reality of validation.

We started from the various stages of the validation process and built a web-based training with four reality-related cases staged in dramatised films. By answering questions and solving problems during the cases, participants continually check their knowledge throughout the training. In addition, there is an introductory section with a presentation of the course and an ending section with a final test. The four basic sections serve as a broad introduction to validation. As a compliment, there is a Knowledge Bank filled with additional material in the form of animated fact sequences, articles and literature tips for those who want to learn more. The Knowledge Bank also serves as a support when the participants complete the exercises in the training through direct links to the relevant support material.

David Lundgren was the project manager on Skolverket’s account for the venture and worked closely with our project team during the development of the training. He was impressed by the scriptwriter’s ability to quickly embark on a completely new subject and appreciated the educational approach with the reality-related cases. Another positive factor in working according to our method – where we act as a partner rather than a supplier – that David highlighted is that it allows the customer to discuss internally, learn from each other and become stronger as an organisation.