Parsons Brinckerhoff elearning Portal for Certification
Download the Parsons Brinckerhoff eLearning Portal Case Study as a PDF

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), founded in 1885, is one of the oldest continuously operating engineering firms in the world and a recognized leader in construction management. Because of their construction expertise, PB was selected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide housing inspection services following disasters.

PB is responsible for selecting and qualifying professional, independently contracted, field inspectors. These inspectors complete the damage inspections following a disaster. During the 2006 hurricane season, PB put 2,000 inspectors in the field and managed an unprecedented 400,000 home inspections.

Inspectors working for PB were required to complete education through in-person workshops, lead inspector training, mobile lab training and eLearning courses. PB needed a new eLearning portal that would support their existing online courses and accommodate new courses that would be produced for certification training. Their existing Learning Management System (LMS) was complex and cumbersome, so PB wanted:

• a simple solution that offered an easy-to-use authoring tool for internal e-Learning course development.
• a course management system that monitors course distribution and access to inspectors—including custom courses for specific groups.
• a reporting system to show student usage and assessment results.
• a system that allows for course downloads to view offline; and a system which is easy to administer.

THE SOLUTION

Parsons Brinckerhoff selected Digitec’s Knowledge Direct® Learning Management System (LMS) for its easy-to-use authoring tool for rapid eLearning development and ability to enable inspectors to download courses and view them offline. The SCORM 1.2 conformant platform made it easy to migrate the existing Learning Content Management System (LCMS) course content. The Knowledge Direct Learning Management System (LMS) also met PB’s criterion for a robust reporting system - with a built-in test bank and comprehensive reporting and certification tracking. Beyond certification, Knowledge Direct also enables inspectors to complete continuing education courses, remotely, using a tablet PC to take the e-Learning and testing offline.

PB also leveraged Digitec’s award-winning eLearning production services to create custom e-Learning courses. Using Knowledge Direct’s rapid eLearning courseware development tool, Direct-to-WEB, Digitec designed and developed the courses. The courses include video and software simulations to demonstrate inspector techniques and enable inspectors to practice using the different tools they would need to collect inspection information and write reports.

THE RESULT

By utilizing Digitec’s Knowledge Direct LMS, PB is able to:

• Quickly train and certify new inspectors.

• Allow inspectors to complete continuing education courses remotely.

• Make changes to course content as needed - quickly and easily.

• Provide its learners with a single sign-on eLearning portal.

• Monitor learners progress, completions and scores.

• Provide inspectors with the appropriate continuing education courses to maintain their certifications.

For additional information and frequently asked questions about Learning Management Systems click here.

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Established in 1988, Digitec is an award-winning eLearning production company, developing educational products for commercial, academic and not-for-profit clients. Digitec’s mission is to combine technology and creativity to transform learning from a singular, passive event into highly adaptive and engaging learning experiences that change lives.

The Knowledge Direct® suite of software, developed by Digitec, is an integrated learning system for mobile and web-based delivered training for mid to large-size associations, medical organizations, non-profit organizations and corporations. With integrated production facilities in Orlando, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico, Digitec’s highly creative staff of 20+ in-house artists, Flash animators, audio and video engineers, and computer programmers are focused on developing best-in-class e-Learning technologies for the 21st century.