Instead of paper-based training and testing, caregiver students in SEIU 775 Benefits Group classrooms are now trying Chromebooks (laptops).
Using laptops to provide training can be a big change, but the benefits are numerous. Testing is personalized for each student’s knowledge and needs and the training experience itself is more engaging and beneficial. It’s also easier.
Home Care Aide Deborah Miles has taken classes by paper but enjoys taking her class with a laptop. “It’s less messy for me on my table and easier than trying to read a bunch of paper,” Deborah says. It’s much more legible for teachers on the other end of the test, too.”
Deborah says she much prefers the computer version, “because there’s so much more you can add to the class – links, videos, articles. You get a more well-rounded experience that engages all of your senses.”
In addition to a more engaging learning experience, language accessibility is also easier. Tests are translated into 16 different languages so that more learners can take tests in their preferred language.
Class instructor Shannon Bailey says, “I really like it because we’re able to offer different languages. Learners can go back and forth between English and their preferred language” and they learn a lot more about different health terms by doing that. “It’s kind of cool to watch.”
How else does online learning change the classroom? “It’s a simpler process,” Shannon says. The training itself is easier and simpler, and it’s easy to teach people to use it.
What about people who haven’t used laptops much?
“I’ve had at least two learners say, ‘I thought I’d never touch a computer, and now I’m learning it.’” Shannon watched one woman teach another how to search on Google. “That was pretty cool.”
Shannon also says, “Using the computer gives people a sense of power and the level of confidence toward the end of the class is much higher. It evolves a lot throughout the 10 days.”
That’s another aspect of the new computer-based experience that Shannon enjoys: “It causes people to work together; people that know more about computers are really willing to want to help people that aren’t as fast.” Deborah doesn’t have a computer at home now but used to work in an office environment.
She was able to help another caregiver who didn’t have as much background with computers. “It’s pretty easy to show people since most of it is just ‘click here and click here.’ It’s nice to be able to help someone get used to a new thing. Change is sometimes difficult for us, myself included. But the website makes it easy.”
