Training for Users of SitaWare Headquarters
Systematic has developed an innovative eLearning programme to assist customers in training their SitaWare Headquarters users, the company announced on 15 July. The eLearning course is designed to enable self-paced and distributed training that allows a soldier to learn at home, on-base, or even when on operational deployment.
The German Army is the first SitaWare customer to embrace this approach to training and tasked Systematic to deliver a German-language version of the eLearning package that is now providing a foundation for its SitaWare Headquarters users.
The SitaWare Headquarters eLearning programme was developed in early 2018. “The course is designed around a realistic scenario and is intended to provide training in the functionality of SitaWare Headquarters, rather than stressing the students in a simulated operating environment,” commented Systematic’s project manager for the effort, Jørgen Metzdorff explaining its design and aims. “The programme is designed to provide flexible, on-demand training and combines passive learning – in the form of explanatory videos – with active learning in the form of multiple-choice assessments and periods for reflection […] The course can be delivered in a day and consists of seven 30-45 minute lessons, although it is recommended that the lessons are spaced out over a number of days to allow for more reflection on the learning points […] The course can be considered to be a SitaWare Headquarters ‘driver’s licence: it provides the basic skills upon which users can build their expertise.” Rather than replacing instructor-based training, the course is intended to ensure a solid foundation for users and enable resources to be best targeted.
The eLearning approach could be especially useful for large training audiences or when a general awareness of the command and control software and its capabilities are required. “SitaWare Headquarters is in widespread use and often features significantly during multinational training and operations. Even non-users are likely to interact with the software or depend on its capabilities, so an awareness of what it can deliver and how it works could be beneficial to all involved. The course could enable personnel to be introduced to the software ahead of participation in exercises or operational deployments, so they won’t have to learn on-the-fly,” Metzdorff observed.
Plans are for the generic training course – which is focused on a military response to a nuclear powerplant incident – to form the basis for future audiences. However, bespoke scenarios to meet the specific geographical and task requirements of customers could be developed.
The SitaWare Headquarters training package is now available as a commercial off-the-shelf solution and Metzdorff says that there is already interest in developing similar packages for SitaWare Frontline. There is also the potential to develop courses targeted at more technical audiences and personnel tasked with establishing the SitaWare infrastructure.
The eLearning solution can be delivered in a number of ways. The default Systematic method is based on a multi-tenant software-as-a-service solution, running in a secure private cloud server and using Microsoft’s AZURE infrastructure. However, customers could also employ an on-premises capability.
