BioSense Training: Soup to Nuts- A progress report

Background

BioSense is a web-based application intended to improve the nation’s capabilities for conducting health situational awareness. As the BioSense program has been updated and enhanced, there is on-going need for training at various user levels. Findings from the training needs assessment demonstrated that users wanted unlimited access to online materials and preferred online training that was interactive, engaging, and allowed them to work at their own pace.  The needs assessment findings were then prioritized and an implementation plan was created to direct training product development. This presentation is aimed at providing the audience with an update on the training products that have been developed for BioSense users, products currently in development, and the evaluation tools designed to capture learner outcomes.

Methods

A training needs assessment was executed by gathering feedback through existing communication channels, interviewing a variety of stakeholders, and researching training best practices from the literature and other programs at CDC.

Findings from the needs assessment were then prioritized and grouped into categories: web-based, print, live/interactive. A few training needs overlapped two of the criteria- web-based and live/interactive. The training coordinator conducted an inventory of resources (e.g., human, budget, and services) necessary for each product. An implementation plan was designed with milestones and project delivery dates.

Results

Training products developed over the past year include print, more frequent live webinars with increased variety of topics, and a more informative training webpage. Products in development include a web-based training program for new users nearing its production stage, and a virtual environment immersive learning experience that couples traditional web-based technology with 3D media. 

Discussion

The information gathered through the needs assessment was utilized to inform the development of new training products. Implementation and planned evaluation methods will be discussed.