The Client
Fourteen ITPs (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics) have formed a consortium for the development and delivery of shared carpentry resources.

The Challenge
The consortium recognised the value of pooling collective expertise to develop a suite of classroom-based carpentry training resources that improve educational delivery across the country. The challenge though was to identify an efficient process and clear standards that would enable tutors up and down the country to contribute to a coherent body of top quality resources.

Given a very tight timeframe, and limits of key staff availability, the consortium needed a partner to design a clear development process and provide visual and instructional design expertise to create the materials. Synapsys was selected as the preferred provider to bring that support.

The solution
We hit the ground running. We attended the first trainer workshop within a week of appointment, and two weeks later had templates designed that would be used by all staff to populate content. Working with the lead ITP (Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology) Synapsys moved quickly to map out a project process and specify the various roles that would make it happen.

The process began with the design of templates to create a shared understanding of what the materials would contain and how they would operate. Synapsys’ expertise in visual and educational design was brought to bear to create a common look and feel and a standard approach to delivery. Synapsys worked with a senior tutor to draft, review and edit the resources before rolling them out to tutors across the consortium.

The benefit

• Significant cost savings in using a single set of resources across the country.
• Tutors can concentrate on their core skill; teaching apprentices.
• Having a common resource allows the consortium to rapidly increase teaching capacity to cope with increased demand.
• The quality of the resource is high and based on sound pedagogy. It is also able to be updated quickly as the course requirements change.
• The process of production is fast, smooth and reduces administrative overhead for the individual consortium members.