Gradient eLearning

Design Drives Gradient's eLearning Efforts

When it comes to teaching maintenance techniques and practices, there are two schools of thought. One claims that knowledge of the subject matter is key, and in this case, the trainers are often subject-matter experts who have adapted to the teaching role. The other approach is that taken by a new company called Gradient e-Learning: instructional development using sound instructional technologies. Gradient eLearning's focus is on the best way to transfer knowledge. "Our core skill," said Hugh Kremer, division director, "is instructional design, not the technology."

Gradient eLearning launched a year ago August with a team of seasoned instructional designers and developers with the goal of changing the way mechanics are trained and how they use maintenance documents to perform their jobs. Gradient also serves other markets besides aerospace.

Existing maintenance documents, according to Kremer, have too many flaws that prevent efficient use. Many electronic maintenance documents, for example, are published in the Adobe pdf format. But the page numbers of the documents themselves don't match the pdf page numbers, making it hard for users to navigate. And often, when a mechanic finally finds what he or she is seeking, there still are many questions about whether the manual is referring to the correct configuration of the aircraft. In one case, a military mechanic had to change a component, which required moving some cables. In the maintenance documents, the procedure referred to moving cables that were flexible, but in the actual aircraft, the cables belonged to a different version, and the mechanic broke an expensive set of hard cables that had to be replaced.

"There's still too much tacit knowledge required," Kremer noted. "When experts do training or write manuals, they tend to gap fill."

Gradient eLearning designers and programmers start by doing field events, where they analyze tasks by observing mechanics to see how they use existing maintenance documents. While the company's experts have strong technical backgrounds, including mechanical engineering, they are not A&P mechanics and have little direct knowledge of aircraft maintenance. "We're content-neutral," said Kremer. "And that gives us an advantage. We work with subject-matter experts, and we'll capture that knowledge by spending [time] with an expert."

To create content, Gradient's designers work with CAD (computer-aided design) data and they will also use digital photography (still and video) to enhance the training material. For a maintenance manual procedure, for example, a 3D CAD model of a component can easily be shown from any angle on a computer monitor, so the mechanic can see all sides, where and how wires attach, and other useful perspective cues. Many manuals simply have photos or diagrams with an arrow pointing behind the unit, but they never show what the arrow is actually pointing at.

Another useful feature is a typical warning or caution note in a maintenance manual. In Gradient eLearning's manual, the mechanic can't read past the warning note until acknowledging having read the note.

Users can zoom in on different areas of the aircraft to get a closer look and to help with orientation. "It's a one-to-one correlation between the screen and the real world," said Kremer. And this also saves the training organization from having to obtain expensive actual parts.

A typical Gradient maintenance manual takes up very little space--about 180 megabytes for an EA6B module that Gradient developed--and thus is highly portable, easily fitting on a USB memory device or CDROM disc.

In addition to basic maintenance documents, Gradient eLearning's programmers have also created sophisticated assembly instructions, with rich 3D views of the component and individual parts. The user, following instructions given by the system, can move parts into place and assemble complicated components on the computer, without risking destroying an expensive part and before getting near any actual hardware.

Gradient eLearning has also developed training modules for testing hardware. Before a technician performs an operation with a test set, he or she can learn exactly how to perform the test using a Gradient simulation. "We're actually simulating from setup through results," Kremer said. "You can do the procedure first with cues, then practice it." By sending a CDROM ahead of time to the test set user, the test equipment maker receives far fewer technical support calls.

All of these efforts are geared toward promoting what Kremer calls problem-based learning, where students begin with a problem and work their way back to the solution, adding knowledge along the way. "If they find an answer by connecting to the problem," he said, "they will remember better. If everything were as easy as following a manual, we wouldn't need training. We're connecting training and the maintenance manual."

None of what Gradient eLearning is doing is aimed at eliminating the teacher, it is about enhancing the learning experience and adding efficiency to the process. "It's not meant to replace the instructor," Kremer said, "but it makes training much more productive. [Students] are getting directly into problem-solving." -- By Matt Thurber