The Era of Online Learning in the Maritime Industry - Safebridge
The Era of Online Learning in the Maritime Industry
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The Era of Online Learning in the Maritime Industry

October 4th, 1957: launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite; a sophisticated technology, which stimulated the desire to explore “space”, reaching new concepts in communication and inspiring a generation of engineers and scientists for many years ahead.
One could argue that the impact of that technology, perhaps that philosophy if you like, continues to influence our everyday operations; through non-stop technological advancements which transform our operations in almost every aspect of our lives, even education, in general, and maritime education in particular.
It is without a doubt that these technological advancements influence the way seafarers gain their knowledge nowadays, or do they? Do companies accept this philosophy or most importantly, do they know how e-learning can add to the quality of their day-to-day operations on board?

So, consequently, the argument here is simple: how can e-learning transform the maritime industry of tomorrow, and what is the current status?

There is no solid reason as to why maritime knowledge should be immune to the benefits of e-learning. Seafarers and industry professionals, require both knowledge and skills to be efficient at their duties and practice safety on-board. Aside from training excellence, technology produces benefits, that cannot be met with the traditional training methods. Technology can improve access to training, offer e-learning opportunities anywhere in the world, thus allowing a more flexible training delivery model. The optimisation and improvement of the training materials become more efficient due to easier access to trainee feedback and results. Evaluating a trainee in different areas has never been easier, and the list goes on.

Fact is that e-learning has been around, it has been researched for a long time, and we could safely conclude that it serves all the above-mentioned ways for knowledge acquisition, connecting the global and multicultural maritime industry and streamlining the associated processes.

Professionals of almost 90% of the companies operating in, or providing services towards the maritime industry are coming across e-learning throughout their occupations at least once every quarter. 65% of the companies operating in the maritime industry are accepting services through a partner offering a type of e-learning solution or are in the process of digitalising at least one section of their internal training operations.

The future of e-learning lies in discussing, on how to best apply these strengths to an industry in need of better ways of education, towards a more uniform training which offers notable results and adds to the quality of daily operations of both the company and the seafarers themselves.

Find out how SafeLearn can help you with maritime-specific e-learning solutions, designed to address the needs of your crew with cost-effective means.