ICUnet supports intercultural communication with a fun, personalized LMS

In many workplaces, it’s not uncommon for teams to consist of people from several countries or ethnic backgrounds. Cross-border and cross-cultural teamwork are increasingly common, which is why employees need the appropriate skills and individual training that allows them to do their job and gives them the necessary country-specific knowledge.

ICUnet prepares qualified professionals and managers for international cooperation, and aids companies in their efforts to build new locations all over the world. They knew they needed a way to deliver learning digitally, and decided to look for a new LMS.

The Challenge

ICUnet contacted Totara Partner LearnChamp to enhance their digital training for an internationally active audience. Together, they looked at ways to provide employees with the necessary knowledge of intercultural communication, in a targeted manner and through an intuitive interface. The result is the Global Manager: a combination of intercultural assessments, a basic course on intercultural understanding, training content and national cultures.

The Global Manager’s target group is diverse and ranges from ambitious, entry-level professionals to experienced managers.

The Solution

ICUnet knew that their LMS should sustainably improve employees’ acquisition of knowledge and skills through a tailored digital experience, making the flexibility of the LMS critically important. The Global Manager helps empower employees through training activities that cover, for example, negotiation situations or international project management.

Learning takes place online, in short learning units over several weeks and can be done anytime, on any device. Subsequently, the Global Manager can be referred to time and time again to support learning over time.

In the Global Manager, employees’ personal preferences determine individualized learning paths. At the start of training, employees select a country from a dynamic world map that they want to explore. This is followed by a placement test, through which the extent of their existing knowledge about the chosen culture is determined. The Global Manager then recommends learning content to the employees that takes into account their existing knowledge. Learners move through certain levels depending on their level of knowledge. At any time, the learning platform offers the learner an overview of which e-learning courses have already been completed and which ones are still outstanding.

Individual, attractive user interface based on Totara Learn

“All passengers booked on the Global Manager will be asked to board at gate ICU1.”

In the design and the user interface of the LMS, the learners are placed in a familiar setting and addressed on a personal level. Consequently, an airport theme was selected. This works by classifying the learners according to their previous knowledge at ‘check-in’ and assisted until their ‘arrival’ – a ‘journey’ during which they gain crucial competencies for their chosen country.

To meet this requirement, ICUnet needed a flexible, adaptable LMS. LearnChamp recommended using Totara Learn. Not only can the look and feel then be customized, but thanks to HTML5 technology, the platform works on all devices.

The learning units build on everyday situations with which most of the learners are already familiar from intercultural cooperation. To promote independent learning, interactive elements such as videos and smaller gamification components were used.

As part of the blended learning program, face-to-face events on an intercultural topic or country training are combined and integrated in the Global Manager. If learners have already undertaken some learning in advance, there will be more time available in classroom training for hands-on practice, application and feedback or guidance from the trainers. Questions or difficulties in understanding can also be addressed in the classroom training, helping them use this time more effectively.

Based on the placement test and their learning results, the Global Manager can recommend learning units and create an individual learning path. It is a helpful self-coach that promotes intercultural know-how and, in particular, the interest in and awareness of other cultures.

The Results

The goal of creating a digital learning solution for LearnChamp’s project partner has been achieved: not only with interactive learning content, but it’s also very user-friendly and adapted to individual needs and the previous knowledge of some learners.

ICUnet’s new intercultural e-learning platform and the successful implementation has already been recognized with the E-Learning AWARD 2018 in the category ‘Adaptive Learning System’.