Case study: VDAB

The Department of Work and Social Economy (DWSE), in cooperation with VDAB, is following up on the Flemish government’s ‘All hands on deck’ project. That trajectory focuses on the relaunch and transformation of the Flemish labour market during and after the corona pandemic.

About VDAB

VDAB, the public employment service of Flanders, is a Flemish public service that, among other things, is committed to guiding people in their search for work. Besides, VDAB also serves as a training provider to increase the competences of people looking for jobs.

What problems did VDAB face?

Training programmes play a crucial role in the Flemish labour market. In the past, most of these training courses were synchronous, meaning they required real-life interaction between the teacher and the learner. With the outbreak of the coronavirus, all those synchronous classes were shut down and the training market imploded completely. Therefore, a smooth transition to digitized training is a major focus of the ‘All hands on deck’ project.

To promote this smooth transition, DWSE and VDAB chose to set up an ‘e-learning Information Point’. This information point serves as an information source to guide training providers in the world of e-learning. To develop the content of the Information Point, VDAB called on Acco Learn for Business. Internet Architects (iO) built the platform.

What was Acco Learn’s solution?

In close cooperation with VDAB, Acco Learn for Business gathered the necessary information to develop the information point. To start with, Acco Learn for Business conducted a broad survey of training providers to assess their prior knowledge and learning needs regarding e-learning. Because of the great diversity in prior knowledge, they classified the training providers in categories ranging from absolute beginners to experts. From the question “What do we want to teach a beginner and what can we do for an expert?” Acco Learn for Business determined the goals of the information point. Based on these goals, we proceeded to write the learning content.

The result

The e-learning Information Point is now a comprehensive source of targeted e-learning information for training providers with various prior knowledge levels. That information is written out in seven themes that match the needs of training providers.

Currently, the information point consists of a collection of informative texts. In the near future, the various parties will further expand the Information Point into a dynamic platform that enables the exchange of information among the various training providers. Thus, the Information Point not only acts as an information source, but also as a learning network for training providers.