Over the past decade, PDP has gained recognition as a leader in adapting emerging instructional and communication technologies in order to develop, refine, and expand e-learning training solutions. As a function of its leadership in developing and promoting the use of technology for learning, PDP:

• Develops and delivers workshops that familiarize training professionals with the use of technology
• Recommends proper applications of technology to specific training needs
• Participates in various initiatives to promote and model the use of technology in training
• Works closely with both the State University and public agencies to foster best practice in distributed education

Because there is no single model that fits all training needs, PDP typically examines several dimensions of a proposed project including type of content, learner profile, hardware specifications, desired performance outcomes, and agency training history before recommending an approach. Solutions we have developed include:

• Self-paced, stand-alone instruction on CD-ROM or the web
• Instructor-led, web-based training
• Blended learning instruction combining technologies and delivery methods to maximize resources and learning outcomes

E-Learning Capacities

Web Design and Development

PDP has designed websites for a number of New York State agencies and federally funded projects. We work closely with sponsors to develop a look and feel that represents their values and the mission of their organization, while adhering to strict standards for accessibility. PDP web designers have considerable experience developing sites that incorporate the latest findings on usability, to ensure that sites are not just attractive, but logically constructed and easy to use. PDP can assist with arrangements for hosting and maintaining a finished website, or incorporate tools that allow nontechnical sponsors to update content on a regular basis.

Sample web sites:

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CD-ROM Projects

PDP has over 15 years experience developing multimedia training on CD-ROM. These stand-alone, self-paced applications deliver user-friendly training and instruction to the user’s desktop. Depending on the content and training objectives, they may incorporate audio, video, animations, pre- and post-tests and other means of evaluating the learner. Each CD-ROM project developed by PDP is designed specifically to meet sponsor needs and, therefore, each is unique.

PDP has developed CD-ROMs which:

• Teach welfare fraud investigators how to conduct investigative interviews.
• Provide an overview of domestic violence and address concerns for social service workers who work with its victims.
• Teach concepts in computer network administration and allow trainees to practice basic skills.
• Teach nursing home staff how to understand and communicate with residents with dementia.
• Provide comprehensive training on Electronic Benefits Transfer.
• Teach social services workers how to find and retrieve caseload information from a central database.
• Provide probation officers with training on a variety of topics, including fundamentals of probation practice, working with DWI offenders, and domestic violence.

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Web-Based Courses

PDP was the first training provider to partner with a New York State agency to develop and deliver custom web-based training. Today we work closely with many sponsors on projects that range from simple training modules to suites of courses delivered through a custom course management system, or e-learning center.

PDP's web-based courses are developed using a variety of technologies that allow for dynamic content generation, customized feedback, sophisticated interactions, and nontraditional instructional approaches. Certificates of completion can be generated for trainees. Sponsors may request administrative tools that allow them to track learner progress and completion, monitor responses, and download evaluation data for accurate reporting. PDP courses are highly accessible across a broad spectrum of browsers, require no plug-ins, and meet or exceed state and federal standards for accessibility for the disabled.

PDP develops web-based courses that range in format from traditional, where content is broken down into lessons, units, and topics, and learners progress in a linear fashion, to highly experiential, where learners are plunged into a contextual situation and asked to make decisions that impact course outcome. PDP works closely with the sponsor to determine the best instructional approach based on content, learning objectives, audience profile and skills needs assessment.

Web-Based Course Samples:

Street Prostitution

The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing (CPOP) is a non-profit organization comprising affiliated police practitioners, researchers, and universities dedicated to the advancement of problem-oriented policing. PDP partnered with CPOP to develop a web-based course on "Street Prostitution," one of the crime problems addressed by police departments in many communities. The course places learners in a contextual situation in which they are confronted by prostitution in a fictitious setting, given various research options and possible solutions, and asked to formulate a proposed action plan. The course uses a gaming context with each solution selected having an associated cost and a positive or negative impact on community support. The project is supported by a cooperative agreement by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. To access the course visit the following site: http://www.popcenter.org/learning/prostitution/intro/default.cfm.

Partners for Children

PDP created a web-based course that acquaints learners with New York State policy on paternity and child support. Designed for use by a wide audience including custodial and non-custodial parents, and state and community-based agencies, the program serves as an introduction to the Child Support Enforcement program and answers many of the questions asked by individuals and agencies about child support and parental responsibility. Using amble illustrations, the course presents information on establishing paternity, determining and enforcing child support orders, and how the state helps children get the support they need and deserve. To access the course visit the following site: http://www.trainingspace.org/cse/.

Orientation to Public Health

PDP partnered with the New York New Jersey Public Health Training Center (NYNJ-PHTC), one of 14 Public Health Training Centers across the nation, and funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to develop a course entitled "Orientation to Public Health." The course is designed for staff working in health departments and other regional settings who need a basic understanding of the public health mission, obligation and essential services. The course is scenario-based which allows the learner to discover the history, scope and important practices of public health in the context of completing various work projects in a virtual job setting. Please visit the following site to access the course: http://www.nynj-phtc.org/orientation/default.cfm.

PDP continues its partnership with the NYNJ-PHTC in development of additional scenario-based courses, “Communicate to Make a Difference” and “Practicing Cross-Cultural Communication,” which will become available in fall, 2005. For more information, visit the Training Center web site at http://www.nynj-phtc.org.

Terrorism, Preparedness and Public Health

In a continuing partnership, PDP builds web-based courses and training tools for the UAlbany Center for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP), one of 21 centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to improve the competency of the frontline public health worker and the capacity to respond to current and emerging public health threats and emergencies. PDP built an e-learning center for the CPHP, which currently houses a six-hour course on Terrorism, Preparedness and Public Health, and a course on Microbiology. For more information or to access the courses, visit the CPHP web site at http://www.ualbanycphp.org/default.cfm.

 

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E-Learning Centers: Customized Learning Management Systems

PDP has developed e-learning centers to deploy courses and manage registration and tracking of trainee participation. PDP e-learning centers are cost-effective and highly customized alternatives to the generic, big-ticket systems available commercially. PDP’s systems exactly meet sponsor needs for security, registration, tracking learner participation and completion, scoring, and evaluation. The e-learning center can be designed to store a demographic profile of each trainee, information about course completion, evaluation responses and scores on quizzes and tests, including pre-and post-tests. Trainees may receive printable certificates upon course completion, which can be tied to levels of achievement on tests (a minimum score would be needed before a certificate would be generated). Administrators are able to use this information to generate reports on web-based course activity and learning outcomes. Many of the e-learning centers PDP has created contain both courses that require registration and resource materials that are available to authorized users upon demand. These may include performance supports, policy directives, printable checklists or datasheets. Online assessment and evaluation instruments are also routinely incorporated.

Customization includes interface design, data fields and data sorting, and data export. PDP also works with the sponsor's IT staff to provide expert advice on how to install and maintain the e-learning center on a hosted server. E-learning centers developed by PDP are designed for compliance with Federal Section 508 and state standards for accessibility for the disabled.

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Graphic Design

Many program deliverables have a print component, or require creation of a visual element for use in identifying or promoting associated events. PDP brings both graphic design expertise and extensive experience in the public sector to this process. As a result, we consistently deliver tasteful designs that convey the sponsor's message—usually without repetitive trips to the drafting table.

PDP’s graphic designers work in both traditional print and electronic media and utilize industry-standard software tools to create graphic identities (logos), informative materials (posters, brochures, newsletters and advertising materials), and electronic media (web sites and web-based courses, e-newsletters and animations) that are compelling and precisely meet the sponsors’ needs. PDP routinely handles all aspects of print production, from design and layout, to obtaining bids from local printers, to obtaining proofs and arranging for timely delivery of finished items. PDP's experience with print shops and other vendors makes the entire process, from bids to finished proofs, as seamless and efficient as possible.

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