Dynamic. Tom Foulkes.
09 December 2022
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – elearning with impact
In recent years, the demand for effective and authentic training materials about sensitive issues, such as race, disability, discrimination and equality, has been catalysed by the events happening in our society. Companies are looking for new and innovative ways of fostering inclusive workplaces where their staff feel valued and respected.
In our experience, elearning can be an incredibly powerful tool for creating meaningful Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training. We’ve worked with a number of clients to create bespoke training packages that address the issues within their organisation and provide their staff with a deeper understanding of the problems we’re facing as a society.
So, what makes elearning a great choice for EDI training? In this blog, we’ll explore some of the ways that you can create elearning with impact.
Share experiences
Real change has to come from within, which means your staff have to be convinced that there’s a need to change their attitude or behaviours. Elearning provides a platform for people within your organisation to share their experiences, giving a voice to those who may feel ignored or undervalued.
Sharing experiences digitally also gives you the option to guarantee the anonymity of those who want to share their experience but are hesitant to step up as a figurehead for change. Using camera techniques to mask their identity, using audio or hiring actors to deliver their message, are all great ways of sharing authentic, impactful messages to your workforce.
Frame the subject
One of the best ways to encourage understanding is to frame an issue in the context of our wider society. This will enable your learners to connect with the topic and recognise that they could be contributing to a larger problem.
Using elearning to explore events, both past and present, and to explain key terms and what you, as an organisation, is doing to tackle the issue, can help to create training with substance.
Test understanding
Whilst you can’t exactly assess whether a learner has taken on board everything you’ve discussed, you can use a combination of methods to evaluate their understanding of the subject and their opinions towards the issues. This could involve including:
Providing a learner with an interactive text space, or even an accompanying workbook, can allow them to reflect on what they’ve just learnt. This can be especially useful when introducing people to new and sensitive issues, as it gives them a chance to think about their own behaviours. That being said, you need to ensure that they know this is only for their benefit and that their thoughts are confidential.
Likert scales are a great way of letting a learner evaluate their
own attitudes or understanding of a sensitive issue. This could be as simple as
providing them with a scenario with a sweeping statement, such as, “This person
was racist” in relation to a scenario and then asking them whether they, at
first glance, agree or disagree with this statement or viewpoint.
Elearning benefits from structured and formally assessed knowledge checks, in which managers or L&D teams can review and understand if a learner has understood the content and passed an assessment. Whilst in EDI training it’s not always necessary to test engagement with a traditional assessment, building assessed questions into sensitive scenarios can be a great way to test a learner’s understanding of the key terms and concepts in the module.
Ending EDI training with a commitment box, asking learners to make a promise to contribute to an inclusive workplace, can help to align your workforce towards the same aim and provide them with a shared understanding of what’s expected from them going forward. This builds on the more traditional “I have read and understood this content” checkboxes to provide a tangible commitment to address the issues and adapt behaviour.
Get creative
As ever, using digital training allows you to get creative and create a solution that’s right for you and your business. Using elearning for EDI training can allow you to make the subject engaging and impactful. You can use rich media, innovative technology and user interaction to ensure that your learners are getting the most out of the training.
So, get creative and think about how you want your learning to make a difference and stand out from the crowd.
Get in touch to find out how we can make your EDI training elearning with impact.
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