The Challenge
CREATING A MASSIVELY SCALABLE TRAINING PROGRAM
On arrival at a Commonwealth Games event, the first sight that greets spectators is often the multitudes of volunteers. The volunteer workforce is instrumental in ensuring the tournament runs smoothly, pointing attendees in the right direction with a friendly and approachable demeanor.
Transforming 15,000 successful applicants into skilled volunteers is a complex challenge and, to prepare for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, TAFE Queensland was tasked with finding a solution. With more than 200 roles for volunteers to learn across 24 venues, the company decided to provide a unique training program for each volunteer, customised for their responsibilities.
With so much information to deliver to so many volunteers, TAFE Queensland looked to create remotely accessible learning resources so that team members could learn whenever and wherever suited them best.
The solution put in place set a new benchmark in workforce training for major sports events. The blended learning approach and content-rich interactive modules were impressive […] I have not seen such a holistic approach to learning in the event environment.
Kerrie Nash, Event Knowledge Services, TAFE Queensland
The Solution
MEETING ALL TRAINING NEEDS WITH A SINGLE PLATFORM
To tackle such a challenging project, TAFE Queensland leveraged its state-of-the-art learning platform, D2L’s Brightspace. The company has relied on D2L solutions for several years with great success.
TAFE Queensland designed a training program that focused on five key learning points for aspiring volunteers: train the trainer, role-specific training, event leadership training, venue-specific training, and orientation attendance. The company developed these learning points by using D2L’s platform to include teaching resources supporting accessibility, inclusiveness, sustainability, and a multitude of other components, helping volunteers deeply understand the spirit of the Games.
TAFE Queensland also worked directly with the CG2018 workforce team to deliver official online training packages from the same environment, featuring documents and workbooks to explain each volunteer’s unique responsibilities.
ENABLING FLEXIBLE REMOTE LEARNING
Training 15,000 volunteers in person would be impractical, so TAFE Queensland needed to empower learners to do as much of their training as possible online. Adopting D2L’s Daylight, an innovative new user interface that complements the Brightspace learning platform, was a key enabler for this strategy.
Daylight’s simplicity and ease of use helped trainers seamlessly upload new content for volunteers to download and engage with on any device. TAFE Queensland even customised the flexible Daylight interface to replicate the look and feel of the official CG2018 website, ensuring that the user experience was on-brand and helping the volunteers feel that they were truly part of the event.
Training was awesome and easy to follow on the online volunteer portal. The knowledge I’ve gained will last a lifetime.
AnnMarie Kavanagh, Volunteer
The Results
RECORD-BREAKING COMPLETION RATES
Leveraging the Brightspace platform, TAFE Queensland created 200 documents supported by over 100 webpages and activities, 10 animations, and 26 videos. Volunteers achieved an overall completion rate of 80 percent for the training program, significantly higher than any learning solution deployed for previous Games.
Kerrie Nash, event knowledge services, TAFE Queensland, says, “The solution put in place set a new benchmark in workforce training for major sports events. The blended learning approach and content-rich interactive modules were impressive […] I have not seen such a holistic approach to learning in the event environment.”
The customised content, combined with first-class support for mobile access, enabled learners to engage with the resources on offer, and devote more time to training—they could learn from anywhere.
Volunteer AnnMarie Kavanagh explains, “Training was awesome and easy to follow on the online volunteer portal. The knowledge I’ve gained will last a lifetime.” Sian Woods, another GC2018 volunteer, adds: “My volunteer training at TAFE Queensland allowed me to be the greatest volunteer I could be, learning life skills that I can take with me in future job opportunities.”
PAPERLESS LEARNING BOOSTS SUSTAINABILITY
As an added bonus, delivering the entire program through D2L’s learning platform enabled a completely paperless training program—the first time this had ever been achieved at the Games. By removing the need for printed workbooks, more than 1.8 million pieces of paper were saved. This aligned perfectly with the Games’ commitment to sustainability, which was strongly supported by GC2018 volunteers, educators, and administrators.
SUCCESSFUL TRAINING SECURES A LEGACY
GC2018 spectator services team received worldwide recognition for contributing to the success of the tournament, and the training program was integral in equipping them with the knowledge and skills to achieve this. Providing relevant, enjoyable, and accessible content through the platform led to a highly informed and disciplined volunteer service, who were fully in tune with the goals of the event.
TAFE Queensland won two awards due to their achievements in providing vocational education and training design and delivery services to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games—specifically the 2018 Australian Business Awards for Service Excellence and the Best Achievement in Event Education and Training at the 2018 Australian Event Awards.
Welcoming volunteers embodied the inclusive spirit of the Commonwealth Games, and TAFE Queensland built this inclusive atmosphere with D2L support. Volunteer teams exceeded all expectations, ensuring the long partnership between TAFE Queensland and D2L will continue, guaranteeing the legacy of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
