The Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

Reimagining Training to Create Safe Homes for Children

Service

Instructor Led Training (ILT) Development | Virtual Instructor Led (VILT) Development

Industry

Social Services | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Training Type

Volunteer Training

Radhika Thosar

Instructional Design and Development Specialist

The Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies

“Brittany is an exceptional Instructional Designer and easily one of the best ones I’ve ever worked with! She assisted my team in redeveloping facilitation and learning materials for a 27-hour-long classroom training, for which she extracted and distilled information from lengthy, complex documents. Her solid ability to identify learning needs and execute those same learning outcomes systematically led to shortened time/effort on review cycles.

She is also very intuitive and did not hesitate to offer great suggestions to leverage the learning outcomes. Her robust skill-set was demonstrated in different areas throughout the project. A true professional, she is highly reliable when working with difficult timelines, effective communication, and changing project needs. It was a breeze working with Brittany and she has my highest recommendation for any training project.”

The Challenge ...

The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) provides helpful learning and training opportunities for employees, volunteers, communities, and families.

One such training series is the Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE) program — a nine module (27 hour) training experience for potential foster and adoptive caregivers. The OACAS has plans to fully update the PRIDE program, but needed an interim program refresh to streamline the program for facilitators and learners.

The client wanted a standardized package of training materials, clear facilitator instructions, as well as an accessible, user-friendly and concise learner workbook.

The Process ...

Streamlining a training experience can be a challenge, and AligneDesigns worked with OACAS to clearly define a successful project outcome. One of the organization’s key objectives was a training program that could be delivered online and in-person.

With deep expertise in redesigning existing content, AligneDesigns quickly identified the most critical learning outcomes based on the skills a learner needs at the end of the experience. We reviewed the existing training materials and prepared a plan to redevelop each of the nine modules.

Once OACAS’s subject matter experts (SME) approved the plan, we moved into development mode. After writing each module in a Word file, SMEs reviewed it and provided feedback directly in the document. This agile feedback cycle kept the development process flowing smoothly.

After each module was approved, we sent it to our eLearning Developer who designed the materials in Articulate Rise—a web application that allows facilitators to access and/or print the learning materials from anywhere.

The Result ...

AligneDesigns delivered all nine modules as accessible Rise modules—including all facilitator resources, PowerPoint presentations, videos, and participant resources. To make the learning content easier to present, the facilitator resources have a unique design scheme with colours, fonts and font styles denoting specific actions for facilitators and participants.

We designed the training package so it can be delivered as an in-person workshop and as a virtual facilitated workshop. This ensures that the learners can access the training from home, which is essential to keeping families together. Further, the training is modular, so facilitators can focus on the sections that are most relevant to the communities they serve.

The updated PRIDE program is now available to over 50 child welfare organizations across Ontario. Through the training, learners develop the skills they need to create a safe and welcoming home for vulnerable children.