Virtual College’s lifesaving VOOC® achieves 220,000 learner milestone

March 2014 saw Virtual College deliver online training to the 220,000th learner around the hugely important subject of the safe use of insulin.In direct response to a National Patient Safety Agency patient safety alert in 2010, highlighting a lack of sufficient training in the use of insulin, NHS Diabetes chose Virtual College to help improve the training of Healthcare professionals. This resulted in the creation of a number of free online courses, The Insulin Safety Suite, that have helped to up-skill professionals such as doctors, nurses and carers in the safe use of insulin.Rod Knox, Virtual College’s Chief Executive commented: "The take up has been phenomenal and the results have been staggering. The model is built around Virtual College’s pioneering VOOC® (Vocational Open Online Courses) concept in which free bite-size courses are promoted to a targeted audience. A fast take up of this VOOC® was essential, so the ability to self-register for the courses was developed.""The learner proceeds through the course at a pace, place and time to suit themselves and undertakes an online e-assessment so that they can demonstrate a good understanding of the patient safety topic. Once the e-assessment is successfully passed they are awarded their e-certificate. Learners can obtain CPD accreditation and are asked to complete impact evaluations which are automatically triggered on a 3 and 6 month timescale."Rod stated "We are really proud to have worked closely with NHS Diabetes to play a major part in helping to educate almost a quarter of a Million people in patient safety issues, with around 10,000 new learners a month. I am sure that this action has helped to dramatically reduce errors. As a company we have always been a pioneer within the e-learning sector and the application of our VOOC® model to patient safety has been a huge success."In addition to the Patient Safety VOOC®, Virtual College has been working on developing its VOOC® concept further and are planning to launch a suite of 10 Career VOOC®s by September 2014. These are specifically aimed at helping school children develop a better understanding of career opportunities in a number of key growth sectors. The Career VOOC®s will provide them with guidance on the most appropriate skills and qualifications to support their career choice. Furthermore, Virtual College are planning to link this career guidance to real skill development opportunities and job vacancies by networking with employers, training providers, awarding organisations, professional bodies and sector skills councils.Rod Knox proudly announced: "Virtual College is investing over £1M in its VOOC® model and the Career VOOC® will bring career guidance into the 21st Century, something that our digital natives need and I am sure will enjoy. We have already established strategic partnerships with the first 2 career VOOC®s which will be piloted next month, but I am keen to hear from any organisations who would like to get involved in helping drive our other 8 planned Career VOOC® topics."