A quarter of a million users cannot be wrong!

When Firefighter Sam Wood of the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service logged on to E>>nable, the learning management solution from Ilkley’s Virtual College, she triggered an alert as the 250,000th registered learner on the system.

Sam had recently transferred from South Yorkshire Fire Service and has been working through a number of firefighter modules to bring her up to speed with West Yorkshire's policies and procedures. The modules and online assessments provided her with an ideal opportunity for flexible learning that is easy to access and fits in well with both shift and work patterns.

"I wasn't sure how I would take to computer learning because I have dyslexia," said Sam. "The learning itself wasn't a problem, on occasions the subject matter was quite dry, but the material is presented in an engaging and interesting way, so I found it easy to understand and remember."

"My main concern was if I would struggle to finish the assessment questions because of the time limits, but so far I haven't had any problems"

E>nable is now used widely by large and small organisations across all sectors who want to provide their staff with e-learning material for induction, mandatory and refresher training.

It is also of huge value to training and human resources staff who want to record and track learner records for both online and offline training, manage training needs analysis, appraisals and e-portfolios.

Jenny Toase, IT Training & Development Manager for the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, commented: "We now have over 2,300 online learners with access to E?nable which has been branded and customised for our specific needs. Having our own corporate identity is important and gives learners a sense of ownership and confidence when using the learning resources.

"Whether working from the Fire Service Headquarters, one of 48 stations or from home, they need a reliable system that is simple to navigate and provides access to their training records anytime and anywhere."

The West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has been using Virtual College's learning management solution since 2005 and makes particular use of the feature which allows them to set assessments to test their learners’ knowledge and understanding.

Jenny commented: "Recorded assessments are an essential part of the elearning cycle and from a management perspective, we find the reporting system a very helpful tool. This allows us to extract data and use this to monitor results, levels of activity and identify trends."

"This milestone is timely, as we have just launched our new version of E?nable with enhancements, which makes it much more simple, flexible and powerful" commented Rod Knox, Chief Executive of Virtual College.

"For legal reasons alone, it is a good idea to have a system that tracks and records training in case proof is needed that the organisation has acted with care and responsibility."