As of March 19, 2020, we are all living through the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. As your technology partner, our team and our platform are prepared to assist you with responding to the implications of social distancing on learning and certifying. As you know from our countless conference calls, we are adept remote workers and will be able to support you as well as ever.
You may be considering the implications of COVID-19 on your policies and support processes. We have already received requests involving:
- policy adjustments to reflect the realities of in person training and testing
- communications to reflect high policy changes; and
- exceptionally high volumes of refunds
In the near term, we have been asked to weigh in on the complexity of various kinds of changes, including:
- Extending deadlines: This might include changing deadlines for recertification, modifying grace periods and reinstatement policies, or extending reporting periods for continuing education.
- Testing adjustments: In the event your testing partner is experiencing closures, do your test windows need to adjust to support temporary site closures? Should you move applicants or candidates who have not yet scheduled their exams and communicate accordingly?
- Eligibility exceptions: As in-person classroom education is not currently available, do you need to manage exceptions to your current requirements? Are there temporary measures you might want to take to allow people to continue to learn online?
- Communications: As these policies are put into place, target communications to the impacted individuals and help them stay engaged in the credentialing process.
As you know, we built LearningBuilder with two Promises:
- Flexibility to make policy changes as the program needs; and
- Independence to make changes yourself.
We are committed to helping you take advantage of these capabilities.
In addition to short-term changes, we anticipate several longer-term trends, including:
New eligibility paths: Certain health related credentials may option to have broader, or more flexible eligibility requirements to meet workforce needs. Licensure boards may want to have a “fast track” reciprocity process for applicants who are licensed in other jurisdictions.
Alternatives to in person exams: In the event that the social distancing norms continue, we expect to see requests to for alternatives to in-person testing. The two primary ones include:
- Remote proctoring – either as an alternative or a supplement to in person exams
- Portfolio assessments – a move away from traditional multiple choice and related exams to submission of work product against a qualifications rubric.
We are here to assist you in these challenging times. For those of you who are part of our client community, we look forward to continuing to showcase how our system meets your changing needs.
If you are not yet a part of our client community and would like to learn more about joining us, consider a conversation with our sales team. Let us show you how the right system can help you keep your stride even when the path becomes unpredictable.
Be safe!
