Challenge

 

The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) needed a method of ensuring their staff remained involved and engaged throughout training sessions.

 

Solution

 

• IML's Communicator keypads.

 

IML's Communicator keypads ensure that every employee is actively involved and participating throughout training sessions. Active participation enhances learning, as participants are engaged and involved in the subject they are being taught.

 

The GMP display question results immediately to staff to give them an idea of how they and their colleagues have performed. This enlivens training sessions by encouraging competition amongst staff.

 

Case study >

 

Britain's second busiest police force has earned praise in a recent government report for the innovative way they train officers using IML’s interactive Communicator keypads.

 

Background

 

The Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was highlighted in the Audit Commission’s 'Criminal Justice National Crime Report’ for their success in training officers and call handlers to meet with a new National Crime Recording Standard.

 

Police forces across Britain must now be re-trained on new government guidelines in recording crime, in order to achieve the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS), implemented across Britain to promote greater consistency in the way that different forces record crime.

 

Committed to training officers to the highest possible standard, the GMP approached IML needing a teaching tool that would enhance learning and ensure full delegate participation.

 

"We recognised the positive impact that interactive keypads could have on learning and began using IML’s audience response system to train staff about five years ago," says Alison Green, Detective Chief Inspector of the GMP.

 

"Our other methods of training weren’t nearly as effective as using the keypads. We used to sit officers in front of a PowerPoint® presentation and expect them to take-in and remember all of the information we had given them. We needed a way to train officers that would ensure the crucial information was getting through.

 

"The keypads achieved this. The responses we get from them are immediate and we can deal with the feedback straight away. Furthermore, they ensure that officers remain engaged throughout a training session because they are involved in what they are learning. We have debates on how different crimes should be recorded - I ask officers how they think we should record a certain crime and then I tell them the correct way to do it.

 

"If I ask officers a similar question after the debate, a far lower percentage answers incorrectly. This proves that actively involving subjects in what they are learning provides them with a far greater understanding."

 

IML’s technology also enabled the GMP to compare data from different training sessions, allowing them to identify training needs. In cases where a high percentage of officers gave the wrong answer, the GMP recognised a problem and provided more training. Similarly, they were able to remove questions with a high correct response rate, allowing more time to concentrate on areas of weakness.

 

"The immediacy of the technology allows me to see where strengths and weaknesses lay during the training sessions. If the majority are getting a question correct, I know I don’t have to spend a great deal of time on that subject."

 

Another major benefit of the Communicator is that it ensures everyone participates during training sessions. The anonymity of the technology allows people to come forward and give their opinion without fear of ridicule.

 

"In the past, I found that training groups would go along with the opinions of a select few who had the confidence to speak out. We weren’t seeing different viewpoints. Now, we get to see everyone’s opinion."

 

The GMP have standardised the use of IML’s Communicator keypads across the force and continue to achieve great success, owed to their innovative officer training sessions. In the very latest Police Standards Unit Audit (Sept 2004), the GMP had improved in the way they record crime by a further 11%.

 

Client testimonial

 

"The Communicator has made big changes. Just through the novelty value alone. It makes the learning environment much more interesting and encourages independent thinking. The feedback from officers is always very positive. I think that they learn more because they have had to be actively involved in it."

Alison Green, Detective Chief Inspector, GMP.