GOOD PRACTICES IN e-LEARNING
LANGUAGE: Spanish
NAME OF THE EXPERIENCE: Tachograph virtual simulator
WHERE TO FIND IT: http://www.fomento.es/MFOM/LANG_CASTELLANO/DIRECCIONES_GENERALES/TRANSPORTE_POR_CARRETERA/IGT/TACDIG/SIMULADOR/Simulador+-+Ejecución+on-line.htm
OVERVIEW: GENERAL DESCRIPTION
It is a last-generation virtual emulator of the new digital tachograph. According to EU regulations, this new digital tachograph will have to be installed in all new buses and lorries to be manufactured after June 2005. Spain’s competent Ministry, the Ministerio de Fomento, wanted to create a new e-learning tool, i.e. an online-based virtual emulator of the tachograph, in order to train tens of thousands of Spanish lorry and bus drivers in the use of the digital tachographs.
Nanfor Ibérica was chosen to develop the simulator from a group of some of the most prestigious e-learning companies in Spain.
The simulator is freely accessible to all through the Ministerio de Fomento webpage.
METHODOLOGICAL STRONG POINTS
It is very easy to use (it was designed having in mind that the users would not be accustomed to e-learning tools).
It includes pre-set simulations of real situations. This simulations are basically guided sequences of events that gradually introduce the user to the virtual simulator.
The interface is simple and user-friendly. At the same time, it is attractive and realistic, in order to capture the attention of non-technical users. To that effect, it includes purely cosmetic effects, such as night and day ilumination or landscape.
It allows the simulation of the three main digital tachographs currently in use in the EU: Aktia, Siemens and Stoneridge. Everyone of these different tachographs is realistically simulated. Their technical differences are also taken into account.
TECHNICAL STRONG POINTS
It is not too memory-consumming, it can be used equally well on and off-line.
It is totally interactive. It is not limited to pre-set situations, it rather realistically simulates every possible situation created by the user.
It uses visual and audio stimuli to recreate real situations
It allows the user to print the reports that the real tachographs do actually print
RELEVANT MANAGEMENT ISSUES
It is freely accesible from the Ministerio de Fomento webpage. The idea was to attain the highest possible number of users. The simulator has also been distributed in CD-ROM format among Spanish registered lorry and bus drivers.
The access being free, there is no need for passwords, usernames or registration procedures.
The development work was done by Nanfor Ibérica in collaboration with the Spanish Fabrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (the Spanish National Mint). This collaboration has resulted in high quality results.
CONCLUSIONS
Key points of success:
Collaboration of companies with different areas of expertise: in this case an e-learning company and a public entity.
Keeping in mind the end users and their particular characteristics (in this case, non technical user who need a totally practice-oriented tool).
Combining high technical quality with simplicity in terms of interface and use.
The possibility to use it online and offline.
Suggestions for improvement.
It is sometimes too much of a tool to be used in isolation by the average user. It would greatly benefit from a whole e-learning course that would put the simulator in a broader context.
Done by: Bruno Moreno Ramos (NANFOR IBÉRICA).
In Madrid, october 2005