Christmas is just around the corner, and we too have a treat in store for you!

Count the geckos we have hidden in the pictures in the online version of the current szenaris letter. How many can you find? E-mail your answer to xmas@szenaris.com by 16 December 2011*; the first three people to reply correctly will receive a szenaris Christmas Surprise Package.

We wish you an enjoyable read, a wonderful Christmas and a great start to 2012!

The szenaris team

* There is no recourse to legal action.

Tractors, choppers, harvesters and ploughs etc. - from 13 to 19 November, more exhibitors than ever before came to Hanover from around the world to present their latest machines at the Agritechnica trade fair.
The trend is clear: for agricultural machinery manufacturers, high-tech is the way forward, particularly when it comes to electronics and operating controls. But does this development have implications for training in the use of these machines?

The better a machine is adjusted to the prevailing conditions, the greater the crop yield and the lower the energy costs. This means that in times of limited and expensive energy resources it is immensely important that the machines are properly operated. The majority of agricultural machinery manufacturers train operators at proprietary academies, produce instruction materials and are in some cases already using e-learning. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that the use of learning programs alongside classroom teaching cannot sufficiently cover learning requirements. During the lessons themselves, suitable means of clearly illustrating complex situations are often lacking.

What can help are interactively controllable simulations that are integrated into learning programs or can be used individually during lessons to clarify learning content.

szenaris is already active in both fields: for CLAAS, a company headquartered in Harsewinkel, we created an online-based learning program on how to operate the CEBIS in their LEXION harvester, and for Alpen-based company LEMKEN we designed an interactive simulation to illustrate the OPTIQUICK © plough setting system. Both manufacturers are taking advantage of the possibilities of modern media, and intend to increasingly integrate modern media into their training concepts.

So far, only very few applications of this type have been exhibited at Agritechnica. But the future belongs to modern media - this also applies to the agricultural machinery industry.

More information on this topic:

Agritechnica
Project information: “LEXION harvester”

Contact: Dr. Uwe Katzky

To help optimise and make factory processes more efficient, so-called “digital factories” are already capable of visualising and simulating automated processes almost perfectly. But could manual activities, where human behaviour is often less systematic, also be simulated to this level of perfection?

With their “Editor for Manual Work Activities (ema)”, imk automotive GmbH from Chemnitz has developed software for planning and visualising manual activities. It is based on a library of the most frequent manual activities, for which a large amount of data on the associated physical procedures already exists and which are highly visualisable. So far, these so-called task blocks are only considered as systematic processes, meaning that the software only simulates behaviour that is systematic.

The potential of simulations becomes especially apparent where highly complex manual activities are concerned. When tasks of this kind are performed in reality and under stress, the risk of error is significantly greater. In this case, human behaviour may no longer be systematic. So how can psychological factors be integrated into a digital human model?

That is precisely the question we are currently examining in a joint research project with imk automotive. Ultimately, we aim to integrate a human model controller into our simulations in order to make virtual training even more realistic. This controller will be based on the existing physical model, enhanced by occupational psychology findings regarding stress and the resulting psychological strain.

Depending on personality type and the duration of the stress, different people experience different levels of stress-related strain – this affects their work in individually different ways. Based on this stress-strain model we have designed functionalities that allow us to replicate these multilayered psychological contexts in virtual worlds and make them experienceable. To configure the training situations, the people operating the simulation are assessed regarding their individual characteristics and certain basic conditions are defined.

To sum up, we would like to highlight just how complex it is to simulate psychological variables. Simulations are controlled by people whose actions are reflected in the virtual world by their avatars. If however the operator of a simulation comes under stress, currently his or her avatar will not show a corresponding reaction. If on the other hand an avatar is simulated as experiencing stress, the operator of the simulation will not necessarily feel the same. Targeted moderation of this interface between operators and their avatars is therefore indispensable in order to achieve the greatest possible learning effects.

If you have any questions on the scientific background of this topic, please feel free to contact us!

More information on this topic:

Project partner imk automotive
Psychological stress and strain at work (only in German)
Editor for Manual Work Activities: brief description and background (only in German)

Contact: Susan Hoentzsch

A good network is essential in order to acquire projects. But generating high-quality contacts takes time, and therefore inevitably costs money. So how can we make the right contacts as efficiently as possible?

In early November, szenaris took part in the OWIB event (Offshore Wind International Business2Business Event) in Esbjerg, Denmark. The idea behind the event is to enable participants to connect with interesting people in short meetings according to a precisely planned schedule. Attendees specify beforehand with whom they would like to speak, allowing the event organiser to draw up a schedule based on the requested meetings.

And this is what happens at a business speed dating (or speed networking) event: The negotiating parties have 15 minutes to talk to each other at one of the approximately 120 numbered tables. During this time they therefore have to determine as specifically as possible what, if anything, their respective conversation partner is interested in. Of course a quarter of an hour is not a lot of time, so after a brief introduction it should very quickly be ascertained whether there is a possibility of doing business together. When the 15 minutes are over, a bell rings – then each participant has five minutes to go to the next table and mentally prepare for the next meeting.

Business speed dating in Esbjerg was our first experience of an event of this kind. We returned with many new impressions and a list of interesting contacts. For us it was an opportunity to quickly and efficiently make as many interesting business contacts as possible.

In closing, we would like to offer you a couple of tips to ensure that your business speed dating is an unqualified success:

• Go for quality rather than quantity – when requesting your meetings, don’t select as many contacts as possible, but instead the right ones.
• Prepare well – ask yourself before the event which subjects are likely to arouse the interest of your discussion partner.
• Don’t take too much promotional material (brochures, flyers etc) with you – in just 15 minutes of face time things can otherwise easily get hectic.

More information on this topic:

OWIB - the Offshore Wind International Business2Business Event
Report and photos from the event
Businesses try a form of speed dating (article, 2007)
Speed Networking for Business Success (blog entry, 2010)

Contact: Ralf Mohring

E-learning is a hot topic – widely discussed, written and talked about. But what are the most important facts on the subject that personnel managers and decision-makers should have at their disposal? In this article we tell you what you should know about e-learning in order to form an objective opinion of this method of instruction.

1. E-learning is not just learning at the computer
The term e-learning often automatically brings to mind an image of people sitting at computers, staring at the screen and allowing the course content to wash over them. But e-learning is much more than that. The concept, design and implementation of electronic learning environments are based on scientifically researched learning psychology and didactic principles such as behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism.

2. E-learning comes in many shapes and sizes – the right fit is important
Computer based training, web based training, simulations, virtual worlds, hypertext, online seminars, learning management systems… the list of e-learning methods is long and the technical possibilities are immense. But the method always has to suit the learning topic and the training objective. Before choosing a strategy, it is therefore always necessary to analyse the current situation.

3. Flexible learning options
E-learning allows employees to be trained across the board without dispensing with individuality. Branched learning paths are integrated into electronic learning environments; this means that learning is adaptive, i.e. adjusted to learner types. In addition, learning environments can be customised to various target groups in terms of design or language.

4. High-quality training
Electronic learning environments provide easily updatable learning content at uniform quality across large groups of users. The wide range of methods allows complex learning contents in particular to be clearly explained.

5. Anyone, any way, anywhere, any time
These terms may seem rather blunt, but they perfectly describe the advantages of e-learning, which lie in its time- and location-independent use. Over the Internet, learning content can be made available to multiple users simultaneously. Access is not limited to any particular time or place. In addition, learners can network with each other.

6. Training just in time
The use of e-learning allows employees to be trained in a timely and requirements-oriented fashion, optimising efficiency in your business.

7. E-learning requires support
The use of electronic learning methods is only effective if learners have a certain degree of independent motivation and self-learning competence. These factors can however be specifically boosted by always including tutorial support in your e-learning strategy, or by integrating your e-learning strategy into blended learning concepts.

8. E-learning costs money – but it is a good investment
Of course e-learning doesn’t come free of charge. Learning environments have to be planned, developed and implemented. Existing systems then require support, care and maintenance. However, these are expenses that pay off in the medium to long term, as the use of e-learning reduces or in some cases entirely eliminates costs: e.g. seminar fees, the costs of instructors and teaching materials, travel and accommodation costs, or lost working time.

9. Planning is everything
Before the use of e-learning comes the development of a corporate e-learning strategy which should also be embedded into your personnel and organisational development strategy. An important aspect is also the integration of learning periods into working hours. Involve your employees in developing these plans – this will also increase the acceptance of e-learning as a method.

More information on this topic:

Guidelines on the use of e-learning (only in German)
Learning theories I: behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism
Learning theories II: connectivism

Contact: Susan Hoentzsch

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