Through what virtual formats can hands-on laboratory training be conducted when the on-site presence of all participants and the trainer is not possible? This question was already addressed by the PTB Capacity Development working group at an exchange of experience in February 2021. As a fruitful outcome of this event, the Virtual Hands-on Laboratory Training guideline were published in May 2021 and trainings on conceptual adaptations for virtual training and remote consulting were conducted in May and September 2021.
We are now pleased to announce the next step: a pilot implementation of a virtual hands-on laboratory training in Caribbean national metrology institutes. We would like to examine how virtual hands-on training can be applied in reality and what new opportunities can be exploited through the virtual mode. For this pilot training, the PTB Capacity Development working group is cooperating with the Caribbean Reference Laboratory for Temperature (CaRL) located at the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards. The CaRL supports four Caribbean National Metrology Institutes through a mentoring program and is now looking to provide hands-on training in temperature measurement, which can currently take place only virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In accompanying this process, we hope to identify and resolve challenges that arise from transferring the training to a virtual format. The prelude to our pilot project will be a Virtuality Training of Trainers Programme, to which we would like to invite all technical experts working for PTB and other mentors of the Caribbean metrology network.
The PTB Capacity Development working group is pursuing three main goals with the pilot project. First, we are training Caribbean mentors and technical experts working on PTB projects to conduct virtual hands-on laboratory training sessions. In doing so, we plan to record these Virtuality Training of Trainers sessions and develop other support materials that can be used in future virtual trainings worldwide. Equipped with these new digital skills, CaRL will provide virtual training to Caribbean National Metrology Institutes so that they can perform better temperature measurements in their laboratories. We will collect the recorded training sessions on temperature measurement and other available training materials in the field and make them available on a PTB e-learning platform on QI for future use by National Metrology Institutes worldwide. Projects, organizations, and networks can more easily organize virtual hands-on training using a checklist that will be developed as a companion document to Virtual Hands-on Laboratory Training guideline.
PTB is opening up the Virtuality Training of Trainers sessions from February 1 – March 2 to its technical experts to achieve greater impact in its capacity development projects worldwide. The Virtuality Training sessions cover the following topics: Asynchronous training via the Moodle e-learning platform, pre-recording instructional videos, practicing in virtual laboratories, pre-assessment and review of technical information in trainees’ laboratories and methods for collaborative exercises and other interactions in trainings.
In addition, the PTB Capacity Development working group will offer one more time a three hour training on Conducting impactful virtual training and remote consulting, which focuses on conceptual changes and ways to overcome social challenges in virtual trainings.
All technical experts working in PTB projects can attend one or more training sessions free of charge by signing up until January 27th. More information and registration links for the virtuality trainings can be found here: covid19.ptb.de/virtual-hands-on-laboratory-training
Previous exchange of experience on virtual hands-on training: https://candela-ptb.de/hands-on-virtually/
PTB Guideline on hands-on training: https://www.covid19.ptb.de/fileadmin/covid19/Dokumentenfilter/PTB_Info_Virtual_Lab_Trainings_EN.pdf
Practical tips for virtual training formats: https://www.covid19.ptb.de/capacity-development-online
Offer for peer-to-peer consulting sessions on virtual capacity development activities in PTB projects: https://www.covid19.ptb.de/digital-work/peer-to-peer-consulting
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