Survival Skills e-learning

...using the internet, email and conferencing to deliver a unique rider training experience!

Important Links

e-learning is a method of online instruction using the internet to deliver training, using interactive websites, email, and online chat facilities to communicate.

e-learning has recently taken off in a big way in the field of education generally, With the latest developments in interactive learning environments online, it’s now technically possible to support e-learning in many practical subjects that many would have thought quite impossible to teach without face to face contact – for instance, open heart surgery and other medical techniques are now done routinely demonstrated via the internet.

It’s particularly useful where the people who want to learn new skills are a long way from their tutor of choice.

The possibility of e-learning brings many benefits to the rider wishing to improve their riding skills:

• flexibility – learn where and when you want to
• expert, personal advice – your tutor is focused on your individual needs
• interaction with other learners – in a group learning environment you can swap ideas with others
• communication – be put in touch with a wide body of learning and information resources available on the internet
• easy access – if you can access the internet, you can access the course

In particular, don’t discount the ability to learn in your own time at your own pace. With any face to face training, there is a timetable that has to be adhered to, and often a lot to take in, in a relatively short time (I’d love to double the length of my courses to make everything more relaxed, but it’s doubtful that you, the trainee, would appreciate the doubled cost and I can’t afford to work for half the money!).

This isn’t an issue with e-learning – you can choose to join a timetabled course where you will be given a schedule of dates by which you will be expected to complete your assignments, or you can opt for a deadline-free “in your own time” course. Whichever you choose, you can of course devote as much of your time as you like to a topic.

e-learning can also combine the best elements of one-to-one training and group environments. The time you spend working with your tutor is focussed fully on you, but one-to-one training misses the crossfertisation of ideas that often comes from working with others on a project.

Survival Skills has been offering conventional motorcycle training at all levels from novice to advanced since 1996 and has been interacting online with riders and trainees since that time, through both the Survival Skills website (online since 1997) and in chat forums, notably the CompuServe Ride forum from 1996 to 2003, and from 2000 to date through Visordown.com, probably the busiest motorcycle forum in the UK, where Kevin moderates the Survival Skills bike safety forum.

In addition, Survival Skills has made available the theory element of the practical training courses via articles on the website and also a series of illustrated e-books published on CDROMs since 2000.

As a result, a huge database of information about the problems that riders face and the solutions that work for them has been accumulated, along with considerable experience of delivering those solutions via online and electronic media.

Kevin has successfully completed a level 3 NVQ as an “e-tutor” with Sheffield College. There are very few other (if any) instructors in the country with this level of experience of online coaching.

You’re probably wondering how it is possible to transfer a practical riding course to e-learning.

The answer is ‘far better than you might imagine’. The only real difference that formalizing online training will have over the existing e-books and informal advice already offered regularly on Visordown.com is that advice will be “proactive” rather than “reactive”. In other words, rather than the trainee contacting Survival Skills online and asking for a ‘fix’ to an existing problem, the e-learning course will follow the same kind of path as the Survival Skills practical course to give you a grounding in how to avoid the problem in the first place.

To ensure the program for delivering these e-courses is realistic and effective, Kevin has taken a course as an e-tutor which will lead to a formal qualification at the end.

You will be given assignments and exercises to complete that will cover much the same ground as the two day Survival Skills practical advanced course:

• defensive riding techniques covering risk assessment and risk management skills
• systematic riding techniques to deal with traffic, bends and overtaking safely
• investigating machine control techniques such as steering
• learning about mental skills such as observation, anticipation, attitude and restraint, and focus

As an independent training school, Survival Skills has been able to draw on the best advanced riding techniques from many training organisations in a number of different countries. Course content has been researched in depth, is exhaustively tested and subject to continual review and improvement.

1. the American Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s “Experienced Rider Course”
2. Keith Code’s “Twist of the Wrist” books on advanced machine control techniques
3. the Australian “Ride On” rider safety program
4. Driving Standards Agency publications

Other material researched comes from the IAM, magazine articles and books on riding and driving skills published in the UK and the US, personal communications with a number of other highly qualified instructors in the UK, not to mention my own personal riding experiences where relevant.

The course development material that the Survival Skills two day practical course is based on was subject to scrutiny and appraisal during the submission of my BTEC.

The Survival Skills e-learning course will cover three main areas:

• traffic skills
• bend skills
• progress and restraint

The Survival Skills e-course will introduce you to many of the ideas behind defensive riding technique, including the concepts of risk assessment and risk management, and the practical techniques such as observation skills that allow you to assess and manage risk whilst riding.

Don’t be put off by the advanced riding tag and think “it’s not for me”. Personal improvement is all it’s about – there’s no magic and advanced skills are not a closed shop.

At the end of the course you should be:

• aware of the need to prioritizing safety
• aware of the hazards of traffic and be able to employ systematic riding in traffic
• aware of the hazards of bends and be able to employ systematic riding in bends
• be aware of the hazards of making progress
• be able to employ risk assessment and management strategies

The course is divided into 8 week long modules. This Backpack workspace is your link with Survival Skills Online Training and your tutor, and an interactive page here will be assigned to you for each week’s work. There is a demonstration student page that you can access immediately to see how the system works.

A student can choose to approach these weekly modules in one of two ways:

• study when you want, as you want – you can take as long as you like to complete the course, there are no deadlines that you have to meet – ideal for people with busy lifestyles who may not be able to meet the time constraints of the time-tabled course. The drawback is that you will miss out on collaborative exercises with other students
• study to a time-table, where each week you will be expected to spend approximately 3-4 hours working on the assignments that make up the course. There will be several collaborative exercises where you will be able to work with other students on the same course

You can choose either of the two study options.

You can see a partial schedule of activities on the demo page – the full list will be made available to you on registration.

You can log into a demo of a Student Demo Page here.

You don’t need any prior riding qualifications, and even a full motorcycle licence isn’t essential, but a motorcycle would be useful to try out the theory ideas. Other than that, you will need an internet connection, some basic experience using the internet, a FLASH-capable web browser, access to email, and a basic digital camera or camera phone for snapping photos to upload as part of the exercises.

Plus of course, approximately 4 hours a week for two months and the enthusiasm to try a new way of learning about riding.

Much of the material that you will work on will be made available directly to you via Survival Skills own web pages. You should also be able to access resources on the internet via search engines to find other background materials.

Links to supplemental materials, such as graphics and videos will be made available as the course progresses.
The only book you will need to have to hand during this course is Motorcycle Roadcraft, although other books are useful for research material. You can find some suggested “toolkit” books on my www.survivalskills.co.uk website in the Shop section, and purchase them at a discount price directly from Amazon.co.uk.

At the end of the course, you will be given a full download version of the Survival Skills “Course Notes” CD-ROM to act as an aide memoire to what you have learned.

For more information, contact survivalskills@clara.net.

Your course tutor is Kevin Williams MSc.

Kevin Williams

Kevin runs Survival Skills Rider Training, now into its 12th season of operation, and one of the first rider training schools to offer fully structured practical training for developing post-test riders in the UK.

Kevin holds:

• a first degree in the biological sciences from Kings College, London
• a Master’s degree in ecology from Birkbeck College, London
• an NVQ as a qualified e-Tutor
• a BTEC award in advanced motorcycle training
• Driving Standards Agency CBT and DAS qualifications at basic level

After leaving university, Kevin spent 16 years working as a courier in London and the south east of England.

In 1995, he went to train with CSM, then the biggest rider training school in the country. Kevin has worked for a number of schools since 1995, including spending 3 years at the highly respected “Cinque Ports Rider Training” school in Lydd in the late 90s where he was responsible for setting up a training program for new Direct Access instructors and wrote a manual for new CBT instructors.

In 2002 he helped set up B3 Rider Training in Kent, the school with which he is still connected.

Kevin began running advanced courses in 1996 and Survival Skills began operating in 1997 as an independent organisation.

For the last 12 years as well as being a full time motorcycle instructor, Kevin Williams has also been engaged in informal coaching of riders via the internet, initially as an active member of the Compuserve Ride forum, and for the last seven years as moderator of the Survival Skills section on Visordown.com.

Kevin also answers questions directly through the Survival Skills website, which itself is a major resource of free information on safer riding, with a series of over 70 riding tips.

Since 2003, Kevin has contributed a column on safer riding to every issue of “The Road”, the journal of the Motorcycle Action Group.

Kevin is also the author of three e-books on motorcycle skills, all of which are available on CDROM from the Survival Skills website, and is currently writing a fourth.

Kevin has:

• over three quarters of a million miles riding time
• thousands of hours instructing experience
• attained a BTEC in advanced and improver training, and who has been positively assessed by the Driving Standard Agency at Direct Access and CBT levels
• worked full time in rider training, teaching CBT, DAS and advanced training for 12 years
• successfully trained hundreds of riders from 16 to 70, male and female, of all levels and abilities from complete beginners to TT racers and British trials champions
• attended a course in Driver Education at Middlesex University
• worked voluntarily as a “blood runner” in the south east of England
• trained and qualified as a member of the National Motorcycle Escort Group

... and passionately believes that better riding skills are the key not only to reducing our exposure to risk on a bike, but to getting more enjoyment from the ride!

Applications for online training will be accepted from the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland only. If you live outside the UK and are interested in taking a course, please contact us to discuss your needs.

The Survival Skills e-course costs £150 per person.

For more information, contact survivalskills@clara.net.

e-Mail us now to reserve your place and find out how to pay