If you’re looking for an interactive, exciting way to increase your maritime training, look no further.  Videotel has pioneered a ground-breaking new form of training delivery, responding to post-internet age demand.

Videotel’s new program is the ultimate in interactivity: using gaming technology for serious maritime training.  With this technology, the company puts the student into a real-life situation, enabling him/her to apply what he/she has learned to a specific scenario under realistic time pressure.

The first serious game, developed together with Mines Rescue, addresses Entry into Enclosed Spaces, a scenario that lends itself perfectly to Videotel’s unique format.  In real situations, decisions must be made rapidly, and often with scarce information.  Statistics show that very often individuals under duress use their heart before their head, leading to fatal results.

Says Nigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel, “Interactivity is the future of training.  It takes CBT to new levels, allowing learners to explore, and think for themselves. They can learn by doing, and we are able to design learning in a less linear way. The step change in using serious gaming is that it presents the learner with the time pressure and the unpredictability of a real situation.  In addition, research has shown that in a learning environment people clearly remember what they do. This makes simulations and games the ultimate training tool, duly complementing our existing video, CBT and interactive courses.”

The new training course, entitled, “Enclosed Spaces” builds on existing Mines Rescue/Videotel programs; however, it takes the technology a step further by placing the student into a real-life situation that gives him/her a chance to use his/her knowledge.  The program can be used for both assessment and training.

Within the gaming environment, the student (player) must identify and fix an issue with a ballast valve on a bulk cargo ship, and the repair must be done with urgency.  The student must also conduct safety checks and equipment preparation before he/she can enter the enclosed space.  Additionally, while the repair is being completed, the student must navigate between sections that are separated by lightening holes.  As a result, the air in these sectors might differ and also needs to be assessed.  As a final twist, unknown to the student, one of the sectors has a toxic atmosphere, and that student is ultimately faced with addressing that dangerous situation.

Always on the cutting edge of technology, Videotel has once again introduced technology that will likely change the face of maritime training, using existing technology born out of the internet age, and transforming it into an invaluable, interactive training tool.