LMS + IFATC? Could an “IFATC Academy” be the next step?

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Hi everyone,

With September fast approaching, is it time for “back to school” season in the Infinite Community? Maybe not exactly, but I think there’s an opportunity to borrow something from traditional education that could help improve the IFATC recruiting and training process: a Learning Management System (LMS).

Could an LMS help bring the idea of an “IFATC Academy” to life? Imagine having IFATC training materials, videos, manuals, guides, and other resources gathered together in one centralized location for candidates to access. If you’re anything like me, guides and manuals are helpful, but visual learning is where you really excel. Having both asynchronous learning and traditional instructor-led training available in one online environment could help candidates better grasp tower, ground, and aerodrome controlling concepts.

Platforms such as Blackboard, Canvas, and Moodle are already used by schools and universities around the world. Moodle, in particular, is a free and open-source platform that could potentially be adapted to fit the needs of the IFATC training program.
I participated in the entire process to become IFATC once before, and the process was—and still is—incredible. My recruiter was Tyler Shelton, and Chris S. was one of the incredible instructors who helped make that experience so valuable. Even after completing the process, I continued learning.

That got me thinking: what if we could bring all of these resources together in one place?

An IFATC LMS could potentially include:
• Training modules and lessons
• The YouTube training series
• Manuals and guides
• Quizzes and knowledge checks
• Practice exams
• Additional learning materials
• Progress tracking for candidates
• Resources for instructors
Most importantly, I don’t see an LMS replacing the current instructor-led training. I see it supplementing it.

For example, an instructor could be teaching a particular concept while candidates follow along with the corresponding material in the LMS. Once the lesson is complete, the instructor could seamlessly transition the candidates into training server for a practice exam. Candidates could then return to the LMS afterward to review the material and continue learning at their own pace.

We have IFATC trainers made up of dedicated volunteers and professional staff spread across the world. That is one of the strengths of this community, but it also presents a challenge: how do we keep all of our training resources organized and easily accessible?
An LMS could potentially help bring everything together under one roof while giving both instructors and candidates another tool to make the training experience even better.
And that’s really what I’m proposing—not changing what already works, but building on it.
What do you think?

Could something like Moodle help bring IFATC training “all together”? What benefits could an LMS provide to instructors and candidates? What potential problems or downsides do you see?

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts. Sorry for the lack o images but i wasn’t sure images charts and graphs would help start this discussion.

I also don’t believe this is a feature request. Because it’s not an app feature, it’s just a discussion topic, in my opinion. Anyway, share our thoughts down below

Respectfully,
Shawn

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There’s already something like this approved by IFVARB called ATC Mentorship Hub that trains IFATC candidates

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The IFVARB trains IFATC? Really? Do you have a link to this? Because I couldn’t find it when I was doing my research for this.

I searched.

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It’s approved by IFVARB, IFVARB don’t train them. It’s made up of existing controllers:

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Would a third party training service be fundamentally different then my proposal?

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Maybe i’m not being clear. My proposal is for the IFATC training and recruitment process process itself.

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Im happy to be corrected by others, but I’m not sure there’s loads of resources available that need organising/pulling together other than the user guide and videos on the official IF YouTube?

On the flipside, there’s probably loads of stuff for new pilots to expert that would be useful to pull together (provided they look at it…!)

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The proposal is more about how implementing a free and open source tool like moodle, directly into the IFATC process, can help people who struggle to learn with "look at it’ approach.

Moodle (like other LMSs) has many other benefits and tools for trainers. Im sorry I didnt clarify that initially. But I agree the resources are out there to look at.

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ATCMH, which was mentioned above, is IFVARB and works in tandem with IFATC - it is monitored by IFATC leadership. It contains all of these resources.

As for radar recruitment, when you sign up, your trainer helps you through a whole set of skills using the tools you mentioned above.

Many trainers share these resources/get inspiration from others.
:slight_smile:

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Yeah, we didn’t need to mention it again. I feel like someone else already explained it as a third party resource. However, your response tries to go beyond. It’s a third party resource to it’s something else. I feel like that’s non responsive to the questions I posed in my original post. The title is specific “LMS+IFATC”.
Not “IFATC+third party porgram”.

You could argue that, in lieu of what im proposing, its time to marry IFATC with ATCMH, but beyond that we need not mention ATCMH. :laughing:

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I believe we already have almost everything that you hope to achieve with this.
These are some of the things you’d like listed above:
• Training modules and lessons - The ATCMH mentors hold training and sessions that provide amazing feedback to help the trainee.

• The YouTube training series - We have these on YouTube at the moment!

• Manuals and guides - We also have these that cover everything needed to join, and new sections when you join

• Quizzes and knowledge checks / Practice Exams - These two go in the same category for me. There are practice Written exams available, which helped me on my recruiting process. I believe there are also knowledge checks from the ATCMH once you complete your mentorship and join IFATC (although I’m not sure about this)

• Additional learning materials - I’d need specification on this

• Progress tracking for candidates - Held by your ATCMH mentor.

• Resources for instructors- ATCMH instructors also have their own resources for training.

I know you don’t want to hear about the ATCMH, but why is that? They have in my opinion, more than enough available. I don’t see a reason for more :slightly_smiling_face:

While I do like this idea, I think the current Recruitment Process and resources available for Recruits are plenty.

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Yes, we have and its awesome!

Because, to my knowledge, you cannot test out of ATCMH, and become a IFATC Specialist.

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This is true. But I don’t see a reason to test out of ATCMH. You have to have been assigned a recruiter from IFATC before you can start your ATCMH mentorship. Your recruiter from IFATC does the tests, and the ATCMH does the training!

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Yes, now bring it under one roof. Thats the topic of discussion. It could be that ATCMH becomes the official training and testing arm of IFATC.

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But I don’t see how this will benefit recruits. IFATC has their own training team. The reason the ATCMH is available is because Training for initial recruitment (Ground and Tower) isn’t initially available. I believe It is only available for tower if the recruit fails their practical exam.

ATCMH is a separate organization, and isn’t officially affiliated with IFATC. For the sole reason that IFATC already has these same training*

*As said above IFATC training isn’t always available for new recruits

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I completely understand your position, but I cant help but hope to see everything come together. We already have so many great resources!

That would be exciting. Fun idea to kick around!

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Absolutely !

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For the first time in several years ive applied for and been accepted into the IFATC recuritment process- And yes, I was accepted into ATCMH also.

During my review of the materials, I found there already exist “learning management software” (or LMS) directly within the IFATC recruitment process, Which had not been mentioned (or focused on) during this discussion.

While I would like to see ATCMH merge into IFATC , this topic is moot, because there already exist a LMS in IFATC. I request this topic closed.

Respectfully,
Shawn C.