How eCom helped IWCF digitalise its assessment process

Background – who are eCom Scotland?

eCom's is a provider of innovative digital learning solutions. These solutions help organisations in the energy sector to upskill their people and develop a capable workforce to accomplish their goals.

The Challenge

eCom worked with the International Well Control Forum (IWCF), the only independent body focused on oil and gas well training and accreditation, to develop and implement a secure, digital assessment process. The objective was to improve interaction between IWCF, its training centers, assessors and candidates and streamline the operations.

The solution had to allow invigilators to monitor student progress, automatically mark online tests, record practical assessments, manage and verify certificates, and provide a process to deal with question authoring and the multiple translation versions.

The Response

eCom’s assessment management platform eNetAssess™ has been used to develop the bespoke FORUM system which provides IWCF administrators, centres, assessors, and invigilators with a single platform for reviewing candidate details.

FORUM enables: Candidates to register, update their details, locate a centre and participate in assessments; Centre Administrators to schedule assessments, view results, sign off results, and check certificate validity; Invigilators to invigilate assessments and perform check marking where required; Assessors to monitor practical records and submit results; IWCF staff to view statistics on system users’ documents, and certificates; and external users to check the validity of a certificate. FORUM also has the capability to issue eCerts (electronic certification) to candidates. Powered by eNetBadges, this helps IWCF and their assessment centres avoid the logistical challenges of a paper-based system and significantly reduces the waiting time for candidates. Paper certificates took several weeks to receive in the past, whereas the eCerts provide candidates with an instant award.

IWCF eCerts are more secure than a paper certificate due to the unique code held in the badge/certificate. There is also meta-data included within each badge that enables accredited centres, potential employers, organisations and individuals to confirm the badge is valid and has been issued by IWCF. eCom also developed a mobile app for candidates to simplify the process of proving their qualifications.

For centres with internet connectivity issues, eCom developed FORUM HUB, an eAssessment solution which enables those centres to use a preprogramed Raspberry Pi device (imagine a small piece of hardware like a USB that carries data) to download and upload assessments from a secure online link, for use at the centre. Assessments are then automatically marked, with results issued to candidates once the scripts are uploaded back into the centre FORUM database. This ground breaking solution was the winner in the innovation category at the eAssessment Association’s 2019 annual awards.

The Result

Moving from traditional paper assessment to a bespoke digital portal has modernised IWCF’s assessment offering: increasing efficiency, increasing assessment integrity, reducing wait time for candidate certification as well as making it easier for candidates to quickly prove their qualifications.

Printing and shipping costs have been virtually eliminated and there has also been a significant reduction in the amount of administration time needed.

FORUM has enabled IWCF to easily access candidate information and monitor the skills of thousands of personnel across the industry. In 2021, 22,500 candidates have undergone the assessment and certification process through eAssessment. The built-in reports help administrators to pinpoint information quickly. The comprehensive Business Intelligence object reporting allows IWCF to generate adhoc reports for graphical real-time displays and board reports.

“IWCF has worked with the eCom team for many years, utilising their experience on a number of digital projects. They’ve provided us with an online system that has been innovative and scalable to meet our current stakeholder demands.”

Zdenek Sehnal, IWCF’s Chief Executive Officer

 

More information about eCom Scotland and their e-learning solutions can be found on their website: https://www.ecomscotland.com/