Written by Robert Zotti, Assistant Dean, WebCampus at Stevens Institute of Technology & USDLA Board Member

Twenty members of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) visited Bridgestone’s Nashville office on May 20th, during USDLA’s Annual Conference, to attend a Distance Learning workshop. The workshop showcased four key areas that Bridgestone learning team members are focusing heavily on: virtual reality, augmented reality, microlearning, and mobile technology. The attendees were divided into small groups and rotated through five hands-on stations where the technologies were showcased. Each of the 10 Bridgestone learning team members alternated between technical tour guide and company spokesperson, describing how their operations contribute to the mission, vision, and goals of the organization. The tour de force concluded with a walk-around of the facility itself.

Reaction & Follow-up
Attendee feedback from workshop was overwhelmingly positive. “I liked being able to see what companies are doing with regards to training their workforce and how they utilize distance learning while doing it,” noted one participant in a post-event survey. Another attendee noted: “This was a great experience with hands-on activities. And, Bridgestone provided great people to walk us through them!” Some attendees noted how the demonstrations gave them ideas to pursue back home. “The projects and activities that your team is engaged with is exactly the type of thing I would like to see our organization do in the not-so-distant future.”

Julie Hammond, Manager of Consumer Education, said: “The USDLA visit was a fantastic opportunity for us to demonstrate how we reach customers and teammates through training with other learning professionals. Although we have tens of thousands of people interact with our learning every year, we seldom get the opportunity to showcase these technologies to others outside of our industry.”

Look for Bridgestone to participate at next year’s annual USDLA conference with more demonstrations of their Learning & Development projects.