Project Landesforsten

Development and implementation of a pedagogical training and support concept for the introduction of new hardware and software (employee PC) with special consideration of the age structure of the employees of Landesforsten (50plus)

The subject of the joint project between the IWM and the Centre for User Service and Information Technology (ZeBIT) of the State Forestry Administration of Rhineland-Palatinate is the introduction of employee PCs among the employees of state forests. In the course of the reform "State Forests - Sustainable Structures", all forest district managers in Rhineland-Palatinate will be equipped with an employee PC in the course of 2008 and thus connected to the "State Forestry Network".

The special age structure of the employees must be taken into account in the training measures to be carried out in this context, as the average age of the employees of state forests was 49.5 years at the end of 2007. In addition, a needs analysis conducted by the IWM in early summer 2007 revealed that the target group seems to be characterized by a strong heterogeneity in terms of PC knowledge and usage behavior in the context of IUK technology.

In order to take these special conditions into account, the IWM developed a pedagogical training concept from October 2007 to February 2008, which is tailored to the concrete needs of the target group and enables individualized learning. The concept ties in centrally with the results of the conducted needs analysis by realizing a paradigm shift from the formerly prioritized homogenization of the target group to a conscious acceptance of heterogeneity.

Core elements of the concept are the modularisation of the learning contents, personal support for the employees at the beginning of the introduction process and participation in various training courses tailored to the individual level of knowledge. In this way, not only PC newcomers are offered sufficient space to acquire the necessary basic media skills, but also employees who have already been working with a PC for years are addressed by further, optional learning offers.

In addition to the individual design of the computer introduction, a long-term, target-group-oriented support concept is aimed at providing employees with a higher degree of information, communication and participation opportunities.

The central aim of the project is to ensure that all district managers who are trained on the basis of the introduction and support concept use the essential PC applications in their daily work practice in a long-term, meaningful and productive manner.

Since the end of March 2008, selected contents of the concept have been tested in the Rhineland-Palatinate forestry offices of Koblenz, Kusel and Pfälzer Rheinauen and evaluated by the IWM in an accompanying and summary manner. The aim of the evaluation is the concrete derivation of recommendations for the upcoming area-wide introduction of the employee PC in state forests.