DSN port learning – The Evolution of the Classroom

Our consultancy has been a first point of contact for advice on data protection, information security, and compliance for over 20 years. During this time, we've been driven by the question of how to best transfer knowledge from one person to another.

Training has always been a key component in our field of consultancy. Before the wave of digitalisation swept through the realm of education, in-person training sessions were the only way to offer instruction. This strategy has and continues to work well. We send advisors to conduct on-site coaching which is very popular with organisations that need more comprehensive face to face training. These are provided by our in-house DSN Academy.

Today in-person events still hold significant value, especially because of the direct exchange between learners and trainers, which is a crucial distinguishing feature. However, the demands of the modern workplace have become more diverse, and remote work now plays a much larger role than it did just a few years ago. This also means that it's increasingly challenging to gather all participants of a training session at a fixed time and place. This brought a wave of digitalisation into the realm of education, leading us to launch our eLearning solution, DSN train (formerly privacy train).

Learning Management Systems replace the classroom

A Learning Management System (LMS) is the equivalent of an online classroom. Our initial LMS was ILIAS, an open-source solution that helped us establish a foothold in the market and gain valuable experience. With ILIAS, we attracted our first eLearning clients and met their needs. However, it quickly became apparent that we needed to evolve to meet the changing demands of our clients. The ILIAS platform, originally designed for educational institutions, was simply not equipped to handle the growing number of companies and institutions to which we wanted to deliver our eLearning courses to as separate, cleanly segregated tenants.

As the support and administrative workload increased, we recognised the need for an alternative to our current platform. The new creative solution is our own LMS: DSN port learning. With our customers in mind, we deliberately separated training management and virtual classrooms in the development of DSN port. This allowed us to streamline both areas and provide learners and coordinators with only the functions relevant to them as well as complete compliance with data security and protection.

What to do when employees don't have an email address?

When determining which target groups are suitable for digital training and which are not, one group of participants is often marginalised: employees without their own email address. The challenge with these individuals lies in elegantly replacing the typical email-based registration process. We knew that if we could digitally support the necessary analog processes, we could also provide access to digital learning content for this target group.

By putting ourselves in the shoes of training coordinators we came up with the idea of inviting learners without their own email address via mail merge letters. The LMS sends the mail merge letters to the training coordinators, who only need to print and distribute the invitations via internal mail to the participants. Learners with a smartphone, tablet, or laptop can register via a QR code provided in the mail merge letter. This gives them direct access to their personal training space. This method of registration makes entry into the learning system effortlessly simple and opens up a consistent world of learning for all employees, regardless of their technical equipment.

Effective through creativity

With the introduction of DSN port learning, we have significantly improved the accessibility of digital learning content. Our clients appreciate the creative approach. Moreover, the LMS provides a platform experience that is not only effective with our courses but can also serve as your central training platform. Experience has taught us that training needs are constantly evolving so we keep an ear to the ground and our eyes on the learner in order to react to changing needs quickly. look forward to seeing what evolutionary steps the good old classroom will undergo next.