Building a solid training foundation.

The Texas Manufactured Housing Division trains licensees to ensure safe, HUD-compliant manufactured homes and manufactured home sales statewide.

Established

1995

Employees: 64

www.tdhca.state.tx.us/mh

1,100+

Learners trained yearly and expanding

Products:

Adobe Learning Manager

Adobe Captivate

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Objectives

Provide cost savings for licensee learners across the state

Increase learner retention through dynamic and interactive content

Allow for easier training of licensees for increased engagement

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Results

$1,800 in travel cost savings for each Core Education Course enrollee

$2,500 in travel cost savings for each RBI course enrollee

15- 20 learners participate in daily training activities

Enrolls up to 20+ learners a week on demand, through automation

Manufactured homes are popular in Texas, which has one of the largest populations of these affordable, convenient homes in the U.S. With so many people living in manufactured homes, the state is committed to ensuring their safety, a task that falls to the Manufactured Housing Division, an independent division of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

One of the Department’s core responsibilities is licensing salespeople, manufacturers, installers, retailers, and brokers in the industry. Giving learners a deep foundation in the laws, regulations, and codes to ensure that licensees offer HUD-code compliant homes typically required all-day in-person trainings held at the University of Texas at Austin, with anywhere between 80 to 300 trainees. Each quarter, trainees incurred the costs of flights, rental cars, and hotels as they travelled to Austin for courses.

“The education of those we regulate is key to the success of our agency,” says Jim R. Hicks, Executive Director of the Manufactured Housing Division. “Our philosophy is self-compliance through education. As a consumer protection agency, the first step in protecting consumers is by educating the industry regarding what they can and cannot do.”

When the global pandemic eliminated in-person trainings, the Department needed a highly scalable online learning management system (LMS) to deliver content and keep the licensing process moving. In addition to licensee training, the team also had to begin delivery of online learning to internal staff and stakeholders responsible for working with the public or maintaining the quality of manufactured housing.

As experienced Adobe users, the team evaluated Adobe Learning Manager against other options and was impressed by its ability to deliver large amounts of material across many formats, from smaller learning units to multimedia content. They were also impressed by the ease of sharing content offline and via mobile.

“Given the breadth of our training materials, we need an online learning partner that gives us flexibility in how we create content and deliver it to thousands of diverse learners,” says Amanda J. Brueschke, Multimedia & E-Learning Specialist Manufactured Housing Division, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

“Through Adobe Learning Manager, we are better able to provide training for more than 1,100 licensees a year, while improving the quality of our content and reducing costs all around.”

Amanda J. Brueschke

Multimedia & E-Learning Specialist, Manufactured Housing Division, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

Providing creative, cost-effective training

Before starting at the Manufactured Housing Division, Brueschke was a classroom teacher who saw first-hand that learners are more likely to retain information presented in dynamic, easily digestible formats.

Using the Adobe LMS, the team is reimagining the structure of the three Licensing Education Courses that every licensee is required to complete, to be licensed by the state. Instead of having to complete all the trainings in law and rules in one sitting, learners can move through half-hour modules with multimedia content and interactive features, including drag-and-drop, 360 interactive hotspots, and click-to-reveal interactions. Depending on what license the industry member is seeking, courses range from 8 to 16 hours.

To familiarize themselves with the process of looking up laws, learners keep a copy of the regulation book that has already been uploaded into the LMS on their screens as they progress through the content. Using the Control F function, they easily find and highlight specific laws and rules referenced in a module, from warranties they are required to offer, to underscoring their responsibility to consumers.

With all training modules in one accessible location, learners can work on their laptops at their convenience from anywhere. As learners enjoy greater mobility, the team uses powerful automation in Adobe to enroll more licensees – sometimes up to 22 people per week – year-round.

“Through Adobe Learning Manager, we are better able to provide training for more than 1,100 learners a year, while improving the quality of our content and reducing costs all around,” says Brueschke. “Through remote learning, enrollees in our core course save nearly $1,800 a year, while industry professionals who require multiple license types can save upwards of $2,500.”

“Our training in Adobe Learning Manager stimulates learner retention and enthusiasm, with between 15 and 20 learners active in courses daily, contributing to 200 hours of learning. As licensees are more effective in the field, and knowledgeable about the laws they are to follow, this helps reduce our consumer complaints.”

Amanda J. Brueschke

Multimedia & E-Learning Specialist, Manufactured Housing Division, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

Engaging learners with compelling content

While the team makes learning more accessible online, they want to retain the more engaging aspects of in-person training.

The team relies on Adobe Captivate to build videos featuring semi-animated characters that change poses every few seconds. Integrations with artificial intelligence (AI) voiceover software allow multiple character voices that capture learners’ attention beyond a “talking head”-style video.

If laws change, or there’s a need for material describing a new regulation, the team can add content seamlessly with single-button publishing in the LMS.

“Our training in Adobe Learning Manager stimulates learner retention and enthusiasm, with between 15 and 20 learners active in courses daily, contributing to 200 hours of learning,” says Brueschke. “As licensees are more effective in the field, this helps reduce our number of consumer complaints.”

“Tracking and automation capabilities in the environment have helped us gain hours in productivity. Time spent scoring exams and enrolling new learners is now focused on creating more expansive training content.”

Amanda J. Brueschke

Multimedia & E-Learning Specialist, Manufactured Housing Division, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

Enhanced tracking, productivity

With fewer complaints from consumers, the Manufactured Housing Division sees value in its improved approach to training. At the same time, automated tracking in Adobe allows the team to gauge learner participation on a more granular level.

A learning manager can determine how long each learner spent in a module – ensuring that all learners achieve the minimum of eight training hours required to earn state licenses. If a learner must return to a module later, the LMS lets them pick up where they left off.

Once learners complete final assessments, the LMS automatically computes their scores. Before standardizing on Adobe, administrators had to sit with learners taking untimed tests – often for hours – then manually import sheets into a Scan-tron or hand grade them.

“Tracking and automation capabilities in the Adobe environment have helped us gain hours in productivity. Time spent scoring exams and enrolling new learners is now focused on creating more expansive training content,” says Brueschke.

Bringing training to internal stakeholders

Retailers and their licensees aren’t the only people in the manufactured housing industry who require training: Internal teams across the Manufactured Housing Division, from customer service representatives to inspectors, are also essential to maintaining legally compliant housing.

The team is also in the process of developing training modules in the LMS to help their peers succeed in their roles or move into new ones. With the speed and ease of publishing courses, the team offers special cross-training modules tailored for Department employees who want to become processors and inspectors.

There are also plans to capitalize on the accessibility of the LMS to offer agency-wide general compliance training.

“Using Adobe Learning Manager, we can creatively develop highly technical materials that spark learner engagement and make people better at their jobs. Adobe supports our growth as we meet the increasing demands in the manufactured housing industry,” says Brueschke.

Content as a Service - Monday, October 2, 2023 at 09:18 (no-lazy)

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