Aeryon builds high-performance drones for military, public safety, and commercial customers around the world. Training customers to operate the aircraft and to plan and carry out safe and successful flight operations is an important part of their business.

In the past, all training was conducted in-person by Aeryon trainers, with the Pilot Operating Manual serving as the primary reference material.

Education Services was brought in to help re-envision the training experience with special emphasis on the opportunity to make the training more engaging and effective, accessible by more customers at a lower cost, and with greater consistency even when taught by strategic partners or a customer’s own trainers.

The project included overall design of the entire Level 1 pilot training program, creation of standardized evaluation forms for use by trainers during the in-person training sessions, to certify that each participant can properly assemble and disassemble the aircraft, correctly plan and perform a variety of flight operations, and operate in a safe and professional manner.

The first half of the course was re-envisioned as an online experience that students can complete at their own pace. The second half of the course is taught in person by trained Aeryon instructors, including multiple field sessions where each participant has an opportunity to practice flying the actual aircraft while being evaluated by the instructor.

Even though the fully in-person training format is still offered, most customers now elect to use the online “pre-learning” modules followed by a much shorter on-site session. This format saves time and money and results in a better experience and higher customer satisfaction because trainees arrive ready to fly.

For this project, we utilized the Successive Approximation Model, also known as SAM. SAM is a variation of the widely known ADDIE model that uses rapid prototypes and iteration to solidify and deliver the customer’s vision. This model has four phases: preparation, design, development, and rollout.

The preparation phase is used to determine business goals, learning objectives, learner profiles, and other instructional design needs.

The goal of the online training was for pilots to develop as much of the knowledge and skill in advance as possible, so that when participants attend the in-person training they can spend less time in the classroom and more time in the field, flying the aircraft under the trainer’s supervision.

The primary audience for this training is comprised of military, public safety, and commercial operators. They are typically busy men with physically active jobs who are often required by their employers to complete the training.  

Based on the goals and learner profiles, it was determined that the online training needed to be concise, gamified, applicable, and interactive to encourage the trainees to complete the lessons prior to their in-person training.

The Design phase was focused on the course structure and content, and selection of an appropriate content authoring tool.

We selected Storyline 360 as the authoring tool because it allows for a high degree of customization, interaction, and media use to meet the training goals. JavaScript and xAPI allowed us to create experiences not possible with the native tools alone, integrate seamlessly with the learning platform, personalize the training portal for each participant, and enables instructor tools like reports that show when each student starts, progresses, and finishes each training module and allowing instructors to award Certificates of Completion to participants who pass all the required online activities and in-person flight evaluations.

For this project, the Development phase was used to build the training and continuously improve it with each release, typically corresponding with new versions of the Aeryon products and based on stakeholder and user feedback.

Considering their customer profile, we focused on making the training engaging and interesting with lots of media, interaction, and other active learning techniques. For example, every module begins with a short video that shows and explains what this module is about and why it’s important to learn. Even simple things like learning the names and purpose of each control icon in the flight control software has been transformed. Students no longer read pages of text descriptions. Now they engage an interactive gamified activity where students learn by exploring and marking off each item as they learn it.

We also pushed the boundaries of what skills can be learned online by building guided-practice pseudo-simulations that first demonstrate and explain how to perform a flight activity then lead the student through the same activity with audible and on-screen prompts, much like how the instructor would do if they were sitting together in person. After practicing in the pseudo-simulators, trainees can practice using the actual flight control software that has been seamlessly integrated with the online course.

This training has gone through several iterations based on collaboration with Aeryon leadership, trainers, and customers, and is a great example of the impact that well-designed online learning can have.

The Rollout phase was focused on implementing the training on two different learning platforms.

Aeryon Labs serves their global customers through a commercial platform running in the public cloud. Education Services was engaged to lead the platform evaluation and selection process, ensuring the system could meet current and future needs and can be managed in-house by existing staff.

Aeryon Defense USA serves their customers through a custom training platform built by Education Services that runs in a private cloud. This system was designed to meet special requirements for their US military customers. The platform utilizes xAPI to track all learner activity, and it allows learners to navigate easily between modules, see their progress, and pick up right where they left off last time. It also allows their trainers and other group leaders to maintain their own course rosters and award Certificates of Completion to participants who pass all the necessary requirements and flight evaluations.