Title: Case study: Module One Lámh Blended Learning Course

Client: Lámh

About Lámh

Lámh is the manual sign system used by children and adults with intellectual disability and communication needs in Ireland. Lámh supports communication – between parents and child, between siblings, between friends and can be a stepping stone to communicating with the world. Lámh was originally developed in the early 1980s in order to have a unified, standardised, Irish-based approach to signing for those with intellectual disabilities and communication needs. Lámh deliver a range of face-to-face courses to suit the different training needs of families, professionals and other communication partners. The training not only involves learning signs but the skills necessary to implement a signing programme. Lámh the organisation develops, promotes and maintains Lámh as an augmentative system of communication for people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland.

Business Challenge

Lámh training not only involves learning signs but the skills necessary to implement a signing programme. Lámh’s most popular training, Module One Lámh Course, is designed forstaff members and professionals who work in an environment where Lámh is used. This training helps participants encourage and support the child or adult with communication needs as well as learning the Lámh signs. The Module One Lámh Course has traditionally been delivered in the classroom over approximately six hours.

Social distancing requirements and stay at home orders as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that existing Lámh face-to-face training was no longer feasible. As a result, Lámh needed to transform their Module One Lámh Course to make it available for online delivery.

Our Solution

The Learning Rooms partnered with Lámh to help them develop a blended learning programme consisting of six 30 minute online lessons and a live signing session with a Lámh tutor. The modern, interactive online lessons empower participants with the knowledge they need to best support Lámh users. Topics covered include an Introduction to Communication; Augmented and Alternative Communication; About Lámh; Assessment and Planning; Learning and Using Lámh; and Recording, Reviewing and Next Steps. The online lessons, accessible on all types of device, are enriched with case studies, animations, quizzes and interactive content. They also feature videos of Lámh tutors, previous participants and demonstrations of Lámh signs. Following completion of the eLearning, participants engage in a live signing session with their Lámh Tutor. This is designed to support them to learn 100 Lámh signs to use with the Lámh users they work with. The highly engaging course is delivered through the Lámh eLearning hub, which provides Lámh with a Moodle platform for delivering courses to their wide range of clients.

Key project features:

• Articulate Rise 360
• Video and audio learning
• Case studies
• Animations
• Interactive and engaging content
• Rapid turnaround eLearning
• Moodle.

“We recently contracted The Learning Rooms to produce an online version of our Module One Lámh Course. The Learning Rooms worked closely with us over a number of months to ensure that along with our course content, the tone and clarity of the online course matched that of our face-to-face training. The Learning Rooms included animations that illustrate the key points of the training wonderfully.”

Mary Cullen, Manager, Lámh