Posted on 3 March 2020
Online learning through the iQualify platform will soon complement on-the-job training for hundreds of hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy apprentices, industry trainees and gateway trainees throughout the country.
After an extensive search the New Zealand Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty Therapy Industry Training Organisation has chosen iQualify as its new learning management system for support, facilitation and assessment.
iQualify is owned by New Zealand’s leading provider of online and distance education, Open Polytechnic.
Open Polytechnic Chief Executive Dr Caroline Seelig says the agreement will see HITO and Open Polytechnic work together to ensure outcomes for apprentices and the industry are improved through engaging content and an intuitive, modern learning platform.
“We are pleased to be working alongside HITO to give many of New Zealand’s hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy learners a valuable learning experience as they begin their careers in the industry,” Dr Seelig says.
iQualify Chief Technology Officer Shanan Holm says iQualify will give HITO apprentices and trainees access to their courses online, anytime.
“Students will be able to access iQualify through a number of devices and there are a lot of great features that make the online learning experience interesting, engaging and fun,” he says.
Mr Holm says the needs of learners and users were central to the initial design of iQualify.
“We continue to constantly develop new features and make changes based on user feedback,” he says. “We are committed to providing learners with a 21st Century online learning experience that supports them to achieve.”
HITO Chief Executive Kay Nelson says the organisation is excited about the ability of iQualify to bring meaningful trainee support and assessment to its industries. The system was chosen for high usability, and the ability for workplace training to be facilitated in a way that engages industry.
“We are thrilled to be moving HITO into the digital support space. iQualify delivered on all the criteria we had on our wish list for an intelligent, intuitive system. The platform will improve our ability to support trainees to become 100% qualified and we are excited to launch it.
“As an industry training organisation, HITO is delighted to partner with the Open Polytechnic to bring about mutual benefits in training and education and the opportunity to collaborate in a number of ways.”
Since its launch in 2015 iQualify has attracted a number of high profile users, including Auckland University of Technology, the University of Melbourne and Scots College in Wellington.
For further information about iQualify, visit the iQualify website.