Challenge
Braddock Farms, one of Grow Pittsburgh's three production sites, needed a way to welcome new crew members and work traders. New staff had to learn the mission, the community, workplace and food safety, and harvest and wash-pack procedures, but the organization had no authoring software or learning management system.
Approach
With the farm manager as lead stakeholder, I ran a needs assessment that included on-site observations and interviews with the manager and learners. I recommended a blended approach: job aids and online training used alongside on-the-job practice. After a task analysis of farm procedures, I wrote a detailed outline of the online modules. Once it was approved, I built them with an H5P plugin on the organization's WordPress site as a workaround for the missing tools.
Outcome
Learners said the FAQ answered questions they already had. The "Fielding Questions" branching scenario stood out: one learner had to answer a visitor's question soon after taking it, just as she had practiced. I have maintained the modules over later seasons and expanded them to the other production sites.