Solutions
Solutions for
K-12
K-12
Learn MoreEducator & Staff Training
Educator & Staff Training
Improve compliance and deliver critical professional development with online courses and management system
Learn moreStudent Safety & Wellness Program NEW
Student Safety & Wellness Program
Keep students safe and healthy with safety, well-being, and social and emotional learning courses and lessons
Learn moreProfessional Growth Management
Professional Growth Management
Integrated software to manage and track evaluations and professional development and deliver online training
Learn moreAnonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Anonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Empower your school community to ask for help to improve school safety and prevent crises before they occur
Learn moreIncident & EHS Management
Incident & EHS Management
Streamline safety incident reporting and management to improve safety, reduce risk, and increase compliance
Learn moreHigher Education
Higher Education
Learn MoreStudent Training
Student Training
Increase safety, well-being, and belonging with proven-effective training on critical prevention topics
Learn moreFaculty & Staff Training
Faculty & Staff Training
Create a safe, healthy, and welcoming campus environment and improve compliance with online training courses
Learn moreCampus Climate Surveys
Campus Climate Surveys
Simplify VAWA compliance with easy, scalable survey deployment, tracking, and reporting
Learn moreAnonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Anonymous Reporting & Safety Communications
Empower your faculty, staff, and students to take an active role in protecting themselves and others
Learn moreIncident & EHS Management
Incident & EHS Management
Streamline safety incident reporting and management to improve safety, reduce risk, and increase compliance
Learn moreManufacturing
Manufacturing
Learn MoreSafety Training NEW
Safety Training
Elevate performance and productivity while reducing risk across your entire organization with online training.
Learn moreIndustrial Skills Training NEW
Industrial Skills Training
Close skills gap, maximize production, and drive consistency with online training
Learn morePaper Manufactuing Training
Paper Manufactuing Training
Enhance worker expertise and problem-solving skills while ensuring optimal production efficiency.
Learn moreHR & Compliance
HR & Compliance
Provide role-specific knowledge, develop skills, and improve employee retention with career development training.
Learning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Assign, track, and report role-based skills and compliance training for the entire workforce
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Track, Analyze, Report Health and Safety Activities and Data for the Industrial Workforce
Learn moreSafety Communication
Safety Communication
Enhance the safety for the industrial workforce with two-way risk communications, tools, and resources
Learn moreFire Departments
Fire Departments
Learn MoreTraining Management
Training Management
A training management system tailored for the fire service--track all training, EMS recerts, skill evaluations, ISO, and more in one place
Learn moreCrew Shift Scheduling
Crew Shift Scheduling
Simplify 24/7 staffing and give firefighters the convenience of accepting callbacks and shifts from a mobile device
Learn moreChecks & Inventory Management
Checks & Inventory Management
Streamline truck checks, PPE inspections, controlled substance tracking, and equipment maintenance with a convenient mobile app
Learn moreExposure and Critical Incident Monitoring NEW
Exposure and Critical Incident Monitoring
Document exposures and critical incidents and protect your personnels’ mental and physical wellness
Learn moreEMS
EMS
Learn MoreTraining Management and Recertification
Training Management and Recertification
A training management system tailored for EMS services—EMS online courses for recerts, mobile-enabled skill evaluations, and more
Learn moreEMS Shift Scheduling
EMS Shift Scheduling
Simplify 24/7 staffing and give medics the convenience of managing their schedules from a mobile device
Learn moreInventory Management
Inventory Management
Streamline vehicle checks, controlled substance tracking, and equipment maintenance with a convenient mobile app
Learn moreWellness Monitoring & Exposure Tracking NEW
Wellness Monitoring & Exposure Tracking
Document exposures and critical incidents and protect your personnels’ mental and physical wellness
Learn moreLaw Enforcement
Law Enforcement
Learn MoreTraining and FTO Management
Training and FTO Management
Increase performance, reduce risk, and ensure compliance with a training management system tailored for your FTO/PTO and in-service training
Learn moreEarly Intervention & Performance Management
Early Intervention & Performance Management
Equip leaders with a tool for performance management and early intervention that helps build positive agency culture
Learn moreOfficer Shift Scheduling
Officer Shift Scheduling
Simplify 24/7 staffing and give officers the convenience of managing their schedules from a mobile device
Learn moreAsset Mangagement & Inspections
Asset Mangagement & Inspections
Streamline equipment checks and vehicle maintenance to ensure everything is working correctly and serviced regularly
Learn moreEnergy
Learn MoreSafety Training
Safety Training
Elevate performance and productivity while reducing risk across your entire organization with online training.
Learn moreEnergy Skills Training
Energy Skills Training
Empower your team with skills and safety training to ensure compliance and continuous advancement.
Learn moreHR & Compliance
Provide role-specific knowledge, develop skills, and improve employee retention with career development training.
Learning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Assign, track, and report role-based skills and compliance training for the entire workforce
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Track, analyze, report health and safety activities and data for the industrial workforce
Learn moreLone Worker Safety
Lone Worker Safety
Enhance lone worker safety with two way risk communications, tools, and resources
Learn moreGovernment
Learn MoreFederal Training Management
Federal Training Management
Lower training costs and increase readiness with a unified system designed for high-risk, complex training and compliance operations.
Learn moreMilitary Training Management
Military Training Management
Increase mission-readiness and operational efficiency with a unified system that optimizes military training and certification operations.
Learn moreLocal Government Training Management
Local Government Training Management
Technology to train, prepare, and retain your people
Learn moreFire Marshall Training & Compliance
Fire Marshall Training & Compliance
Improve fire service certification and renewal operations to ensure compliance and a get a comprehensive single source of truth.
Learn moreFire Academy Automation
Fire Academy Automation
Elevate fire academy training with automation software, enhancing efficiency and compliance.
Learn morePOST Training & Compliance
POST Training & Compliance
Streamline your training and standards operations to ensure compliance and put an end to siloed data.
Learn moreLaw Enforcement Academy Automation
Law Enforcement Academy Automation
Modernize law enforcement training with automation software that optimizing processes and centralizes academy information in one system.
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Simplify incident reporting to OSHA and reduce risk with detailed investigation management.
Learn moreArchitecture, Engineering & Construction
Architecture, Engineering & Construction
Learn MoreLearning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Ensure licensed professionals receive compliance and CE training via online courses and learning management.
Learn moreOnline Continuing Education
Online Continuing Education
Keep AEC staff licensed in all 50 states for 100+ certifications with online training
Learn moreTraining
Training
Drive organizational success with training that grows skills and aligns with the latest codes and standards
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Track, Analyze, Report Health and Safety Activities and Data for AEC Worksites
Learn moreHR & Compliance
HR & Compliance
Provide role-specific knowledge, develop skills, and improve employee retention with career development training.
Safety Communication
Safety Communication
Enhance AEC workforce safety with two-way risk communications, tools, and resources
Learn moreCasino
Casino
Learn MoreAnti-Money Laundering Training
Anti-Money Laundering Training
Reduce risk in casino operations with Title 31 and Anti-Money Laundering training compliance
Learn moreEmployee Training
Employee Training
Deliver our leading AML and casino-specific online courses to stay compliant with national and state standards
Learn moreLearning Management System (LMS)
Learning Management System (LMS)
Streamline training operations, increase employee effectiveness, and reduce liability with our LMS for casinos
Learn moreEHS Management
EHS Management
Simplify incident reporting to OSHA and reduce risk with detailed investigation management
Learn moreEmployee Scheduling
Employee Scheduling
Equip your employees with a mobile app to manage their schedules and simplify your 24/7 staff scheduling
Learn moreIndustries
Industry
Resources
Resource Center
Expert insights to boost training
Resource type
Course Catalogs
Company
Course Center
There are many ways to make better paper manufacturing training materials, and as a result make it easier for paper manufacturing workers to gain the knowledge and skills they need to perform their jobs well. And that in turn makes the paper manufacturing companies those people work for more productive, efficient, and profitable.
One way is to include well-designed graphics, videos, and other visuals as part of your training materials. That’s true no matter what kind of training you’re talking about: if you’re leading instructor-led training, putting together a PowerPoint presentation, creating written training materials, developing your own eLearning courses for online learning, or getting paper manufacturing online courses from a training provider.
But it’s not entirely simple. You can’t just create any visuals. Some visuals will make your training more effective, and others will make it less effective. There’s a mix of art and science to using the right visuals, and it’s based on what experts know about how people learn.
In the article below, we’ve included some general guidelines that you can follow to create effective visuals for your own training materials. Or, to evaluate training materials made by others. Follow these tips and you’ll dramatically improve the quality of any visuals in your training and, as a result, the effectiveness of your training materials for paper manufacturing employees.
We’ve also written a second article on visuals for paper manufacturing training that extends the lessons in this one.
Before you begin, feel free to watch the short video below to get an idea of what compelling workforce training visuals can do.
You might also be interested in our guide to online training for paper manufacturers.
Convergence Training are experts in workforce training for pulp, paper, tissue, and corrugated industries.
Click the links below to learn more about how we can help you.
All training should have a goal—what you want the employee(s) who are taking the training to be able to do when the training is over. This instructional goal will be in the form of one or more learning objective.
In the same way, you should have a goal for each visual put into your training materials. And that goal should be to help your employees satisfy the learning objective(s) for the training.
And so it follows from those two points that every visual should support or match the instructional goals of the training—the learning objectives.
Let’s look at that more closely. There are two components to it. First, you’ve got to have learning objectives. Below is a sample of the beginning of an Introduction to Paper and Board Machines training course. The learner can see the learning objectives clearly listed before the training begins. And you’ve used the learning objectives to make sure you’re providing the correct training content.
If having learning objectives is the first component of this, then the second component is to include visuals in the training that help your employees satisfy those learning objectives.
For example, in the course shown above, one of the learning objectives states that the employees must be able to “describe different types of forming sections, including Fourdrinier,” when the course is over.
It follows, then, that the course should include visuals to help your employees learn to describe the forming section of a Fourdrinier paper machine. Like the twpimage below,
The first image shows where a forming section is on a paper machine.
The second image explains a Foudrdrinier forming section.
Another way to make sure your visuals help to create an effective learning experience is to make sure they are properly matched to the text or spoken words.
This may seem obvious, but many times training materials include visuals that are only somewhat related to the training topic. What’s worse, it’s not unusual to see images that are totally unrelated, either. For example, I’ve seen safety training materials that included a picture of a pumpkin just because the training session was happening sometime around Halloween.
By contrast, consider the video below, which is one screen from a Pulping and Papermaking Overview training course. The visuals and audio are synced to reinforce what the employee is supposed to learn–there’s nothing distracting, unrelated, or poorly timed.
In the section above, I mentioned that I’ve seen photos of pumpkins in a safety training presentation simply because the training was held sometime around Halloween.
That’s an example of an unrelated visual. It doesn’t support the training or learning process in any way, it risks distracting or confusing the employees, and it shouldn’t be there. Chances are you’ve seen unrelated visuals in training, too.
By contrast, look at the image below, taken from a Paper Machine Drying training course. This section of the course explains dyer hoods. You’ll see we’ve temporarily removed all background imagery–the room but also other parts of the machine. And we’ve highlighted and labeled the dryer hood to draw more attention to the key point the audio is talking about at the time.
That’s a related image free of potential distractions, and that’s effective training.
No, we don’t mean outer space here, though it’s fun to think about job training for astronauts.
What we’re talking about now is using visuals to help workers learn about things that exist in the real world: like the machinery and equipment they work with on the job.
For example, consider the video sample below, taken from a Green Liquor Clarifiers training course.
The video does a great job of illustrating what a sedimentation clarifier looks like in the real world and how it works.
It goes one step further, too, to show something that an ordinary picture or video couldn’t—it shows the rake sweeping through the green liquor inside the clarifier, taking advantage of a unique possibility of animated training videos that include 3D animations.
Another real strength of effective visuals is the ability to illustrate a cause-and effect relationship.
For example, consider the image below, taken from a Paper Machine Winder Slitting training course.
The image shows the winders lined up along a sheet running through a winder. This is a victory in itself, as it’s difficult to see this in real life safely.
But the image also uses the green highlights to demonstrate the function of slitters—slitting the paper sheet lengthwise. As you may know, the actual separation of the sheet is very difficult or nearly impossible to truly see in real life.
Our final general tip is to create training and visuals that engage your employees in an active learning experience. Active learning experiences are always more effective learning experiences (check this article for more on active learning and other adult learning principles).
For example, consider the interactive question screen below from an Air-Padded Headbox training course. The interactivity helps to keep the employees engaged in the learning experience, and the visual aspect helps make it clear that the question is directly related to the job.
If the visuals in your training materials follow and take advantage of the guidelines listed above, you’re well on your way to developing an effective training program for paper manufacturing employees.
What about you? Do you have some of your own ideas about what makes a visual an effective training aid? If so, share them with us below.
And feel free to download the free guide below, which is all about using online paper manufacturing training materials, including online paper manufacturing training courses and a learning management system (LMS), at your paper manufacturing facility to improve the knowledge and skills of your workers.