What Makes Technical Maritime e-Learning Effective Online?

Article by Angus Ferguson, Technical Director at Onboard Maritime

In short: Effective technical maritime content is learner-centred, outcome-led, interactive where appropriate, accessible, technically accurate and designed for the real operating environment. For maritime e-learning, that also means accounting for factors such as low or intermittent bandwidth, multilingual learners, shipboard working conditions and the need to maintain regulatory and technical accuracy over time.

Full article

A slide deck can be a useful source for an online course, but it is not a digital learning experience. Effective maritime e-learning begins with the learner, the operational outcome and the environment in which the knowledge will be used.

One of the first questions clients ask is: how long will it take to turn this presentation into an e-learning module?

It is a reasonable question, but development time depends on much more than the number of slides. A presentation designed for a live instructor usually relies on explanation, discussion, questions and professional judgement that are not visible on the screen. When it moves online, those missing parts must be designed into the learning.

There are strong reasons to make the move. A well-designed online course can:

• reach learners across vessels, offices, training centres and time zones

• reduce the travel, accommodation and release-time costs associated with classroom attendance

• allow people to learn at a suitable time and revisit difficult material

• deliver a consistent core message across a fleet or organisation

• record participation, assessment results and other useful learning data

Those benefits do not come from uploading slides to a learning management system. They come from making deliberate decisions about the audience, outcomes, interaction, assessment, technology and long-term upkeep of the course.

Who will use the course?

The design should begin with a clear picture of the learner.

 A cadet meeting a subject for the first time needs a different route through the content from an experienced chief engineer completing refresher training.

The role, existing knowledge, first language, digital confidence and access to support will all influence the level of explanation and the activities required.

Maritime learning is also international. Technical terms may be shared across the industry, but examples, humour, assumptions and ways of giving instructions do not always travel well. Content should be checked for unexplained abbreviations, local expressions and cultural references that could distract from the intended meaning.

Plain English is particularly important where English is a learner's second or third language.

How will people take part?

The course may be synchronous, with learners and an instructor together in a webinar or live online session. It may be asynchronous, allowing learners to work through recorded and interactive material in their own time. In many cases, a blended approach is stronger, such as used in our Master Oral Exam Preparation Course. Online content provides a consistent foundation, while tutorials, practical work or facilitated discussion allow questions and professional experience to be explored.

This decision affects more than scheduling. An asynchronous course must contain the explanations, guidance and feedback that a classroom instructor would normally provide. A live element can support discussion and clarification, but it should add value rather than compensate for unclear self-study material.

What should the learner be able to do?

Clear learning outcomes give the course its direction. They determine what information is necessary, what activities learners should complete and how achievement will be assessed. Each outcome should state what the learner will be able to do by the end of the course and at what level.

Effective outcomes:

• use an observable action, such as identify, calculate, assess, demonstrate or justify

• set a clear level of expected performance

• use language that the intended learner can understand

• align with the course activities and the final assessment

Terms such as know, understand, appreciate and be familiar with are usually too vague on their own.

The revised Bloom's taxonomy is a useful prompt when selecting verbs, but the final wording must still reflect the real maritime task.

What level of interaction is needed?

Interaction should serve the learning, not decorate the screen. Clicking a marker, opening a tab or dragging a label may help maintain attention, but it does not automatically create deeper learning.

The appropriate level depends on what the learner must achieve.

Level of Interaction in Learning	Useful for	Maritime example
Reactive	Checking recognition or recall	Identify the correct item of personal protective equipment
Proactive	Exploring information and making choices	Investigate a machinery fault and select the next check
Generative	Applying judgement to create or justify a response	Develop and defend a safe course of action in an operational scenario

A 2024 review of e-learning interactivity distinguishes between simple responses, learner-controlled exploration and more demanding activities in which learners generate ideas or solutions.

Its practical message is not that every course needs maximum interactivity. The interaction must align with the outcome, remain easy to use and avoid adding unnecessary mental effort.

Where will the learning be applied?

Technical maritime learning is rarely valuable as information alone. It must support action in an engine room, on the bridge, on deck, in a control room or during an emergency. The closer an activity is to the decisions and constraints of that environment, the easier it is for learners to connect new knowledge with their existing experience.

Constructivist and experiential approaches treat learners as active participants who build understanding through experience, reflection and application. For course designers, this means using realistic problems, decisions and consequences rather than relying entirely on explanation. A learner might inspect a virtual workspace, diagnose a fault, sequence a procedure or respond to changing conditions. Feedback can then explain not only whether the choice was correct, but why it was appropriate and what the consequences of a different action could be.

This approach is especially valuable for experienced professionals. Their prior knowledge should be used as a resource, while unsafe assumptions or outdated practice should be challenged through credible evidence and realistic situations.

Is media required? Use media where it adds meaning

Animation, video, 3D models and augmented reality can make technical systems and processes easier to inspect. They are most useful when they reveal something that is difficult, dangerous, expensive or impossible to observe directly: the flow through a fuel system, the internal movement of machinery, the development of structural stress or the consequence of an incorrect action.

A 2025 study involving 52 primary pupils reported improved science outcomes after the introduction of augmented-reality learning materials. That small study cannot be treated as direct evidence for maritime professionals. It does, however, illustrate a sound design principle: visual technology earns its place when it helps learners examine an otherwise abstract process. Novelty alone is not a learning outcome.

Can everyone access and use it?

Accessibility should be considered from the beginning, not checked at the end. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, provide an internationally recognised framework for making digital content perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

In practical terms, an online course should include:

• captions for video and a suitable alternative for important audio

• clear contrast and information that does not depend on colour alone

• keyboard access for learners who cannot use a mouse

• meaningful alternative text for informative images

• clear headings, consistent navigation and plain language

Accessibility improves the experience for a much wider group than those with a declared disability. Captions help in noisy workplaces; transcripts support learners using English as an additional language; and simple navigation helps anyone completing training under time pressure or on a small screen.

How should maritime e-learning work in low-bandwidth and shipboard environments?

A course that performs well on an office connection may be frustrating at sea. Before development begins, the team should understand the devices learners will use, the likely bandwidth, whether access may be intermittent and whether audio is practical in the workplace. Large video files, detailed 3D models and constant online checks can prevent access if they are not optimised.

Studies have found that the speed, availability and cost of internet access have a major effect on how e-learning is used. The underlying principles are: design for the learner's realistic conditions, not the developer's ideal conditions.

In maritime delivery, this may mean compressed media, downloadable resources such as on a mobile app, progress that saves reliably and an offline or low-bandwidth route where required.

How will the course stay accurate?

Maritime content may depend on regulations, company procedures, equipment and accepted industry practice. Accuracy at launch is not enough. Source documents should be identified, technical review and approval should be recorded, and the course should be built so that changes can be made without rebuilding everything.

The development plan should therefore cover ownership, review dates, version control and the process for responding to regulatory or operational change. Learning data may show where users struggle, but completion statistics alone do not prove competence. Assessment evidence must remain connected to the intended outcome and, where necessary, supported by observation or practical assessment.

Summary: From slides to effective learning

An existing presentation can provide a valuable starting point. It may contain approved technical information, useful diagrams and the knowledge of an experienced instructor. The real development work is to uncover the teaching that sits around those slides and redesign it for learners who may be working independently, in another country and under very different operating conditions.

The strongest online maritime courses are clear about who they are for, what learners must be able to do and how the course will help them apply that knowledge safely. When those decisions come first, technology becomes a practical tool for learning rather than an expensive way to display a presentation.

Key takeaways

• Design starts with the learner — role, experience level, first language, digital confidence

• Every course needs clear, observable outcomes (not vague verbs like "understand")

• Interaction should match the task, not just add clicks

• Learning must work in the real operating environment — low bandwidth, shared devices, noisy workspaces

• Accessibility (WCAG) and accuracy over time are designed in from the start, not bolted on later

Sources

Ismail, A. M. A. (2024). Exploring the Levels of eLearning Interactivity: A Review of Research Literature. Journal of Ecohumanism, 3(7), 2997-3024. https://doi.org/10.62754/joe.v3i7.4693

Selinger, M. (2004). Cultural and pedagogical implications of a global e-learning programme. Cambridge Journal of Education, 34(2), 223-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640410001700589

Hermayanti, F. and Setyasto, N. (2025). Development of E-Learning Materials Assisted by Augmented Reality on the Material of the Form of Matter and its Changes to Improve Learning Outcomes of Elementary School Students. Jurnal Penelitian Pendidikan IPA, 11(1), 329-341. https://doi.org/10.29303/jppipa.v11i1.10218

UK Government Digital Service. Understanding WCAG 2.2. https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/understanding-wcag

World Wide Web Consortium. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2. https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/