For Hänschen - and for Hans
Continuing Education: The Swiss Printing Industry Association is stepping up its efforts.
an industry characterized by technological upheaval. Above all the
The last twenty years have left no stone unturned. The
Offset printing has replaced letterpress printing, and above all the desktop
Publishing retired the typesetting systems. The arrival of the
Electronics and automation have also brought about changes in the
print finishing. And the innovations go
PDF/X, Adobe's new PDF/X and the new
Creative Suite or even new approaches to publishing such as remote or
Called cross-media publishing.
The showpiece learn4print
On the initiative of René Theiler, who works for the Association of Swiss
Printing industry - VSD for short - for training and safety
responsible, new electronic tools have been and are being
developed for further training. They are intended to support the ongoing
changes to a large extent.
The VSD's showpiece is the interactive learning platform "learn 4print".
Several so-called learning modules are organized by subject area.
summarized. "With our modular eLearning platform",
says Theiler, "those with access rights can continue their education - online
and whenever they want." The furthest we have come with the
Changes most affected by prepress. Without
applications here, basic and advanced applications are interactively defined.
specialist knowledge.
The modules, which were developed together with the German Association of
machine suppliers (VDMA) under the leadership of Theiler and mainly
were developed by Swiss authors, are the first approaches of
eLearning in the graphic arts industry. The learn4print platform offers
is the first web course to offer a certificate of completion. At the address
www.learn4print.com, for example, polygraph apprentices or
lateral entrants can acquire specialist knowledge after paying a fee.
Electronic learning workshop
The learning workshop accessible at www.vsd.ch pursues a different approach.
approach. Their focus is on the apprenticeship trainers. For the
Polygraph apprentices from all apprenticeship years can take part in exercises on the
Download available. Together with a job description, the trainees are
are asked to perform tasks with the help of step-by-step instructions
to be executed. The password-protected area is protected by a
Annual fee for interested trainers and their apprentices
accessible.
The basis of the learning workshop is a program that covers the entire four-year apprenticeship.
roadmap. More than 90 modules from the following areas
Image, layout, graphics, data and design thus relieve the
apprenticeship trainers and also structure the training.
From practice for practice
"The practical guide - like learn4print and the learning workshop - is also
from the collaboration with a team of authors from specialist teachers and
lecturers. In addition, we asked experts from the teaching supervision
and Examination Commission Zurich (LPK)," explains René Theiler
what he calls the "third instance" training approach. The
The practical guide presents itself primarily as a basic teaching aid for
the teaching company. The arc of the practical guide
spans from checklists and target definitions to
Assessment sheets, training courses, maintenance plans, instructions for
PDF creation up to the school year in question
Final theses. Two examples: Printers can take the course "Machine
clean" this often neglected but eminently important process
and find out what you need to bear in mind. The course
"Designing a flyer" does not turn the users into a kind of
Directors, but points out essential criteria to be considered when designing
must be observed. Included are image materials that can be edited and
later be compiled together with the text to form a layout.
Overall, the association thus presents a very broad range of products for
training and further education, which, adds Theiler, "is not
is only open to members of our association".
Jürgen Franck
