Online education collaboration

(Posted on 22/05/20)

BIMCO, Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and Ocean Technologies Group subsidiary Videotel have partnered to create a high-quality, accessible educational resource to help maritime students across the globe to continue their studies remotely during the coronavirus pandemic

BIMCO, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and Ocean Technologies Group maritime eLearning subsidiary Videotel have joined forces to provide access to a wealth of self-study material via the institute’s learning management system. The ICS Online Academy is free for all registered students until the end of July 2020 and will enable them to use eLearning material jointly produced by use BIMCO and Videotel in preparation for Institute exams by giving them greater access to quality education and maritime resources.

“ICS Online Academy is a really unique project which has allowed BIMCO and Videotel to collaborate with the Institute for the benefit of the maritime community, especially students who are struggling to stay on track with their learning during the current crisis. The combined technical, educational and subject-specialist skills that have gone into building the Academy really demonstrates the dedication to quality of learning rather than a purely commercial focus,” said Julie Lithgow, Director of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

Angus Frew, BIMCO Secretary General & CEO said, “BIMCO is very happy to donate this material. In the hands of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, it will be put to good use and hopefully bring a lot of new people into the industry.”

The Academy was soft-launched earlier this year and has already been tested by over 300 students from locations as varied as Lagos, Kenya, Singapore, Tanzania, the UK and Canada. The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers made the decision to bring forward the scheduled launch of the project to assist students suffering as a result of the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus.

“As a global learning and operational technology company, Ocean Technologies Group is driven to help to make the industry safer, stronger and able to excel. Partnering with BIMCO and the Institute for Chartered Shipbrokers for this new initiative means that students in developing countries will have access to the same high-quality resources as they would find in well-established maritime learning centres and can continue their studies and training during the coronavirus pandemic,” said Manish Singh, Chief Executive Officer at Ocean Technologies Group.

The ICS Online Academy can be accessed via computer using the following link https://icsonline.academy/ or using the free Moodle app for both iOS and Android. The learning platform is specifically designed to support learners in developing countries. Users in locations with poor or unstable connectivity are able to download courses, work offline and submit their work when reconnected.