The Academy is a collection courses made up of videos, articles, quizzes and interactive features that provide our clients with the training materials they need to make the most of our services. In addition to offering training on our analysis platforms, the Academy provides both a grounding in the features of clean water networks for new starters to the industry and recommended analysis techniques that ensure analysts of all skill levels share a common understanding of key concepts.

Whilst the industry continues to drive forward in the pursuit of challenging performance commitments, we are seeing an aging and retiring workforce, higher levels of staff turnover, and a skills and training gap for new starters. Without formalised training resources and reference materials, new starters often have to learn on the job, which takes time and risks knowledge being lost.

Whether a new starter or an old hand, the Academy aims to be of use to everyone. With courses laid out as a logical progression of topics, and badges awarded for the successful completion of short multiple-choice quizzes at the end, analysts benefit from building their knowledge from the ground up. Through the badge system, analysts’ progression through the courses is measurable, ensuring a steady pace of learning, with additional more detailed courses available on specific topics of interest.

Click into the interactive graphic below to learn more about the features that are available to users.

Academy Interactive Graphic 2

People learn in different ways and so the Academy offers written articles to support and expand on the content in the module videos.

Users can jump to an overview page showing all their courses and completion status.

Users are awarded badges for completing courses and easily review and print their progress.

A case study map has been included to show the good uses that Paradigm is being put to around the country.​

Each course group contains a collection of courses, further split down into individual modules on specific topics.​

Client testimonials

Features of the Academy

Structured courses

Users follow a defined path through each course to ensure a solid foundation for further learning. While users can start any course they like, modules are followed sequentially to build knowledge as part of a logical progression. Users are awarded a certificate at the end of the course and the achievement of badges tracks overall progress.

Learner testing

Each course is passed on completion of a short multiple choice test to ensure learners are ready to progress to the next subject. The quizzes reinforce the key aspects of the modules in each course and allow more experienced analysts to quickly complete modules they already have a good understanding of.

Learning styles

We know that different people learn in different ways and so the Academy contains a mixture of articles, videos and quizzes alongside an interactive case study map to enhance learning.

Deeper understanding

Additional library content allow users to delve into more complicated areas of the service functionality and wider understanding of network operations, for example pressure management and acoustic logging.

Benefits of the Academy

Suitable for all

The Academy can be used to introduce new starters to the industry to key concepts or by old hands looking for a refresher. The platform ensures a consistent base level of knowledge among all staff.

Wider understanding

The Academy features specific training on SME Water’s innovative Services as well as more general learning about water networks.

Tracked progression

Understand how your users have engaged with the platform thanks to the badge system.

Regular updates

We continue to add content to the Academy to ensure a well rounded knowledge base is available for our clients’ staff.

Example module video

Below is an example of a video module from the Academy. In this module, users are introduced to the basics of pressure optimisation as part of the introductory group of courses, titled ‘A Foundation in Water Networks’.

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