A candidate's experience of an online AgilePM Foundation and Practitioner course and exam

Covid-19 dramatically changed the world; as much for businesses as it did for consumers. Lockdown forced people to radically alter the way they behave and interact, making BAU a thing of the past!

For example, Microsoft Teams was the go-to platform for companies wanting to collaborate remotely. Suddenly, with everything turned on its head we discovered new ways to complete our tasks. Case & point the meteoric rise of Zoom (founded in 2011) which is now providing businesses with alternatives to the established norms.

There are similarities in education as well. Online learning has been around for decades and is now experiencing a spike in popularity as businesses used the 2020 pandemic as an opportunity to upskill staff from the safety of their own homes.

For some, the idea of “learning online” conjured up visions of wading through online ‘packs’ and haphazardly thrown together test papers. For others it seemed too alien & daunting as it was their first online classroom experience in decades. I’m here to tell you that things have changed! Certainly, some ATOs in the APMG arena have embraced it as a need and see it as an opportunity. As always, it is about suitability. Using e-learning when it is most appropriate.

Countless respectable institutions are embracing online learning to make the delivery of courses quicker, more efficient, & more affordable. Not least Universities which have recognised that this might be the new norm. It has just taken the ‘necessity’ of lockdown to encourage both sceptics & those unaware of the option to give-online-a-go.

I’m no stranger to online learning. One of my previous jobs was marketing online degrees for a popular & respected University. The courses on offer included BAs, Masters & various Certificates/Diplomas - all legitimate, all officially accredited, all delivered 100% online!

The sector has gone from strength to strength with many more recognised universities & providers joining the trend of offering their courses via the web. When Red Brick universities like Cambridge & Oxford embrace the internet era you know it’s here to stay.

I wanted to use lockdown to develop my skill set & formalise my experience with internationally recognised qualifications. I wanted to learn more about Agile Project Management having worked in Agile environments before. So I set out to find a self-fundable offering.

Participating in a physical classroom setting was obviously out of the question, so I looked for alternative modes of delivery. I found a provider who delivers the APMG Agile PM Foundation & Practitioner course in one of three ways:

1. In-person learning - not possible due to social distancing
2. Distance learning - where you study the course material alone & at your own pace.
3. Online learning - where you’re guided through the course materials by a tutor/sector specialist.

I opted for...you guessed it...Online Learning.

I was sent the pre-reading as a PDF, I dialled in via the online platform & sat the moderated exams online.

The tutor for my course was excellent! A gent by the name of Armando Ruffini from the Knowledge Academy. He was as passionate & knowledgeable as my lecturers at Warwick, an expert in his field with 20 years of hands-on experience of the curriculum he was imparting. Despite never meeting Armando face-to-face, never shaking his hand or loitering by his desk to ask follow up questions, he delivered the material as well as if we had been breathing the same contaminated air!

The video connection was consistent and the audio clear. We were free to chip in with additional thoughts or ask questions as Armando walked us through the syllabus with a professional slide deck. The personal touch came from Armando’s personalised slides where he added clarity, additional information & case studies from his career.

This wasn’t a dry experience of just reading a course textbook, it was a fully realised curriculum with the act of understanding baked in as a key ingredient. We even did breakouts in smaller groups to discuss the material & carry out activities. 

My class was limited to a group of 12, like the offline courses, to ensure it was suitably intimate enough. When polled at the end of the course, 11 said that online had worked for them as well as being in the classroom.

Online learning isn’t going to be for everybody, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for the majority. As long as you’ve got a computer, a microphone & access to the internet you’re all set.

The only downsides I see are for those who:

• Don’t like reading on a screen
  • Solution: You can purchase the physical APMG manual & print the slide deck
• Are easily distracted if you aren’t being held to account
  • Solution: We took regular breaks & were encouraged to engage in discussions
• Have unreliable technology
  • Solution: If you hosted a family Zoom during lockdown then you’ve got the capability

I am delighted to say I am now a fully qualified AgilePM Practitioner having taken both the Foundation and Practitioner exams remotely.

I enjoyed learning online so much that the following week I took an online Scrum Master qualification with the same provider & I saw familiar faces from the Agile PM course!

The world was forever changed by the 2020 Corona outbreak & one of the biggest areas is our adaptation to a new world online. Whether this is businesses using new tools, employers incorporating more flexibility into contracts or employees upskilling online.

So, the next time you or your employer suggests training, rather than schlepping to a city centre conference room, consider doing it online...11/12 people will be glad they did!