Defensive Driving Course (DDC) Online

O/E was contracted by Professional Development Associates (PDA) to develop the DDC Online course for the National Safety Council. The National Safety Council's 8-hour, instructor-led Defensive Driving Course is the most widely used driver safety program in the world. Since introducing the online version, the National Safety Council has been able to reach more users and increase their market.

• More than 30 Fortune 100 companies have trained their employees to drive defensively with DDC Online.
• Over 2.5 million people have taken the course.
• This course may be used to reduce points on a student's driving record, or to possibly reduce policy rates through certain insurance companies. State and county traffic courts have different requirements for online defensive driving training.
• The National Safety Council has been pre-approved by several state and local court programs including: Arizona (statewide); Florida (statewide); Illinois (Cook and Lake Counties); Ohio (Delaware Municipal Court, Marysville Municipal Court, and Union County); Oklahoma (Oklahoma City Municipal Court, other county courts); Tennessee (Nashville Metropolitan General Sessions Court).

In the latest version of the Flash-programmed course, O/E worked with the National Safety Council and Professional Development Associates to add more interactivity and real-life driving simulations. Additionally, the course has been redesigned to include streaming video for high-speed connections or photomontages for lower speed connections. The newest version also includes:

• Updated statistics and driving tips
• How drugs, alcohol, physical conditions, and emotions affect your driving
• Dealing with driver distractions and fatigue
• Dealing with stress and road rage
• Learning the physical forces of a collision
• Understanding the importance and correct use of occupant safety devices

In 2007, DDC Online was recognized for excellence in the education/training category by Horizon Interactive Awards—a leading international interactive media awards competition. "O/E's interactive design and programming execution of the online courses consistently met or exceeded our expectations," says Wade Mezey, President of PDA. "In addition, O/E's project management, sense of urgency, and quality processes ensure that we introduce our products to market in a timely manner."

O/E encourages you to view a demo of the course to experience the overall design for yourself.

Professional Truck Driver

When the National Safety Council decided to convert their 8-hour, instructor-led Professional Truck Driver course to an online format, Professional Development Associates contracted with O/E to deliver a topnotch online course. Programmed in Flash, the first version included state-of-the-art animations and graphics, along with audio narration and engaging learning activities. In 2005, the PTD course was recognized by Brandon Hall Research with a Silver Excellence in Learning award. Since then, the course has been upgraded and now includes several video clips. The course automatically adjusts to the Internet connection speed of the student, showing video clips to those with high-speed Internet access versus photomontages for those with lower speed connections.

The video clips enhance the course and its goal of informing truck drivers of collision prevention techniques while promoting an attitude of mutual understanding, courtesy, and cooperation on the road. Through their collaborative design processes, O/E created an engaging, interactive learning environment where students can analyze real driving situations, spot driving hazards, and identify correct defensive actions.

O/E encourages you to view a demo of the course to experience the overall design for yourself.

Motorcycle Safety

With a track record of developing solid, award-winning courses, Professional Development Associates (PDA) came to O/E to develop a Motorcycle Safety course. This course is unique in that it brought together content from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) and sponsorship from the National Safety Council. One of the primary goals of the MSF is to reduce motorcycle crashes and injuries through quality rider education and training. Using content from the MSF, O/E drew on their instructional design and technical expertise to develop a course that meets this MSF goal and equips motorcyclists with the skills needed to become safe and responsible riders. The course is programmed in Flash and includes animations, graphics, photos, audio narration, video clips, and engaging learning activities. This 2-hour program is offered through traffic courts and schools to educate riders who receive moving violations. Riders can learn techniques and decision making strategies for minimizing risk, as well as additional information and crash avoidance measures that they may not be exposed to otherwise. The program is user-friendly and was designed for those with limited computer skills.

O/E encourages you to view a demo of the course to experience the overall design for yourself.

Standard First Aid, CPR, and AED

The National Safety Council decided to make their Standard First Aid, CPR, and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) course available online. Using the same content as their instructor-led course, students learn basic first aid and CPR, including the latest CPR and emergency cardiac care guidelines, and all the fundamental first aid topics from sudden illness and injury to bleeding, burns, and bites. O/E integrated state-of-the-art animations, graphics, photos, video, audio narration, and learning activities in the design of the course. The animations, graphics, and video demonstrate or visually support the course, while the audio narration explains and reinforces what is being shown to the student.

The National Safety Council requires students to come into one of their training centers for skills testing before awarding them with an official Standard First Aid, CPR, and AED certification card.

In 2007, O/E was recognized for excellence in the education/training category by the Horizon Interactive Awards for their development of the Standard First Aid, CPR, and AED course. Horizon Interactive Awards is a leading international interactive media awards competition.

O/E encourages you to view a demo of the course to experience the overall design for yourself.

Alive at 25®

Realizing the busy schedules of today’s parents, the National Safety Council decided to make their Defensive Driving Course – Alive at 25® Parent Program available online. Based on the Alive at 25® Parent Program classroom course, the online program offers convenient 24/7 access and a bookmark feature for even the busiest parents. The online course also includes links to other resources, including state government Web sites on teenage driving laws.

The National Safety Council developed the Alive at 25® Parent Program to properly prepare teens to drive, and inform parents of the significant risks that their teen drivers face. The 3-hour course identifies those risks and helps parents reinforce basic driving skills and good decision making to help teens become safe, responsible, and defensive drivers. This innovative program gets parents involved in training their teens to drive safely and responsibly by:

• Encouraging parent/teen partnership throughout the entire process—from learning to drive through independent driving
• Offering practical solutions so parents can take responsibility to reduce the unique risks and hazards teen drivers face
• Helping parents understand the need for defensive driver training for teens
• Examining how to approach Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws, in addition to those related to safety belts, speeding, and alcohol and drugs
• Providing a recommended example of an effective Parent/Teen Driver Contract and discussing the importance of how parents and teens can use it to manage their driving experience

Hear more of Wade Mezey’s comments about working with O/E.