The National Highway Institute (NHI) is the training and education arm of FHWA, helping to improve the performance of the transportation industry by providing leadership and resources to guide the development and delivery of transportation-related training in various formats, including classroom and Internet-based learning. Established by Congress in 1970, NHI’s technical training portfolio is developed and delivered in collaboration with FHWA’s Resource Center, program offices, State DOTs, local agencies, and industry partners, which encourages nationwide application of state-of-the-practice techniques.
Workforce Development
NHI has released the handbook, Learner’s First: Creating Engaging and Interactive Learning Experiences. The handbook provides instructors, project managers, subject matter experts, and instructional designers with tools and techniques to help make courses more interactive and engaging. The book provides background information to help designers select the most appropriate options and instructions, as well as examples to help them replicate the strategy or tool in a course. Chapters 1 and 2 target course designers, while Chapter 3 targets instructors. The handbook also provides additional information in the appendices, such as tool descriptions, pros and cons, examples, instructions, and application ideas. For more information, please use the following link: Learners First: Creating Engaging and Interactive Learning Experiences.
To create a modernized, streamlined, and user-friendly experience for its learners and instructors, NHI is working with Blackboard Inc. to implement a new learning management system. Features of the new system will include personal, institutional, and global course content; navigation tabs and modules for secure and flexible self-paced or instructor-led courses; mobile apps for learners and instructors; and a community system for collaboration among learners. The system also has tools that will allow comprehensive and expeditious compliance with American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. The new learning management system will enable NHI to grow its catalog of virtual course offerings, pick-and-choose modular courses, and microlearning opportunities, while making registration and management of the courses much simpler.
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Innovation
NHI Course 134205, Probabilistic Risk-Based Estimating (PRBE) for Highway Project Cost and Schedule, is one of NHI’s newest and more innovative courses. Instead of a traditional instructor-led course, this is a self-paced, interactive eBook training course that builds learners’ awareness of concepts and recommended processes to successfully implement PRBE procedures. At the end of the course, learners get to keep the eBook as a reference for terminology, concepts, and good practices when structuring a project for risk assessment. Throughout the eBook there are examples, case studies, and engaging interactive questions that help learners apply their knowledge to real-world situations. The eBook course costs $50 and may be downloaded from the NHI website. For more information about this and other new courses, please visit the NHI website: https://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/home.aspx.
NHI officially opened its new training facility in Merrifield, Virginia last fall. Its design embraces innovation in the layout, and technology is incorporated throughout the new space. First, there are two large training rooms with videography equipment, multiple monitors, and audio that will allow training to be easily seen, heard, and recorded. “Innovation stations” have been built throughout the facility to provide space for collaborative break-out sessions during training or team discussions among NHI staff. Finally, the facilities have dedicated videography and audio recording rooms with capabilities for “green screen” and voiceover recording. The new equipment and rooms will enable NHI to create in-house and just-in-time training for its internal FHWA customers.
