GBIF.ES assists the GBIF Secretariat in using the Spanish e-learning platform

GBIF.ES together with the GBIF Secretariat organized a training activity focused on the use of the GBIF.ES Virtual Training Platform (http://elearning.gbif.es/), based on the free software Chamilo. The workshop took place on April 25-26, 2019 at the headquarters of GBIF Secretariat in Copenhagen and the main instructors were Katia Cezón and Carmen Lujano, staff members of the Spanish GBIF Node and responsible of the e-learning platform content management.

The main goal of this meeting was to support the GBIF Secretariat staff in preparing the training activities around node management planned for this year during the closing events of the BID Programme. It was also an excellent opportunity to discuss new ways of collaboration in order to get the most of the GBIF.ES e-learning platform on a global scale.

The first day there was an exchange of experiences after several years using the GBIF.ES e-learning platform, as well as brainstorming on detected common needs and potential improvements. The second day was focused on teaching GBIF.org team how to create and manage online workshops, exploring the available tools and options of Chamilo, customizing, creating and structuring lessons and creating and managing skills and badges.

The GBIF Secretariat has been using this e-learning platform since three years ago to develop the online training activities for the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) Programme, addressed to nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Caribe, and the Pacific, as well as for the Biodiversity Information for Asia (BIFA) Programme. It has also been used to create capacity on data publication through GBIF in other programmes such as Biodiversity Data Management Skills for Students (BioDATA) and Biodiversity Information Management and Reporting (BIMR), respectively addressed to countries from Eurasia and southeast Europe.