The first week of June saw the first-ever combined LearnPro Group User Group Meeting. All users of the full LPG product suite – XVR, pdrPro and learnPro – were invited to attend our main event of the year together. Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service provided the backdrop when over 120 attendees from more than 50 organisations within the UK and Europe joined us for two days packed with the latest software developments, exciting use cases presented by our customers, engaging breakout sessions and, of course, lots of opportunities to network, exchange experiences and have some fun.

Day 1 – Training emergency services using Virtual Reality

The first day was mainly dedicated to our VR training software for incident command, XVR. The product team presented the upcoming release of On Scene, renamed On Scene 10, which contains a range of optimised features, among others for hazmat training, a new Photo Mode for developing visually educational material – and an exciting update to the user interface. We were also pleased to share that the Wildfire module developed some years back has been rebuilt in a way that will allow users of any experience level to create simulated yet realistic wildfire scenarios. XVR On Scene 10 is scheduled to be released in winter 24/25, and we will be sharing more details about all the exciting new features and developments as we get closer to the release date.

We were also fortunate to have several guest speakers share their experiences with using the XVR platform.

• Katherine Lamb of K Lamb Associates discussed the importance of gathering data to document knowledge and skill gaps between incident command levels, thereby being better able to provide the right training and support. In her research, Katherine gathered data from numerous fire services which proved that particularly Level 2 commanders are often not properly equipped to take on their new responsibilities – and where these gaps lay.
• Matthew Hurwood of Yorkshire Ambulance Services shared their journey on implementing XVR into their training curriculum and reaching out to the XVR community for input on best practices. Their goal is to provide their staff with more “sticky learning” experiences and better prepare them for difficult or complex incidents.
• Tom Redfern of Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service showed the group how he uses 3D modelling software and tools such as Blender and LiDAR to generate realistic 3D models of local Liverpool landmarks and buildings to place in XVR scenarios, thereby enhancing the sense of realism and recognition for his colleagues training in these virtual environments. Tom frequently shares his creations on the XVR Community page and on LinkedIn to help other services create their own 3D objects.

In the afternoon, users could participate in a demonstration of how VR goggles can be used for a more immersive training experience, provide direct feedback on the new XVR User Interface, and get hands-on experience with some of the features that will be launched later this year.

Day 2 – Compliance management, operational assurance and data-driven decision-making

On the second day, our product teams from pdrPro and learnPro presented the new features and upcoming developments of our competence management and LMS platforms. We were proud to showcase several new features such as:

• The new 48-month planner. This allows you to remain in line with the new NFCC skills recommendations to extend the training calendar from 36 to 48 months, in order that mandatory and specialist skills training programmes could be reasonably accommodated within a managed curriculum.
• The ePortfolio extension to Development Pathways. This extension enables you to create Apprenticeship and accredited development pathways which allow mapping activities to underlying Standards, such as NOS.
• Several Appraisals updates. A new CPD section with the newest NFCC eligibility questions and the ability to store competency snapshots, as well as 1-2-1 conversation notes to record Manager and Individuals conversations throughout the year.
• Single Sign-On functionality (coming in 2025). New Single Sign-On feature between pdrPro and learnPro LMS for a more seamless user experience. It will also allow eLearning KPI reports to be run directly from pdrPro.

We were joined by two guest speakers in the afternoon who use pdrPro and learnPro to develop their staff and build comprehensive reports.

• Gary Harkins from Scottish Fire & Rescue Service shared how the pdrPro People Management module, Development Pathways, allows them to support and develop more than 6500 firefighters and 900 support staff across their service. They will soon deploy the new ePortfolio extension to help them map and document apprenticeship pathways against national guidance and standards – for which the ePortfolio module has been specifically designed.
• John Howard from Hertfordshire County Council explained how they use API’s to import their pdrPro data into other systems such as business intelligence to generate reports on e.g. mandatory eLearning and skills maintenance overviews, and to support their organisation to make more informed, data-driven decisions. John encouraged the group to get in touch with himself and pdrPro staff to learn more about how to use APIs efficiently.

Later, we invited our users to dive deeper and ask our product experts about the many opportunities our pdrPro and learnPro modules offer to support organisations in meeting their strategic and people management goals, such as Operational Assurance, Equipment Testing, Appraisals, and eLearning.

Key takeaways

This was the first time LearnPro Group merged all our yearly User Group Meetings for XVR and pdrPro & learnPro into one combined event. Our main goal was to give our UK users an opportunity to access the wealth of knowledge contained in the cross-sector LPG community. For example, during an XVR Panel and “Ask an Expert” sessions for pdrPro and learnPro modules, users could freely exchange their use cases, discover new ways to use the products, and inspire one another with novel ways of approaching challenges, training methods and setups. Many users remarked that it was an excellent way to acquaint themselves with other products in the LPG product suite and explore what they have to offer.

We are very much looking forward to next year’s event – stay tuned in the coming months for more updates on the latest LPG developments!