In an industry struggling to find qualified employees, the International Sign Association last week launched a series of webinars to help members train sign installers.

The webinars are the newest addition to ISA Sign Academy, the professional development and continuing education program of ISA, whose members include manufacturers as well as users and suppliers of on-premises signs and visual communications.

By adding online learning capabilities to our in-person education and webinars, we have made training available to sign companies around the world, when and how they need it.

“Education has always been an important element of the services ISA offers to its members and to the larger sign industry,” Lori Anderson, ISA president and CEO, said in a statement. “By adding online learning capabilities to our in-person education and webinars, we have made training available to sign companies around the world, when and how they need it.”

The first online course delves into safety and risk-prevention procedures for sign installation, while the second serves as an introduction to the basic elements of sign installation for new installers.

ISA developed the series in response to a specific need in the industry. “Our online learning is designed to address current issues that our sign companies face,” Matthew Rumbaugh, ISA director of education, said in a statement. “Many businesses find that hiring qualified employees is increasingly difficult, and therefore must train new hires. These courses provide a tremendous learning opportunity for educating or cross-training, or a refresher course for more experienced employees.”

Seventy-seven percent of associations said they use e-learning to deliver education, according to the report, Association Learning + Technology 2011: State of the Sector, which surveyed 375 associations.

But in that same survey, only 15 percent of those associations reported their efforts at delivering online education were very successful, while roughly 64 percent said they were somewhat successful.

At this year’s ASAE Healthcare Conference, Chris Urena, vice president of business development at CommPartners, and Marci Thompson, associate director of online education at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, presented several tips for more productive online learning, including creating an organizational culture around your e-learning strategy, measuring participant outcomes, and marketing programs effectively.

How would you rate your online education programs? Are they helping your members solve problems in their industry?

(iStockphoto/Thinkstock)