Customer story · Trade association and professional education
Giving thousands of learners around the world access to the GAI Education Hub.
The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers needed to move a print-based, globally delivered diploma programme online — without losing the rigour that makes the qualification respected.
The GAI Education Hub, developed and hosted by Cortexa
The company
The only recognised qualification in architectural ironmongery.
Working as a not-for-profit professional association, the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers supports, assures and represents architectural ironmongers, wholesalers and manufacturers around the world.
Its diploma is a highly regarded construction industry qualification, recognised and delivered in countries as far apart as Belize, Hong Kong and China. The GAI came to Cortexa through an existing customer, the British Woodworking Federation, looking for a partner to re-develop that programme for a global online audience.
The challenge
Making eLearning accessible anywhere, for everyone.
Historically the diploma was a print-based distance learning programme — costly both to run and to update, and slow to reach learners overseas.
A print-based programme
Workbooks had to be printed, distributed and marked by hand, wherever in the world the learner was.
Expensive to keep current
Every standards or content update meant a reprint, so the material was always at risk of lagging behind.
A genuinely global audience
Learners from Belize to Hong Kong needed the same experience, on their own time zone and connection.
CPD with nowhere to live
Alumni needed their continuing professional development run and tracked alongside the diploma itself.
The solution
An innovative learning portal with payments and detailed reporting.
We immersed ourselves in the existing programme, assessed the material and collated new content before presenting a solution to the GAI Executive Committee.
Content rebuilt in blocks
The original workbooks were re-developed online and re-organised into blocks of learning that are easier to follow — with the core content increased in the process.
24 modules, 8 assessments
Phase One delivered 24 eLearning modules and 8 block assessments, each built from a detailed technical storyboard in Articulate Storyline.
Beta review before sign-off
Every module was published to a sandbox site for beta review by the GAI team before going live.
End-of-year exam
An online end-of-year assessment was developed to confirm understanding and protect the standing of the qualification.
Enrolment and online payment
The Hub handles enrolment and payment, reflecting member and non-member pricing and variable tax regimes around the world.
Detailed reporting
Progress, completion and CPD are tracked for hundreds of learners across the world from one place.
The result
A compact portal running a worldwide qualification.
"Cortexa provide a highly responsive learning management system and we also receive the same support from their team — the continuity of services provided in the nine years have been good."
The future
Growing the syllabus and the community around it.
Further content phases
Building on Phase One with additional modules as standards and the syllabus evolve.
Richer CPD for alumni
Extending the CPD offering for diploma holders and RegAI members.
Deeper learner insight
Using reporting to see where learners need more support, market by market.
Take a qualification global.
Tell us about the programme. We will set out what a globally accessible learning portal looks like, and what it takes to run one.
GAI · Education Hub
Register your interest
Tell us a little about your organisation and we'll be in touch to talk through what a tailored Totara platform could look like for you.
Thanks, we'll be in touch
A member of the Cortexa team will follow up shortly to talk through your learning platform.