The Royal Navy has been issuing PSP’s to Marine Warfare Technicians to help them with their studies. The PSP’s will be pre-loaded with a wide variety of study material and coursework, which will enable them to read and listen to coursework and takepart in interactive testing. Obviously with space being at a premium with the naval forces often having little more than a couple of feet above their bunks and don’t have room for computer equipment, so the pre-loaded PSP’s are seen as the best way to go.
The idea was developed at the maritime warfare school at HMS Collingwood in Fareham, Hampshire, which trains electrical engineers for the Navy. Alarmed that a quarter of ratings were having to drop out and retake courses, instructors decided on a new approach.
Consoles will be issued to sailors three months or so before they begin studying at HMS Collingwood, enabling them to prepare subjects in advance, particularly maths, which is crucial.
The ‘powers that be’ are hoping the new learning techniques will cut down on the 25% of people who currently drop-out of studying or have to retake their exams and perhaps unsurprisingly the initial trials proved popular, especially as the Royal Navy has decided against disabling the UMD drive, although they have said that doing so would be pointless as the engineering technicians would be able to fix it themselves quicker than you can say ad-hoc play.
Source: Times Online.
