In response to the COVID-19 crisis, maintenance school Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) will offer its entire student population access to its multi-award-winning, adaptive Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) courses powered by Adaptive 3.0 learning platform, Fulcrum Labs.

Fulcrum Labs, is an industry leader in AI-powered adaptive learning technology, analytics and training outcomes. The course was originally designed to be a Capstone course for AIM students preparing for FAA certification exams. By expanding access to all AIM students as a distance learning component of their A&P coursework, AIM will offer students a rich remote learning experience that keeps them engaged, on track and fully prepared to pass their FAA certification exams.

“For several years, Fulcrum's AI-powered adaptive technology has been an essential part of the programme at AIM as student have finished the A&P curriculum and have prepared for the certification exams,” says Joel English, executive vice president. “But within the context of the pandemic, the online course has allowed us to spread exam preparation throughout the programme for students and allowed them to continue in their programme uninterrupted through distance education. What was originally envisioned as a supplement for exam preparation has been adapted to provide full online education for our students.”

Since 2017, AIM and Fulcrum Labs have collaborated to prepare learners nationwide to pass critical FAA certification exams. By leveraging Fulcrum's innovative Adaptive 3.0 learning platform within its Capstone course, AIM increased programme graduates by 40 percent, boosted FAA certification exam participation rates by 25 percent, and achieved a transformative improvement of more than 46 percent in FAA certification exams.

In March of 2019, AIM indicated that these outcomes have empowered the company to set the ambitious goal of producing 25 percent of all FAA certified aviation mechanics for the industry by 2021, thus helping the aviation industry move toward unprecedented certification rates and reducing a persistent and critical skills gap. These goals remain unchanged despite the new educational circumstances brought about by COVID-19.

“We know how challenging it can be for companies to transition from a blended learning approach to a fully-remote one while maintaining the same level of quality instruction that their students depend upon and are accustomed to,” said Patrick Weir, CEO of Fulcrum Labs. “Our platform is proven to help companies meet their critical KPIs with serving the needs and wants of students. And we're happy to see that, even in this crisis, AIM has its foot solidly on the accelerator.”

AIM and Fulcrum Labs have won numerous awards for their adaptive A&P programme, including the Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards, Excellence in Practice Award 2019-2020 from the Association for Talent Development's (ATD) and Gold Excellence in Partnership Award 2019 from CLO Media.