Woolmark Learning Centre: New resources added to popular online platform

With there never being a better time to learn online, the Woolmark Learning Centre is proving to be very popular for professionals and students all along the textile supply chain, with the platform achieving more than half a million page view to date. New educational resources continue to be launched, including a new flagship course on commercial-scale knitwear design and manufacture.

The Woolmark Learning Centre is a web-based hub that houses free world-class educational resources about wool, from farm through to manufacture and design, for learners at all levels, including those entering the global textile industry as well as those already in it.

The site, available at www.woolmarklearningcentre.com, was officially launched in mid-December 2019, and has had about 60,000 users with 106,000 sessions and more than half a million page views. The top countries accessing the site are India, Australia, UK, US and China.

Educating the textile supply chain about wool is a key strategic pillar within AWI’s business.

The Woolmark Learning Centre is also a useful resource for woolgrowers wanting to gain a greater knowledge of what happens to wool post-farmgate.

“The web-based Woolmark Learning Centre has been developed to capture the specialist knowledge of global industry experts and provide open-access to their expertise, knowledge, knowhow and industry intelligence. The wool fibre to garment process is a complex journey, and to equip current and future designers with the skills and technical knowhow to design and manufacture with wool, we educate along the entire wool supply chain,” said AWI General Manager for Processing Innovation & Education Extension, Julie Davies.

“The suspension of so much face to face schooling in countries across the globe due to the coronavirus pandemic demonstrates how important platforms such as the Woolmark Learning Centre now are for education.”
- Julie Davies, AWI General Manager

Developed by industry experts in the textile industry, the digital platform and coursework are structured to facilitate both fundamental and masters-level education. It is also a useful resource for woolgrowers wanting to gain a greater knowledge of what happens to wool post-farmgate.

Free to access, the Woolmark Learning Centre is optimised for use on a smartphone and tablet, as well as a desktop or laptop computer, and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever and whoever you are in the world. The platform allows learners to complete courses specific to their needs, at their own pace.

On completion of the courses, users gain their own certification from the internationally recognised Credly digital credential platform, which can be displayed on the user’s own digital professional portfolio such as LinkedIn.

NEW FLAGSHIP KNITWEAR COURSE LAUNCHED

A flagship Knitwear Design and Make course has been added to the Woolmark Learning Centre, the online platform that has been developed to educate the global textile supply chain about how to use Australian wool, thereby increasing demand for the fibre.

Already housing a technical program on wool processing and insights from industry leaders, the Woolmark Learning Centre has launched a Knitwear Design and Make course, the first course in its new Fashion and Design program.

This flagship knitwear course provides extensive knowledge of the commercial-scale design and mechanised manufacture of wool knitwear garments. The course takes approximately eight hours to complete.

“The Knitwear Design and Make course is a rich educational opportunity for the global fashion industry, covering topics from the evolution of knitting technologies, to key knitted structures, techniques and manufacturing routes for knitwear,” Julie said.

“The new knitwear course offers users a masters-level introduction to one of the world’s most important textile processes.”
- Julie Davies, AWI General Manager

Ideal for fashion designers, brands, manufacturers, tertiary students and tutors, the course will be promoted by AWI to these target audiences through a digital engagement strategy that includes social media advertising and an email campaign.

Access the Knitwear Design and Make course at www.woolmarklearningcentre.com/knitwear

More information: www.woolmarklearningcentre.com

This article appeared in the December 2020 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged, however prior permission must be obtained from the Editor.

Editors Note: Since this article was published in the December edition of Beyond the Bale, the Woolmark Learning Centre has continued to go from strength to strength. At the beginning of March 2021, the key statistics are now:

• 103,000 users
• 171,000 sessions
• 666,000 page views
• The top countries accessing the site are India, Australia, UK, US and Italy.