Definition
Computer-Based Training is a delivery modality, not a content type. CBT modules can range from simple presentation-and-quiz courseware to high-fidelity interactive simulations of aircraft systems, procedures, and decision-making scenarios. CBT typically substitutes for classroom-based theoretical knowledge instruction (TKI) where the content is suitable for self-paced learning — air law, meteorology, navigation, principles of flight, human performance — and where the instructor's role is more facilitative than expository.
In aviation, CBT plays a substantial role across the training value chain. Initial pilot training programmes use CBT for the ATPL theoretical knowledge syllabus (14 subjects, ~650 hours of TKI under EASA), reducing classroom hours and giving cadets schedule flexibility. Type-rating courses combine manufacturer-supplied CBT modules covering aircraft systems with simulator and instructor-led training for procedures and decision-making. Recurrent training programmes for line pilots use CBT for the annual compliance courses (CRM, dangerous goods, security awareness, safety bulletins) that don't require classroom interaction. Cabin-crew training and ground-staff training use CBT for the bulk of theoretical content. Maintenance training uses CBT for type-specific systems knowledge that complements practical maintenance experience.
The CBT-LMS-TMS relationship: CBT is the content (the courseware itself); the LMS is the platform that delivers and tracks CBT consumption (who started which module, when, completion status, quiz scores); the TMS is the system that places CBT completions in the broader trainee progression context (CBT module X is a prerequisite for syllabus phase Y, completed CBT modules contribute to a trainee's competency profile, audit exports include CBT records alongside flight and simulator records). CBT courseware is typically authored using tools like Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora, or aviation-specific authoring environments, and packaged in SCORM or xAPI (Tin Can) formats for upload to the LMS.
Why It Matters for Flight Schools
Modern aviation CBT has evolved significantly from the early 2000s CD-ROM courseware that the term originally implied. Contemporary aviation CBT often includes mobile-first delivery (smartphone and tablet apps), adaptive content sequencing (the module rearranges based on the learner's quiz performance), interactive cockpit-procedure simulations, and integration with augmented-reality and virtual-reality components for high-fidelity systems training. The acronym 'CBT' has held even as the underlying technology shifted, though some vendors have moved to 'e-learning' or 'self-paced training' branding to avoid the dated connotations of 'computer-based.'
A frequent confusion is the CBT / CBTA distinction. CBT — Computer-Based Training — is a delivery modality (how content reaches the learner). CBTA — Competency-Based Training and Assessment — is a pedagogical methodology (how learning outcomes are defined and measured). The two are completely orthogonal: CBTA can be delivered via classroom instruction, simulator, or CBT; and a CBT module can teach either a competency-based or a hours-and-tasks-based curriculum.
How Aviatize Handles This
Aviatize covers the operational and assessment layers that surround CBT content — the syllabus that schedules the CBT modules, the ground-class attendance and sitting tracking that complements them, and the exam and quiz workflow that tests the knowledge the CBT was supposed to teach. The built-in exam module lets schools build question banks per subject (air law, meteorology, navigation, etc.), compose exams from those banks, and assign exams to individual students or groups — so post-CBT knowledge verification happens inside Aviatize against the same student record that holds flight progression.
What Aviatize does not do is host or stream the CBT courseware itself. The trainee still watches the videos, interacts with the cockpit-procedure simulation, and answers the in-content quiz questions inside the dedicated aviation LMS or content vendor (Pelesys, CAE Rise, Sheffield, GENIO, manufacturer-supplied type-rating CBT, or another). Aviatize captures the assessment outcomes that follow — exam results, instructor grades of practical work, competency assessments — into the trainee's Electronic Training Records. Schools running airline cadet programmes that need deep CBT content libraries pair Aviatize with their LMS for content delivery, while keeping Aviatize as the platform of record for syllabus progression, exam outcomes, and audit-ready training records.