ASTD's Learning Circuits Express: January 5, 2001

TrainingZone

ASTD’s Learning Circuits Express: January 5, 2001

By TrainingZone

Learning Circuits Express is a free information service provided by Learning Circuits, ASTD’s online magazine about e-learning (http://www.learningcircuits.org). Forward this newsletter to friends, co-workers, and colleagues to share the latest in e-learning news, trends, and community.

CONTENTS
1. Learning Circuits Rings in a New Year
2. Trend Watch: E-Learning Goes Soft
3. Accreditation--Who Needs It?
4. Standards Movement Gains Support
5. What Training Do You Deliver Via E-Learning?

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1. LEARNING CIRCUITS RINGS IN A NEW YEAR

ASTD's online e-learning magazine has a new look and more must-read content! Check out its new Market Watch and E-Reviews sections--plus your favorite features, columns, tools, weekly polls, and peer-to-peer community. Then drop by our Feedback Forum to tell us what you think.

CHECK US OUT: http://www.learningcircuits.org

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2. TREND WATCH: E-LEARNING GOES SOFT

Until e-learning changed the economics of training delivery, training on so-called soft-skills topics was often the first to be lost in the annual budget scrutiny of an organization's cost centers.

But the new knowledge economy ethos and the growing adoption of technology for delivering and managing learning have altered the equation. Though only one-third the size (in terms of content volume) of IT-related e-learning, the market for soft-skills e-learning is in the midst of an expansion consultants say is certain to dwarf that field in a matter of two years or less.

READ: http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/jan2001/barron.html

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3. ACCREDITATION--WHO NEEDS IT?

Hey, lots of learners do.

Accreditation used to be a word uttered only in hallowed halls. But as e-learning proliferates and more colleges partner with commercial enterprises to deliver workplace learning at the speed of click, the content quality clouds appear. And separating the good from the bad can become rather ugly.

READ: http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/jan2001/@work.html

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4. STANDARDS MOVEMENT GAINS SUPPORT

The effort to create interoperability standards for e-learning technologies and content gained ground last month with an agreement between two key players in that drive and the advancement of a key standards component toward ratification. The standards movement also gained the endorsement of some key technology developers.

The agreement between a committee under the IEEE and the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI), pledges coordination of their efforts to create a set of metadata specifications. Doing so helps reduce the likelihood that competing metadata standards will thwart interoperability, say officials with both organizations. The agreement was endorsed by a host of other standards development bodies, including the IMS Global Learning Consortium, the Alliance of Remote Instructional Authoring and Distribution Networks for Europe (ARIADNE), and the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM).

MORE: http://www.learningcircuits.org/newsbytes_index.html#jan2

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5. WHAT TRAINING DO YOU DELIVER VIA E-LEARNING?

Come on, readers. Tell us what kind of training you're involved with most: business skills, IT topics, other technical training, or "We're not there yet!" Cast your vote and see how others have weighed in.

VOTE: http://www.learningcircuits.org

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