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The TrainingZONE LearningWIRE - Issue 48
10 May 1999
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk
The Learning Community
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Copyright (C) 1999 Sift plc. All rights reserved.
This material is distributed free to trainers, learners, managers
and coaches. It may be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes as long as attribution is give,
From the Editor
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This week sees the launch of the improved PressZone feature within TrainingZone. For some time we've been carrying news stories for member organisations and others which relate to training and learning. The PressZone is a dedicated area of the site which promotes your news. You can post an unlimited number of items each year, with each story accompanied by your own branding, and a summary reference included in LearningWire. The PressZone is at
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/presszone
and you can find out more information about how to join the PressZone service at
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/help/advertise.html
Several people each week ask how they can respond to items mentioned in LeaningWire. In an electronic community, our Letters Page is the TrainingZone Discussion Area. Here you will already find plenty of debate and sharing about .... news topics, learning organisations, professional institutes, training methods, coaching, etc. You're very welcome to respond to any of the existing topics and/or to post new ones. Don't forget to keep an eye on the Discussion Area to read other people's responses to your postings. Just go to
https://www.trainingzone.co.ukand click on 'Discussion'.
Tim Pickles, Editor, LearningWIRE and TrainingZONE
mailto:tpickles@trainingzone.co.uk
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Training Solutions and IT Training Show
6 - 8 July 1999
News online. Preview online. Register online.
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LearningWire currently reaches 1,510 organisations every week.
Why not put your message before this focused audience of people engaged in training, learning and development.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/help/advertise.html
Thought for the Week
==================== (thanks to Tom Boydell for this one)
"The outcomes of teaching are either unimportant or harmful".
- Carl Rogers.
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Internet Monitor
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A selection of relevant Internet sites and postings from the past week.
Dilbert comic strips
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Many trainers use humour to enliven their presentations and workshops. A punchy graphic or witty cartoon can often make a point in a quicker and more effective way than any amount of speech and text. The Dilbert character has become an established commentator on the workings of many organisations. You can view a daily up-dated cartoon and search for illustrative material at Dilbert's own website.
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert
Individual Learning Accounts
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The Budget in March provided further encouragement for the establishement of Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) as a way in which both employees and employers can set up tax-efficient schemes for funding skills development. The Lifelong Learning website has published a frequenty asked questions sheet about ILAs to make information about the scheme more widely available.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3858&d=1
Peter Senge's writings on Learning Organisations
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There can be few people concerned with organisational development who have not been influenced by the writings of Peter Senge and his colleagues on the subject of 'The Fifth Discipline'. Did you know, however, that the classic 'Fifth Discipline Fieldbook' which provides practical guidance about how to create a learning organisation has a website devoted to it. The site is well-designed and contains summaries, examples and discussion facilities
http://www.fieldbook.com/FDF/FDF,html
Recently, Peter Senge and others have brought out their latest book on the subject - 'The Dance of Change: The challenge of sustaining momentum in learning organisations'. This book adopts a similar format to consider some of the problems and solutions in implementing a learning organisation. If you've read this latest title, please get in touch as we'd be interested in publishing a review.
http://www.fieldbook.com/DoC/DOC.html
The Guidance Council
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This is the new name for the professional association concerned with educational, careers and adult learning guidance. Their new website features information about the Council as well as a selection of current services and events.
http://www.guidancecouncil.com
Learning in Later Life
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George Mudie, the Minister with responsibility for lifelong learning, opened a recent conference with a speech exploring the benefits of continuing learning into and beyond the later stages of people's working lives.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3927&d=1
HR-Expert
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The newly launched HR-Expert website claims to be a fully comprehensive service providing all the information and briefings necessary for the human resource and personnel professional. It's certainly a classy site with plenty of neat features. The publishers aim to keep it fully updated as legislation, rulings and guidance change. That's the minimum you'd want for the annual subscription of 750 GBP plus VAT which the service costs!
http://www.hr-expert.com
More free Internet calls
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The number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) competing to offer freephone connections to the Internet continues to grow. Screaming.net is the latest offering. Screaming.net is a partnership between ISP Tempo and phone company Localtel. The deal requires you to switch your to Localtel as your telecoms provider; Localtel claim to be cheaper than BT for many calls.
http://www.screaming.net
We've mentioned the X-Stream service before. The company appears to be very successful in grabbing a significant share of the ISP market by offering free calls. It pays for this by taking a part of your display screen to push adverts at you permanently.
http://www.x-stream.com
Meanwhile there are rumours that AOL is fighting back. Having been
knocked off its predominant perch in the UK by Dixon's Freeserve,
the company is now offering free calls via an 0800 number. This
will mean that users only pay a monthly subscription to AOL
(proposed to be as low as 14.95 GBP) and can get unlimited online
time.
http://www.aol.co.uk/
We've received and reported member comments on previous free/discount services. We'd be interested in your experiences on any of these.
Training and resource providers
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Finally in this week's Internet Monitor, a couple of new sites from training companies and resource publishers.
The Scitech group publish an extensive range of open and distance learning materials including computer-based training and more traditional events.
http://www.scitechdiol.co.uk
Innovations Training offer a well-publicised series of workshops and trainers featuring such presenters as Edward de Bono and John Harvey-Jones. Their topics cover mind skills, innovative thinking and creativity.
http://www.innovation-training.co.uk
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News Stories
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New network for freelance training consultants
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A Milton Keynes based organisation has recently established a new online register for freelance training consultants. Although many of the early entries reflect the location of the company, the intention is to expand the register to provide a facility for freelancers - and those who wish to contact them - throughout the country.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3875&d=1
New Deal updates
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An article about how the New Deal programme can dovetail with the European Social Fund programme is accessable from
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3877&d=1
Whilst the latest statistics about the uptake of New Deal places for young people are also available via
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3878&d=1
Consultation on ESF funding priorities
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The DfEE is embarked on a consultation about funding priorities for the European Social Fund over the next seven years. You can read the details and respond online.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3941&d=1
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More Toolkit downloads
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This month, we've added several more resources to the TrainingZone Toolkit area. These are resource materials and helpful briefing papers which you can bring to your computer as Word files. In future, we plan to make these resources 'view on screen' in HTML format as well.
We are very keen to publish your training and learning materials in the Toolkit, for which we provide full credit. This can be an excellent way of demonstrating your skills and expertise to a wide audience. If you would like to be published, please check out
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/toolkit/contribute.html
for full information or contact the editor by email.
The following resources have all been posted to the Organisational Development resources area of the Toolkit.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/toolkit/resources.html#orgdev
*** ICT and SMEs: Coaching to address Mental Models -
A paper by Graham Guest first presented to the ECLO conference in May 1999 which considers practical ideas for small and medium sized organisations to engage in inexpensive and networked learning by using ICT to support coaching approaches.
*** Survival strategy in the IT age -
Article by Joe Reevy from Better Business exploring how your business can survive in an era of fast-developing technology - and the answer is not to ignore it!
*** Our Training doesn't Work ! -
A light hearted look by Joe Reevey at how to get better value from your training expenditure.
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From the PressZone
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Every week we carry news releases in our dedicated PressZone
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/presszone
Here are a selection of recent press releases on the site:
LearnKey launch Cisco CCNA video training course
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3892&d=1
Brathay Hall conference - role of experiential learning in youth development, July 1999
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=3926&d=1
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About Sift
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Sift plc is the award-winning UK developer of online communities. Based in Bristol, Sift has also developed AccountingWEB for the accounting sector, BusinessZONE (for the SME market), TravelMole for the travel industry and LawZONE for the legal profession.
http://www.sift.co.uk
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Editor: Tim Pickles mailto:tpickles@trainingzone.co.uk
Sift plc., The Mill House, Redcliff Backs, Bristol BS1 6LY
Tel:+44 (0)117 915 9600 Fax:+44 (0)117 915 9630
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