ASTD's LEARNING CIRCUITS EXPRESS - October 19, 2000
Learning Circuits Express is an information service provided by Learning Circuits, ASTD's online magazine about e-learning. (www.learningcircuits.org). Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends, co-workers, and colleagues to share the latest in e-learning news, trends, and community. Scroll to the end of this message for FREE subscription information.
CONTENTS
1. Guide to Online Learning Service Providers
2. British Survey Reveals "Healthy Skepticism"
3. The Human Side of E-Learning
4. Getting Buy-In for CBT
5. What's Most Important for New E-Trainers?
6. October Chat News
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1. GUIDE TO ONLINE LEARNING SERVICE PROVIDERS
Service providers are part of the popular content-technology-services triad of categorizing the e-learning market. They offer a variety of online tools and consulting options and are some of the most recognizable names in the business. But, surf the sites to compare offerings and you'll soon realize the hefty challenge of determining what businesses some of them are in. And you can chalk up part of the haziness to the shear speed of e-learning. You know, the blur.
Looking for help deciphering the e-learning service provider marketplace? Here's a sampling of providers and their offerings.
MORE: http://www.learningcircuits.org/oct2000
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2. BRITISH SURVEY REVEALS "HEALTHY SKEPTICISM"
A new e-learning survey produced jointly by KPMG, Peter Honey Learning, UFI Limited, and the Campaign for Learning reveals that attitudes toward digital learning are generally positive in the U.K. workplace, though there's some healthy skepticism afoot. The study, "Attitudes to E-Learning: A National Survey 2000," examines the practices and attitudes of three groups: learners, employers, and providers. It shows that the majority of surveyed employers and providers believe that e-learning will bring "huge advances in their organization's capacity" for learning or delivering learning.
Compared to traditional means of training, e-learning got a thumbs-up from 60 percent of individual learners surveyed. According to the report, individuals say that e-learning can be impersonal, frustrating, and lonely. The main disadvantages, they claim, are that it's easy to waste time while learning (46 percent) and that the technology crashes (30 percent). Other criticisms include learning software that's difficult to find (30 percent), of poor quality (20 percent), and too gimmicky (20 percent).
Providers and employers don't think the future of learning lies solely with e-learning, despite the positive attitudes. They say that the main disadvantage of e-learning is that it's not sufficiently developed to replace other forms of training. In addition, providers feel that setup and development costs can be prohibitive.
MORE: http://www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk/news/elearning.htm
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3. THE HUMAN SIDE OF E-LEARNING
Learning Circuits hosted an online interactive discussion on the human side of e-learning, featuring guest expert Karen Mantyla, and an excerpt of the event is now online. The president of Washington, D.C.-based Quiet Power, Mantyla is the co-author of "Distance Learning: A Step-by-Step Guide for Trainers" and the author of "Interactive Distance Learning Exercises That Really Work!"
MORE: http://www.learningcircuits.org/oct2000
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4. GETTING BUY-IN FOR CBT
According to guest answer geek Leo G. Palamara, gaining effective employee buy-in for computer-based training includes remembering that
* if it's not fun, they won't do it
* you should control the environment to make the learner feel safe
* you have to motivate learners.
MORE: http://www.learningcircuits.org/oct2000 (select Answer Geek)
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5. WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT FOR NEW E-TRAINERS?
That's this week's online survey question. Weigh in with your answer (and see how others voted):
* adaptability
* enthusiasm about e-learning
* practice with the technology
* a sense of humor.
VOTE: http://www.learningcircuits.org/oct2000
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6. OCTOBER CHAT NEWS
Join us on October 25 for a live IT training chat. Our guest will be Patrick Von Schlag, the director of research and development for Global Knowledge Network and author of "IT Training Revival" in our August Career Watch column (http://www.learningcircuits.org/aug2000).
The action starts at 2:00 p.m. EST. That's 7:00 p.m. in London and 11:00 a.m. in Vancouver! Want to find out what time 2:00 EST is in your neck of the woods? Go to www.timeanddate.com, select Full World Clock, then click Fixed Time to enter the date (25 October 2000), hour (14/2 p.m.), and place (Washington, D.C.).
MORE: http://www.learningcircuits.org/oct2000
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