Case Sudy: The E-Learning Evolution in Higher Education
Since the UK government announced its target of increasing participation in higher education to 50% by 2010, the number of applicants to universities has greatly increased. Vocationally-oriented universities, such as Leeds Metropolitan, who were awarded their university status in 1992, have experienced the most dramatic increase. EvolutionE-learning did not emerge overnight. What started 20 years […]
Case Sudy: Blended Learning at the Home Office
With 15,000 staff across 166 offices, training employees to support an IT upgrade was no straight-forward task for the Home Office. When it decided to upgrade to Windows XP and Office XP from older versions of the software, the Home Office opted for a blended learning solution that would combine face-to-face training with e-learning across […]
Creating the Perfect Blend
Tim Drewitt, Director of Balance Learning looks at the key components that will optimise any blended learning programme. In 2003, nearly 100 training managers provided us with their own definitions of what blended learning means. From these opinions we distilled the following definition:Blended learning programmes utilise various learning assets and methods to create an integrated, […]
E-Learning Attracts ‘Usual Suspects’
Despite efforts to promote ‘lifelong learning’ and a more equitable and inclusive ‘learning society’ there is little special or new about adult learning in the digital age, according to research at Cardiff University.The Adult Learning@Home project found that e-learning tends to be associated with the same factors that determine school-leaving age, such as sex and […]
E-blunders cause embarrassment
Communications dilemmas triggered by e-politics are causing concern for employees; says a new survey carried out for the Department of Trade and Industry.The findings show that nearly a quarter of employees have suffered crossed-wires with colleagues or clients because their use of humour in an email has been misinterpreted. While as many as two in […]
E-Learning at PepsiCo
PepsiCo UK has launched e-learning in desktop IT skills in a bid to increase computer literacy across the company.The courses will be accessible to all employees within PepsiCo UK, which incorporates Walkers Snack Foods, PepsiCo Beverages International, Tropicana and Quaker Foods, via Thomson NETg’s hosted learning service, NETgLearning.com. “We’ve historically used a combination of instructor-led […]
E-Learning in Higher Education – Where Next?
E-learning has opened up new education and revenue opportunities for the UK’s universities and colleges. Tim Collin Director of European Sales for WebCT looks at how institutions can consolidate and develop their success for the future. Since it was introduced in the1990s, e-learning has been growing rapidly at post secondary institutions around the world. At […]
Global View at WOLCE 2004
This year’s World of Learning Conference and Exhibition (WOLCE) is set to have an international flavour.The Birmingham-based event will start its first day with an address from Dr Dean Spritzer, managing consultant of learning and performance at IBM, who will consider how organisations can gain competitive edge through investing in people development.The following day workplace […]
Case Study: Bitesize E-learning at B&Q
DIY chain B&Q employs over 36,000 people in over 320 UK stores. It is also the number one DIY retailer in Europe and the third largest in the world. The company sees learning as a critical factor in adapting itself to meet changing consumer demands but meeting the training needs of such a widespread and […]
E-Learning Demand Rising Among Colleges
Colleges and universities are intensifying their investment in e-learning, according to an independent survey of WebCT customers. Thirty-seven percent of the survey’s 416 respondents say they have implemented e-learning institution-wide, up from 25% in 2002.Student participation in e-learning is growing by 31% each year, according to the survey, and faculty members are catching up to […]
Trends in E-Learning
Dr Amy Finn Chief Learning Officer for Centra Software identifies five key trends in e-learning and what these will mean for your organisation. This article is about trends in e-learning. Yet, just a few years ago, no one had ever heard of the term “e-learning.” Many people have heard of terms such as distance education […]
The Way I see It… Training Departments Need to Start Marketing Themselves
Internal marketing results in more successful e-learning, says Steve Dineen, chief executive of fuel. Too many companies invest significantly in e-learning programmes but fail to give enough thought to how to really make them work and are subsequently disappointed with the results.Traditionally, e-learning implementation plans have focussed on technical issues, however, it is the human […]
Pay-Per-Use E-Learning Launch
Parity is set to launch its own pay-per-use e-learning service.Based on Kognita’s Site4Learning technology individuals and companies will be able to select from over 1,000 online courses paying for access by conventional means or online, using a credit card. From July 26 courses will be available in technical IT, desktop IT, business, management and leadership, […]
Making the Business Case for E-Learning
Robin Hoyle Chief Learning Architect at EBC explains why identifying the problem is as important as designing the solution when persuading senior managers to fund training. Having recently worked with a range of learning champions I was struck once again by how difficult trainers and learning and development professionals find making a business case for […]
The Way I See It… How E-Learning Can Spare the Blushes
Claudine Mclean of Structured Training explains the benefits of e-learning for a manager’s skills and ego. Senior or expert employees are often reluctant to publicly admit their need for skills input in areas where they feel they ‘should’ know everything already. Having reached a responsible management position on merit, it can be tough for high-ranking […]
New Euro-American E-Learning Standards
E-learning groups representing Europe and the Americas have drawn up a set of common standards for quality in their sector.The standards, called the Open eQuality Learning Standards (Open eQLS) have been agreed by representatives of the European Institute for E-Learning www.EifE-L.org (EIfEL) and the Learning Innovations Forum, known as Lifia www.LIF-FIA.org representing the Americas.Serge Ravet […]
Corporate Training Honours
Thomson NETg, has announced the winners of its second annual Illuminati Awards, which recognise the outstanding achievements of employee learning programmes within UK businesses. The honours were delivered at Thomson NETg’s annual Illuminati Awards ceremony, held at Sofitel, St James, London. Winners of the 2004 U.K. Illuminati Awards were:* Best Leadership Development Programme – GNER* […]
E-Learning Gains Popularity
Web-delivered learning is gaining ground on more traditional forms of learning, according to a new survey.Research by Echelon Learning, has shown that while classroom-based training is the most popular method of gaining a skill, web-delivered learning comes second.When it came to acquiring information to meet an immediate business need, online text based materials scored highest […]
Co-ordinating E-Learning with IT Development
Which comes first the training or the new IT system? Adval Creative Director Richard Bunning argues both. Here he demonstrates how to overcome the hurdles of developing a training package for a new IT system while that system is still in development. Companies planning to introduce or upgrade their IT systems face a challenge: how […]
Colleges get £1m for Innovation in E-learning
The Learning and Skills Development Agency has set up a £1m project to assess the impact of e-learning. The funding has been awarded to nine partnerships of colleges, sixth form institutions and adult education organisations.The aim is to investigate how e-learning can transform the ways in which people learn through the application of technology. Accordiing […]