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The TrainingZONE LearningWIRE - Issue 32
25 January 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 given.
Editor's Note
=============
A selection of recent news postings and monitorings from the TrainingZone
site are reported in this week's issue. We don't have space to bring you
them all, so do keep an eye on the main site where changes and additions
are made daily. You may have noticed that we've started to carry a few
book and resource reviews. If you've produced materials which justify a
review - or if you would like to act as a guest reviewer, please get in
touch.
Tim Pickles,
Editor, LearningWIRE and TrainingZONE
mailto:tpickles@trainingzone.co.uk
/--------------------------------------------------------------
Pavilion Publishing
New 1999 Catalogue available now
All the latest training and development resources
in the health and social care field
mailto:pavpub@pavilion.co.uk
http://www.pavpub.com
--------------------------------------------------------------/
TRAINING-RELATED NEWS
=====================
HR Magazine, January 1999
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Available online with feature articles on contingency planning for Y2K
problems, training supervisors to manage teleworkers, and a look at one
peson's view of holistic HR in an article entitled 'From Management to
Leadeship'
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2763&d=1
Experiential Education Directory, January 1999
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Latest issue of Sitefinder as produced by Roger Greenaway
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2772&d=1
Active Reviewing Tips
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Another issue of this electronic newsletter including best tips from 1998
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2773&d=1
Author's response to the Declaration on Learning
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Ian Cunningham, one of the authors of the Declaration published last
October, responds to the comments and reactions from around the world with
a considered reply
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2791&d=1
IPD to conduct annual training survey
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The Institute of Personnel and Development is to conduct a survey of
training budgets and trends amongst its members responsible for managing or
delivering training functions. Report available in April.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2791&d=1
INTERNET MONITOR
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Monitoring access to Open Learning Centres
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Comput-Ed Ltd have developed a software product entitled SAM - or Smart
Access Manager - which is intended for use in locations where user access
to software needs to be controlled and monitored, such as open learning
centres, colleges and other training establishments. Once the system is
set up, each user is issued with a SAM smartcard which is inserted into an
adaptor which in turn fits into the floppy disk drive. The smart card
carries identifying information about each user and the level of access
which that person has to the programmes available on the computer. The
software can also be used to record time used for billing purposes if
necessary. An Administrator area of the package allows monitoring of use
by each client.
http://www.comput-ed.co.uk
Workplace bullying
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There is welcome recognition of the seriousness of problems associated with
intimidation, harrassment and bullying in the workplace. Although there is
no direct legislation to deal with the problem, several Acts and Directives
are now being used to establish caselaw precedents regarding the unfair and
discriminatory practices of a significant minority of managers. Research
reveals that around one-fifth of employees experience bullying at some time
in their career. Good practice suggests that harrassment should properly
be defined as what the victim experiences rather than what the perpetrator
intends. Intimidation and bullying in the workplace are insidious
behaviours, often difficult to prove. An excellent website sets out to
expose bullying and provide clear advice about how to challenge it:
http://www.successunlimited.co.uk
The examples provided make salutory reading for any manager. There are
some interesting and pointed lessons including: bullying is almost always
of socially popular and successful people; bullies usually establish
collusive relationships with their superiors for protection; bullying is
frequently designed as a cover for the bully's own professional
inadequacies. A worthwhile site (and accompanying book) if you're at all
concerned about creating a healthy working environment.
Parenthood Education
====================
Microsite at http://www.parenthood.org.uk
Personal effectiveness - European style
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The PEPI programme is a three-year pan-European project to develop skills
identified by the business world for success. Using Internet technology
skills can be practiced and monitored and enables parents to become
involved in their child's development and learning.
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2805&d=1
Kids' online safety
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SmartParent is a comprehensive resource dedicated to educating parents on
the best ways to safeguard their children from the dangers presented by
cyberspace. Their goal is to help keep the online experience safe,
educational and entertaining for children.
http://www.smartparent.com
INTERNET NEWS
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Internet use doubles in a year
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There has been a huge increase in internet usage in the UK over
the last year, according to a new study by Continental Research.
Home use, in particular has more than doubled with 25% of the
population having accessed the internet. Currently 5 million
people have internet access at home with a further 2.3 million
expecting to have it within the next six months.
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2732&d=1
Success for Freeserve
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Dixon's internet service which we told you about on its launch, a
mere four months ago, expects to break even in the autumn,
exceeding all expectations. On its launch, Dixons was predicting
it would have 250,000 customers by Christmas, a figure which at
the time seemed wildly optimistic. In fact, it now has 900,000
signed up accounts and Dixons says that this makes it the UK's
largest internet service provider.
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2757&d=1
EVENTS DIARY
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Our online events pages are now ready to be made live. All we need is
your input. So if you have conferences, seminars, courses or events which
you would like to let our readers know about, do get
in touch. Posting your information to TrainingZone brings it to the
attention of a highly focused group of people interested in training,
learning and staff developmentt. And for all you potential
participants at such events, keep watching the site and we will tell
you when the pages go live.
'Making learning a priority for you and your organisation'
10 March 1999, London
A participative one-day event run by Peter Honey focusing on the latest
thinking about learning and previewing the 'Live and Learn' flexible
learning pack and video - with plenty of samples, discussion and new
learning.
mailto:helen@peterhoney.co.uk
RESOURCE REVIEW
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'Meeting the Stress Challenge: A training and staff development manual for
managers, trainers and practitioners' by Neil Thompson, Michael Murphy and
Steve Stradling. Russell House Publishing. 12.95
This A4 sized, wiro-bound manual has been written with a focus on people in
social care settings, but the material is easily adaptable for far wider
useage. The authors' starting point is that stress is a serious problem in
the workplace and can often be avoided by relatively simple means. It is
clear that this material has been extensively tested both in various
workplaces and through a considerable number of training workshops. It's
accessible, easy to use and friendly in tone.
The first section offers a helpful and insightful overview of stress: what
it is, how to recognise it, common myths, how to challenge it. For me, the
key to the book lies in the fifteen training activities which would be
suitable for use with any team or workshop. They are not sophisticated or
complex, but they do get people talking together and changing situations
for themselves. Helpfully, there are also a series of OHP transparency
pages which can be used to create a series of visual extensions for any
event.
The section on tackling stress at work is practical and realistic. The
manual ends with some useful reminders about the respective roles of
manager, trainer and practitioner in responding to the pressures of stress.
At the price, this is an excellent resource for trainers and managers.
Watch out for some downloadable extracts from the manual being made
available in the Toolkit area of TrainingZone shortly.
GETTING INVOLVED IN '99
=======================
Last week we published several new resources in the Toolkit for community
users to download and use in their own work. Would you like your training
and learning resources to be published? We're always keen to consider new
briefing papers, programmes, handouts, resources and wherever possible we
publish these for others to use. Authors and copyright holders are given
full acknowledgement. For some contributors this leads to sales of more
complete versions of their work. For more information, check out
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/toolkit/contribute.html
About Sift
==========
Sift plc is a leading developer of online communities. Based in
Bristol, Sift has developed AccountingWEB for the accounting
sector, and BusinessZONE (for the SME market).
At the 1997 Online Information Exhibition at Olympia,
AccountingWEB was voted European Information Product of the
Year (and also runner up as Internet Product of 1997).
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
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