Xebec McGraw-Hill is one of the companies aiming to establish itself as a provider of online learning content. With an established portfolio of both printed and CD material, it's working hard to make the transition to an online environment as well.

At present there are around 140 online courses in their catalogue covering a range of business and management subjects.

As an incentive for new users, the company is offering free demonstrations on five complete online courses from its current catalogue. Go to http://www.xebec-online.com/uk/index.htm and click on the Sample/Connect button, top right.

The five courses are:

• Effective Budgeting: Using a Budget to Manage (40 mins) which shows the value of budgets for decision making;
  
• Face to Face Communication: Effective Questioning (65 mins) which highlights the different types of questions and when to use them for best effect;
  
• Presentation Skills: Preparation (50 mins) which shows how to set objectives and prepare for an effective presentation;
  
• Customer Care Skills: Why Care for Customers? (25 mins) which highlights the importance of customer care and
  
• Health & Safety for Individuals: Safety in the Office (30 mins) which shows how to ensure your office is a safe working environment.

All the courses can be played with or without audio, and it's also possible to download the material to your desktop.

Our testing of the content indicated that instructions were generally good, running it from their site was slow, and that the material itself was generally of good and relevant quality. As with much online material, you do sometimes feel that you're looking at no more than a succession of slides, and the process can feel soemwhat cumbersome and 'clicky'. However, if you want an idea of what's currently possible with online learning formats, it's worth checking through the demo material.