LMS

Finally. A week with lots of reading, writing and collaborating have come to an end. We in group 1 (Myself, Irene and Bård-Simen) uploaded today a solid product to the memex wiki – a text in tree parts, and five instruction movies. Everything regarded to the test tool in the learning management system called Fronter. An overwiew of the tool, some underlying ideas of assessment and reflection of the use of digital tests in nowadays schools.

During the week, we have collaborated with the text, using an web 2.0 application called Etherpad. An easy way to collaborate with a text. The program contains both an common texteditor and a chat – window.

Next week our presentation will be evaluated by the other students. Cool!

[This newsletter is both in Norwegian and English language. Please scroll down to read the English version/Dette nyhetsbrevet er publisert i både norsk og engelsk versjon. Engelsk versjon er gitt lenger nede i e-posten]

— Norwegian version —
Fokus på regelverk og arbeid i høyden
I dag skjer det mye rundt standardisering og regelverk for arbeid i tau og arbeid hvor ulike taubaserte systemer og sikringsutstyr benyttes som sikring mot fall (fallsikring). Standard Norge er i løpet av høsten i ferd med å ferdigstille Norsk Standard for ”Arbeid i tau (prNS 9600)”, som vil dekke alt arbeid i tau. Standarden legger opp til et skille mellom enkle – og avanserte metoder for arbeid i tau. Blant annet vil arbeid offshore klassifiseres som avansert, men også flere oppgaver på land for blant annet energibransjen, bygg og anlegg vil komme i denne kategorien.
http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/421/1/lang,no/

OLFs kompetansekrav for arbeid med hydrokarbonførende utstyr
I forbindelse med å redusere antall gasslekkasjer i petroleumsindustrien innfører næringen nye krav til opplæring for personell som arbeider direkte med hydrokarbonførende utstyr. Fristen for sertifisering og resertifisering er utgangen av 2010.

OLFs gasslekkasjeprosjekt har som mål å redusere antall gasslekkasjer på norsk sokkel. Et av de viktigste tiltakene er å heve kompetansen til alle som opererer utstyr på hydrokarbonførende anlegg på norsk sokkel. I forbindelse med prosjektet blir det innført krav til sertifisering og re-sertifisering for hele industrien basert på læreplaner utarbeidet av gasslekkasjeprosjektet.

Foreløpig er læremateriell for flensearbeid og ventilteknikk klar for bruk.

Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/457/1/lang,no/

Anbefaler det nye HMS-grunnkurset   
Alle bedrifter skal ha høyt fokus på HMS! Industriskolens nye HMS Grunnkurs arbeidsmiljø tilfredsstiller lovens krav til HMS-opplæring for verneombud og medlemmer av AMU. Trond Mostrøm er installasjonsleder i Fabricom og er for tiden på Snorre B plattformen i Nordsjøen, han er én av de som har benyttet Industriskolens HMS-tilbud.

Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/456/72/lang,no/

Effektiv opplæring i WINDOWS 7 på Trainingportal   
Windows 7 er utviklet og forbedret ut fra brukernes tilbakemeldinger. Brukerne har bedt om en PC som er enkel å bruke, raskere, mer brukervennlig og som fungerer slik brukeren vil. Derfor har Microsoft gjort hundrevis av grunnleggende forbedringer, og et par du kanskje ikke hadde forventet deg. E-læringskurs i bruk av Windows 7 lanseres på Trainingportal i desember 2009. Dette i samarbeid med DataPower Learning.

Ta kontakt for pristilbud for din bedrift allerede i dag!
Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/451/1/lang,no/

Kampanjetilbud på kurs i gassmåling   
Vestteknikk har i samarbeid med Mintra utviklet et e-læringskurs innen gassmåling. Kurset gir en introduksjon i forståelsen av gass i utsatte arbeidssituasjoner. Det beskriver reelle farer og forteller om de mest vanlige gassene. Kurset gir kunnskap om hvordan man kan best beskytte seg selv og andre ved bruk av riktig utstyr. Målsetningen til kurset er å gi en innføring i emner som gir økt forståelse for hvorfor gassmåling er viktig, samt innblikk i hvordan en gassmåler skal brukes på en sikker og effektiv måte.

Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/446/1/lang,no/

E-læring gir redusert pris kurs hos NMU   
Med e-læring hjemme første dagen + 4 dager på sikkerhetssenteret til NMU AS – så får du et 5 dagers Grunnleggende Sikkerhetskurs til tilbudspris! I vinter har NMU et tilbud (13.990,-) til deg som tar e-læring til Grunnleggende sikkerhetskurs hjemme hos deg selv. Du trenger bare en PC med internett, litt tid og….en kopp kaffe. 
 
Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/438/1/lang,no/

Offshore og Energibransjens HMS-konferanse – Meld deg på allerede nå!   
Hva kan oljeindustrien lære av energibransjen, og hvilket forretningspotensial har denne erfaringsoverføringen? Dette er det sentrale tema når norsk offshorevirksomhet møter landets største energiforetak på Offshore og Energibransjens HMS-konferanse i Stavanger 9-10. mars 2010. Du kan allerede nå sikre deg en plass på konferansen!

Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/455/59/lang,no/

Kurs i prosjektledelse høsten 2009/våren 2010
Forskning fra Project Management Institute (PMI®) angir at nær 25% av det globale brutto nasjonalproduktet skjer gjennom prosjekter. Med de samme forholdstallene beløper dette seg til 300 milliarder kroner i Norge.  Ansatte i selskap og organisasjoner med egen Trainingportal får 30 % rabatt på et utvalg av kursene som avholdes i Stavanger 2009/2010.

Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/420/1/lang,no/

Bestill kurskatalog på!
Trainingportal er bransjeportalen for e-læringskurs i oljeindustrien.

Du kan bestille kurskatalogen kostnadsfritt ved å sende en e-post til info@trainingportal.no. Husk å oppgi navn og adresse til hvor katalogen ønskes sendt.

Les mer: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/section/4/90/lang,no/

— English version —
Focus on Regulations for Work at Height
There is a lot happening with the standardisation and regulations for vertical rope work and work using various rope-based systems and fall safety equipment.   Over the course of this autumn, Standards Norway will be completing the Norwegian standard for “Vertical Rope Work (prNS 9600)”, which will cover all vertical rope work.  The standard will differentiate between basic and advanced vertical rope work.  Offshore work will be classified as advanced, but several types of operations on land, in the energy and construction industries, for example, will also fall into that category.

Read more: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/421/1/lang,en/

Safety Representative Training via E-Learning and Workshops    
Now, you can conduct mandatory working environment training for your safety representatives internally, using e-learning combined with classroom training.  The Federation of Norwegian Industries, in collaboration with Mintra, has developed an online course covering the theoretical portion of safety representative training.  Customers who choose this solution can also choose to hold internal workshops, based on an instructional outline from Mintra.

Read more: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/448/1/lang,en/

Effective Training in Windows 7 on Trainingportal   
Windows 7 is the most recent publicly available version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs and media center PCs.

E-learning courses on Windows 7 will be launched on Trainingportal December 2009. Please contact Mintra for further information about training in your company.

Read more: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/451/1/lang,en/

Special Offer on Gas Measurement Course   
In collaboration with Vestteknikk, Mintra has developed an e-learning course on gas measurement.  This course provides an introduction to the understanding of gas in high risk work situations.  It describes real dangers and explains about the most common types of gas.  The course provides knowledge of how best to protect yourself, and others, using proper equipment.  The object of the course is to introduce participants to topics that provide an increased understanding of why gas measurement is important, as well as insight into how to use gas measurement devices safely and effectively.

Read more: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/446/1/lang,en/
 
Offshore & Energy HSE Conference 2010 – Exchanging experience between offshore & energy   
What can the oil industry learn from the energy industry, and what is the business potential of this exchange of experience?  This will be a central theme when the Norwegian offshore sector meets the nation’s largest energy companies at the Offshore and Energy HSE Conference, in Stavanger, March 9th-10th, 2010.

Read more: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/view/447/1/lang,en/

Order the Course Catalogue now!
If you would like to receive a free copy of the course catalogue, send an email to info@trainingportal.no. Remember to include you name and postal address.

Read more: http://www.trainingportal.no/content/section/4/90/lang

The worldwide economic recession forced Corporate America and small businesses alike to scour their business practices for opportunities to increase efficiency and cut costs.  In many cases this includes how they train their employees and customers.  Fortunately, when it comes to training, the pathway to meeting both objectives is clear. Companies of all sizes are discovering the benefits of online learning management systems (LMS) to deliver training.   Yet despite LMS’s obvious advantages, many companies still cling to the traditional approach to training.   That invariably means strong resistance from tradition-bound managers who are reluctant to try new technologies and who remain skeptical of today’s “blended learning” solutions.

When you consider that the use of personal computers and the Internet for training purposes has enjoyed steady growth and significant technological advances since its debut in the mid 1990s, it’s illogical in business to maintain the status quo of assembling employees in the conference room for training; effectively shutting down production during this time.

e-Learning has become a workhorse for businesses, government and academia recently, now that it is no longer an “electronic page turning” exercise.   Applications such as Second Life and Edusim; virtual worlds where participants actively engage in the learning process have brought new life to the already rapidly growing e-learning environment.  

Almost 80% of executives who employ Web-based training and conferencing cite the elimination of travel costs as an important reason for doing so, according to a recent study of training techniques by Osterman Research, Inc.   This is no small sum either, as much as 40 cents of every dollar spent on in-person training goes to travel and lodging costs. The study also demonstrated an increase by respondents in the use of online training during the previous 12 months.

Many more studies and plain common sense tells us that employees and front line supervisors prefer unstructured, just-in-time learning opportunities to formal training sessions, with information presented in bite-sized morsels precisely when it’s most needed.   Dull instructor-led lecture style classes with the infamous PowerPoint presentation bore them to tears more often than not.  Afterall, it takes a special trainer, with a good mix of engaging activities and the use of multi-media, to stimulate a transfer of knowledge in a classroom.  Unfortunately these instructors are rare. This is why online training meets the needs of today’s multigenerational workforce, especially the 75 million “Millennials” currently entering the U.S. workforce.

Some benefits online learning has to offer include:

1. Avoidance of travel costs
2. Increased retention and productivity
3. Interactivity and Flexibility
4. Ease of reporting and analysis
5. Accessible data

Now is the time for companies to reposition their training functions and indeed many companies are trimming staff, cutting most non-strategic training programs, curbing travel and increasing their reliance on web based learning platforms such as LMS’.   The world waits for no one.   As Will Rogers was famously quoted: “even if you’re on the right track, if you just sit there you will get run over.”   Company executives ignore technology at their own peril. Technology is the future, and the future in now.

Of course, online training delivered via a learning management system is great for small organizations. Managers can create short demos and tutorials using course creation tools, and quiz their employees to ensure that the material has been processed.

They often create the material themselves and are able to provide all the information needed for their employees to be successful. And for managers running a smaller operation, it’s simple to keep track of employees’ progress using LMS student tracking tools.

A learning management system automates many training processes to ensure that employees are gaining the information they need to do their jobs well.

But LMS-created training courses are perhaps even more ideal for large companies, for the same reasons and more (some of which were mentioned in a recent post). Online training for large companies is the future, for many reasons.

Using a learning management system, companies are able to create and deliver training to large numbers of employees across the globe. Uniform training grants franchises uniform policies and procedures, which ensures better business practices. It ensures, in effect, the ability of a company to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy.

Another problem that online training addresses in franchise training practices is the confusion that comes with updates and changes that are often unknown or misunderstood by managers. And again, if a manager is confused about a change, it follows that the employees will also be left in the dark.

An LMS facilitates the rapid communication of these kinds of updates, so that everyone is clear on every detail related to their workflow, company goals, procedures, etc. It also enables companies to be more elastic, adventurous, and try new things, since training is easy to update and distribute to all franchise branches.

Develop and deliver interactive training courses with Coggno’s Learning Management System (LMS) Online. Simple user interface, potent and cost-effective.

Live blogged notes from Extending Learning to the Edges of Organizations with Charles Jennings & Andy McGovern. My side comments are in italics. Update: The recording of this session (and the rest of LearnTrends) is now available.

Official description:

Thomson Reuters meets the challenge of supporting the learning and development of its employees across the world through the innovative use of technology and a strategy based on the 70:20:10 model. The firm has recently deployed learning solutions using 2.0 technologies including a ‘Learning Exchange’ based on Sun technology, a virtual Technology Institute and other global immersive eLearning solutions including a virtual world collaboration environment.

Charles Jennings

70-20-10 model–not original to them, others have adopted it since

• 70% learn and develop thru experience
• 20% learn & develop thru others
• 10% learn & develop through structured courses & programs

90% experiential learning & development

What’s in the 70 +20?

• social learning — sharing experiences
• workplace learning & perf support
• LiveLabs & scenarios — “day in the life”
• learnscapes — immersive simulations

“What’s the difference between learning physics and being a physicist?” –Jerome Bruner

Having the theoretical knowedge doesn’t make you a physicist. We teach not to create little living libraries on the subject, but practitioners.

Aspects of learning

• Experience
• Practice
• Conversation
• Reflection

Performance support–business process guidance & JIT learning

Difference between a map & GPS. GPS provides incremental instruction. A map lays out the whole journey, but you can’t remember the whole journey at once so you end up using it incrementally anyway.

We should be doing incremental instruction for process and procedure, not formal learning

LiveLabs: not simulations, using the actual network tools & hardware. Hands on practice with actual tools, but in a safe environment

Andy McGovern

Working with Sun for Thomson Reuters Social Learning Exchange (SLX)

A cross between YouTube & iTunes. Doesn’t replace the LMS. Focus on the tacit knowledge that is usually hard to share. Get experts to share, make it easy for them.

Not a lot of instructional design, just getting people to share content

Tried to show video of Meet Charlotte, but video doesn’t work well over Elluminate

Public version from Sun: https://slx.sun.com/, site about the product here: SLX

This is not a synchronous platform–experts can use a webcam and easily record and upload content. More like an intranet YouTube. Support communities of practice around domains

Virtual Collaborative Environment–prebuilt auditorium, conference rooms. They are using this with a group that has been outsourced. Works for them to collectively get together across time zones. They use it asynchronously too

Virtual World: Teleplace

Institute of Technology: Information shared with a heavily modified version of Sharepoint. Integrates JIT learning from their Books 24X7 site

None of these tools will work if you don’t spend significant time engaging with the business–engaging learners, change management. If you don’t engage them, they won’t use it and will find something else.

Q&A

How do you measure value? Business results?

• One answer in chat: money saved by meeting in VW instead of F2F
• Teleplace VW is about cost reduction in travel
• Broader is about enhancing collaboration–how you measure that depends on the tool. Harder to measure with general teams than specific ones with specific goals. Still working on that.
• Business results: for SLX, they are looking at how expert knowledge is transferred to others & applied
• ROI $3 Million for one project based on time saved finding solutions to problems. Metric is reducing time to competence

SLX makes it easy to attribute who contributes, comments, uses content. Attribution makes it not smart to be inappropriate.

Community ratings help judge what’s valuable–self regulating

They expect some people to record videos, but also asking people to record WebEx sessions and share those. Sounds like this is also about collecting things that may be happening anyway and just making it easier to share. Video won’t be the primary content in the long run

Most work gets done based on trust–you trust that your manager won’t undermine you, your manager trusts you to do your job. Relationships are important and matter for the learning. Important to get the ear of senior managers so they see the value of this and not just formal learning.

In chat: Christy Confetti Higgins: FYI – from Outsell Inc. – corporate high tech workers spend on average of 6.2 hours finding information vs. 5.4 hours applying it – anything we can do to save people time looking for business information (like Books24×7), the better and higher ROI

This report, prepared by Sage Road Solutions for the E-Learning Guild, describes the current status and future direction of Learning Management System (LMS) use in e-Learning. 

The product lifecycle diagram shown suggests that LMSs, as we have known them until today, will likely start to fade from the learning ecosystem scene by 2012. Evidence suggests that over the next five years LMSs will look more like portals and less like platforms. They will feature Web 2.0 collaborative tools, including connected modular functionality, which organisations will select as being most rele­vant for the management needs of the learning organisation doing the purchasing. 

Top Ten Trends   

1. Home Grown LMSs are on the decline - can’t keep up with the needs for integration and additional features (although home grown often liked more and better designed for the job required) .
2. Moodle moves to the front of the LMS adoption pack – Moodle (24%) moves ahead of Blackboard (17.5%), the global financial crises may have had a lot to do with this.
3. Hosted options for LMSs are achieving popularity – Whether described as SAAS, ASP, a Hosted Service (which combines an application service provider and an Internet service provider), or as Cloud Computing, many LMS providers have listened to their small and medium customers and are now offering hosted LMS solutions.   
4. Open source, open applications and open education resources are on the rise - This is more prevalent for the education sector. Examples of open source LMS systems include Moodle, Sakai™, and soon, the full-identity management, multi-institution, and multi-million dollar project, Kuali Student. The variables that make open source attractive in education are increasingly relevant in the commercial market. These include cost-of-ownership, flexibility for meeting unique enterprise needs, and maintenance on terms favoring the customers.  
5. Blackboard gains corporate LMS market share – It is believed that this is due to the acquisition of Angel which firmly entrenched them in the enterpirse market, prior to this they were mainly academic.  
6. Commercial LMS customers: less formal more holistic - they are moving away from just using their LMS for compliance needs to all other areas of training.   
7. Extensibility matters – Openness, also known as extensibility, is fundamental to enterprise software in that it “talks” to other enterprise systems present in customers’ computing environments. For example, Blackboard connects to Facebook and other social networking applications, has an active developer’s network, building blocks, and a commitment to interactivity and integration, all done in a supported way. 
8. Campuses and businesses alike are slow to adopt “Enterprise 2.0″ - Quick to embrace the LMS, with over 97% adoption in the past 8 years, these institutions are now re-evaluating the systems chosen during the web 1.0 era in order to deal with 2.0 opportunities and requirements. Nearly 25% of them report a high likelihood of migrating to open source LMS systems for some applications or needs, but are unsure of their choices.   
9. The recession continues to constrain – small LMS providers are losing their hold in the market. Lots of acquisitions – Blackboard purchased WebCT and Angel, Oracle acquired PeopleSoft, SumTotal took over PathLore, and Saba acquire both Thinq and Centra. Two companies are also bidding for SumTotal.  
10. Revising standards, specifications and structures – SCORM is the biggest one here. SCORM is still under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Defense, there is talks that LETSI  will take it over. At the same time, the newly energised IMS Consortium announced their development of a SCORM alternative called the Common Cartridge.   A copy of the full report is available. 

Often the voice is heard or the decision is announced to go and get a LMS. Research is conducted – RFPs are developed and preparation is made, yet one of the biggest components is typically left to the end – or forgotten until it is too late – your infrastructure.

What does this mean to you and your end users? Customers?  Who is going to access this LMS and how are they going to do it?  In part two (covered later this week), we will discuss the planning stage, the stakeholders you need to get involved in the process and the key of happiness for you: the help desk.

Accessibility: Intranet, Internet -Browsers, Computers and More

1.  How are your end users going to access your LMS? (BTW, an end user is the person – accessing your system).

2. Are you planning to have them access the LMS only at work or at home or both?  If at work, what type of browser and OS (operating system) and computers are you using?  What about Macs, do you have any at your workplace?  Do your computers have sound cards installed and do they work?  How old are your computers?  Browsers – what version of IE? Do you allow the use of Firefox?    If at work:  Access via the Intranet?  Is your LMS going to be on your servers or on the vendor’s servers (i.e. hosted)?    If at work only, how are you going to stop them from accessing via home? Security must be set accordingly.

3. Intranet vs. Internet:  If you plan to have your LMS access through your Intranet – how are your end users going to access it? Clearly, in the workplace it can be achieved.  But what if you are going to allow them access at home?  If you plan to have it on your Intranet, then you will need the ability of your end users to access via a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Do you offer this?  What about security? You will need it. How do you set it up? Who gets access to what?    What about accessibility speed? If you offer a VPN – how does it work if the person has a modem at home or a Mac?

Internet:  If your solution is going to be hosted on the vendor’s site, and you plan to have your end users access at work or at home: you still most ask yourself the questions in #2 for the workplace and then even at home. Of course, for security issues – at the workplace – you will need to setup security for what they can access (if you have a protocol that end users cannot access the Internet or is limited on time).  When you purchase a LMS, they all provide the capability of user names and passwords, so that will not be an issue for you, regardless if you host yourself or host on their servers.   For home access,  have you conducted a survey/assessment to find out about your end users and their capabilities?  Can the LMS work with multiple browsers: i.e. Firefox, Safari, and what minimum version of Internet Explorer?  What does your LMS vendor recommend for a computer?  What about access speed? DSL, Cable, Modem – if yes, 56K?  What about home computers: Again, does your LMS vendor work with Macs?  What about Linux – this would only apply to a very tiny percentile of your end users, if any at all.  But it is always a nice to know. That said, it should never be a deal breaker, unless your company uses Linux OS.

Home/Work Computers:  Do they have Flash installed? What about Shockwave?  BTW, the argument that it is already installed on people’s computers or that people know how to download it, is erroneous.  The biggest problem you will find regarding these two apps is that most work computers do NOT have them installed (they are free and a quick install) and many people at home, may have them installed but not the latest version.    Speaking of which, what version of Flash and Shockwave is required for your LMS to work?  Do you need any other net apps to have your LMS work – i.e. Quicktime, RealPlayer, MediaPlayer and if yes, what version?  Again, what about the Mac issue? (not all LMSs work with Macs, so this is important to inquire about, since Macs are becoming more popular).

Let me state something very important about accessibility differences between the workplace and home and speed. Many companies are using T1 speed or higher to access the Internet. A strong broadband signal. Typically, but not always they have the servers that can handle the traffic for access to the Intranet or Internet.   At someone’s home, though it is quite different, and yet many people fail to realize this when they are planning for a LMS/LCMS or even courses.

Home Computer Access:

DSL/Cable:  If you have either of these, you need to realize that depending on where you live in your town or city, your speed may be affected by the time of day you are accessing. For cable, their are hubs setup in your town and so, depending on your distance from the hub, will impact your speed. For example, if you live in a wooded area, your speed will be slower than someone who does not.  Also, when people purchase DSL/Cable they buy speed. Some people with DSL maybe running at 128kbs per second, another person might be at 2mbs and so on.  The same thing with cable.  For myself, my speed is 60mbs.  Oh, I won’t bore you with the upload/download speed angle neither.

Modems: They are not a thing of the past. A recent report found that due to the economy, many people were switching back to 56K modems as a cost cutter.  Now, access on a 56K modem is severely limited versus access on a DSL/Cable/Satellite/T1, etc.  And, depending where you live, that speed is seriously misleading. Some communities, a person may be hitting at 40kbs.  So, knowing how many people are using a modem is important, when conducting a survey (I recommend using SurveyMonkey – it is very cheap and easy to setup and run a survey from there).  Know your audience, before you go forward with your LMS.

Mobile Learning Access:

If you plan to offer this, then you will need to find out what smartphones will work with your LMS, i.e Blackberry or Palm or the Iphone.  Plus you will need to know what else will be needed. Again, security issues are very important, so you will need to set accordingly.  However, if you do not plan to offer mobile learning access, this is not relevant.

Your Administrator

Who is going to be your administrator? What does the back end of the LMS look like – i.e. how easy is it to navigate and enter in data, as well as generate reports? The back end refers to what the administrator will see and NOT what the end user (employee/customer) sees.    What type of training is included for the administrator side? How does/and how can the administrator upload data into the LMS?  i.e. Do they need to have the names of the employees and info. in a .csv file or .txt file?  Does the LMS provider upload this information for you? If yes, how often?  Do you have the capability from an IS/HR standpoint to provide new employee names and information on a day or weekly or whatever time frame you set up for upload into your LMS?  Can you change the file into the one or ones accepted by the LMS vendor?

RFP:  The questions I have listed above, can be incorporated into your RFP, depending on what you need to know.  I would strongly recommend it.  If you are going to have people access from home, find out about the Mac angle (if your firm does not use them). Find out about Safari and Firefox, IE version.  Find out about some of the other questions posted above.  It will significantly save you time and headaches before signing off on a LMS and moving forward with an implementation.

E-LEarning 24/7

The World’s Largest Cloud LMS Provider Named Best in Industry for 4 Consecutive Years

HRchitect includes Learn.com in our list of top Learning Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Learn.com, the leader in cloud delivered workforce development and productivity, today announced that the company’s business performance shattered historical records in 2009. The company not only has signed a record number of new clients but the year to date through Q3 2009 has been the best sales bookings period in company history. More importantly, Learn.com was able to achieve this impressive growth while still maintaining positive net income and cash flow on a GAAP basis, an uncommon accomplishment in the Learning and Talent Management space. This strong performance across every metric underscores the value Learn.com brings to its clients and validates Learn.com’s best-in-class platform and pure cloud computing business model.

“During the most challenging economic period of the past 80 years, Learn.com was able to accelerate its growth by continuing to demonstrate its significant and unparalleled value proposition to new clients. Learn.com has always been the most innovative company in our space and once again we were pioneers by launching our Guaranteed ROI pledge to our clients. More and more clients were able to prove the many facets of hard and soft dollar savings and ROI using Learn.com. The results are irrefutable – training is how organizations realize excellence in execution. One watershed study points to firms’ investment in training as being the single most powerful predictor of stock price. Our unyielding dedication to client success and satisfaction using Learn.com products and people has paid dividends for our clients and in return, for Learn.com. While most of our competitors were downsizing this year, Learn.com added 25% more in net new headcount, and we are continuing to increase our employee base to maintain our peerless service to our clients. Even more satisfying than our great results is the positive impact Learn.com has had for our clients,” said Jim Riley, Chief Executive Officer at Learn.com.

Beyond deepening current strategic partnerships with some of the world’s biggest names new relationships were forged with Taleo (Nasdaq:TLEO), and others. These relationships further demonstrate that Learn.com improves business results and adds significant value to our partners’ ecosystems. These well planned partnerships allow Learn.com to penetrate new channels as well as provide Learn.com clients a one-stop-shop for pre-hire to retire solutions, with unmatched value, depth of functionality and ease of use.

“Our latest research shows that employee development is one of the most vital elements in a high-performing organization today,” said Josh Bersin, CEO of Bersin & Associates, a leading industry research and advisory services firm. “Taleo’s partnership with Learn.com now enables the company to offer a complete solution for corporate learning management.”

The relationship with Taleo brings together the unequivocal market leaders in our respective categories to provide the only pre-hire to retire unified talent management platform with a global footprint and world class capabilities and flexibility.

Another milestone was Learn.com’s launching of the World Wide Content Exchange and the Learn.com Personal Edition (http://my.Learn.com) which has over 30 structured job profiles with skills and curricula mapped to assist the US workforce in skill retraining in an unprecedented time of skill shift in the US Economy. Now any person in the world can access over 30,000 web based courses, live on line courses, college degree programs, accredited courseware for the Healthcare and manufacturing sector as well as course authoring and sharing.

Other YTD 2009 Accomplishments
• Again voted the best Enterprise Learning Management (LMS) system by the 50,000 readers of ELearning! Magazine (3rd Consecutive Year)
• Voted best Talent Management System by the 50,000 readers of ELearning! Magazine
• Over 95% Client Renewal Rates
• Opened and staffed an office in London, UK
• Announced Planned Cloud Computing Center in Amsterdam to support EMEA clients
• Enhanced the Learn.com Report Exchange to enable clients to share and download free custom reports they can share across their Learn.com applications
• Invested heavily in a state-of-the-art redundant infrastructure and state-of-the-art SAS 70 facility for its Cloud Computing clients – more speed, power and redundancy
• Added 224,000 subscribers with just one new client

Learn.com also added and expanded relationships with Enterprise clients such as: Pete’s Coffee, Sykes Enterprises, CKE Enterprises, Vermeer Corporation, Smith & Nephew, Intuit, Verigy, Orica USA, St. Jude Children’s Research, US Department of Commerce, Classic Residence by Hyatt, Cartier, Michelin North America, American Association of Critical Care Nurses, General Services Administration (GSA), Jackson Hewitt, Extra Space Storage, and hundreds of others.

For more information on Learn.com, please visit www.learn.com

Matt Lafata, HRchitect

The Track

When it comes to NASCAR, forget everything you’ve ever seen on television. Forget that you believe the drone of engines sounds as though its at least a thousand decibels. Forget that you believe those tracks are big, even if you’re watching on a 32-inch set. Forget that you’re sure how fast those cars are going, just by the trackside cameras with mics giving off that “thoomp, thoomp, thoomp” sound as they speed by at 180 miles per hour.

You think you know what it’s like going to a NASCAR race, just by turning on FOX with D.W. screaming “Boogity boogity boogity” every Sunday afternoon.

Tighten your belts all you like, hoss. You think you know–but you don’t.

I’ve lived about five miles from Lowes Motor Speedway for nearly three years now. I still have to reset my sense of scale every time I drive by it. It’s a behemoth, this track that looms so large over Concord, North Carolina. It was literally one of the first identifiable sights when I moved here, spotting the checkered upper deck from several miles away as I was waiting at a traffic light. Then it becomes something like a redneck Energizer Bunny as you’re driving by. From right around Turn Three on, driving on Highway 29 south, it just keeps going . . . and going. . . and going . . .

Three years, and I still haven’t completely gotten used to its size. Of course, being from the North, we always attempt to convey size by comparing something to a football field: “It’s like putting Giants Stadium side-by-side, and then some!”

It could be worse.We could be halving landfills and using that to put forth a sense of enormity.

The first time I was inside the track wasn’t even for a race, but for a tour. Lowes gives wonderful tours of the track, from the infield to pit road, to the Winner’s Circle–right up to Turn One itself–all done from the comfort of a tour van.

When I took the tour,  I got a real feel for how gigantic this race track is. Good Lord, is this thing huge! I was too busy being in awe to try to figure out stadium lengths and whether or not we should throw a piece of a ballpark in for good measure.

The woman who drove the van, our Tour Guide for the day, was very pleasant, very informative, and looked as though she were several years too old to be driving on a race track–even in a van. She was the type you might see on a downhome cooking show. She might even do something involving balls of yarn and a rocking chair.

We moved at such a leisurely, Sunday afternoon kind of pace, not unlike the old woman with the purple hair who always manages to pull out of the church lot just before you can zip by her. The only time our Tour Guide drove slower was when she stopped at the Winner’s Circle (and yes, I did envision myself standing atop my Sprint Cup winning vehicle, arms in the air, confetti blowing around, two models coming up on both sides, a Coke or a Gatorade in my hand). Waiting to get onto the track itself, I figured this was hopeless. Her years initially told me one thing: “I’m gonna get skunked having her hit the gas when she gets on this track.”

Then she blasted out of pit road and raced towards Turn One, almost immediately speeding in excess of 80 miles per hour and heading straight toward the wall.

My leisurely “la la la, knit one, purl two” Tour Guide turned into a Formula One speed demon in seconds flat, causing me to hold onto my seat for dear life, hoping that the insurance premiums were up to date, and that my estate would be distributed properly (meaning all of my Grateful Dead collectibles go to a worthy owner). To add a little salt in the wound, she stopped, pretty much at the middle of the banking around that very turn. Not only was I still getting over this zero to 80-plus mile an hour in a few seconds flat burst of speed, I was now afraid that one slight move and we’d  tip this van over.

If I could’ve gotten away with ordering all of the heavier people to the right of the van, I would’ve done so faster than you can say “barrel roll.” Sweet relief–when we started moving again.

I put any thoughts of riding as a passenger in a real Sprint car on hold.

Tours are a nice little diversion, but they’re no substitute for race day. When that gigantic track is filled with 100,000 turkey-leg-eating NASCAR fans, it becomes the fourth largest city in North Carolina.

When those fans take the seats, that’s when the fun really begins.

Tomorrow Brian explores Part Two: The Fans

A continuación dejo la referencia a un breve documento que define los requerimientos de alto nivel que cualquier sistema de gestión de formación(LMS) moderno debe tener.

http://elearningnetwork.org/files/reports/21cLMS.pdf

Universities around the nation are rapidly revolutionizing their curriculum as they implement a Learning Management System into their curriculum create degrees that can be earned solely via distant learning. Various interactive courses and high tech modules are brought into the mix to deliver material with ease and efficiency.

Jim Miller, an Internet Marketing student attending Orlando based Full Sail University, while residing on the West Coast, states that distant learning has allowed him the chance to pursue a higher education while still working full time. “It’s great because class is wherever you are. The convenience and flexibility of when you attend your class enables you to work your education around your career which helps to facilitate both endeavors.”

The Learning Management System provides a system where students can receive additional help with their courses if needed. A 24/7 mentorship program with highly trained counselors is available for students to receive round the clock aid in their coursework. However, with positive is a negative counterpart. Depending on the set curriculum or Professor, group projects may be a requirement for various assignments. This can cause complications as students within the same group may reside in different locations, forcing them to work around time differences, work schedules, and of course the less motivated student whose lack of zeal may hinder the projects integrity. With that said, evaluations are taking quarterly to ensure the quality of the material is effectively being delivered and taught to the students.

When asked to compare the quality of the Learning Management System in regards to the curriculum and teaching of “in classroom” courses in comparison to online courses, Jim Miller states, “the only difference I that I have experienced is that you are not physically in the classroom. I feel the quality of the curriculum and the concepts I am being taught are held at the same standard and uphold the same quality at any other University attending an in-person course.” While some universities have not developed full distant learning programs, signs of evolution are evident in the current courses that are beginning to experiment with a Learning Management System to deliver their courses via chat room.

Imagine you have a blank canvas in front of you and you can create the ideal online class. You can add any Global Web application you choose, include links to existing material, social networks, videos, podcasts, lectures, art, design, color … endless choices.

The canvas would be a work of art, innovation at it’s best, something to long for – right? Well, maybe not. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the online courses are pretty much the same across the country. The learning management systems are hum drum and offer learning via text, email, asynchronous discussion boards or mandatory chat sessions. Marc Parry author of Online Programs: Profits Are There, Innovation is Not, notes the discrepancy between the exciting technology offered at workshops and conferences is missing in the actual platform where classes are offered.

It only takes one university to step outside the box, incorporate global web technology to online classrooms to draw students who are eager to try something new, to feel appreciated and to learn.  Once that happens and students get a taste of what is possible, they will never return to the tired old platform.

A course with color, music, links to social networks, links to experts in the field, links to authors, games that tell stories, stories that teach, existing technology … it’s already there.



After some changes to the rules of the Le Mans Series, reports indicate that the Nissan GT-R and Maserati MC12 will be entering the Le Mans Series next season, including an appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

They both comply to the new set of rules, and they’ve had considerable success in the FIA GT1 championship, so this is very well possible. I’d be interested in seeing what they can pull off at Le Mans.

Source: Autoblog

P.S: Sorry for the poorly matching picture sizes, I was in a rush to post this.

A report indicates that Porsche is planning several new models within the next 4 years.

These apparently include a new generation of Cayenne, a baby Cayenne (This will be to the Cayenne as the Audi Q5 is to the Audi Q7), a V6 Panamera, with a diesel version in certain markets and a hybrid Panamera, which will be coupled to either a V6 or V8.

Also, a new generation of 911 is due by 2012. It is expected to be significantly different from current one, though the engine will still remain in the wrong place back.

A successor to the 928 is also planned (In coupe and convertible form), as well as a supercar based on the RS Spyder racing car, and if their last supercar is anything to go by (Carrera GT), it should be brilliant.

Besides the disgusting fantastic hybrid Panamera they’re developing, there’s also an electric sportscar on it’s way. Lastly, the Boxster Spyder I posted earlier will be released, as I mentioned, in February 2010. Looks like the brand is going to have the biggest line up in a while soon.

Source: Autoblog

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are often viewed as being the starting point (or critical component) of any elearning or blended learning program. This perspective is valid from a management and control standpoint, but antithetical to the way in which most people learn today. http://bit.ly/qG1XF

Just yesterday I was reading a great post by Steve Wheeler about motivation, with the general premise being that intrinsic motivation is a key element in operational personal learning environments (PLEs) and I was thinking “yes, that is so very true”. As a matter of coincidence, a few hours later, I realised that I had not included my university’s Learner Management System (LMS) as a component of my chart that shows the components of my PLE… more than that, I also realised that I had no desire to.

I have some fantastic classmates in one of my distance classes, but I have only seen them for two half days in the semester. If I were to have more interaction with them, I’d prefer they tweet or blog as I know they have some perspectives I’d value, but they don’t use the LMS either… well not for the experience and opinion type perspectives I’d like to hear from them.  What happens on our institutional LMS feels forced because it’s participation for marks. We’re supposed to participate around outcomes, not participate to test perspectives, show our ideas forming or alignment with identity, and that makes a big difference to the way students behave.  I believe this is because in being tracked and mandatory, interactions lose authenticity… and most importantly, contributions are made because of extrinsic motivation.

I don’t intrinsically want to go use an LMS to learn, and it seems my classmates don’t either, so while my classmates make the cut into my PLE (not as much as I’d like them to), the system that we use, by design, does not.

So yeah… I guess this is a bit of LMS bashing, but that’s what I think and why… ultimately that’s what this blog is about, to express those things, those things I think of all on my own, things I am thinking about at a point in time. Those things that help my learning have meaning and longevity. Intrinsically. Because I want to… those things that don’t fit in my institution’s LMS.