Announcing a New Online Adaptive eLearning Solution: Elcues.com

Vivitsa eLearning, a pioneer in elearning solutions, launched the beta version of its adaptive cue-based learning portal, ElCues.com today. This solution is first of its kind in India and is designed to adjust the learning cycle based on the learning level of the child. Derived from several years of research on learning methods, the solution is designed to teach deeper concepts, not just techniques to solve problems.

Some of the highlights of ElCues.com are:

* It is an adaptive cue based learning solution that offers learning through application of concepts and knowledge to school children
* Leads the students to uncover complex concepts through intelligent cues.
* Learning cycle adjusts according to the learning level of the students
* The cue-based learning method, ElCues Learning, is designed to improve learning level of the students, supplement the school education, and improve academic performance of students.
* Offers a mixture of learning capsules and tests which can be taken any number of times

• Learn more by visiting their website at:  http://www.Elcues.com

Boost eLearning Launches Google Search Training for Large Organizations – MarketWatch

 

Boost eLearning, the pioneer in Google search training for large organizations, today announced Boost eLearning Google Search Training, a hosted application that trains information workers how to quickly and easily extract targeted information from the Web using search practices they never knew were possible. Ideal for large corporations, government and non-profit organizations, Boost eLearning’s training instills in workers the expanded range of search skills they need to exploit the wealth of free information on the Web. With Boost eLearning Google Search Training, organizations can turn Internet-powered workers into more productive, savvy consumers of knowledge.

Boost eLearning Launches Google Search Training for Large Organizations – MarketWatch

Technology is nice but content is still (and always will be) king

If you build it, will they come?  Don’t hold your breath in Hong Kong.  When we talk about the “bells and whistles” of Web 2.0 and e-learning 2.0 technologies, it’s easy to forget that content itself is what captures and holds our attention.  (A good spell-checker also wouldn’t hurt):

Thums down for e-learning
(08-25 18:38)
E-learning is not as popular among teenagers as people may have assumed, according to a survey conducted by the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong.
In the survey which polled 785 young people between 12 and 22 in Hong Kong and Taiwan between December 06 and May last year, 8 percent of youngsters in Hong Kong said they disliked e-learning.
The results also showed 55 percent said e-learning was not their preference compared to 44 percent of youngsters in Taiwan sharing their view.
Social worker Yuen Hin-sing explained most e-learning has not been strongly supported by research data that failed to appeal to the young learners. Yuen said there was no data to establish that students can learn more and better from e-learning.

Where is the hottest emerging market for acceptance of e-learning? As you probably guessed, it’s India.

‘Express Computer’–India’s IT business weekly news site has just released their vision relating to the importance of e-learning to facilitate education in India. According to Shailesh H Mehta, CEO & Founder of GurukulOnline Learning Solutions, more than 50% of India’s population is under 25, and since India is not rich in natural resources, it’s best resource is recognized as its people.  Here’s the scoop:

SourceWire | Press Releases – New eLearning creation platform set to transform training strategies

‘Luminosity,’ a new content development platform being released by the CM Group, is touted as enabling the reduction of cost of e-learning creation while increasing the volume and speed of content output.  Sounds promising.  I’ve always been a big fan of rapid content authoring, and the new Luminosity platform sounds like it may address this need.  Anyway, here’s their press release:

Stay On-top of Latest Trends in E-Learning

According to today’s Business Wire release, Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/345016/the_elearning_han) has announced the addition of the “The E-Learning Handbook: Past Promises, Present Challenges” report to their offering.

The e-Learning Handbook provides a critical reflection on the current state of e-learning with contributions from the world’s foremost e-learning experts and best-selling authors from academe and industry, including Margaret Driscoll; Brent Wilson Lee Christopher; William Horton, L. Wayne Precht, Harvey Singh, Jim Everidge, and Jane Bozarth; Pat Brogan; Patrick Parrish; Marc J. Rosenberg and Steve Forman; Pat McGee; Philip C. Abrami, Gretchen Lowerison, Roger Cote, and Marie-Claude Lavoie; Thomas C. Reeves, Jan Herrington, and Ron Oliver; and Patrick Lambe. The book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the technological, design, economic, evaluation, research, economic, and philosophical issues underlying e-learning. Each chapter includes a chart that summarizes the key take-away points, contains questions that are useful for guiding discussions, and offers suggestions of related links, books, papers, reports, and articles.

A Word About Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

In the good ole’ days, buying into e-learning was a simple proposition of comparing and selecting among software products from a small field of e-learning solutions providers, and then implementing the platform on company servers. As the field of providers expanded, so too did their value propositions, which now allowed organizations to choose between software ownership and hosted solutions. Now, of course, we have a Chinese menu of choices including the growing and popular software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. If you aren’t already famliar with this cloudware business model, you might find value in doing so before shopping for your next e-learning solution.

How to select the “best” LMS/LCMS (Part 1)

Many years ago, I worked with a guy who was in great physical shape and was obviously a fitness buff. Since I also wanted to get back into shape, I asked him which piece of gym equipment he felt was the very best for quickly making the fastest gains. He leaned in and whispered (as if it was a trade secret) “Okay…I’ll tell you the single, best piece of equipment. This one machine is far superior to any other machine you’ll find in the gym. Far and away, the single best machine is … the one you’re actually going to use.” And then he walked away. A simple answer but one that I never forgot.

Do you know someone who bought the “best” among a field of products or services, but it wasn’t really the best one suited for them? Do you know this person intimately? Was this perhaps’YOU’? You’re not alone. When it comes to choosing an e-learning solution, there are over 160 vendors in that vast sea of LMS/LCMS platforms. How are you going to distinguish one from another? You’d be surprised how many solutions buyers make their choice by mass mailing requests for RFPs and then comparing features side-by-side with vendors’ solutions in order to find the best value for the money. This is a baaaad way to purchase an e-learning solution for your organization. Here’s a better way:

So, You Wanna Wiki. (Here’s How To Get Started)

Here’s an excellent resource to get you started with understanding and using Wiki technology. What’s a “wiki?” It’s a collaborative website you can easily build which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it.

This link to the wikimatrix.org website lets you go through a wizard to find the perfect wiki for you and then shows you a great comparison table with all of the features listed out. Pretty cool.

http://www.wikimatrix.org/

If You Build It, Will They Come? (Improving Compliancy Among Your Learners)

This morning I had an interesting chat with “Chris from Tweeter”:

We had the opportunity to discuss ways of improving course compliancy among corporate learners.

Chris: Curt, some folks just don’t see the benefit of taking time from their busy schedule to do their e-learning courses.  Do have any suggestions on how to keep course compliancy high among our salespeople?

Curt: Chris, I’ve heard every excuse as to why folks won’t take their dose of e-learning.  Do any of these sound familiar?

• I don’t have time.
• I don’t see the benefits.
• I don’t know how to access the platform and launch the course.
• I don’t like the content. (It’s boooring!)
• I already know about the topic.
• I don’t have easy access to a computer.
• I need to be out on the floor, selling; not standing in front of a computer, taking courses.

Many organizations face the same problem: Their instructional designers build course offerings that receive little or no interest from the field. Of course, the IDs and management cannot understand this dilemma: “Why would anyone NOT want to retrieve additional knowledge necessary to improve their success in the workplace?” Well, in addition to the points mentioned above, many learners may not see the direct benefits that online training can offer. It simply is not visible to their personal bottom line.  So, how do we turn this around? The answer is quite simple…