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

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

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.

With universities introducing online distance-learning programs, e-learning is the latest boom in India, says Malabika Sarkar

Look back three years and there were hardly any online programs offered compared to the numerous e-learning initiatives that have been floated today. Even professional bodies like ICSI (Institute of Company Secretaries of India) have started offering online programs. Online education/training has proved to be successful in areas like pre-recruitment training for Insurance Agents, Certified Financial Planners, MBA programs etc. Even though the IT sector has begun to go slow on recruitment it still needs highly skilled people for key positions and such people are in short supply.

Shailesh H Mehta, CEO & Founder, GurukulOnline Learning Solutions, said, “e-learning is the need of the hour in India. More than 50% of India’s population is under 25 yrs of age. We have the biggest youth brigade in the world. Population is not necessarily a liability as is generally believed. It can be turned into an economic resource and a huge competitive advantage if we can provide the right education and training to the masses. India is not rich in natural resources therefore our primary strength is our people. We should provide vocational education to those who cannot opt for higher education and try to provide large scale, high quality higher educational facilities. All this requires use of technology whether we are looking at a brick and mortar, click (virtual) or a blended model.”

e-learning enables the distribution of quality education easier, faster, in a more convenient manner and facilitates content customization at the same time. The Indian e-learning market is still at a nascent stage and is far behind when compared to those in developed nations. There are certain zones within the country, especially in the metropolitan cities, where the adoption is faster. At the same time, there are zones where there the technology has yet to establish even a beachhead due to the lack of network infrastructure. Some organizations/institutions are trying out e-learning.

Homz Umrigar, Head e-learning (R&D), GurukulOnline said, “There is an acute need for e-learning solutions at all levels, be it at schools, colleges, universities or corporate houses. India is ready for e-learning, with its young, tech-savvy population. However, Internet penetration leaves much to be desired. We must quickly lay down standards/policies, release frequencies for the latest technologies like WiMAX and Wi-Fi. Moreover, unbundling of local loop (i.e. the last mile connectivity, which is the telephone line) which rests with state telecom companies needs to be done at the earliest and the market needs to be opened up for whoever can offer the best quality at an affordable cost.”

Slicing up the e-learning market

“More than 50% of India’s population is under 25 yrs of age. Population can be turned into an economic resource and a huge competitive advantage if we can provide the right education and training to the masses”

- Shailesh H Mehta
CEO & Founder, GurukulOnline Learning Solutions

“Adoption is slow in the
Indian market. However, the level of adoption depends a lot on how such a mode of learning is promoted
and marketed. The early adopters are primarily from the corporate segment, followed by a few prestigious schools and colleges”

- Mayank Saxena
Senior Industry Analyst, ICT Practice,
Frost & Sullivan, South Asia and
Middle East

“indianshiksha.com, an e-learning initiative, has been set up with the belief that teachers are lifelong learners who thrive on the learning process themselves and as a result pass the excitement of learning on to their students. Teachers should get high quality learning content and access to professional
learning communities”

- Karan Bajwa
Group Director-Public Sector, Microsoft India

The e-learning market can be sliced and diced in many ways. The first is on the basis of purpose, such as training (primarily for the employees in the corporate sector), self- education (for young students who are willing to pursue both higher education and work), and others (such as housewives who want to get involved in studies during their free time, self-employed people, etc). Among all these potential target segments the corporate sector is the biggest consumer of e-learning. Secondly, we can also segment this market by the mode of learning, which can be blended (a mix of traditional and online learning) or pure e-learning (online learning only).

e-learning is an umbrella term that is used to refer to any of the following: CBT (Computer Based Training referring to CDs here), WBT (Web-Based Training using PDFs, HTML pages or digital content created with tools like Flash—with or without animation, graphics, audio, or video), video lectures (also known as Interactive Video Lectures – iVL) and audio lectures (also known as Interactive Audio Lectures – iAL), Live Virtual Classroom, Simulations and mLearning, which includes PODcasting (Audio Lectures), VODCasting (Video Lectures), etc.

Apart from these, there are many tools that are commonly used in e-learning, such as Web blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, RSS, podcasting, instant messaging, text chats, Internet forums, etc. Presently institutions and organizations are trying to bring in simple, cost-effective e-learning tools for different individuals.

Pace of adoption

Talking about the pace of adoption of e-learning in India Mayank Saxena, Senior Industry Analyst, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia and Middle East said, “Adoption is slow in the Indian market. However, the level of adoption depends a lot on how such a mode of learning is promoted and marketed. The early adopters are primarily from the corporate segment, followed by a few prestigious schools and colleges. These companies are training- and consulting-based, and are trying to provide face-to-face meetings, demos, training classes and lectures by using this technology. Similarly, a few software training institutes are offering courses through e-learning. These early adopters are trying to develop their e-learning programs in order to impart quality education, which is customized to suit their needs. Once the benefits of early adopters are witnessed by the market, adoption will gain pace and the e-learning market will gain momentum.”

Most of the ET500 companies have some kind of e-learning program and these companies are largely in an advanced stage of taking training programs online. At the university level, the e-learning trend started with Amity University and Symbiosis and is now becoming popular with other universities as well. Amity offers weekend classes via a live virtual classroom for its eMBA program.

Jayant S Bhadauria, Head Education Solutions—India, Adobe Systems India Pvt Ltd, said, “e-learning in India has not taken off in all segments, but it has been successful in some verticals namely ITES, BFSI and Education. e-learning requires a change in mindset as we are still used to an instructor and classroom setup. However, with improvements in infrastructure, e-learning has taken off in education. Many programs are being offered through the e-learning mode by various universities. India with a large geography, population and lack of teachers needs to take advantage of e- learning. The government has put considerable emphasis on creating e-learning content to ensure that our future generations are prepared to compete in the global economy.”

Some of the factors that are hindering the adoption of e-learning are the network infrastructure of the country and the cost associated with the technology, which will specifically affect the common student as well as employees in tier-2 or tier-3 cities. Mehta said, “Internet penetration, availability of a stable electric supply and Internet connectivity are the biggest challenges that we face while providing e-learning.”

Advantages of E-learning

• Cost effectiveness
• Scalability
• Instant reach
• Simple to use
• Helps meet faculty shortage
• Manage classroom (ILT) and online session
• Synergizes business processes

Making learning effective

Some companies have come up with innovative forms of e-learning. Blended learning is one such procedure, which is a careful mix of both traditional learning and e-learning. It is considered an effective and proven learning method as it attempts to incorporate the benefits of both formats.

Umrigar said, “There are many e-learning companies that offer either a learning management system (LMS) or content services. The customer is going to demand a complete learning experience including self paced learning, recorded video/audio lectures of expert faculties, live classroom, simulations, mock tests, and soon learning over mobile devices. There is no one company that offers end-to-end e-learning solutions.”

Harman Singh, Founder & CEO, WiZiQ.com, said, “We provide an online learning platform focused on empowering teachers to make learning more effective, efficient and intuitive. It is equipped with live audio-video communication, chat, content sharing and session recording capabilities.”

Talking about another e-learning platform that Microsoft has initiated, Karan Bajwa, Group Director-Public Sector, Microsoft India, said, “Microsoft India has introduced indianshiksha.com, an e-learning initiative in India. The belief of the IndiaShiksha network is that the teachers are lifelong learners who thrive on the learning process themselves and as a result pass the excitement of learning on to their students. Teachers should get high quality learning content and access to professional learning communities. Such professional learning content provides teachers with the skills and knowledge to effectively facilitate student learning. The professional learning communities provide a collaborative learning environment where teachers can reflect on their own learning with colleagues, share expertise, and build a common understanding around innovative practices.”

Besides the growing demand for e-learning in the education segment, there has also been a rise in the number of courses and variety of content that is available. e-learning enables a convenient mode where content can be increased and modified as per the desire of the person doing the learning. Timings are flexible and all a student needs is an access device (PC or laptop) that is connected to the Internet. With the help of recorded classrooms, a few good teachers can impart education to thousands of students and these students can consume the courseware at a pace that fits their understanding. Overall, if the benefits of e-learning are used effectively, they can help improve the quality of education and reach a far greater number of students at one go than would be possible in the real world.

Expectations from the Indian market

“e-learning will take some time to gain visibility in the Indian market and in the near future there shall be certain pockets in the country that will adopt this concept sooner. These will be the places that have a better network infrastructure and a mindset, which is ready to understand and explore the advantages of e-learning,” said Saxena.

Forecasts are more optimistic and going by those the industry is going to witness exponential growth over the next few years and the same will continue for at least a decade from now. There will be a drive among service providers to offer end-to-end solutions to customers. Many more players are expected to enter the market. Those who can offer end-to-end solutions or quality niche products with a strong value proposition will survive and thrive in the market.

malabika.sarkar@expressindia.com

e-learning, a peep into the future – Express Computer

New eLearning creation platform set to transform training strategies

• Submitted by: Berkeley PR
• Wednesday, 09 July 2008

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Today’s launch of http://www.cm-luminosity.co.uk”>Luminosity, the new eLearning creation platform, heralds a new direction in eLearning development. The solution is being launched by learning content and consultancy specialist http://www.cm-group.co.uk”>CM Group.
http://www.cm-luminosity.co.uk”>Luminosity is a web-based rapid development eLearning platform, designed to enable large organisations to significantly reduce the cost of eLearning creation whilst increasing the volume and speed of content output.
http://www.cm-luminosity.co.uk”>Luminosity enables the author to work either online or offline and to publish the content to users via websites, via a SCORM compliant LMS, to SharePoint or to other intranet sites, or to a mobile device. Once published, the content can be updated and re-published by the author themselves in minutes, a task which has historically been protracted and often costly.
Tim Buff, managing director, http://www.cm-group.co.uk”>CM Group explains, “eLearning has the potential to transform an organisation’s training strategy. But it is a potential that often goes unfulfilled due to the high costs and length of time associated with the traditional approach to producing eLearning content.
“Most people outsource eLearning development and have to put up with production cycles of up to three months. These long drawn out cycles tie up their own staff in frequent iterations and usually end up costing many thousands of pounds per course. The old way of producing eLearning has become cumbersome and expensive, today organisations demand the rapid, cost effective delivery of relevant and up to date materials. Luminosity enables the development and deployment of large amounts of high quality learning materials – very quickly.”

Luminosity provides a collaborative authoring environment with built in workflow. The intuitive user interface works on two levels; firstly allowing authors to create high quality engaging learning content with much less involvement from the design team than is traditional; and secondly, it removes the need for companies to outsource to third party instructional design and eLearning production companies. This transforms the speed of learning creation and slashes the cost whilst at the same time making content updates fast and easy.
ENDS
About CM Group
CM Group was founded by a team of IT experts and top learning and development exponents in 1999. The company was established in response to the increasing need for technical training and reference materials by major companies wishing to maximise the impact of their new product launches.
The company has expanded to meet the needs of their clients and now consists of three divisions; Content Master, CM Consulting and CM Luminosity. Content Master provides a powerful impetus to the launch of new products. It supplies the major players in the global IT industry with the technically focused content needed to accompany new product launches and maximise subsequent market penetration. These materials include instructor led and eLearning training materials, best practice and implementation guides, sales aids and promotional materials. CM Consulting provides support to early adopters on important new technologies, whilst offering strategic and operational consulting in educational strategies. CM Luminosity produces Luminosity, the rapid eLearning content development and publication platform. It uses the latest Microsoft technologies, enabling companies to create and maintain compelling and interactive eLearning content quickly and economically. www.cm-group.co.uk
For further information and images, contact:
Helen Stevens/Bethan Wadeson/Carly Rudrum
http://www.berkeleypr.co.uk”>Berkeley PR
T. 01454 629741
bethan.wadeson@berkeleypr.co.uk

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

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.

Key Topics Covered:

• Thinking Critically to Move e-Learning Forward, by Patti Shank
• Hype Versus Reality in the Boardroom: Why e-Learning Hasn’t Lived Up to Its Initial Projections for Penetrating the Corporate Environment, by Margaret Driscoll
• Hype Versus Reality on Campus: Why e-Learning Isn’t Likely to Replace a Professor Any Time Soon, by Brent G. Wilson and Lee Christopher
• Knowledge Management: From the Graveyard of Good Ideas, by William Horton
• Infrastructure for Learning: Options for Today or Screw-Ups for Tomorrow, by Patti Shank, L. Wayne Precht, Harvey Singh, Jim Everidge, and Jane Bozarth
• e-Learning Standards: A Framework for Enabling the Creation and Distribution of High-Quality, Cost-Effective Web-Delivered Instruction, by Pat Brogan
• Learning with Objects, by Patrick Parrish
• Web 2.0 and Beyond: The Changing Needs of Learners, New Tools, and Ways to Learn, by Patti Shank
• Locked Out: Bridging the Divide Between Training and Information Technology, by Marc J. Rosenberg and Steve Foreman
• A Holistic Framework of Instructional Design for e-Learning, by Saul Carliner
• Converting e3-Learning to e3-Learning: An Alternative Instructional Design Method, by M. David Merrill
• Design with the Learning in Mind, by Patricia McGee
• Revisiting Learning Theory for e-Learning, by Gretchen Lowerison, Roger Côté, Philip C. Abrami, and Marie-Claude Lavoie
• Design Research: A Better Approach to Improving Online Learning, by Thomas C. Reeves, Jan Herrington, and Ron Oliver
• Is e-Learning Economically Viable? by Patrick Lambe

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/345016/the_elearning_han

Quoted from http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb891759.aspx:

ISVs are from Mars, and Hosters are from Venus

ISVs are from Mars, and Hosters are from Venus

Frederick Chong, Gianpaolo Carraro, Eugenio Pace (all from Microsoft Corporation) & Matt Baldwin (Hostway Corporation)

November 2007

Summary: Service delivery is a broad discipline that amalgamates knowledge and best practices from technical areas, such as networking, security, instrumentations and monitoring, operating systems, business processes, and system automation. Despite the complexity of this subject matter, this topic is not brand new. Practitioners in the telecommunications industry have given so much thought to this discipline that they are able to distill the essence of their industry management framework into letters in the FCAPS acronym (Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance and Security Management).

Contents

The Impetus for Specialized SaaS Hosting
Optimizing for ISV Needs
Cost and Operational Compliance
The SaaS Hosting Continuum
Realizing SaaS Hosting
The SaaS Delivery Platform
The SDP SDK
Conclusions
References

The Impetus for Specialized SaaS Hosting

The case for specialized Software as a Service (SaaS) hosting can be easily rationalized by examining an incompatible pair of anecdotal fact and reality:

• Fact: When we explore the expertise of software vendors today, we find that most of them will not claim operating a hosting environment as a core competency. Actually, many would also cite operational excellence as a key barrier of entry into the SaaS market. This observation should not come as a surprise to the reader.
• Reality: However, when we take a look at the prevailing market situation, delivering SaaS applications often depends on hosting solutions that are “home-brewed” by the software vendors themselves. This is to say that in addition to implementing the application logic, many SaaS software vendors themselves will need to design, develop, and integrate the operational modules for their service offerings. As illustrated in Figure 1, the service delivery components, such as billing, metering, and logging, are built by the application vendor and integrated into the application stack.

The key observation from the datum above is that many ISVs are re-implementing operational components by necessity, not because those infrastructure additions provide significant value to differentiating the core features of the applications. Moreover, building these components add to the time and cost of delivering the application. Therefore, for the software vendors, most of such redundant work and expenditure can be eliminated if the software vendors can obtain the same operational functions from third parties that specialize in SaaS hosting.

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: Assemble an internal team of colleagues who will act as the evaluation committee for your project. As the key stakeholders, make sure they represent all relevant departments within your organization. Based upon discussions among these evaluators, you can assemble an internal needs assessment that represent the foundational requirements for training and education within your organization. It is imperative that you fully understand the internal needs and requirements of your company before you even begin your search for the “perfect” e-learning platform. (By the way, there is no such thing as the “perfect” e-learning platform but with proper diligence, you can get close). If you’ve properly done your homework, you should be able to significantly reduce the field of potential vendors before sending out your first RFP.

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/

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…

The Carrot-and-Stick Approach to E-Learning Compliancy

Adopt a carrot-and-stick policy around your e-learning initiatives. On the stick side, you must get management ‘buy-in’ to mandate that your e-learning offerings are required, full participation is expected, and that it will be tracked and reported upon. Follow up on your mandate by running the reports and submitting them to the appropriate individuals who can then follow up with their team members. You may even pitch the proposal to your HR group and/or senior management to tie in course compliancy with performance management. How’s that for an incentive? (Hello Johnny…I see its time for your annual review upon which your bonus is based. I see you’re also interested in advancing in your position. Hmmm… it looks like you’ve taken fewer than 50% of the requisite online offerings. What do you have to say about that?) Also, it’s not enough to simply mandate that your offerings be completed fully and in a timely manner. You should establish stringent guidelines around your business process and communication. One good way to do this is through a regular and consistent corporate-wide announcements (e.g., email) regarding the status of online offerings: Be sure to communicate who is required to take them, when must they be completed, what will be the value and benefit to the learners, how will compliancy be measured and reported upon. The key here is consistency so that it establishes a precedent which soon becomes a habit among your associates. Be sure to stress the requirement of complying with the organization’s mandate along with the repercussions of non-compliance: “It is expected that all sales managers will successfully complete the ‘Strategic Sales Strategies’ course by Friday, Sept. 7th. All department managers will receive notification of their direct report’s compliancy. Those who have not completed the assignment as required, will be scheduled to meet with their manager to discuss issues surrounding their non-compliance. “  Okay, I might not word this so harshly but I did it to illustrate my point.  Now then, we’ve discussed the ‘stick,’ which dictates the repercussions from not participating in the requisite online offerings.  Let’s chat briefly about the ‘carrot’ which identifies the incentives surrounding course compliance.   Incentives can take many forms and can be as simple as communicating that compliancy will be considered when establishing bonuses or reviewing applications for advancement in position.   Sometimes these incentives are more tangible and provide immediate gratification to the student:  “All those enrolled in the ‘Advanced Sales’ course who complete the offering with 70% or above will be eligible to win a new Garmin GPS Navigation System.”   Or, how about this example  “All associates who complete the ‘Negotation Strategies’ course by next Friday will receive a 20% discount on all iPod accessories.”  We have seen such direct, “money-in-your-pocket” incentive programs improve online course compliancy by as much as 80%.  (As for retention….. well, I’ll discuss that in another post.)  

Try the carrot-and-stick approach to improving compliancy among your learners.   You’ll like what you see.  I personally guarantee it!