Let the Games Begin

The five year countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games has begun and with it brings potential for a major increase in employment opportunities. By 2016 the release of as many as 180,000 new jobs is anticipated.

From hot dog sellers to logistics co-ordinators, the need for an increased workforce will span across many business sectors and involve companies nationwide. As the majority of jobs up for grabs require a minimum NVQ Level 3 qualification, the Government has pledged £1.5 million for skills development in this area.

So it’s not just the athletes who’ll be put through their paces in the build up to the 2012 Games. A different sort of “training” will be taking place among new recruits eager to benefit from the 500,000-strong tourist invasion predicted to penetrate London during the Games period.

While Craig Pickering races against the clock, employers will be ensuring staff are properly skilled and qualified in their designated roles. The learning requirements of these employees creates potential for an

e-learning gold medal in the race to provide the technological tools to educate the workforce masses.

Advising the International Olympic Committee and in particular the team involved in the London 2012 organisation is Pascal Wattiaux, of Disruptive Play and P W Sport Ltd. Referring to the training requirements of future Olympic Games employees, Pascal made the following comment:

"E-learning, and particularly the use of serious games and simulations, is an exceptionally efficient and cost-effective way of giving these people the knowledge and skills they need…"

Employers need to ensure the 13,000 construction workers, 1,500 electricians and plumbers, and scores of chefs, cleaners and security guards required in the next 5 years, are all qualified and ready to tackle the mayhem and magic that is the Olympic Games.

What better way to provide consistent, interactive training in bulk form, than to take on an e-learning initiative?

As our athletes “go for gold”, with the help of e-learning technologies, so too can the 2012 Games staff raise the torch for professionalism in London!

Shift Happens

After reading Terri's blog, I wanted to find out more information about how many people were actually involved in this online 'community' phenomenon, fueled by the likes of Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo. In amongst the multitudes of personal sites, blogs, and forums that have spawned, I stumbled across a little gem. Created by Karl Fisch under the title, "Did you Know?," and more recently redone as a YouTube slideshow by Scott McLeod, called "Shift Happens," this plethora of information should overwhelm you, as it did me.

"Shift Happens" touches on some of the most talked about subjects of our generation. As you read this blog, you are participating in the fastest growing form of communication in the world - within the next day you will be likely to: write an email, converse through an Online Messenger, update your personal community site, and search Google.
The way that we are embracing technology is unbelievable and the scariest part is, we have no idea what we will be able to achieve in a couple of years. Bring it on!

Addicted to 'The Space'

It seems that the days of people using pen and paper to communicate are completely finished. With a vast amount of jobs requiring a PC, more and more people are becoming computer literate. They are now using the machines for all sorts, including to keep in contact with people. E-mail has been around for a long time now and was once the popular form of reaching somebody via the net. However, in the recent years there have been several ‘community’ sites launched which appear to be overtaking this type of messaging.

I personally have been drawn into the new phenomenon that is ‘Facebook’. Checking my personal messages, who’s written on my wall and updating my ‘status’ has become as normal to me as brushing my teeth in the morning. There is not a day goes by where I don’t turn up to work early to log into the site. It’s fast, easy and is the simplest, way that I know of, to keep in contact with everyone.

So what is it that has led us to this way of non-personal and quite lazy form of communication? It appears to me that everyone is now too busy with work and social lives to make time for a phone call, or even a visit to family and friends. Therefore, this medium is a fast and effective way of keeping in touch and up to date with what is going on in people’s lives. Arguably, it’s not the best way to keep in touch but it is definitely something I will be addicted to for a long time yet!

It's Not Easy Being Green

When we consider all the positive things about e-learning we compile a pretty impressive list. We find that e-learning saves time, saves money, saves the environment, but did you ever consider that e-learning could save lives? Well thanks to the work of one animal loving Professor, that’s exactly what it does.

Professor David Dewhurst’s development of software programs that centre on animals being replaced by computer simulations, result in hundreds of thousands of animals being saved each year from going under the knife in school and education-based science dissections.

Schools and colleges that choose the creature-friendly alternative not only produce a reduction in the number of teenage girls lining up outside the nurse’s office, but are also able to introduce their students to the notion of using computers and e-learning technology as research tools.

e-learning in the classroom creates an element of variety and excitement for students and allows them to expand on their own personal development and take control of their learning. Although for some it may not incite the adrenaline rush involved in hacking into Kermit, I’m sure most participants will agree that the “mouse” is a more environmentally friendly weapon of education.

It’s clear to see that e-learning’s future is a bright one. The potential for growth in this field is huge and holds some major implications for the integration of more technology-driven instruction in schools and educational institutions.

Today the classroom, tomorrow the world!

The e-learning Footprint: A Walkway to a Greener Future

With a greener future on the horizon it is becoming more important for companies to commit to walking the greener path and making an effort to provide an economically friendly work environment.

There are a number of ways a company can embrace the tree-hugging way of life and what better way to say “Green is the new Black” than e-learning?
When you think about it, e-learning lowers a considerable number of carbon emissions. Let’s take a look at a few:

Fuel for Thought –
Providing anywhere-anytime learning means that companies no longer need to send their staff to the four corners of the globe to take part in training courses, seminars or conventions. This elimination of travel means one less contributor to the atmospheric pollution that planes, trains and automobiles create.

The Paper Trail –
To take part in an online training course all you need is an internet connection and a p.c. Gone are the days of 300 page manuals, exercise books, and loose leaf handouts, that are quickly skimmed, hurriedly forgot, and absent-mindedly added to the mountainous pile of white paper fighting for space in the top drawer. By using web-based tools such as webinairs, online courses, PDF manuals and live instant mentoring, companies eliminate the paper cuts and accentuate the forests.

e is for Energy –
As e-learning technologies bring learning to the people, not people to the learning, energy emissions are kept to a minimum. As well as the negative impact that travelling to training sessions, conferences etc has on the environment, there’s also the amount of energy used to accommodate such meetings. As most learners probably aren’t too eager to receive training by candlelight, nor would they be well pleased to have to attend a session dressed in snow gear, training and meeting venues ensure that the heating and lighting bills are paid and a cosy, well lit room awaits, clocking up unnecessary energy emissions.

A recent study by the Open University on the environmental impacts of conventional campus, print-based and electronic distance/open learning systems drew some interesting and thought-provoking conclusions.

The study found that on average “…distance/open learning courses used 90% less energy consumption and produced 90% fewer CO2 emissions than the conventional campus based university courses.”

These findings have huge implications for the future impact that e-learning can have towards creating a more environmentally friendly learning atmosphere and encourage companies to embrace the greener way of life.

What is your company doing to keep things green?

Making Transitions Simple: Mind the Gap

Last night I decided to brave the storm and travel home with the rest of the masses during London rush hour. In hindsight this was probably not the best idea and I think in future I’ll stick to my method of staying late in the office to avoid the tidal wave of commuters trying to make it home in time for dinner and the latest Hollyoaks infusion.

Now I know that the London Underground comes under a lot of fire but they don’t really do themselves any favours do they?
Trying to board a South bound Northern Line train in peak hour traffic is like Posh Spice trying to pack her stilettos into six jumbo suitcases: an uncomfortable struggle.

But surely Underground staff are aware that when the clock strikes five, an influx of eager travellers will shortly bombard their small station in a flurry of sweating bodies and tangled umbrellas. In anticipation of this swift current of commuters surely it would make sense to open more of the access gates to allow for the ocean-like swell of travellers entering the station, as opposed to the slow trickle of those exiting.

The result of this thoughtlessness is a long line of red faces, making a slow progression to the only two access gates available, a disgruntled scowl fixed in place. Occasionally one irate traveller, having endured a similar experience when “popping in” to Top Shop to quickly grab the two for one pyjama set advertised in today’s Metro, will incur a straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back moment and let an unsuspecting London Underground employee know exactly how they feel about the lack of initiative and consideration shown.
Had the Underground staff anticipated this inevitable situation and made accommodations for it, instead of simply believing that to provide the necessary transport was enough, a smoother and more pleasant journey for customers, fewer complaints, and a happier atmosphere would’ve been achieved.

In comparison, how often do we treat our employees or customers in this way? We require our staff and customers to upgrade to the latest version of a particular piece of software, a new database system or a more advanced program, but don’t aid them in this transition. Instead, we simply send them away with the equipment and let them figure it out for themselves.

With the introduction of the new Windows Vista, it is essential that staff and customers are given guidance and training on how to install and use the software. Employer’s need to ensure that staff are given sufficient time to navigate their way through the software and should make sure that this upgrade is made as easy as possible. Provisions need to be made ahead of time so customers and staff alike aren’t left with that frustrated feeling of knowing that things could have been planned in advance but have been overlooked or neglected, reminiscent of our fed up London Underground commuters.

So the next time you want to introduce a new product, service or program to your clients or employees, stop and think; have you made all the provisions necessary to take the stress factor out of the transition?

Can e-Learning work for Universities?

Recently, I stumbled across an interesting article published in The Times from October last year, called “Can virtual courses ever measure up to the real thing with employers?” It got me thinking about how much e-Learning is underestimated and how, still in this modern, technological age, people struggle with the concept of learning without a teacher. We have embraced the use of computers in the classroom and understand how useful the internet can be to access external resources unobtainable in a university library, why can we not accept that student’s can learn just as much from taking lessons through an online course?

The benefits that e-Learning can offer students are immense and it takes comments from university staff to back this up. Howard Thomas, a Dean at Warwick University noted that, “As a university, we needed to evolve to recognise that there are a lot of people who want an MBA but cannot afford the fee or the time out of work.”
The fact that e-Learning is accessible at home, as well as on campus, gives any student the opportunity to study in their own time and at their own pace. If you take out the price of classroom-based lectures and the travel costs incurred, e-Learning seems like an obvious choice so why has it not been taken on by the majority of tertiary providers?

Most will say that it is through knowledge of failed projects in the past, that they won’t participate in e-Learning ventures now, but I think that there are positives that can come out of other’s mistakes.

It would seem sensible for tertiary providers to, at least give their students the option of taking lessons in an online environment instead of / or blended with classroom training, mostly to cater for those student’s who struggle with attending lectures. This could be due to physical disabilities, language barriers, or childcare needs. Many universities do all they can to provide facilities that cater to all students needs but would it not seem easier to offer e-Learning as an option?

What do you think?

Effective Employee Induction: Making it through the Maze

After reading an article from the training reference magazine about induction nightmares, I started thinking about how daunting those first few days at a new job can be and how much of an impact a first impression can make.

I began to realise just how important an employee’s first week can be and how an induction training program can affect the settling in process.

Induction training programs can familiarise new staff with company’s procedures and policies and provide the necessary resources and tools to become a fully productive team member.

Without this type of introductory training an employee is often left in the dark to navigate their own way through a maze of information.
With the introduction of information sharing tools such as company blogs, wikis, and information databases, giving an employee immediate access to these resources and teaching them how to use them, can greatly impact their success and the success of the whole team.

Induction programs can open the door to an easy transition for a new employee but are quite often not made the priority they should be.
What are some of the most successful induction strategies your company has used?

Further Education: It's a Balancing Act

When recruiting for a position within their company, employers will place weight on the amount of qualifications a candidate has. It is a balancing act between technical skill and personal attributes needed to fulfil a role, where skill level will almost always tilt the scale.

For potential staff, the need to be constantly learning and gaining new skills, will greatly increase their likelihood of getting the job they want.

The need for further education does not just appear amongst job-hunters, it occurs within the workplace as well. A race is on between employees, to become the most qualified so that when promotions occur, they will have the best chance to progress within the company. Healthy competition benefits both employee and employers, as increased staff skills build an employees personal development, whilst also increasing staff productivity.

Employers need to encourage further education as the benefits to their company are endless. In the short term, they will be able to get the best staff for each position and hopefully, by providing the most up to date resources, retain their valuable team members.

Welcome One and All!

Hello all,

The team at MindLeadersUK thought it was about time that we got to know some of the movers and shakers in the e-Learning community, and there seemed to be no better way to do this than by setting up our own, interactive blog.

The pushing force behind this blog is to keep our users up to date with current happenings in the e-Learning field and to establish where MindLeadersUK fits into this.

We are here to provide information, initiate discussion, and hopefully inspire. The only way we can do this is with the support of you all out there so please give us your input on any of our subject matter.

We look forward to your comments!