241 - Virtual Frog Dissection & Practice Tests On-Line

#241 - - - August 21, 2002 - - - 43,844 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Virtual Frog Dissection
2. Byte Wars: Ed Yourdan at TechLearn
3. Practice Tests On-Line

1. Virtual Frog Dissection: Froguts is an intriguing on-line frog
dissection application. e-Learning that might save a few frogs and even a
few fainting high school science students: http://www.froguts.com

2. Byte Wars: Ed Yourdan at TechLearn: Hot off the press is a new book by
technology futurist and analyst, Ed Yourdan. "Byte Wars: The Impact on
September 11th on Information Technology" This is a great read about
risks and thinking of IT security and capacity in a new context. I was so
taken with the book that we have invited Ed Yourdan to present a keynote
on this topic at TechLearn 2002 in October. http://www.techlearn.com

3. Practice Tests On-Line: A daughter of my business partner visited last
weekend and talked about taking the Medical Boards, MCAT, which are
required for admission to medical school. As a graduating senior, she is
exploring her career options, with this tough test as one of her decision
points. We talked about taking some simulated tests and I went to the web
to see what was available for e-Learning assessment and coaching. If you
would like to see what a test-prep site looks like, spend some time at
http://www.e-mcat.com It would be interesting to think about using this
model for key competencies in our organizational learning efforts.

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: http://www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002, Oct 27 to 30, Orlando, Florida
- Skills for e-Trainers, Sept 25-27, Saratoga Springs, NY

240 - Research Scholarships for Learning & Where Do I Go To Start Learning?

#240 - - - August 15, 2002 - - - 43,743 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Research Scholarships for Learning
2. Where Do I Go To Start Learning?
3. Learning Quotation

1. Research Scholarships for Learning: Where is all the research on
learning? Every day, our office gets a call about the lack of good
research on the effectiveness of e-Learning and other new models. This
year, The MASIE Center and the e-Learning CONSORTIUM will be making their
annual TechLearn “charity donation” to a new project focused on supporting
PRACTICAL research in our field.

We will be donating $35,000 at TechLearn 2002 in October to several
graduate or doctoral students, as scholarship grants, to conduct research
on key topics needed by our field.

A sample grant might be $10,000 to a doctorate student to conduct a study
on the attitude of learners about starting and not completing an
e-Learning course. These projects will be completed in time to be
presented at TechLearn 2003 and published reports in the public domain.

All participants at TechLearn this year will have input into the selection
of these research projects. If you are a faculty member or graduate
student interested in information on this program, send an email to
amd@masie.com

2. Where Do I Go To Start Learning? Where does a learner start an
e-Learning experience? Do they go to a website called My Learning and
start or resume a learning module? Do they go to a specific URL for that
course, which may have arrived in an email, clicking and launching? Is
there an icon on the desktop that displays a learner's current courses?
Should learning be launched right from a worker's calendar program? We
would love your experience and ideas on this topic. Can you send me an
email to emasie@masie.com and we will roll this up into an article in a
few weeks.

3. Learning Quotation:

"In time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.
Those who have finished learning find themselves equipped to live in a
world that no longer exists." Eric Hoffer

Upcoming MASIE Center Events: http://www.masie.com
- TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27 to 30, Orlando, FL
- Skills for e-TRAINERS - Sept 25 to 27, Saratoga Springs, NY

Peter Senge on Learning Organizations & e-Learning

TO: Learning & Training Colleagues
FROM: Elliott Masie, The MASIE Center
Host of TechLearn 2002

I am pleased to announce that Peter Senge, MIT, will be a featured keynote
at TechLearn 2002, focusing on how "The Learning Organization" is evolving
in the e-Learning era.

Peter and I will do a live interactive satellite interview, blended with
small group discussions in Orlando, that will explore Senge's Learning
Organization models and approaches in light of evolving collaboration and
e-Learning capabilities.

Peter Senge is one of the leading thinkers on how organizations can infuse
learning into the workplace. We will be encouraging our attendees to read
several of Senge's articles prior to coming to TechLearn. This is a
unique opportunity to take theory and line it up against current practices
in our changing field.

Information and registration for TechLearn, which will be held on October
27 to 30 in Orlando, Florida, is available at:

http://www.techlearn.com

Look for additional keynote announcements in the next several weeks.

Yours in learning,

Elliott Masie

239 - Customer Learning Growth; Peoplesoft Enters Learning & LMS Field

#239 - - - August 1, 2002 - - - 43,698 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: TechLearn 2002 - Oct 27-30 - Orlando, FL

1. Customer Learning Growth
2. Peoplesoft Enters Learning & LMS Field
3. Dave Barry & Learning Careers at TechLearn 2002

1. Customer Learning Growth: I just returned from a Customer Learning
Seminar in Chicago at a CRM conference. It is amazing to watch the rate
at which e-Learning is being deployed in the Customer Learning arena. We
are seeing three major trends in Customer Learning implementations in the
past ten months:

a) Revenue Growth - Upselling Through Learning: The deployment of
Customer Learning as a strategy to enrich the prospects full understanding
of the products they are considering purchasing. Salesforces, both field
and office based, are being equipped with targeted e-Learning modules that
can be launched at customers to help close the deal or upsell additional
products. A learning customer is a highly engaged customer and a best
prospect customer.

b) Expense Reduction: The use of learning as a tool to reduce the labor
intensive dimensions of call center and other forms of pre and post sales
support. If a learner can access high quality, engaging learning modules,
as an alternative to long-duration support calls (or waiting on hold for a
while), the company wins in both satisfaction and reduction of labor
costs.

c) Customer Loyalty: The use of learning as a tool to increase customer
loyalty and to position the corporation as a source of affiliation and
knowledge. This is even extending to the building of communities of
practice amongst customers, to provide peer to peer persepctives and
support.

We will host a major sub-conference at TechLearn 2002.

2. PeopleSoft Enters Learning & LMS Field: PeopleSoft Inc. announced the
acquisition of Teamscape Corporation, a learning management systems
provider. PeopleSoft's entry into this marketplace is noteworthy. The
role of Enterprise Software or ERP companies in the learning field is
expanding and PeopleSoft was rumored to be poised to enter. They plan to
use the core of Teamscape's software and redeploy it, with significant
additions, as a PeopleSoft solution. This once again puts learning more
into a Human Capital Management context for many buyers. Go to
www.peoplesoft.com for details.

3. Dave Barry & Learning Careers at TechLearn 2002: We are going to be
announcing our 2002 keynoters at TechLearn over the next several weeks.
We start with Dave Barry, well known author and comedian, who will talk
about the funny ways in which people use technology and also learn. Dave
Barry will be the afternoon relief on Monday, after an intense series of
case studies and dialogues about learning issues.

Your Learning Career will be the focus of an interactive Keynote at
TechLearn. We will walk the thousands of attendees through a learning
careers futuring and planning session, to see some of your key choices in
the training and learning fields (and beyond) in this changing economy.
Three dozen senior learning executives will facilitate this session. Only
a TechLearn 2002 would a ballroom of learning professionals ask the risky
questions about their career futures ... and be in a non-commercial
setting to get some honest and creative answers from peers and mentors.
Reserve your spot at TechLearn now at http://www.techlearn.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Event:
Skills for e-TRAINERS: Saratoga Springs, NY, September 2002
http://www.masie.com