Entries from January 1, 2002 - February 1, 2002
227 - Learning to Maintain the PIPELINE of Talent; My XBOX Experiences; Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms
#228 - - - Jan. 24, 2001 - - - 42,854 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS Labs �" Feb & March
1. Learning to Maintain the PIPELINE of Talent
2. My XBOX Experiences
3. Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms
1. The phrase PIPELINE of talent has been used by several Business and HR
executives at companies that I have visited in the last few weeks. When
the Business Executives were asked what they wanted from training and
learning projects, their responses were often "Give us a steady pipeline
of skilled talent." Their view of the expansion of learning into
technology delivery was primarily centered around the impact on the flow
through the talent pipeline. In a corporation with worldwide e-Learning
capabilities, their expectations increased on the ability to find and
develop great talent to work in their business units. The larger the
enterprise, the more we are hearing talk of the pipeline and a linkage to
the scalability of training projects.
2. My XBOX Experiences: As I type this issue, a number of my staff are
playing with Microsoft's XBOX game device in our usability lab downstairs.
Why are they spending their time crashing cars into walls and battling
warriors and movie an animated SHREK around his kingdom? The XBOX is an
interesting, low-cost, gaming box released recently by Microsoft. It has
caught my interest as a possible platform for business simulation and
feedback. If you are intrigued, look at one of the new car games, Project
Gotham. The user selects the type of car, the setting, and even the name
they want on the license plate. XBOX renders a real time, highly
realistic version of this car. And, after a game, the player can see a
detailed replay, from several angles, to review their performance and
mistakes. Think of what this could do for a high involvement customer
service or business simulation. We are doing a number of usability tests
with people of diverse ages on their responses in this type of gaming
situation. More to follow...
3. Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms: Simple tip to people
delivering real time on-line presentations. Take a few breaths!
It is interesting to see how many trainers forget to breathe in an on-line
class. Since they are not seeing the learners in front of them, they
often feel as though they need to fill out every second of time with voice
noise. Breathe. Yes, take a few breaths. And, make sure to make a tape
of a few of your sessions and get feedback as you play them back. When I
teach our Skills for e-TRAINERS course, this is one of the most common
areas of feedback that we have to provide to our participants. Great
content yet add the breathing!
(Note, the next sessions for this class are in February and March, info at
http://www.masie.com)
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS Labs �" Feb & March
1. Learning to Maintain the PIPELINE of Talent
2. My XBOX Experiences
3. Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms
1. The phrase PIPELINE of talent has been used by several Business and HR
executives at companies that I have visited in the last few weeks. When
the Business Executives were asked what they wanted from training and
learning projects, their responses were often "Give us a steady pipeline
of skilled talent." Their view of the expansion of learning into
technology delivery was primarily centered around the impact on the flow
through the talent pipeline. In a corporation with worldwide e-Learning
capabilities, their expectations increased on the ability to find and
develop great talent to work in their business units. The larger the
enterprise, the more we are hearing talk of the pipeline and a linkage to
the scalability of training projects.
2. My XBOX Experiences: As I type this issue, a number of my staff are
playing with Microsoft's XBOX game device in our usability lab downstairs.
Why are they spending their time crashing cars into walls and battling
warriors and movie an animated SHREK around his kingdom? The XBOX is an
interesting, low-cost, gaming box released recently by Microsoft. It has
caught my interest as a possible platform for business simulation and
feedback. If you are intrigued, look at one of the new car games, Project
Gotham. The user selects the type of car, the setting, and even the name
they want on the license plate. XBOX renders a real time, highly
realistic version of this car. And, after a game, the player can see a
detailed replay, from several angles, to review their performance and
mistakes. Think of what this could do for a high involvement customer
service or business simulation. We are doing a number of usability tests
with people of diverse ages on their responses in this type of gaming
situation. More to follow...
3. Add Some Breathing to Virtual Classrooms: Simple tip to people
delivering real time on-line presentations. Take a few breaths!
It is interesting to see how many trainers forget to breathe in an on-line
class. Since they are not seeing the learners in front of them, they
often feel as though they need to fill out every second of time with voice
noise. Breathe. Yes, take a few breaths. And, make sure to make a tape
of a few of your sessions and get feedback as you play them back. When I
teach our Skills for e-TRAINERS course, this is one of the most common
areas of feedback that we have to provide to our participants. Great
content yet add the breathing!
(Note, the next sessions for this class are in February and March, info at
http://www.masie.com)
Elliott Masie - The MASIE Center
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227 - CEO's Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business & SmartForce Merges with Centra Software
#227 - - - Jan. 17, 2001 - - - 42,799Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS
1. CEO's Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business
2. SmartForce Merges with Centra Software
3. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab in Feb & March
1. CEO’s Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business: I have been in Boca
Raton for the past few days, working with a group of 200 CEO’s of the
insurance and financial services corporations. One of the issues that we
have been dialoguing about has been the CEO’s view of technology.
A number of the CEO’s are now looking at tightening the belt on technology
investments. One CEO is now demanding that all IT expenditures be “paid
back” by reduced expenses or increased revenues in 18 months. This has
forced new IT projects to deeply align with business issues. Another CEO
is starting to demand that each new suggestion for technology be totally
wrapped around a desired change in customer or organizational behavior.
I have been pushing this group to seize the technology agenda and to do
increased “behavioral due diligence” before funding new IT projects. The
CEO of the future must be able to drive technology to be a business
solution, measured by how behavior and the bottom line changes, rather
than to just be tech competitive.
2. SmartForce Merges with Centra Software: Two of the major e-Learning
providers have merged. SmartForce has acquired Centra Software, to
combine their content, learning/content management and collaboration
products and services. The sale price is approximately $284 million in
stock. Each company has been profitable and growing, so this is an
intriguing combination. For more details check out www.smartforce.com or
www.smartforce.com Watch for several other major mergers in our space,
as consolidation and maturation increases.
I had a chance to talk with Leon Navickas, Chairman and CEO of Centra,
right after the merger was announced. Leon stressed the size of the
combined organization and the extent to which the company will be
investing in research and development. Leon will become the Chief
Technology Officer, overseeing development.
3. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab Offered at The MASIE Center in February and
March. There are seats available in our popular blended learning
offering, Skills for e-TRIANERS, which is offered at our LAB in Saratoga
Springs, NY. Dates are scheduled for Feb. and March. Go to
www.masie.com for details and on-line registration.
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS
1. CEO's Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business
2. SmartForce Merges with Centra Software
3. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab in Feb & March
1. CEO’s Dialogue: Drive Technology for Business: I have been in Boca
Raton for the past few days, working with a group of 200 CEO’s of the
insurance and financial services corporations. One of the issues that we
have been dialoguing about has been the CEO’s view of technology.
A number of the CEO’s are now looking at tightening the belt on technology
investments. One CEO is now demanding that all IT expenditures be “paid
back” by reduced expenses or increased revenues in 18 months. This has
forced new IT projects to deeply align with business issues. Another CEO
is starting to demand that each new suggestion for technology be totally
wrapped around a desired change in customer or organizational behavior.
I have been pushing this group to seize the technology agenda and to do
increased “behavioral due diligence” before funding new IT projects. The
CEO of the future must be able to drive technology to be a business
solution, measured by how behavior and the bottom line changes, rather
than to just be tech competitive.
2. SmartForce Merges with Centra Software: Two of the major e-Learning
providers have merged. SmartForce has acquired Centra Software, to
combine their content, learning/content management and collaboration
products and services. The sale price is approximately $284 million in
stock. Each company has been profitable and growing, so this is an
intriguing combination. For more details check out www.smartforce.com or
www.smartforce.com Watch for several other major mergers in our space,
as consolidation and maturation increases.
I had a chance to talk with Leon Navickas, Chairman and CEO of Centra,
right after the merger was announced. Leon stressed the size of the
combined organization and the extent to which the company will be
investing in research and development. Leon will become the Chief
Technology Officer, overseeing development.
3. Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab Offered at The MASIE Center in February and
March. There are seats available in our popular blended learning
offering, Skills for e-TRIANERS, which is offered at our LAB in Saratoga
Springs, NY. Dates are scheduled for Feb. and March. Go to
www.masie.com for details and on-line registration.
226 - Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002; Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings; Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment
#226 - - - Jan. 8, 2001 - - - 42,765 Readers
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS �" Feb 18-20, 2002
1. Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002
2. Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings
3. Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment
4. Skills for e-TRAINERS Session in Feb 2002 Open!
1. Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002: Watch for a wide range
of mergers and acquisitions in the next eight weeks. There are a number
of serious discussions underway between learning vendors which will lead
to mergers or buyouts. Some of this is being driven by a shortage of cash
in the banks of some learning start-ups. Others are natural combinations
of players in the field. Here are two that just came across my desk in
the last 24 hours:
* Element K has acquires the intellectual property of Mentor Technologies
(http://www.elementk.com)
* Blackboard announces acquisition of Prometheus from The George
Washington University (http://www.blackboard.com)
2. Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings: The MASIE Center
has been tracking the use of streaming media (audio and video) within
corporate settings. We have watched a steady growth in the use of
streaming briefings for information transfer, product demonstration and
corporate events. While there are still pockets of bandwidth restriction,
firewall blockages and lack of speakers on PC's, user acceptance of
streaming is clearly gaining. Now, one of the issues is how to catalog,
index, offer and invite employees (and customers) to use these resources.
Watch for LMS and LCMS like systems deployed to manage streaming media
resources.
3. Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment: In the first few days
of 2002, I have had a chance to review four major corporate learning
strategy documents from Fortune 1000 companies. Some of these were on
hold in the last quarter of 2001, and are now making their way up the line
for executive approval. It is interesting to note that each of the
strategies has added a strong component about "Alignment with Business"
in the document.
This reflects a direction of linking corporate and business goals and
measures more directly with learning and seeking direct business measures
for the impact of learning. One group is moving away from offering
learning to all employees and shifting to a more laser like allocation of
learning resources to areas of performance gaps or opportunity gains.
4. Skills for e-TRAINERS Session in Feb 2002 Open! The next session of
our popular Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab in Saratoga Springs, NY has been
announced for Feb. 18 to 20th. Information and registration at
http://www.masie.com
MASIE Center Services in 2002: http://www.masie.com
* Business of Learning: Washington, DC April 8 and 9
* e-Learning CONSORTIUM Accepting Applications Now
* Learning Decisions Interactive Newsletter
*** Elliott Masie's TechLearn TRENDS ***
Training, e-Learning and Collaboration Updates
Published by The MASIE Center www.masie.com
Host of: Skills for e-TRAINERS �" Feb 18-20, 2002
1. Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002
2. Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings
3. Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment
4. Skills for e-TRAINERS Session in Feb 2002 Open!
1. Mergers in Learning World Theme in Early 2002: Watch for a wide range
of mergers and acquisitions in the next eight weeks. There are a number
of serious discussions underway between learning vendors which will lead
to mergers or buyouts. Some of this is being driven by a shortage of cash
in the banks of some learning start-ups. Others are natural combinations
of players in the field. Here are two that just came across my desk in
the last 24 hours:
* Element K has acquires the intellectual property of Mentor Technologies
(http://www.elementk.com)
* Blackboard announces acquisition of Prometheus from The George
Washington University (http://www.blackboard.com)
2. Streaming Media Gains Corporate Use for Briefings: The MASIE Center
has been tracking the use of streaming media (audio and video) within
corporate settings. We have watched a steady growth in the use of
streaming briefings for information transfer, product demonstration and
corporate events. While there are still pockets of bandwidth restriction,
firewall blockages and lack of speakers on PC's, user acceptance of
streaming is clearly gaining. Now, one of the issues is how to catalog,
index, offer and invite employees (and customers) to use these resources.
Watch for LMS and LCMS like systems deployed to manage streaming media
resources.
3. Learning Strategies Focus on Business Alignment: In the first few days
of 2002, I have had a chance to review four major corporate learning
strategy documents from Fortune 1000 companies. Some of these were on
hold in the last quarter of 2001, and are now making their way up the line
for executive approval. It is interesting to note that each of the
strategies has added a strong component about "Alignment with Business"
in the document.
This reflects a direction of linking corporate and business goals and
measures more directly with learning and seeking direct business measures
for the impact of learning. One group is moving away from offering
learning to all employees and shifting to a more laser like allocation of
learning resources to areas of performance gaps or opportunity gains.
4. Skills for e-TRAINERS Session in Feb 2002 Open! The next session of
our popular Skills for e-TRAINERS Lab in Saratoga Springs, NY has been
announced for Feb. 18 to 20th. Information and registration at
http://www.masie.com
MASIE Center Services in 2002: http://www.masie.com
* Business of Learning: Washington, DC April 8 and 9
* e-Learning CONSORTIUM Accepting Applications Now
* Learning Decisions Interactive Newsletter