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Read more: http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2009/06/elearning-hot-lists-moving-to-elearning.html

Session featuring Elearnity’s David Wilson to address how to manage and develop high performers – and lower costs – with Web-based talent management systems.

A new Webinar featuring David Wilson, of Elearnity, Europe’s leading Corporate Learning Analyst, will explore how investing in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based talent management solutions is helping organisations increase productivity and ensure high performers are engaged, developed, connected and retained – while also lowering costs.

Read more: http://www.elearningnews.net/view_news.php?news_id=1222

Join the Elearning Network: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=73990

Colleges and universities across the United States are starting to take a second look at the traditional model of higher education and many are re-evaluating the way classes and degree programs are being delivered. With more than 3.9 million students, nearly 20 percent of all U.S. higher education students, currently enrolled in at least one online course, according to the Sloan Consortium, it’s hard for them not to.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2591144.htm

Poptropica, the Web’s fastest growing virtual world for kids, has entered Quantcast.com’s list of top 300 Web sites, based on monthly visitors. Less than two years old, the safe online environment for fun and learning recently secured the 274th slot on the online audience measurement firm’s list. Poptropica users have created more than 120 million online characters that explore and learn on the site’s nine virtual islands.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Educational-Games-Online/Kids-Virtual-Worlds/prweb2583754.htm

With teachers across the country struggling to manage the disruptive behaviors of today’s students, Darren Barkett of Helping Teachers Grow is launching his online classroom management training on July 27, 2009. This six-week seminar will help any educator at any level grow into an effective and powerful teacher through the simple implementation of a solid classroom management system.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/classroommanagement/behaviormanagement/prweb2586694.htm

Recently, most actors in the oil and gas sector have tightened control of their expenses.  Some actors have also imposed an investments stop to avoid liquidity problems.  These decisions are based on sensible evaluations, and the industry as a whole has had increased its focus on identifying potential cost reductions.  We are now in a time where the industry is realising significant profits from cost effective e-learning solutions.

Read more: http://www.mintra.no/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=107&lang=en

CALLS for reforming US education and customizing teaching are popular these days and the book “Disrupting Class” delivers factual and to-the-point criticism and suggestions on innovation.

Authors Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson creatively apply their own expertise in innovation to education.

Some of the approaches they suggest may be premature and not immediately applicable, but others are not just pie-in-the sky.

A major problem in US public education, they say, is the standardization, which gives it an inherent “factory model” of how to do things for maximum efficiency.

Read more: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200906/20090627/article_405471.htm

Because the business world is rapidly changing due to layoffs and the credit crunch, employees are forced to take on multiple jobs. “Employee training is a necessity in order to help the organization get through tight financial times, ” reports Hirschberg, Vice President of eLearn Training Systems (www.eLearnTrainingSystems.com), a southern California-based training program design firm who specializes in turning “paper and ink” training programs into interactive eLearning modules.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2569514.htm

Mrs. Marianne Nilsen joins Mintra, and she will lead the business area Competence Management in Mintra. Mrs. Marianne Nilsen har international experience as Training Manager in GE Oil and Gas Scandinavia and Russland.

Read more: http://www.mintra.no/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=209&Itemid=107&lang=en

J-Prompt Professional Institute of Technology (JPIT) recently partnered with Gatlin International, the world’s largest e-learning provider to governments, corporations and universities, to unveil new online career training courses.

Available at http://www.jprompt.com, the certificate courses are open enrolment and cover business and professional, management and corporate, IT and software development, media and design, skilled trades and industrial, as well as hospitality and gaming. The non-credit courses from JPIT can help individuals at any stage of their career. Whether the student is interested in switching careers, obtaining advanced skills and certificates, or a first-time job seeker in need of specialised training, JPIT and Gatlin International provide the necessary online learning resources.

The market leader in on-demand contact center software and agent optimization tools, announced that it has signed a two-year agreement for the inContact Automated Call Distributor (ACD), eLearning and Workforce Management solutions with Call Center International (CCI), an international contact center in Batroun, Lebanon, with senior management offices in Beirut and world headquarters offices in Irvine, CA, U.S.A.

Read more: http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docKey=600-200904091000BIZWIRE_USPR_____BW5461-5LB7Q9MNTEAFK5F1SH93JSQE49&provider=Businesswire&docDate=April%209%2C%202009&press_symbol=US%3BSAAS&scp=4&sq=elearning&st=cse

Let’s Go Learn, Inc announces the release of a Spanish-language version of the award-winning Diagnostic Online Reading Assessment (DORA). This exciting new online Spanish reading assessment, Diagnostic Online Reading Assessment (DORA) Spanish or EDELL (Evaluación Diagnostica Español de Lectura en Línea) allows educators to assess Spanish students’ reading skills in their primary language, in order to better address the English-language needs of these students. DORA Spanish/ EDELL is ideal for English Language Learners (ELL) in grades K-12, as well as for adult ESL programs and tutoring centers.

Based upon widely-accepted English Language education research, DORA Spanish/EDELL is a powerful, diagnostic online assessment of students’ Spanish reading abilities. For ESL teachers, DORA Spanish/EDELL provides an effective means of comparing students’ first language Spanish abilities with their developing second language English reading skills, and allows teachers to best utilize those Spanish reading skills to further develop English reading skills. Like the original DORA, DORA Spanish/EDELL will assess students across seven reading subskills, using the Let’s Go Learn OAASIS platform to adapt to student performance throughout the assessment

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2552304.htm

The U.S Department of Labor didn’t do anything to calm fears of workers last month, reporting the national unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent, up from 8.9 percent in April. Adding insult to injury, any hope that workers had that the future was looking brighter was crushed with the prediction that the rate would most likely jump to 10 percent later this year. With experts warning jobs won’t pick up until the second half of 2010, almost a year later than previously reported, even the most confident of workers are starting to sweat.

For workers that have already been laid off, the decision to go back to school has become increasingly popular as the economic downturn increases. Laid off workers are looking to complete degree programs, learn new skills or possibly even change careers into a more stable and lucrative industry. But for those still employed and uncertain about the future, a full -time degree program or even a part-time program isn’t a possibility. These individuals are time strapped with a full time job, long hours and in some cases family commitments. Still plagued by the gloomy economy however these workers haven’t been deterred. They have found a way to make it work. Online education.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2548514.htm

California is in trouble, that much is plain. The state is facing a more than $24 billion budget deficit, and lawmakers have been tossing around a number of extreme measures to meet it. Close 220 of the state’s 279 state parks. Release prison inmates early. But the most recent suggestion, from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, may be the least practical: replace all school textbooks with digital ones.

Schwarzenegger announced his plan earlier this week, writing in the San Jose Mercury News:

“Today, our kids get their information from the internet, downloaded onto their iPods, and in Twitter feeds to their cell phones. … So why are California’s public school students still forced to lug around antiquated, heavy, expensive textbooks?”

Listening to Schwarzenegger, it would seem that burdensome backpacks are the reason California’s public schools are underfinanced and only 22% of its 8th graders are proficient in reading. What’s problematic about the governor’s proposal isn’t his premise that digital learning tools have a place in schools, but rather his attitude, which casts him as woefully out of touch with classroom realities.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jun/10/arnold-schwarzenegger-california-school-textbooks-ebooks

Business professionals who wish to increase their competitive edge and earn a graduate business degree through online education can now log in to Rochester Institute of Technology’s newest virtual classroom opportunity.

RIT’s E. Philip Saunders College of Business has announced a partnership with Toronto-based online services provider Embanet to launch an e-learning Executive MBA program this fall. The 72-week program is identical to the curriculum taught on site–and includes an international trip for students to explore the global influence of business. Classes begin in September.

According to Saunders Dean Ashok Rao, RIT and faculty of the Saunders College will receive a full range of services and support from Embanet in developing and designing online curriculum, as well as marketing and admissions for the new program.

Read more: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Embanet/RIT/prweb2504104.htm

Why is HSE important for you? Please share your movie clips telling why you want to return safe and healthy from work every day. Send your video clip to 247hse3940@m.youtube.com

A centre for quality control for courses and course providers for the oil and gas industry has now been established:  The Centre for Quality Control and Competence in the Petroleum Industry (PSK).  

PSK’s Objective
PSK’s objective is to ensure quality in approved training offers, so course participants and employers are certain that training follows a specified curriculum and meets mandatory quality requirements.  PSK is responsible for all training that the industry wants to quality control, but falls outside official regulations. 

Search Service on www.psk.no
PSK has a search service that allows you to search for approved courses and course providers.  It is freely available on www.psk.no.

PSK-Approved Course Providers to Register Course Activity in Competence Register
PSK-approved course providers will register course activity for PSK-approved course offerings.  One important task thus far has been to import data with an overview of the people who have completed PSK-approved courses, including The Basic Safety Course.  So far, about 90 000 people from the petroleum industry have been registered in PSK, and many new people are added every week

PSK-Approved Course Providers Trained on New System
In January 2009, PSK-approved course providers received an introduction to the new system.  The courses were held across the country, at locations including Tromsø, Oslo, Stavanger, Grimstad and Bergen. 
 
All Petroleum Industry Personnel Have Access to Own CV
In the competence register on www.psk.no, all personnel can maintain an overview of their own PSK-approved competence.  Individuals can register for a username and password free of charge.

Employer Access to the PSK Database
Employers can receive access to, and maintain an overview of, the competence of all personnel in their organisation. 

Integration with Trainingportal.no
PSK is seamlessly integrated with Trainingportal.no – the oil industry’s portal for e-learning courses.  This means that when someone completes a PSK-approved e-learning course, it is automatically registered in the PSK competence register.

OLF Card Replaced by PSK Card
During the second quarter of 2009, new PSK cards will be issued for the first time.  When the card is read by a card-reader, you see all PSK-approved courses completed by the card holder, as well as a picture of the person and personal information.  The PSK card will, among other things, be used at all heliports where personnel are transported to the Norwegian shelf.

PSK Owned by the Industry
PSK is owned by The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), Industry Energy, SAFE, and Fellesforbundet (A confederation of trade unions affiliated with LO), together with the employer organisations, OLF, The Federation of Norwegian Industries, and The Norwegian Shipowners’ Association.

Presentation of PSK at the HSE Conference for Offshore Contractors 2009
Carsten Bowitz, the Managing Director of PSK, will present PSK’s background and mandate at the HSE Conference for Offshore Contractors 2009 (March 3-4).  In addition, Mintra will hold live demonstrations of the PSK database in the breaks.  This conference is a gathering point for regulatory authorities, industry organisations, operators, and contractors, and will be a perfect opportunity to get better acquainted with PSK and the technical solution.

Read more: http://www.mintra.no/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=196&Itemid=107

Rising unemployment is forcing people to set up their own businesses in a last-ditch effort to pay their bills.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said the level of company start-ups would rise over the next year as people used their redundancy packages to set themselves up as selfemployed. But the FSB cautioned that a majority would remain sole traders, dashing hopes of job creation.

While the number in self-employment normally remains steady, the FSB estimates that it increased to 500,000 in 2008, from 471,000 in the previous year, and will continue to rise because of the economic downturn.

Demand for vocational training courses has also grown as aspiring entrepreneurs prepare themselves for an increasingly challenging trading environment.

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ce27896e-fa38-11dd-9daa-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

The New York Times Learning Network is a free service for students in grades 3-12, their teachers and parents. The site is updated Monday through Friday throughout the year.

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/guide.html

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) and national consumer advocacy and education organization Consumer Action announced today that their new, interactive financial education eLearning course is now available in both English and Spanish. The audio-enabled course modules offer consumers printable tip sheets, financial calculators, and case studies on a variety of money management topics.

The MoneyWi$e eLearning tool is the latest initiative in the MoneyWi$e financial education program. The MoneyWi$e partnership between Capital One and Consumer Action was designed to help promote financial literacy by providing consumers with free access to the information and tools they need to make smart financial choices.

“At Capital One, we are committed to providing innovative educational tools that give consumers the opportunity to learn how to better manage their finances and improve their financial well-being,” said Diana Don, Director of Financial Education at Capital One. “Capital One is proud to partner with Consumer Action to make financial education accessible to a broad audience of American consumers, across ages, income levels and language backgrounds. The Spanish edition of the eLearning course ensures that more American consumers can benefit from the MoneyWi$e curriculum.”

Ken McEldowney, Executive Director of Consumer Action added, “When the MoneyWi$e program was created in 2001, it was designed with a commitment to providing financial education in multilingual formats. With course modules on key topics like budgeting, saving and building credit now available to Spanish speakers, the MoneyWi$e eLearning tool takes our program to the next level by making financial education available and accessible to consumers across the country and across language barriers in an engaging and easy-to-understand format.”

Read more: http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docKey=600-200901141111BIZWIRE_USPR_____BW5915-414RJ038MUQK0K88MP2IAF6ISU&provider=Businesswire&docDate=January%2014%2C%202009&press_symbol=US%3BCOF&scp=1&sq=elearning&st=cse