Quantcast
Channel: Training Industry Press Releases
Viewing all 1339 articles
Browse latest View live

Skillsoft and IBM Research Unveil New Applications for Big Data in Learning and Talent Development at the 2015 Global Skillsoft Perspectives Customer Event

0
0
Orlando, FL− May 19, 2015 − At its 2015 Global Skillsoft Perspectives customer conference in Orlando, Skillsoft, a global leader in learning and talent management, will present live demonstrations of the latest next-generation adaptive capabilities the company has been developing with IBM Research over the past 18 months. The demo will highlight stage two of the multi-phase joint development effort IBM and Skillsoft have undertaken to harness the power of big data in enterprise learning and development.     At the event, attendees will see how IBM Research's big data analytics and natural language processing (NLP) technologies are applied across Skillsoft's trillion-plus user content interactions, job roles and talent profiles and over 60,000 content assets, including rich text and video, and open knowledge bases like Wikipedia, to generate hyper-personalized learning paths. These goal-based learning recommendations are constructed and dynamically sequenced, based on historical content consumption and the semantics of a large number of courses and learning goals, to optimize employee engagement, knowledge retention, and performance. "Combining IBM's data science digital capabilities with Skillsoft's content intelligence allows us to computationally model and personalize user journeys using self-learning systems," said Dr. Anshul Sheopuri, principal research staff member and senior manager of digital, IBM Research. "The system is able to infer relevant learning paths to the individual user and reason how goals are related to content and paths without manual curation or content assignment. This creates a highly engaging experience for users, accelerating talent development that is aligned to personal and organizational goals." These new big data applications leverage findings from phase one of the project around how learning experiences can be customized to users' preferences to drive next- generation adaptive learning and integrated development. In the next phase of the initiative, this interactive prototype will be piloted with select customers and users. "In a world where employee engagement is the number one issue keeping business leaders awake at night, organizations must consider the most effective way to put their people at the center of learning and development programs," said John Ambrose, senior vice president of corporate strategy at Skillsoft. "In this big data initiative, Skillsoft and IBM Research have developed a new patent-pending model and system for delivering precisely relevant content to learners at the moment of need. In addition, this content is in a sequence that makes most sense for each individual to accomplish personal and organizational goals, thus fast-tracking their career development." About Skillsoft  Skillsoft is a pioneer in the fields of learning and talent management with a long history of innovation. Skillsoft provides cloud-based learning solutions for its customers worldwide, ranging from global enterprises, government, and education to mid-sized and small businesses. Skillsoft's customer support teams draw on a wealth of in-house experience, flexible delivery platforms and a comprehensive learning e-library to develop off-the-shelf and custom learning programs tailored to cost-effectively meet customer needs. Skillsoft's courses, books and videos have been developed by industry leading learning experts to ensure that they maximize business skills, performance, and talent development. Skillsoft currently serves over 6,000 customers and more than 19,000,000 learners around the world. 

TrainingIndustry.com Announces Top 20 Content Development Companies List

0
0
Cary, NC – May 21, 2015 – TrainingIndustry.com has announced its Top 20 Content Development Companies List, as part of its mission to continually monitor the training marketplace for the best providers of training services and technologies. View the 2015 Top 20 Content Development Companies Selection to this year's Top 20 Sales Training Companies List was based on the following criteria: Industry visibility, innovation and impact Capability to develop and deliver multiple types of content Company size and growth potential Depth and breadth of subject matter expertise Quality of clients Geographic reach “The Top 20 Content Development list serves as a source of innovation and new ideas every year,” said Ken Taylor, president, Training Industry, Inc. “The companies on this year’s list continue to create superior and engaging content for all modalities.” “This year’s Top 20 Content Development companies are finding unique and effective ways to design learning programs to support employee, partner and customer development across all industries,” said Doug Harward, chief executive officer, Training Industry, Inc. Please provide any thoughts or feedback on this list by emailing info@trainingindustry.com.  View the 2015 Top 20 Content Development Companies   About Training Industry, Inc. TrainingIndustry.com spotlights the latest news, articles, case studies and best practices within the training industry. Our focus is to help dedicated businesses and training professionals get the information, insight and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.

Skillsoft Announces 2015 Innovation Award Winners and Talent Development Champion of the Year

0
0
Orlando, FL− May 21, 2015− Skillsoft, a global leader in learning and talent management, today announced its Innovation Awards winners at its annual user conference, 2015 Global Skillsoft Perspectives. The winners, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Acosta Sales & Marketing, Deltek, the United States Air Force, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Fallon Health were honored for delivering outstanding business results using learning and talent solutions from Skillsoft and SumTotal Systems. During the event, the company recognized Dr. William (Bill) Behrendt, vice president of human resources at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, as Talent Development Champion of the Year. Held in Orlando, this year’s Perspectives was the company’s largest user conference to date. More than 1,200 attendees from best-in-class organizations around the world converged to share insights on how to improve organizational performance by improving the performance of an organization’s employees. “This year’s Innovation Award winners have shown how they are weaving learning into fabric of their organizational culture to drive business results,” said Jerry Nine, chief operating officer at Skillsoft. “These customers span a range of industries, underscoring the expansive role continuous learning plays in driving innovation across virtually any organization. We congratulate the winners for bringing outstanding value to their organizations using Skillsoft and SumTotal solutions and for setting a new standard around empowering employees.” Each year, Skillsoft’s awards honor customer in several areas for significant achievements in talent development. The 2015 Innovation Award categories and winners are: Program of the Year: NASA was honored for its comprehensive leadership development program that enables employees to accomplish its mission, and carry out national priorities of scientific discovery and aeronautics research. NASA’s leadership training and development programs help nurture the potential of high-performing employees to ensure there is future leadership to pursue its long-range objectives. Talent Development Champion of the Year: Dr. William (Bill) Behrendt, vice president of human resources at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, was recognized for being instrumental in advocating for the education and development of his workforces. Dr. Behrendt’s team has been praised by multiple departments for their success in coaching, leadership development, collaboration, integration and innovation, and was most recently honored with the Silver Collaboration Award by Chief Learning Officer magazine. An honorable mention was awarded to Dr. Madana Kumar, global head of learning and development at UST Global. Empowering Continuous Talent Development: Acosta Sales & Marketing was recognized for its innovative learning program, which is based on the concept that great leaders and effective individuals who are aligned and executing key priorities, result in organizational greatness. With 75 percent of its employees working remotely, Acosta Sales & Marketing consolidated and standardized its training efforts, which led to greater efficiencies and increased collaboration between business teams and the learning and development team. An honorable mention was awarded to TELUS International. Inspiring Leadership Development: Deltek was honored for addressing the challenge of developing next-generation corporate leaders at all levels of the organization by launching three distinct leadership development programs. By targeting individual contributors, new and existing managers and high performing leaders, Deltek is cultivating successful leaders that will drive growth and meet future business challenges. An honorable mention was awarded to Johnson & Johnson. Best IT and Technical Skills Development: The Air Force e-learning program was recognized for its support to 35,000 men and women stationed around the world, dedicated to cyberspace security, support, and operations that is integral to US national security. Given the rapid and constant evolution of IT, emerging technologies, and the growing need for cyber security, the Air Force e-learning program delivers flexible and just-in-time training to its audience, resulting in an impressive 745 percent return on investment for courses and books accessed. An honorable mention was awarded to TSYS®. Impacting Learning in Higher Education and the Public Sector: The USDA was honored for AgLearn, which delivers continuous learning opportunities to 100,000 users to solve business problems, improve business processes and increase user engagement. AgLearn is one of the USDA’s eGovernment strategic initiatives that directly supports the Presidential eGovernment initiative for e-Training. An honorable mention was awarded to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Effective Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises: Fallon Health was honored for transforming its learning program to deliver point-of-need training to improve regulatory compliance. As a result of this program, Fallon realized 100 percent completion in annual compliance training within just six weeks, and improved its on-time performance evaluation completion rate to 90 percent in first year, and has sustained success. The awards were judged by an independent panel of thought leaders including analysts at IDC and Brandon Hall Group; industry expert, Christa Degnan Manning; and editors at Elearning! Magazine.   About Skillsoft  Skillsoft is a pioneer in the fields of learning and talent management with a long history of innovation. Skillsoft provides cloud-based learning solutions for its customers worldwide, ranging from global enterprises, government, and education to mid-sized and small businesses. Skillsoft's customer support teams draw on a wealth of in-house experience, flexible delivery platforms and a comprehensive learning e-library to develop off-the-shelf and custom learning programs tailored to cost-effectively meet customer needs. Skillsoft's courses, books and videos have been developed by industry leading learning experts to ensure that they maximize business skills, performance and talent development.  

Udemy Raises 65 Million to Continue Pioneering a Global Marketplace and Disrupt the Future of Education

0
0
San Francisco, CA – June 2, 2015− Today, Udemy, the leading marketplace for online courses, announced it has closed a $65 million Series D financing round led by Stripes Group, with additional support from Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) and Insight Venture Partners. Stripes Group Founder and Managing Partner Ken Fox will join Udemy’s Board of Directors. As technology causes more frequent career changes and professionals face a growing skills and income gap, people around the world are increasingly seeking new skills to be successful. Already home to more than 7 million students and tens of thousands of instructors, Udemy is a global marketplace for the most up-to-date, on-demand online courses for today’s changing economy. Udemy’s revenue has grown 200 percent in the last 12 months and continues to grow at an increasing rate. Udemy plans to use the new capital to support international efforts, including growing its content library and product offerings to meet growing demand for online learning that provides upward mobility. The funds will also be used to expand Udemy’s enterprise offerings and build out its workforce. “The established education system is failing to keep up with the modern workforce,” said Udemy CEO Dennis Yang. “By bringing a true marketplace model to education, we’re giving people unparalleled access to their choice of sought-after skills so they can continue growing and reaching their goals. With Udemy’s web and mobile offerings, students access content and experts where and when they want to. We’ve built the marketplace so that students directly impact the kind of content available, allowing the platform to grow and evolve over time.” Udemy provides valuable content for new and experienced students alike. Udemy’s marketplace model enables students to create demand for courses. Courses with high ratings excel, while those with lower ratings move down in search results. Udemy also gives instructors, who are leaders in business, technology and the arts, the opportunity to make a lasting social impact and monetize their experience by sharing their knowledge with people who need it. Stripes Group is a veteran in building online content, commerce and marketplace businesses. Through investments in GrubHub, Upwork (formerly Elance-oDesk), Blue Apron and Pond5, among others, Stripes Group has helped drive digital transformation in substantial market segments that range from the global freelance industry to the dining, media and lifestyle categories. Udemy will leverage this expertise to scale its education-focused content marketplace. “Stripes Group is excited to bring our operating and investing experiences in scaling cutting-edge marketplace models to Udemy and to global education,” said Managing Partner Ken Fox. “Udemy’s best-in-class platform is uniquely positioned to reinvent how we learn, and to prepare students — from recent grads to those looking to improve in their current role or find a new career — for the challenges of today’s economy. Udemy’s impact can already be measured worldwide, and we believe we are still in the earliest innings of what will be achieved by truly democratizing access to this type of highly valuable educational content.” Currently, 50 percent of Udemy’s revenue comes from outside the U.S., and Udemy will continue to expand its tools and content to reach students around the world with a focus on East and South Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe. Udemy will also use this funding to redouble its corporate learning efforts. Working with HR and business leaders, Udemy will further expand its Udemy for Business offering with enhanced enterprise features and analytics. In its own business, Udemy will further grow its workforce with a focus on hiring top engineering and product talent to bring the expanded international and corporate offerings to market. Since Udemy’s launch in 2010, the company has seen tremendous growth. Specifically: 2,000 new courses are created each month, with 30,000 courses available in total More than 16,000 instructors from around the world have created courses on Udemy 7 million students representing more than 190 countries Over 30 percent of Udemy students consume courses via iPhone, iPad, and Android mobile devices Udemy previously raised $32 million in May 2014, $12 million in November 2012, $3 million in October 2011, and $1 million in August 2010. In 2013, Udemy launched Udemy for Business to help corporations manage, develop, and grow their teams. Corporate customers include Lyft, 1-800-Flowers, Oracle, Century 21, Pepsi and Pitney Bowes. About Udemy Udemy is an online education marketplace with over 7 million students. Our course content and instructor community are constantly growing, with more than 30,000 courses taught by 16,000 instructors. We offer students the ability to learn as they go and succeed on their own terms, while instructors have a way to share their knowledge with the world. For companies, Udemy offers a subscription to our best business courses as well as an easy-to-use platform to create proprietary courses. Founded in 2010, privately owned Udemy is funded by the Stripes Group, Norwest Venture Partners, Insight Venture Partners, Lightbank, MHS Capital, Learn Capital, among others. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Dublin, Ireland, and Ankara, Turkey. About Stripes Group Based in New York City, Stripes Group is a leading growth equity firm that invests in Internet, Digital Media, Software and Branded Consumer Products businesses around the world. For over a decade, Stripes Group has been partnering with market-leading companies with proven business models that are generating exceptional growth.

LearnBrite Comes Out of Stealth with VR Platform For E-Learning

0
0
Phoenix, AZ− June 1, 2015− LearnBrite, a division of 3D entertainment and e-learning company ExitReality Inc., is collaborating with Australian Curtin University to develop virtual reality learning simulations for medical students, caregivers and healthcare professionals. The ultimate goal is to save lives by combining expert medical know-how with virtual training experiences focused on patient communication and falls-risk management. The project was presented at the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) congress on May 1st in Singapore by Curtin University Director of Teaching & Learning, Anne Furness. "The concept of using virtual reality to teach and assess a student's ability to examine a patient and arrive at a diagnosis or problem list has great potential as a teaching tool at the early stages of their education since interaction with a live patient may not always be possible," said Dr. Ah-Cheng Goh, keynote for the world congress and founding president of the International Society for Electrophysical Agents in Physical Therapy. LearnBrite’s platform provides, in combination with subject matter expertise offered by universities, tailor-made virtual reality training programs that enable students and professionals to gain practical experience across multiple disciplines. The developer’s collaboration with educators and students from Curtin University and other institutions of higher education has yielded this particular version of the platform’s training program. The tailor-made version of the LearnBrite platform is a simulator that places the students and caregivers of elderly patients in unexpected, realistic situations, where just as in real life, students learn how to react quickly, properly, make prompt but correct assessments, ultimately learning how to manage risks and save lives. With LearnBrite‘s technology, the teacher can go even deeper in the student’s assessment. They can assess the students character, personality and levels of empathy. This facilitates better placement and guidance of the student with positions and jobs that suit them. The platform’s training and assessment capabilities eliminate the ‘one size-fits all’ traditional online courses where students click the ‘Next’ button to view slides of information followed by a quiz. By doing this it saves universities and companies tens of thousands of dollars, every year in on-the-spot training, achieving better results. In Australia alone, where the first project has seen the bulk of its research and development, ‘falls’ and associated injuries among elderly patients are typically common. These are traumatic both physically and mentally not just for the patient but for the family as well. And needless to say, costly both to the patient and the wider community. Approximately one in three Australians aged more than 65 years living in the community experience injuries from a fall each year. In 1998 in Australia, there were 1114 deaths from fall-related injuries among this age group. A staggering 45,000 people aged 65 or above were hospitalized for fall-related injuries, averaging 11 days of hospital care each, resulting in a total of 486,484 hospital bed days during this 12-month period. LearnBrite’s virtual reality platform comes to the aid of the caregiver, it affords the healthcare professional or student the opportunity to analyze risks in 15 categories including trip, slip, diet and medication risks. And just like in reality not everything is obvious, the student needs to be curious, look in the right places and communicate with patients and their family. Being a virtual experience allows the student to see the effects of their decisions, without the natural stress and apprehensiveness that goes with working with living patients. At the same time the student decisions are collected and assessed to test their actions and knowledge. The platform simulates the reality of a patient’s home and living conditions and, during this assessment, observations are made and tracked, after which the student produces a Falls Risk-Management plan for each patient. Falls Risk-Management plans help reduce risks to patients, avoiding future incidents, improving the quality of living and ultimately saving lives. The team behind Oculus VR has spent years researching and developing the Oculus Rift, the head-mounted gaming display that is believed to create, along with appropriate software, a seismic shift in many professions and practical training in dangerous or sensitive fields.  With their goal for better, more efficient education and more detailed assessment, Curtin and LearnBrite, have built the software to deliver and track educational experiences. Playing with Oculus Rift’s cutting edge headset technology, enabling physiotherapy students to virtually enter the homes of virtual high-risk ‘Falls’ patients. “The graphics were impressive and the controls were intuitive and responsive,” said Dr. Goh when using the experience on an iPhone 6. The custom HTML5 and WebGL solution created by LearnBrite allows virtual reality experiences to be delivered through the world leading Moodle learning system to any device from smartphone to the Oculus headset. The platform already supports Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift with plans to support the Valve/HTC Vive, Sony Morpheus and Microsoft Hololens. "Curtin, with their content expertise, have delivered a ground-breaking experience for students," said LearnBrite CEO Danny Stefanic. “LearnBrite was recommended by industry experts to Curtin. Clarity and precision being crucial, we communicated constantly throughout the project and especially at the beginning when defining the desired outcomes. Choosing WebGL made the most sense, although it did present significant challenges which LearnBrite overcame quickly. “We are happy with the outcome so far and can’t wait to take it to the next level,” he added. “We never anticipated one project could deliver so much flexibility and accessibility taking into account how new the technology used is.”  In plain terms, just months from now, students and professionals around the globe could be receiving hands-on, realistic training with virtual patients through the LearnBrite platform using hardware like Oculus Rift, or any other device. We now give students the ability to learn, improve and assess in an engaging way no matter if they are using a smartphone, a tablet, PC, Mac or a VR headset. The future of care for aged and other patients requiring round-the-clock attention may lie in virtual reality itself. As the technology is developing at a long-awaited but rapid pace, LearnBrite and Curtin University are following in stride and using existing technology on all sides to create a usable, practical system to better patient care and modern medical practice. LearnBrite is aiming to build more online training platforms in HTML5 and inviting enterprises, universities and e-learning companies to create pilot projects with their unique blend of technology.   About LearnBrite LearnBrite is one of the companies grown by VR veteran entrepreneur, Danny Stefanic. His consortium headed by ExitReality includes Moodalytics.com, MoodleBadges.com, Twinity.com, ResponsiveVoice.com and Koinup.com LearnBrite are active in the e-learning sector with avatars, non-linear dialogue, gamification and virtual environments. They have developed an e-learning platform based on HTML5, offering increased levels of engagement, involvement and motivation, facilitating self-paced learning and memorable and immersive learning experiences. The Company is focused on continuing its market expansion and new product development to meet the global trend towards leveraging 3D and virtual reality technology to improve student performance.

New White Paper Helps L&D Teams to Maximize the Benefits of Digital Learning

0
0
June 2, 2015− Hemsley Fraser, the learning specialist, has launched a new white paper to help L&D teams inspire employees and transform organizational effectiveness, by using digital learning options to deliver high quality learning content and performance support. Developed in response to recent research from the UK’s CIPD - which found that 64% of L&D professionals don’t have the capabilities to support learners online - the new paper examines the evolution of digital learning, the benefits it provides and the challenges of implementation. Called Digitally Minded: Are you Fit for the Future?, the paper includes examples of good practice and it advocates that L&D teams need a new way of thinking about the possibilities of delivering learning, a belief in the potential of digital assets and the courage to try something new. “Making high quality learning content more accessible, via smartphones and tablets, can not only excite learners and appeal to different learning styles, it also enables L&D teams to offer greater choice and demonstrate the impact and benefit of the learning,” said Lynsey Whitmarsh, head of digital and innovation at Hemsley Fraser. The paper highlights that a wide range of digital learning options are now available, including online courses, webinars, digital books, learning apps, infographics and video content. “Digital learning can be used before, during, after or even instead of classroom training, depending on the need,” said Whitmarsh. “L&D teams can now effectively offer employees a ‘pick and mix’ menu of options that can enhance or even replace some of their face-to-face provision.” According to the paper, the biggest challenge to overcome with digital learning is choosing and curating the right content. “A great deal of choice exists with digital learning, so help may be required to determine exactly which digital learning options will meet your specific needs,” said Whitmarsh. “With the right combination of digital learning options, you can create a personalized learning experience for individuals, giving them true flexibility in how they learn.” To show L&D teams what’s possible with digital learning, Hemsley Fraser has created a microsite, called The Vault, which contains examples of its digital work. “L&D teams need to open their minds to the possibilities of digital learning and discover how other organizations are using it to generate real business improvements,” said Whitmarsh.   About Hemsley Fraser Founded in 1991, Hemsley Fraser provides in-company and customized learning programmes, consulting services, open training courses and managed learning services. With offices in the UK, the US and Australia, the company delivers learning in 50 countries. Since 2008, it has been part of the Demos Group, a global provider of learning and development. 

TrainingIndustry.com Announces 2015 Content Development Companies Watch List

0
0
Cary, NC – June 4, 2015 – TrainingIndustry.com has announced its 2015 Content Development Companies Watch List, as part of its mission to continually monitor the training marketplace for the best providers of training services and technologies. View the 2015 Content Development Companies Watch List Selection to this year's Content Development Companies Watch List was based on the following criteria: Industry visibility, innovation and impact Capability to develop and deliver multiple types of content Company size and growth potential Depth and breadth of subject matter expertise Quality of clients Geographic reach “This year’s Content Development Watch List is our strongest yet, with several new additions, the Watch List features many repeat companies as well as several up-and-coming organizations,” said Ken Taylor, president, Training Industry, Inc. “These organizations should be put into consideration when selecting a potential content development partner.” “The companies on the 2015 Content Development Watch List are capable of providing innovative, quality and strategic content to their clients across all segments,” said Doug Harward, chief executive officer, Training Industry, Inc. Please provide any thoughts or feedback on this list by emailing info@trainingindustry.com.  View the 2015 Content Development Companies Watch List About Training Industry, Inc. TrainingIndustry.com spotlights the latest news, articles, case studies and best practices within the training industry. Our focus is to help dedicated businesses and training professionals get the information, insight and tools needed to more effectively manage the business of learning.

GP Strategies Joins the Totara Partner Network

0
0
Santa Clara, CA− June 5, 2015− Totara Learning Solutions is pleased to welcome the addition of GP Strategies to their Global Partner network. The GP Strategies Enterprise Technology Solutions group has extensive experience working with multiple learning management systems on behalf of both Fortune 500 as well as government clients. Recognizing the importance of open source solutions in the learning technology space, they have decided to partner with Totara Learning. “GP Strategies is pleased to expand our open source product and service offering by partnering with Totara Learning,” said Bill Finegan, vice president for GP Strategies. “This partnership strengthens our commitment to providing the most innovative and extensive solutions available to our customers, and we look forward to a long and productive partnership.” “Our entire team at Totara Learning is excited about partnering with GP Strategies,” said Willem Boom, vice president and partner solutions at Totara Learning Solutions. “Our objective in terms of getting access to larger potential Totara users and clients is greatly enhanced by this partnership. The team at GP Strategies is extremely professional and highly regarded in our industry. We look forward to a long-term, productive partnership.”   About GP Strategies GP Strategies Corporation is a global performance improvement solutions provider of training, e-learning solutions, management consulting and engineering services. GP Strategies' solutions improve the effectiveness of organizations by delivering innovative and superior training, consulting and business improvement services, customized to meet the specific needs of its clients. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, manufacturing, process and energy industries, and other commercial and government customers.   About Totara Totara Learning Solutions is dedicated to fundamentally changing the nature of the LMS software market. TotaraLMS is open source with its enterprise edition available via subscription. Totara can reduce a corporate enterprise’s learning management costs significantly whilst providing some of the most advanced learning management functionality. Totara users come from a wide variety of sectors including finance, retail, energy, health, government and not-for-profit organizations. Customers range from small enterprises to large multi-national corporations with over 200,000 employees- a testament to Totara’s robust versatility and scalability. Organizations throughout the world have chosen Totara as their e-learning platform. 

NIIT Awarded Managed Training Services Contract Statoil ASA

0
0
New Delhi, India and Atlanta, GA− June 8, 2015− NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development, announced it has been awarded a five to ten-year contract to provide managed training services to Statoil, ASA, a Norwegian multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. With this contract, NIIT's Corporate Learning Group, a leading provider of managed training services, will provide comprehensive managed training services for a period of ten years, renewable after the first five years. NIIT shall run Statoil's core operations for learning and competence administration and learning technology support, with options to buy additional services from NIIT's comprehensive suite, namely learning and competence advisory, content development and strategic sourcing (aggregator services). After a successful partnership between Statoil and NIIT for over the last five years, NIIT has now outcompeted some of the world's top companies in this space on both quality and cost. Statoil and NIIT are already planning the details of how they will build an even stronger partnership through this new contract. "We are honored that Statoil has selected NIIT as its main provider of Managed Training Services,” said Sapnesh Lalla, president, NIIT Corporate Learning Group. “Winning this competitive tender is not only a reinforcement of the work we have done with Statoil over the past five years but also bears testament to the fact that leading companies in the world can trust NIIT to deliver the highest quality and value of learning outsourcing services."   About Statoil:  Statoil is an international energy company with operations in 37 countries. Building on more than 40 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. We are headquartered in Stavanger,Norway with approximately 23,000 employees worldwide, and are listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges. About NIIT:  Established in 1981, NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development, offers multi-disciplinary learning management and training delivery solutions to corporations, institutions, and individuals in over 40 countries. NIIT has three main lines of business across the globe - Corporate Learning Group, Skills and Careers Group, and School Learning Group.  

Pearson VUE Named Certified Practice Test Provider for Microsoft Certified Professional Exams

0
0
Bloomington, MN− June 8, 2015− Microsoft has expanded its partnership with Pearson VUE by appointing it as the worldwide Microsoft Certified Practice Test Provider. Microsoft Official Practice Tests, powered by MeasureUp, provide candidates with critical, customized assessment and remediation tools, helping them gain confidence, master technical content and make the best use of their certification preparation time. Industry-recognized Microsoft Certifications are highly regarded by IT hiring managers, who use them to measure a candidate’s skill levels and determine how well candidates can work with specific Microsoft technologies, hardware and software. “We are excited to partner with Pearson VUE as our worldwide Microsoft Certified Practice Test Provider,” said Alison Cunard, general manager of Microsoft’s Learning Experiences group. “Our goal is to provide MCPs and candidates with a full solution from preparation to examination, and Pearson VUE’s portfolio of practice tests is an additional preparation tool to aid in their certification success.” The MeasureUp practice test platform is recognized for its innovative use of simulation question types, comprehensive explanations, complete coverage of exam objectives and in-depth reporting. The practice test functionality provides candidates the opportunity to customize their experience so they can drill down to the exact areas where they are weakest, allowing them to maximize study effectiveness. In addition, MeasureUp’s recent technology updates allow users to enjoy the ease of studying using multiple devices — including their desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. “Pearson VUE is pleased to have been chosen as the Microsoft Certified Practice Test Provider,” said Bob Whelan, managing director of Pearson VUE. “This expanded portfolio of Microsoft Official Practice Tests, powered by MeasureUp, will help candidates better prepare for their certification exams. With Microsoft’s reach and with the robust quality of our practice test offering, we believe we can provide IT professionals and instructors the tools for career certification success.” Pearson VUE and Microsoft will make Microsoft Official Practice Tests available through multiple channels to enable both test candidates and training partners the opportunity to use this effective study tool. About Pearson VUE Pearson VUE is the global leader in computer-based testing for high-stakes certification and licensure exams in the healthcare, finance, information technology, academic and admissions markets. It offers a full suite of services to develop, manage, deliver and grow test programs for over 450 clients via the world's most comprehensive network of highly secure test centers in 180 countries, and through online solutions.  

Training Specialist Responds to Industry Call for Planning Essentials

0
0
Aberdeen, UK− June 11, 2015− On the eve of its 10th anniversary, imorph, the Aberdeen-based specialist training and change management provider, continues to create positive and sustainable change across technical training for the oil and gas industry by unveiling a series of strategic and operational planning courses. The latest addition to imorph’s ever-evolving portfolio is Brilliant! Planning. The operational and strategic planning essentials courses build upon Brilliant! – imorph’s exclusive training and change program, which was launched alongside the company in 2005. “Our 10th anniversary is a real milestone and so to celebrate, we mark the occasion with the launch of a program very relevant to the challenges currently facing the oil and gas industry,” said Caroline Hughes, imorph director. “We consistently hear from our clients that there is an urgent requirement to introduce enhanced strategic and operational planning processes and review how planning can work more effectively to achieve optimum business success. Our Brilliant! Planning program is designed to provide exactly that. Recognizing increased frustrations with planning inefficiencies among clients and across the oil and gas industry, imorph collaborated with Harry Capper, an industry planning expert who brings over 30 years’ experience, to develop a series of planning courses for the Brilliant! program. Offered in both corporate and open “public” packages, the Brilliant! Planning program takes delegates through the core principles and theory of best practice planning, transferable to any workplace, rather than focusing on any specific software.  Equipping delegates with the skills and knowledge to excel in their own planning roles, each course also enables them to introduce effective planning practices to their team and organization. “From day one, imorph’s training and development programs have maximized the potential of our clients’ projects, teams and organizations,” said Hughes. “In the past ten years, our small company has made a big difference through innovation. We have been responsible for fundamental behavioural shifts in several of the oil and gas industry’s blue chip organizations. The impact of this can be felt across the industry as companies who seek cost-efficiencies increasingly look towards alternative training approaches that do so much more than just ‘ticking a box.’“   About imorph imorph is a leading provider of specialist training and change solutions across oil and gas, and technical industries. With a focus on developing bespoke programs that maximize the potential of their clients’ projects, teams and organizations – imorph aims to change the face of technical training. Established in Aberdeen in 2005, imorph was created to change perceptions surrounding industry training, providing trainers with effective skills and support, enabling them to perform at the optimum level, enjoy their jobs and deliver industry training that works.

Fort Hill Launches 70-20™ A New Cloud-Based Tool to Activate Informal and Social Workplace Learning

0
0
Wilmington, DE− June 11 2015− Fort Hill Company, a firm specializing in learning transfer solutions for corporations and executive education providers, announced the launch of 70-20, a new user-centered learning activation tool. 70-20 is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) web application designed for use with any connected mobile or desktop device. Developed in collaboration with its partner Affero Lab, 70-20 leverages the ubiquitous presence of mobile and social technologies in the lives of today’s workforce to activate learning on the job and drive more productive outcomes for both individuals and organizations.       70:20:10 is a frequently referenced model which describes how people learn in organizational settings. Approximately 10 percent of workplace learning happens in formal training programs and structured experiences. The balance happens in more informal and social settings - either through on-the-job experiences (70 percent) or via relationships in or outside the workplace (20 percent). While this framework is accepted by most learning and development organizations, learning leaders still struggle to help employees and managers apply what they learn in formal training back on the job, especially younger millennials who now make up an increasing share of today’s workforce. As a result, skill development often lags and the full business value of many training initiatives is never realized.      “Learning leaders today are tasked with making their offerings  more relevant to employees who aren’t accustomed to, or interested in waiting for formal training programs to acquire and apply new skills,” said Teresa Roche, former chief learning officer of Agilent Technologies. “Rather, this group expects and responds better to the immediate feedback and experience when learning is a part of work rather than apart from work. Their everyday tech and mobile driven environment heightens this expectation. While this trend challenges traditional learning models and modes, it also opens up a whole new set of opportunities to accelerate skill development by harnessing the power of the learning side of work.” Fort Hill’s 70-20 web application focuses on the informal and social side of learning – helping people at all levels apply newly learned skills while they work and share progress with their colleagues. Users can create personal learning challenges at any time, work on formal challenges assigned during a training program or accept development challenges from their manager or team leader – all from their mobile phone, tablet or desktop. The app facilitates the sharing of real-time updates on actions and insights in the form of text, pictures, video and web links to get feedback and ideas from colleagues or managers. Improved performance can also be measured and tracked by a user’s manager or coach. 70-20 ignites learning and performance improvement on the job in several ways: Workplace learning activation – The web app provides an engaging experience for both employees and managers/coaches to spark the application of new skills, behaviors and knowledge in everyday work situations. Anytime, anywhere interaction – Users get easy access to 70-20 from any connected smart device – phone, tablet, laptop or PC. This enables users to act on learning opportunities and track their progress in real time with the technologies they use every day. Collaborative multi-media storytelling – 70-20 enables users to turn their development into a highly creative and dynamic social experience by sharing evidence of personal progress, posting visual examples and inviting feedback from colleagues.  Social learning made easy – Users remain connected with people who share the same learning challenges or support each other as coaches, leveraging the energy and ideas of the group.  Visual, verifiable progress – 70-20 tracks and highlights progress on learning challenges for users from start to finish. Leaders can monitor performance improvement along the way on a built-in dashboard for the challenges they create.  Data analytics – As an organization uses 70-20, learning and business leaders can access valuable metrics on performance improvement and learning outcomes at a group and individual level.  SaaS-based model – Because 70-20 is a SaaS product, organizations can deploy it quickly and seamlessly. The client does not need to install any software on their IT systems. “There is a serious gap right now in professional skill development for most organizations,” said Kathy Granger, president of Fort Hill Company. “The primary focus remains on learning compliance and control when it should be on activating employee development by facilitating learning curiosity and creativity.  It’s a huge opportunity for companies to truly differentiate themselves and their organizations. 70-20 fills this gap by enabling employees to tap into the rich opportunities created by mobile and social technologies to put their learning and development into action any time and any place.” About Fort Hill Company Fort Hill Company specializes in learning transfer solutions for corporations and executive education providers. Established in 1999, the company is addressing the growing gap between corporate training programs and measurable performance improvement on the job. Today, Fort Hill’s solutions have been used by over 300,000 program participants to produce stronger business results at hundreds of Global 1000 companies.  

Pearson Collaborates with Boy Scouts of America to Transform Digital Education through Interactive Merit Badge Pamphlets

0
0
New York, NY– June 11, 2015− As part of its partnership with Boy Scouts of America to redesign its educational programs for a digital world, Pearson is producing interactive digital merit badge pamphlets to transform the teaching and learning experience for youth and merit badge counselors. Distributed through the Inkling distribution and e-reader system, the highly engaging books include animations, simulations, how-to videos, slide shows, self-check questions and other enhancements. “Our partnership with the BSA demonstrates our commitment to building quality digital education and training solutions to help the organization meet the goals of its learners and counselors,” said Pearson’s VP, Managing Director, Strategic Partnerships, Diana Childress. The interactive merit badge pamphlets are one part of a larger effort to further engage members using educational technology in new and innovative ways. These new products can be used on Android, iPhones, tablets and browsers. “BSA innovation efforts focus on our customers’ needs,” said Pat Wellen, director of BSA Design & Development Center. “Through talking with Scouts, we learned that they are looking for a convenient way to digitally interact with our content. So, the idea for interactive digital merit badges was conceived. The Pearson partnership helped us make this concept a reality, so that we can provide the interactive digital experience we wanted for our Scouts.” Pearson’s professional training and development group partners with corporations, associations, non-profits, and government agencies to create effective services and solutions that align with their learning and professional development goals to improve business and organizational results. About Pearson  Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning. About the Boy Scouts of America  The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The Scouting organization is composed of approximately 2.4 million youth members between the ages of 7-21 and nearly 1 million adult volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. 

E Learning Company LearnBrite Acquires Leading Virtual Reality Storytelling Software Chat Mapper

0
0
Phoenix, AZ− June 12, 2015− LearnBrite, a division of 3D entertainment and e-learning company ExitReality Inc., has acquired California based Chat Mapper; the world’s leading creators of non-linear branching scenario software. Chat Mapper allows users to create flexible branching conversations that imitate real life scenarios in a story, game or lesson. Founded in 2009, Chat Mapper was used by video game authors, scriptwriters and later by educators to produce non-linear branching dialogue, to create and view the ‘bigger picture’ and change it as they go. Since then the customer base has grown to include industries such as e-learning, emergency response agencies, healthcare, sales, customer service, playwrights, strategic and military planning. “After many years of development Chat Mapper is more fun, more engaging, and overall more effective than anything else available in this space,” said Ben McIntosh, founder of Chat Mapper. “That is proven and attested to by the professionals that seek out Chat Mapper for their games, scripts and classes” The agreement to acquire Chat Mapper and all associated IP was signed during the first quarter of 2015. The acquisition is expected to further strengthen LearnBrite’s position in the global digital education and gamification market. This acquisition helps LearnBrite to expand a footprint in the components needed to bring the e-learning industry into the new world of cross platform virtual reality. Parent company ExitReality has a range of virtual reality worlds including Twinity and v-Side and have delivered millions of gamification experiences. With Chat Mapper’s ability to deliver non-linear scenarios, branching conversations, branching audio, branching video and 360 degree experiences, LearnBrite says it will now be able to better serve the e-learning market by integrating with its recently announced HTML5 virtual reality platform. Inline with the acquisition, a series of exciting breakthroughs have been released in Chat Mapper 1.9, which is now available to download. Chat Mapper scenarios can now be embedded into applications and web pages (similar to a YouTube video). Voices are spoken by multi lingual ‘text to speech’, or recorded audio, by photo characters/cutout people, with backgrounds, as seen here. The output can be viewed in any HTML5 compatible browser or device and does not need plugins. The responsive web design fits any screen size and orientation. “During the last year we have assisted LearnBrite in delivering dialogues using text to speech for their avatars, including what I believe is the world’s first HTML5 VR e-learning simulation, the landmark Curtin University project,” said McIntosh. “Joining with LearnBrite is really exciting because our vision and culture aligns so precisely. They have a highly skilled team with all of the skills to take Chat Mapper into the VR age, Danny is a legend in the VR world. Together we have a bright future.” Complex branching scenarios are a key part of the e-learning VR/AR revolution. Combining Chat Mapper with the LearnBrite platform offers the ability for anyone to author scenarios along with the virtual actors and the environments that they live in. “When Oculus Rift, Microsoft Hololens, Samsung VR, Google’s Magic Leap, HTC Vive and Apple, all hit the world market in 2016 with their amazing VR hardware, people will say, ‘This would be great for education, has anyone done anything about it?” said Danny Stefanic, CEO of LearnBrite. “LearnBrite has. We have integrated Chat Mapper to create the platform to interact in the long awaited virtual classrooms, workplaces and worlds on today’s devices and in tomorrow’s virtual and augmented reality. The acquisition has advanced our plans significantly. As of today any content produced in Chat Mapper is now ‘VR Ready.' This is a game changer in terms of education and training.” Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. LearnBrite is aiming to build more online training platforms in HTML5 and are inviting enterprises, universities and e-learning companies to create pilot projects with their unique blend of technology. About LearnBrite LearnBrite is one of the companies grown by VR veteran entrepreneur, Danny Stefanic. His consortium headed by ExitReality includes Moodalytics.com, MoodleBadges.com, Twinity.com, ResponsiveVoice.com and Koinup.com LearnBrite are active in the e-learning sector with avatars, non-linear dialogue, gamification and virtual environments. They have developed an e-learning platform based on HTML5, offering increased levels of engagement, involvement and motivation, facilitating self-paced learning and memorable and immersive learning experiences. The Company is focused on continuing its market expansion and new product development to meet the global trend towards leveraging 3D and virtual reality technology to improve student performance.

IBM Announces Major Commitment to Advance Apache Spark, Calling it Potentially the Most Significant Open Source Project of the Next Decade

0
0
Armonk, NY− June 15, 2015− IBM announced a major commitment to Apache®Spark™, potentially the most important new open source project in a decade that is being defined by data. At the core of this commitment, IBM plans to embed Spark into its industry-leading Analytics and Commerce platforms, and to offer Spark as a service on IBM Cloud. IBM will also put more than 3,500 IBM researchers and developers to work on Spark-related projects at more than a dozen labs worldwide, donate its breakthrough IBM SystemML machine learning technology to the Spark open source ecosystem, and educate more than one million data scientists and data engineers on Spark. As data and analytics are embedded into the fabric of business and society –from popular apps to the Internet of Things (IoT) –Spark brings essential advances to large-scale data processing. First, it dramatically improves the performance of data dependent apps. Second, it radically simplifies the process of developing intelligent apps, which are fueled by data. To further accelerate open source innovation for the Spark ecosystem, IBM is taking the following actions: IBM will build Spark into the core of the company's analytics and commerce platforms. IBM's Watson Health Cloud will leverage Spark as a key underpinning for its insight platform, helping to deliver faster time to value for medical providers and researchers as they access new analytics around population health data. IBM will open source its breakthrough IBM SystemML machine learning technology and collaborate with Databricks to advance Spark's machine learning capabilities. IBM will offer Spark as a Cloud service on IBM Bluemix to make it possible for app developers to quickly load data, model it, and derive the predictive artifact to use in their app. IBM will commit more than 3,500 researchers and developers to work on Spark-related projects at more than a dozen labs worldwide, and open a Spark Technology Center in San Francisco for the Data Science and Developer community to foster design-led innovation in intelligent applications. IBM will educate more than 1 million data scientists and data engineers on Spark through extensive partnerships with AMPLab,DataCamp, MetiStream, Galvanize and Big Data University MOOC.  "IBM has been a decades long leader in open source innovation,” said Beth Smith, general manager, Analytics Platform, IBM Analytics. “We believe strongly in the power of open source as the basis to build value for clients, and are fully committed to Spark as a foundational technology platform for accelerating innovation and driving analytics across every business in a fundamental way. Our clients will benefit as we help them embrace Spark to advance their own data strategies to drive business transformation and competitive differentiation." Spark Drives Business Transformation for IBM Clients Spark has grown quickly in popularity among developers and data scientists as an essential platform for helping organizations more easily integrate Big Data into applications, and is quickly gaining momentum with IBM clients looking to transform business decision-making: Real-time transportation planning software from Optibus is changing the way public transport is organized. "Spark, together with IBM, provides a highly scalable platform for Optibus, making it easy for us to expand our software as a service offering into new markets, and helps us simplify deployment, maintenance and application development for transportation companies worldwide," said Amos Haggiag, Optibus CTO and co-founder. Findability Sciences, a global consulting and contextual data technology solutions company, is using IBM Analytics and Spark to help clients tap into the power of Big Data. "Apache Spark with IBM BigInsights has given us tremendous capacity for our implementations for small and medium businesses, where MapReduce was not efficient,” said Anand Mahurkar, CEO of Findability Sciences. “With Spark, the performance has improved multi fold. We're now able to process streaming data from IoT devices and offer analytics for data in motion for things like traffic, commuters and parking," Independence Blue Cross (IBC) is the largest health insurer in the Philadelphia area, serving more than two million people in the region and seven million nationwide. It's using Spark to help drive product innovation and develop new services. "Apache Spark is quickly maturing into a power tool for development of machine-learning analytic applications,” said Darwin Leung, director of informatics at Independence Blue Cross. “It allows our IBC researchers and academic partners to work together more seamlessly, which means we can get new claims and benefits apps up and out to customers much faster.” IBM, NASA, and the SETI Institute are collaborating to analyze terabytes of complex deep space radio signals using Spark's machine learning capabilities in a hunt for patterns that might betray the presence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. "With Spark as a Service on Bluemix, we'll be able to work with IBM to develop promising new ways to analyze signal data as we hunt for evidence of intelligence elsewhere in the cosmos,” said Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and director of the Center for SETI Research. “This is an exciting example of synergy in the service of science.” IBM is one of four founding members of the UC Berkeley AMPLab, where Spark was first invented in 2009, and as a result participates in multi-day research retreats, provides advice and real-world insight, and interacts closely with AMPLab researchers on projects of mutual interest. "As a sponsor of the AMPLab, IBM contributes to the greater Spark community and provides guidance for the continued evolution and improvement of the Berkeley Data Analytics Stack, the open source platform of which Spark is a key component," said Professor Michael Franklin, director of the UC Berkeley AMPLab. Spark is agile, fast and easy to use. And because it is open source, it is improved continuously by a worldwide community. Over the course of the next few months, IBM scientists and engineers will work with the Apache Spark open community to rapidly accelerate access to advanced machine learning capabilities and help drive speed-to-innovation in the development of smart business apps. By contributing SystemML, IBM will help data scientists iterate faster to address the changing needs of business and to enable a growing ecosystem of app developers to apply deep intelligence into everything.

The Challenge of Advancing Women in Leadership Roles New Workplace Survey Points to Where Organizations Can Make Progress And How

0
0
Boston, MA− June 15, 2015− Interaction Associates is out with the results of a new LeaderLens pulse survey that yields fresh insights into the challenges of advancing women in leadership roles – and points to important ways to best address workplace gender bias. Among the key findings: There’s a huge gulf in how men and women see gender bias and few organizations actively address the issue. What’s more, both men and women are uncomfortable talking about it with their leaders or each other. The survey of more than 400 people across the business spectrum indicates that advancing women in leadership roles is a low priority – only 1/3 of those surveyed agreed that recruiting, developing and advancing women leaders is a key business priority in their organization. In fact, the gender gap in how men and women view gender bias on the job is huge: Less than half of the women surveyed say both genders are treated equally but 2/3 of the men surveyed say they are. And when asked if gender bias even exists in their organization, nearly half of the women surveyed say it does but less than a third of the men agree. Perhaps most telling: Most men and women are uncomfortable talking about gender bias with their leaders and each other. Only a quarter of the women surveyed and 39 percent of the men said they are comfortable talking about gender bias on the job. “Gender bias is the main hurdle to advancing women in leadership roles – and yet neither gender is comfortable talking about it,” said Debbie Rocco, senior consultant at Interaction Associates. “That may be because most organizations are going about it all wrong – that the nature and focus of the conversation itself needs to shift." The IA pulse survey on gender bias and women in leadership showed that companies that place a high priority on recruiting and advancing women are usually organizations where people are comfortable discussing gender bias with peers and executives. This strong correlation between company priorities and employee comfort levels with discussing gender bias is true regardless of the number of women or women executives in the organization. Perhaps another indication of men’s discomfort with discussing gender bias is the low number of men participating in the IA pulse survey. Just 10 percent of the IA pulse survey respondents were men. “To make progress addressing gender bias, organizations need to bring both men and women to the dialog by shifting the conversation from a problem solving frame, which typically invites blame and defensiveness, to conscious collaboration,” said Rocco. “That’s what builds a culture of trust that supports an open and honest dialog that leads to collaborative action to advance the agenda for both men and women.” About Interaction Associates Interaction Associates is the 45-year global leader of methods for developing conscious collaboration in the workplace – including ways of working together that allow leaders, teams, and change agents to achieve superior business results. With offices in Boston and San Francisco, Interaction Associates delivers Return on Involvement (TM) to hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals each year. Interaction Associates has been named one of the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies by Training Industry every year since 2012.

Pearson Reimagines Learning to Prepare Todays Students for Jobs of the Future at ISTE 2015

0
0
New York, NY − June 15, 2015− In just 15 years, it is predicted that more than two billion jobs will disappear, as robots and automation will make many traditional careers obsolete. In fact, according to the World Bank, estimates indicate that only one in five of today’s elementary students will find a job that exists today. At ISTE 2015 in Philadelphia, June 28-July 1, Pearson will explore the ways that learning must change to ensure that Generation Alpha—kids born after 2010—and the generations that follow are prepared to succeed in a world that we may not have yet imagined. “A decade ago we never would have dreamt that someone would have a career as a social media strategist or an app developer,” said Alfred Binford, managing director, Pearson North America. “To ensure today’s learners are prepared for new kinds of opportunities, we must think about learning and teaching in new ways. As a member of the Pearson team and a father of three sons, I look forward to engaging in this conversation with educators from around the world.” Jobs of the future and the skills necessary to succeed in them are the topic of a panel discussion, Reimagining Learning to Prepare Today’s Students for the Jobs of the Future, moderated by Binford at ISTE 2015. Representing a broad range of voices in education, the panelists will discuss the new paths that learners around the world are following as they prepare for future careers that push the boundaries of our imaginations in 2015. In addition, Pearson researcher Maurer and Mona Leigh Guha of the University of Maryland's iSchool and Human Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) will be joined by Kids CoLab team members for a poster session, Learners at the Center: Kids Co-Design Educational Solutions, on Monday, June 29, 2-4 pm. Kids CoLab is a team of students who collaborate with Pearson developers to create real world applications for learning. In the poster session, ISTE attendees will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with Kids CoLab kids and learn simple ways to integrate cooperative inquiry techniques into learning and teaching. Pearson will also take the pulse of ISTE attendees on the trends impacting the future of learning with a short online poll. The four-question poll will explore the trends having greatest impact on learning today; the skills that are most critical for preparing students for the careers of the future; and the new courses that should become requisite for high school graduation. Finally, poll participants will be asked to predict the most popular jobs in the year 2030.   About Pearson Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning.

NetCom Learning Opens New Location in the Heart of Washington DC

0
0
New York, NY− June 16, 2015− NetCom Learning, the experts in managed training solutions, announced the opening of a new location in Washington, DC, providing students in the DC area with a convenient training center. The new training center at 1627 K St, NW, Suite 910 in Washington, DC, is located close to major federal government agencies and many DC businesses. As a General Services Administration (GSA) approved Small Business Vendor, NetCom Learning can now provide easy access for federal government clients to attend training classes. Adding to the center's convenience, the central Washington location is near to metro stations, hotels and dining. For students flying into DC for training, the training center is a quick shuttle ride from the Washington Dulles Airport or Reagan National Airport. The Washington, DC training center joins NetCom Learning's training locations located around the country including centers in New Jersey, Nevada, Illinois, Massachusetts and NetCom Learning's headquarters in New York City. NetCom Learning also offers custom live online training or on-site training on an international basis. “Our new Washington, DC location provides our business and government clients with a central easy to reach training center,” said Russell Sarder, CEO of NetCom Learning. The new NetCom Learning Training Center provides convenient well equipped training classrooms with on-site technical support staff. The center is located near metro stations within easy access of hotels including the Hamilton Crowne Plaza, Club Quarters, Hotel Lombardy, the Quincy, Capital Hilton, and the St. Gregory Hotel. Restaurants within nearby access to the Training Center include Soho Buffet, Roti Mediterranean Grill, and P.J. Clarkes.   Benefits of taking technical training with NetCom Learning NetCom Learning is an award-winning global leader in managed learning services, training, and talent development. NetCom Learning is honored to be recognized as Microsoft's Worldwide Training Partner of the Year by Microsoft, and as a Top 20 IT Training Company by TrainingIndustry.com for three years. NetCom Learning offers over 1,500 courses available to organizations around the world, encompassing all technology and business training needs. From authorized or foundational training to specialized certifications, NetCom Learning empowers organizations to achieve a competitive advantage. In addition, NetCom Learning provides customers with a choice of customized private programs, convenient scheduling options, flexible delivery formats, and continuous learning support, all tailored towards minimizing the skills gap and gaining maximum business impact for your organization. About NetCom Learning NetCom Learning is an award-winning global leader in managed learning services, training, and talent development. Since 1998, we’ve been in the business of helping organizations reach optimal performance results and address challenges by managing all aspects of organizational learning. With a team of dedicated and knowledgeable learning professionals having deep subject-matter expertise, NetCom Learning has serviced over 80% of Fortune 100 companies. We’ve helped over 10,000 organizations achieve their business goals by offering a full complement of Managed Learning Services, including IT and business training, curriculum design and content development, learning delivery and administration, consulting and advisory services, and management of learning technology.

Global Online Training Program for Hospitality Staff Debuts at Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition Conference

0
0
New York, NY− June 16, 2015− ALICE, a mobile service-on-demand platform for hospitality, announced the debut of an online and mobile training program for hotel employees around the world – ALICE Academy. The program will be powered by technology from Grovo, a learning platform for the 21st century workforce. A long-overdue effort to make hotel operations and staff training much more efficient, the Academy comes with the ALICE platform at no charge and can be completed in minutes with a series of videos, quizzes and tips. It’s no secret that the high employee turnover rate throughout the hospitality industry worldwide continues to be a major problem as the average hotelier spends 33 percent of revenues on labor costs, and the average employee turnover is 31 percent in the U.S. alone. In addition, hotels of all sizes spend thousands of dollars on hours of on-site technology training sessions for staff, which simultaneously occur as employees try to actively work and serve guests. “As a company, ALICE strives to help hotels provide service on-demand, so it was only natural that we empower our hotel partners to train their employees on-demand,” said Alex Shashou, co-founder and president of ALICE. At launch, ALICE Academy will offer video lessons on what ALICE is and how to use the many functions of its system. These functions include lessons on handling all aspects of guest requests, posting internal notes and chatting with guests. The training program will be delivered through Grovo’s cloud-based platform and enables accessible and convenient learning for busy, on-the-go hospitality employees. Additional training lessons will follow that focus on how to introduce the mobile technology to guests and encourage its usage, as well as how it can best be used to provide superior service. Other trainings will eventually be added, including one to help reap the benefits of the analytics dashboard. “ALICE Academy is perfect for hotels that have just started using the ALICE platform, as well as for those that have been using ALICE for a while but may have employees who are new to the hotel and need training on our technology,” added Shashou. ALICE currently works with properties on three continents, from Shangri La’s Hotel Jen in Australia to The Setai in Miami and The Royal Riviera on the French Côte D’Azur. These hotels attract travelers from around the globe that rely on ALICE to help facilitate superior service, better understand guests and make improvements based on aggregated guest data. About ALICE ALICE (AliceApp.com) has created the first mobile service-on-demand platform for the hospitality industry that empowers hotels and their staff to drive deeper, sustainable connections with guests using mobile technology while increasing operational efficiency through a robust back-end task management and analytics platform. In an industry that utilizes fragmented, legacy technology, ALICE provides a streamlined, mobile platform that simplifies a hotel's internal operations and unifies interactions between guests and staff across every department into a single system. ALICE is partner-friendly and can integrate into existing hotel systems and workflows of various departments such as housekeeping, concierge and F&B. It can also run as a standalone solution. ALICE has gained serious traction in the industry working many of the world’s leading hotel brands including Shangri-La’s newly branded, Hotel Jen; Bespoke Hotels; Standard Hotels; Gansevoort Hotel Group; The Setai Miami Beach; and Sixty Hotels. 

MHI Global Expands Impact by Merging 5 Key Brands

0
0
Denver, CO− June 17, 2015− MHI Global, the largest dedicated performance improvement company in the world, is merging its five powerhouse brands under one roof. AchieveGlobal®, Miller Heiman®, Huthwaite®, Impact Learning Systems® and Channel Enablers® have joined forces under the MHI Global banner to provide organizations worldwide with an expanded, holistic approach for developing, managing and sustaining long-term customer relationships. MHI Global helps companies build and maintain successful, customer-focused organizations that drive profitable revenue and predictable top-line growth on a global scale, bringing game-changing insight to sales performance, customer experience, leadership and management. By uniting its brands, the global organization seeks to further empower clients through its extensive suite of services. Through MHI Global, organizations can access the world's most extensive knowledge base on how to drive customer-management excellence and growth. "With this merger, five companies become one customer-centric resource," says Byron Matthews, president and general manager of MHI Global. "The resulting sum will be greater than all of its parts. With MHI Global, every client engagement will be one that is collaborative, delivering world-class resources for sales performance, customer experience and leadership and management." Beginning in June, more than 500 employees and contractors in more than 40 countries will unite to deliver the voice of MHI Global. The roles of the company include providing training and support tools that deliver fast, measurable improvement of sales performance; creating a positive connection between customers and brands through elevated customer experience; and developing leaders who engage and inspire their teams through leadership training, which improves productivity and engagement. The company leverages the following five influential brands: Miller Heiman: The Miller Heiman name is synonymous with excellence in sales performance, repeatable methodologies and precision in the art of selling. As Miller Heiman becomes part of MHI Global, customers can depend on a gold standard for managing complex sales, while also expecting expanded solution portfolios, complementary assets and geographic coverage to allow for increasingly global implementations. AchieveGlobal: A recognized leader in human capital development, AchieveGlobal has always focused on organizational performance improvement through leadership and management development, sales effectiveness and customer experience. As a part of MHI Global, AchieveGlobal will increase the organization's reach to help companies and business leaders build and sustain customer-focused organizations to drive profitable growth. Huthwaite: Internationally renowned for strength and rigor in sales training for both individuals and organizations, Huthwaite provides relevant, research-based training solutions that drive real business results. MHI Global will continue to offer a full solution suite that combines powerful, proven methodologies that strengthen all sales-related functions of the organization. Channel Enablers: By providing laser focus on planning and executing an optimal channel mix to improve sales productivity and company profitability, Channel Enablers has carved a niche as a recognized global authority on multi-channel routes to market through experience that makes the difference. As a part of MHI Global, Channel Enablers' thought leadership and expertise will expand even further. Impact Learning Systems: By helping companies achieve strong service brands that increase the value for their customers, Impact Learning Systems ensures positive customer experience through employee performance and training by creating a continuous improvement process. As Impact Learning Systems becomes part of MHI Global, the organization will deliver comprehensive customer-management excellence solutions to compete successfully in today's ever-changing, customer-centric environment. With the merging of these globally renowned brands, organizations can access the world's most extensive knowledge base on how to drive customer-management excellence and growth all in one place: MHI Global. About MHI Global MHI Global is the largest dedicated performance improvement company in the world, bringing game-changing insight to sales performance, customer experience and leadership and management. MHI Global helps companies build and sustain successful, customer-focused organizations that drive profitable revenue and predictable top-line growth on a global scale.
Viewing all 1339 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images