eLearning - December 2008/January 2009 - (Page 16) Trendlines Money Not All-important For Effective Training According to a new report from Bersin & Associates, “money is important, but not the ultimate determinant in achieving business impact” with training programs. The report, written by Josh Bersin, notes that learning effectiveness and efficiency do not directly correlate to budget or spending per learner: “Organizations with average or even below-average budgets can generate two to three times greater return through more rigorous organ- ization design, governance and operations.” Other findings: >> Of the top 18 learning processes that drive greatest business impact, the development of a strong learning culture tops the list. >> The integration of learning with performance management and the re-centralization of learning operations are now essential best practices for business impact. For more information and an executive overview, visit the Website http://www.bersin. com/Lib/Rs/Details.aspx? docid=10335296&id=. Deals ARUN CHANDRA, 47, is SumTotal Systems’ chief executive officer. In this role, he will be responsible for the company’s operational activities and it is also intended that he will join the board of directors. Chandra brings 23 years of technology leadership experience to this position, including 20 years at Hewlett-Packard. He replaces Don Fowler, who retired. DUPONT has acquired Coastal Training Technologies Corp., a leading global producer and marketer of cutting-edge training programs, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va. This transaction is expected to fuel significant growth for DuPont Safety Resources, a safety consulting business within the DuPont Safety & Protection segment. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. WITH THE ASSISTANCE of LearnSomething, Lifeclinic, a provider of professional biometric testing stations, will upgrade its self-testing blood pressure monitors with interactive consumer wellness communication programs intended to provide shoppers with solutions for healthy living. Consumer health information will be displayed on LearnSomething’s interactive digital signage, called the Health Communicator, paid for with relevant advertising and installed on Lifeclinic’s blood pressure monitors. THE WASHINGTON State Board for Community and Technical Colleges selected the Elluminate Learning Suite to support online and hybrid classes, Webinars and statewide meetings. As part of its WashingtonOnline project, the State Board provides online teaching and learning tools and support services for 34 colleges and more than 450,000 students. Elluminate was selected based on product features, ease of use, lowbandwidth connectivity, multiplatform support, strong ASP hosting, and integration with Angel Learning. ESSENTIAL LEARNING and the California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies (CASRA) are teaming up to bring behavioral health-care providers e-learning opportunities to help strengthen community-based programs that support recovery for consumers. Essential Learning also has partnered with the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University to create the Innovations Institute. Furthermore, HealthStream, Inc., and Essential Learning will offer the latter’s online behavioral health library to its customers. THE U.S. DEPARTMENT of Education has extended its learning services contract with GeoLearning, Inc., by two years. A GeoLearning client since 2005, the Department of Education will migrate to GeoLearning’s new GeoMaestro 5 Series learning management system and add integrated technology from several of GeoLearning’s technology partnerships. MERIDIAN KNOWLEDGE SOLUTIONS is implementing the software-as-a-service (SaaS) version of its learning management system (LMS) for “Prepare Iowa,” which is a partnership of the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Institute for Public Health Practice at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health. Meridian also has entered into a non-exclusive relationship with e-learning provider SkillSoft that boosts the size of Meridian’s online library to more than 15,000 elearning courses. THE NATIONAL Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) selected Portico Learning Solutions to develop a Web-based training course for its Fisheries Management Group. This six-figure project is part of a million-dollar initiative for NOAA to facilitate research efforts concerning mercury in seafood. MITEL, a provider of unified IP communications, leveraged Saba Learning to help accelerate a merger integration and support global learning with Inter-Tel, a domestic SMB telecommunications leader. Mitel used Saba Learning to help train and manage certifications for more than 400 technicians and system implementation specialists on the new, combined product lines within one quarter. JAN-PRO INTERNATIONAL, a leading commercial cleaning franchisor, has selected Tortal to create, develop and manage its online corporate university. Jan-Pro will deploy Tortal’s learning management system to host custom online training modules for use by master franchisees, associates and unit franchisees around the world. Tortal will provide internet hosting, security and maintenance services, and help desk support as part of Jan-Pro’s online corporate university. A PREMIER DIRECT SALES company has teamed with Allen Communication Learning Services to create high-level training focused on growing sales knowledge. Consequently, Allen designed a blended approach using Web-based training authored in Lectora and ILT courses where learners could practice the lessons learned during the online sessions. The strategy helped representatives to clearly align the client’s principles and goals while increasing retention and sales savvy. 16 December 2008/January 2009 Elearning! http://www.bersin.com/Lib/Rs/Details.aspx?docid=10335296&id= http://www.bersin.com/Lib/Rs/Details.aspx?docid=10335296&id= http://www.bersin.com/Lib/Rs/Details.aspx?docid=10335296&id=
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