E P I C T H I N K I N G
Issue 16: March 2003
This month:
1. New white paper: E-tutoring
2. Markets paper update: 12 trends in E-learning
3. Review: Development plan for NHSU
4. Case study:
Kimberly-Clark, category management
5. News: US Army learns strategy from the kids
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W H I T E P A P E R
1. E-tutors: deliverers of knowledge or managers of learning?
In many ways, the word ‘tutor’ has been hijacked by the e-learning
community, who have used it to encompass a far wider range of roles
and functions than was ever performed by a traditional, physical-world
tutor.
The e-tutor is a Jack-of-all-trades; not only subject matter expert,
but also mentor, facilitator, motivator, counsellor, coach, administrator,
assessor - and even technical support person!
Using online techniques to take the learner through the process
of learning from start to finish, these ‘moderators’ (as they are
also often called) have a taxing, wide-ranging remit but it is a
vital one. E-tutors put back the intimacy that learners often feel
is missing from learning delivered in isolation from any social
context or support.
So what type of e-tutors do we require - as 'deliverers of knowledge'
make the transition to 'managers of learning'?
This new white paper by Donald Clark, Epic, explores the roles
and responsibilities of the e-tutor, gives practical tips for getting
started and maintaining interest, and discusses the skills and attributes
that go into making a good e-tutor.
White Paper: E-tutoring
To get your free copy contact
us
Give your views on the subject
top
2. CEO Market watch update on
the e-learning market
Donald Clark, Epic, updates his popular white paper
on the markets for e-learning with a look at the current state of
play in e-learning worldwide.
He finds 12 dominant trends in the e-learning market:
- The market is no longer technology-led
- Blended learning has taken root
- The industry is still in the shadow of economic downturn (but
still has huge untapped potential)
- There is strong growth in public sector e-learning
- The dot.bomb model has gone (execution is all)
- Motivation matters
- It’s the soft stuff that’s hard (change management, marcoms,
learner support, etc. now seen as the key to success)
- Connection not collection people learn best in communities
- Asynchronous winning over synchronous - the virtual classroom
is probably no better than the real classroom (and might be even
worse)
- Stimulate and simulate demand for simulations is increasing
- Accessibility the public sector is driving an agenda that vendors
and corporates will follow
- E-learning is now mainstream
E-learning INs and OUTs for 2003:
OUT - Idealism
IN - Realism
OUT - Single mode delivery
IN - Blended learning
OUT - Build and launch
IN - Implementation
OUT - Passive delivery
IN - Motivating learners
OUT - Learning as stock control
IN - Learning as a complex set of people issues
OUT - LMS heavy
IN - LMS lite
OUT - Synchronous collaboration
IN - Asynchronous collaboration
OUT - Collection
IN - Connection
IN FOR GOOD: E-learning
White Paper: Markets for e-learning
To get your free copy contact
us
Give your views on the subject
top
R E V I E W S
3. Learning for Everyone: a Development Plan for NHSU
Department of Health, November 2002
A consultation document produced by Department of
Health
Review by Steve Rayson, Director of E-Government,
Epic.
With over 1m staff, the NHS has one of the largest
workforces on the planet (beaten only, I’m told, by the Chinese
Army and the Indian railways). So founding a university for the
NHS is inherently a big idea. And indeed, NHSU, when it is fully
up and running, will be one of the largest corporate universities
in the world.
The recently launched NHSU Development Plan sets out
an ambitious vision to meet the scale of this challenge but is it
ambitious enough?
Learning for Everyone places learning at the heart
of plans to transform the NHS. NHSU intends to approach learning
from the perspective of the patient and improving healthcare, and
to this end the report identifies a number of key guiding principles
including access and learner support.
Access - NHSU aims to open up new learning opportunities
for all staff, particularly those who have traditionally been excluded.
It aims to promote improved access, fair opportunity and inclusive
learning. This includes supporting and recognising learning achievements
at all levels, and NHSU aims to offer learning programmes at all
qualification levels as part of an integrated framework known as
the Learning Pathway. This will give access to credits and qualifications
for practical skills as well as theoretical learning.
Learner Support - The NHSU Development Plan recognises
the importance of learner support and aims to put in place high
quality support for learners.
It is inspiring to see an organisation that believes
in the value of learning at its core, and which aims to awaken the
appetite for learning by delivering it in a manner which is flexible,
innovative and accessible.
The Development Plan envisages a key role for e-learning
because it offers ‘many advantages in terms of speed, cost and scale.’
However, there is an explicit recognition that e-learning will be
part of an overall blended learning solution that integrates a range
of learning interventions. The NHSU blend has to be very flexible
to meet the wide-ranging needs of staff. Current plans are for a
sophisticated blended offering including:
- a range of support including coaches, mentors, buddies, learning
sets and trainers
- a wide mix of learning approaches such as self-discovery, action
learning, discussion/workshops, simulations, and job shadowing
- a variety of delivery methods including traditional face-to-face,
e-learning, video and books
The vision is deliberately aspirational and ambitious. Clearly
there will be many practical issues to address, not least the pressures
on staff time and the need for protected learning, and the existing
IT infrastructure. However, the Development Plan sets out a clear
vision which, in this author’s view, rises admirably to the formidable
challenge set by the sheer scale on which the NHS is organised,
and the number and variety of learners for whom it has to deliver.
To get your free copy contact
us
Give your views on the subject
top
C A S E S T U D Y
4. Kimberly-Clark: Category Management
Kimberly-Clark, owner of iconic brands such as Kleenex,
Huggies and the Andrex puppy, needed to develop the skills and capabilities
of its category managers and analysts across Europe and South Africa.
Find out how Epic created 9.5 hours of e-learning
to meet the multi-national’s learning need in Category Management,
a key part of the way Kimberly-Clark works.
Read
more:
Give your views on the subject
top
5. News: US Army learns strategy
from the kids
America's Army is a downloadable, online war game
where soldiers and sharpshooters take out people and buildings.
At first sight, it may look like any other shoot em'
up. But this is one war game that carries a disturbing lesson for
those of us in the learning game.
Sponsored by the Department of Defense in the US,
the Pentagon tracks the strategies invented by young players. These
are watched, analysed, and used for real. Why? Because it has been
found that young game players come up with more innovative strategies
than experienced military strategy planners.
Scary!
http://www.americasarmy.com/
Epic news stories this month…
e.learning
age profiles Learning Pool, the p2p file-sharing network created
for IDeA by Epic:
AIM:
Epic increases profits by 400%:
Shares
Magazine: Epic bucks bear market:
Investors
Chronicle tips Epic:
F O R E T H O U G H T
In next month's edition of Epic Thinking:
* New white paper - computer games and e-learning
* Further information about Epic conferences
* Reviews
* Show reports
Next Epic Think Tank 16 April 2003
The Learner’s Experience moving from ‘push’ to ‘pull’
- What makes good learner-centred design?
- How do you create the marketing ‘pull’ necessary to get learners
coming back again and again?
- What are the change issues around moving from training ‘push’
to learning ‘pull’?
Guests confirmed so far include top-level decision-makers from
both public and private sectors. We are still open to offers to
attend from subscribers who have an informed contribution to make.
If you are vitally involved in this area and would like to contribute
to the debate, please email
us.
Attendance is free, but numbers are strictly limited, so don’t
delay.
If you have any questions that you would like to see
our delegates address at future Epic Think Tanks, or suggestions
for further sessions, mail them now to:
thinktank@epic.co.uk
Catch up on past think tanks…
Blended
learning and knowledge management
Leading Change
and e-learning
Blended - or Blanded?
Leadership and e-learning
Health and e-learning
Collaboration
and e-learning
Corporate universities
and e-learning
top
R E T U R N O F P O S T
If you have:
- a question to put to the Epic Thinking user base
- a response to any of the points raised here
- a suggestion for a topic you'd like to see covered mail
us right now
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