E-learning company boss set to scale highest mountain in the world

The head of a Yorkshire training company is swapping his office shoes for climbing boots to scale the peak of Kilimanjaro later this month. Simon Hayhurst, who is the director of adult learning provider IB2K Ltd, will along with his father climb the world’s highest free-standing mountain in aid of Yorkshire Cancer Research. View More >

Grassroots digital inclusion projects set to benefit from government cash boost

Hundreds of grassroot digital inclusion providers can now bid for government cash thanks to a new grant scheme. It is being introduced by UK online centres a government organisation set up a decade ago to provide public access to computers in a bid to reduce social exclusion. View More >

Further training company mergers as e-learning organisations join

London-based e-learning organisations Ivy Learning Services and Stroud’s Learning&Safety4Business will amalgamate and be known as Learning Nexus from next week. The organisations say the move is in response to the demands and challenges of the learning and development landscape. View More >

International e-learning company signs strategic agreement with global collaborative software provider

E-learning company Edvantage has entered in to a strategic partnership with Saba, a global provider of people management and collaboration software. Edvantage, which provide over 10,000 online training courses, will now offer Saba’s online learning software to its customers in a bid to enhance e-learning across formal and informal learning environments. View More >

Will 2010 be the year e-learning blossoms?

The UK's e-learning sector is “flowering” and set to grow by up to eight per cent next year, according to research. The findings, by e-learning organisation Learning Light, also point towards Sheffield becoming the UK's e-learning capital in 2010. View More >

L&D skills gap responsible for slow learning technology take up

A skills gap among learning and development professionals is the biggest block to organisations adopting new learning technologies, according to a panel of multi-national firms. Speaking at a round table discussion, organised by learning and communication provider Line, representatives from companies including Credit Suisse, Lexmark and Nestle said skills issues had become more of a block to learning technology adoption than board-level management or learner acceptance. View More >

Child psychologist stirs up controversy at e-learning conference

Controversial psychologist Aric Sigman (pictured), who says the overuse of technology by children is damaging their brains, was criticised for “scientific cherry picking” yesterday. During a debate at the Online Educa Berlin conference, Donald Clark, of e-learning company Line communications, said the advantages of technology far outweighed its disadvantages. View More >

The changing role of the trainer in the collaborative learning world

Trainers need to adapt their role to harness the power of collaborative learning in the workplace, according to a leading learning technologies professor. Gilly Salmon (pictured), professor of e-learning at the University of Leicester, says collaborative learning offers huge value to organisations by reducing training costs and creating motivated learners. View More >

Oscar winning e-learning guru urges trainers to take another look at video

E-learning guru Lord Puttnam is urging learning professionals to engage with young people through digital video technology. Speaking to a packed conference hall on the second day of the Online Educa Berlin conference he told delegates that in his judgement “we have no future unless we become a great deal more imaginative”. View More >

Recession opens door for innovative e-learning

The recession has opened the door for training innovation according to the head of Sky's talent development. Speaking at the Online Educa Berlin conference today Kenny Henderson (pictured) said a desire to drive down costs while maximising the effectiveness of training had created the opportunity for companies to try out innovative e-learning ideas. View More >

L&D institute flying the flag for UK business at Berlin international conference

The British Institute for Learning and Development (BILD) has co-ordinated a strong UK presence at the Berlin Online Educa (OLE) international e-learning event. It has taken five organisations, each benefiting from a £1000 government grant, to the German capital and grouped them together in a British themed ‘UK pavilion’ area of the OLE exhibition hall - resplendent with red, white and blue Union Jack colour scheme. View More >

Army uses computer games console to plug basic skills gap

In recent years the Nintendo DS handheld games console has carved out a niche for itself by claiming to offer effective learning games. But that claim has now been put to the test in possibly the harshest environment possible. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is currently using the console, equipped with innovative software from Brighton based e-learning provider Epic, to brush up the basic numeracy skills of new recruits to the British Army. View More >

UK still failing to ensure internet access for all

More than one-third of adults do not have regular access to the internet and digital participation is heavily dependant on class and income, a study has found. Researchers from lifelong learning organisation The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) found around a third of UK adults lack access to a computer at all. View More >

Embrace social learning or become irrelevant trainers warned

The BBC’s head of informal learning is warning trainers they need to get involved in social learning now or risk being left behind. Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual conference in Manchester this week, Nick Shackleton-Jones (pictured) said the best training models involved identifying top performers and sharing their best practice within organisations - something that social learning was perfect for. View More >

Salvation Army’s IT training recognised at awards

The Salvation Army (SA) has been recognised at the IT Industry Awards for its online induction course. Valerie Maddock (pictured), SA head of IT learning, was a finalist in the British Computer Society run awards, which recognise excellence in the application of computer systems. View More >

Online LSIS toolkits for learning providers were £500 now free

Further education providers can pick up a £500 set of award-winning interactive toolkits for free courtesy of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS). The online resources are designed to help managers raise standards in further education and address a range of issues including focusing staff development for organisational improvement and preparing for inspections. View More >

Blended and web-based learning grow as a result of economic gloom

Blended learning and training using Web 2.0 methods has grown in popularity despite an overall contraction in training provision. The findings come from a roundtable discussion organised recently by learning provider Line Communications. View More >

Open University professor recognised for lifetime contribution to learning

Professor David Hawkridge has been rewarded for his “outstanding contribution to the field of learning technology” with an honorary life membership to the Association for Learning Technology (ALT). The Open University (OU) and University of Leicester professor (pictured) becomes only the third recipient of the honour, which was presented to him at the Association’s annual conference last month. View More >

E-learning champion scoops award

E-learning champion, Dr Vivien Rolfe (pictured), has been honoured with a Learning Technologist of the Year Award by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT). Rolfe, who is the principal lecturer in anatomy and physiology and teacher fellow at De Montfort University, collected the award for her outstanding work on the creation and evaluation of multimedia learning resources in sciences, and her success promoting e-learning in the university's School of Allied Health Sciences. View More >

It really is a CrackBerry – 'always-on' work culture on the increase

It’s something we all secretly knew anyway, but now research has proven that those of us using email enabled mobile phones, like the BlackBerry and iPhone, are doing up to an extra ten hours unpaid work a week away from the office. You may have received this story on your phone - and you won’t be alone - of more than 1,000 British workers surveyed, one in three admitted to working out of hours on a weekly basis. View More >

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E-learning News

• Change in L&D focus is at odds with line managers’ vision for development
• E-learning academic warns businesses they need to move with the times
• Homeowners to break free of estate agents by using e-learning software
• Lord Puttnam to outline future learning strategies at Berlin e-learning conference
• E-learning professionals offered free peer support
• EPSS hailed as the best way to save money on training
• Growth of social learning stalls
• HowToMoodle opens new training centre
• New wider scope e-learning accreditation introduced
• NHS staff to receive equality training
• E-portfolios must reform to maintain credibility
• Review calls for free computer skills training ‘entitlement’ for all
• School kids want games consoles and iPods used in the classroom
• The impact of Digital Britain on e-learning
• Bright future for international L&D community
• Universities failing to embrace e-learning
• IT trainers flying the kite for quality
• E-learning company reaches certification milestone
• Staff and HR at odds over e-learning
• Milestone reached by distance learning pioneer

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