Moodle 2.0 for Business: Review

Moodle for business? It may seem far-fetched, but if you have Moodle in your organization, chances are, you're using it as your learning management system for 100% online or hybrid courses and you have the capacity and experience to use it for more. Moodle has the power and flexibility to be used for multiple purposes within the organization, and a recent publication by Packt Publishing, Moodle 2.0 for Business Beginner's Guide, by Gaven Henrick, Jeanne Cole, and Jason Cole is filled with good ideas.

For example, one can use Moodle in the hiring and interviewing process as a way to manage content and to collaborate with the search committee.

Perhaps one of the most compelling uses of Moodle is to use it for compliance training. Depending on the amount of instructional material readily available, Moodle can be set up very quickly and can accommodate a wide variety of roles and users. You can customize content and can track learning very easily. The interactive elements and collaborative tools are perfect for answering questions and role-playing.

If you have in-house Moodle support staff, an open-source solution can make a lot of sense as opposed to an off-the-shelf solution where you and your users essentially rent digits from the content provider / publisher. Moodle allows you to purchase (or buy a license) to use the instructional material, so you'll still work with the publisher. In this case, however, at the end of the day, you still have control over the way the material is presented, the way that assessment is administered, and how records are maintained.

Using Moodle for compliance training is specifically addressed in Chapter Four, a download of which is available here:

Chapter Four: Managing Compliance Training (http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/4200OS-Chapter-4-Moodle-for-Managing-Compliance-Training.pdf?utm_source=packtpub&utm_medium=free&utm_campaign=pdf)

Moodle is a flexible and powerful platform for knowledge management and transfer. It is interesting to see how it might be used training your personnel on new products and on rollouts. It can also be used as a talent management system in the sense that you can make it your "go to" place for training, and you can track the progress and completion of courses by employees and/or students.

Some of the applications in this book may seem a bit far-fetched on the face of it. However, these are usually accompanied by case studies, which help demonstrate how the task was organized and executed.

Perhaps one of the biggest potential money-savers / revenue generators could be to use Moodle for web conferencing. There are a few open source plug-ins that work with Moodle. One is BigBlueButton, which is an open source solution which has been constructed of other open-source components. Moodle 2.0 for Business includes step-by-step instructions for using it.

One powerful open source webinar plugin that this book does not mention is Sclipo's Moodle plugin. Moodle Live Classes and Webinar Plug-in by Sclipo can be downloaded free at Sourceforge, and it will enable live classes and webinars through Moodle.

Moodle 2.0 for Business discusses the enterprise itself and enterprise solutions. The text covers ways to integrate Moodle with other systems -- it may be a bit challenging, but the information is available, and the possibilities have been suggested. As in the case of all open-source solutions, a pro-active approach and a willingness to experiment (and to continue experimenting) are almost always rewarded.

Interview with Emad Rizkalla, Bluedrop Performance Learning: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Finding cost-effective ways to provide e-learning to small users and to online institutions offering online education has been a challenge from the very beginning of e-learning, and many attempts have been made to provide "on-demand" repositories of courses, some with instruction, some without. Many of the solutions provided a cloud-based solution, with hosting of the entire process, while others simply provided the content (along with cartridges that would fit in the most commonly used LMS solutions). Many have had middling success, but found they could not sustain their model, either due to high overhead or undercapitalization, or both. Coursepark, developed by Bluedrop Performance, is taking an approach that pares down the LMS features and focuses primarily on the e-learning process rather than the technologies that facilitate it.

What is your name and your connection to e-learning?

My name is Emad Rizkalla and I am the President and CEO of Bluedrop Performance Learning. And I am also the President of our CoursePark Division. I began this company as a student in Mechanical Engineering to commercialize a class design project in 1992. I have been involved in e-learning since 1996 when we fell into the space while working with a French Pharmaceutical company. In 2000, I was profiled in TIME Magazine as one of 10 “Young Dynamic Entrepreneurs Who Will Create The 21st Century”.

For the past 15 years, Bluedrop has been a pioneer in the eLearning space, mostly by developing customized courseware for clients. In 7 different industries Bluedrop counts the global leader as its client. We have about 100 employees in five offices in Canada and the US and that is growing very quickly.

2. What is CoursePark? What is the underlying concept? What are CoursePark's functions? Who can use it? When? How? Why?

CoursePark aims to become the world’s Learning site where individuals and companies can select from thousands of courses by top publishers and experts. Companies can select or build courses to assign to employees, customers and partners…then track the results. Individuals can create their Lifelong Learning Profile and connect to others. All types of users can build, sell, share or rate courses. In the past few months alone, 25,000 new users from 50 countries have registered for CoursePark.

For companies, CoursePark provides a strong alternative to the traditional LMS. Simply put, CoursePark is where people go to build, buy, take, administer and schedule training. The underlying concept is that CoursePark is built from the “learner up”… not the “company down”. CoursePark delivers value to individuals in managing their lifelong Learning Profile and sharing it with colleagues or employers. This value to individual employees also makes it a logical choice for companies to manage their corporate learning.

Anyone can use CoursePark—in seconds.

3. What are some of the gaps you see in course management / learning management systems today?

Traditional LMSs are overloaded with many unnecessary features that have been put in place to compete against each other in the “LMS War”. They are pricy and complicated... and mostly geared towards larger organizations. Most companies need technical people to implement and use them and sometimes corporations take years to evaluate, select, implement and populate an LMS. More importantly traditional LMS’ have ignored a key ingredient... focus on the learner! Learning management systems, in the traditional sense, cater overwhelmingly to corporate interests and offer little for the employee which results in minimal employee engagement.

The “corporate university” is a dinosaur that no one buys into anymore. Alternately, CoursePark is the true embodiment of individual learning and empowerment. It combines individual learning autonomy, corporate training structure and a dash of the virtual water cooler. Simply put, it contains all the elements for individuals and corporations to build a true learning culture. And there is no “IT guy” required!

4. Please explain how you see elearning evolving over the next few years.

Loaded Question. First of all, content is becoming more difficult to source due to the proliferation of options. Learners tell us overwhelmingly they want to go to one place for courseware – it doesn’t matter if it is company mandated training, professional development or personal development. Banking has been “person centered” for decades. Health information is moving towards “patient centered” models…. Likewise, we believe that learning histories will also become “person centered” so individuals can control and share this date and don’t find themselves chasing this data all over the web.

As the new generation of workers cycle through workplaces eLearning will evolve accordingly. These groups of younger workers tend to combine learning, working and entertainment—and their optimum learning curve will become a mix of the three. eLearning platforms will encompass more social learning features and will become “smarter”, help identify learning styles and recommend appropriate courses. In addition, with the increasing use of iPads and mobile devices, eLearning delivery platforms will expand into these spaces. We constantly monitor how eLearning requirements progress and will continue to add features to keep CoursePark on the cutting edge of technology and delivery.

5. What do you think are the key determinants in student success, including retention and graduation rates?

In the corporate world, we look for performance and behavioral changes that occur as a result of the training that we develop for clients. Has the number of safety incidents decreased? Are people faster and more efficient in the operation or repair of a particular piece of machinery? Is time to competency for a particular action reduced?

From an individual learner perspective, we look to ensure first of all that content is being “pulled” by eager learners versus being “pushed” by desperate employers. Then we also look to see if the employee is achieving their particular learning needs.

We believe that by empowering the learners this will increase individual success. CoursePark allows learners to take charge of their learning futures at their convenience and at their own pace. We also aim to let every learner become their own learning institution by contributing to discussions, rating courses and even building their courses with our CourseBuilder tool. Many studies link successful uptake in a corporate learning environment to A) a great platform B) great courses C) having a communication plan, D) tying e-learning into performance reviews E) recognizing learning achievement in the organization and F) calling or contacting users within the first 2 weeks of them registering for a new course (to see how they are doing).

Our success for clients—is ultimately measured by our impact on employee turnover, increased employee morale, a reduction in corporate training costs and an overall return on investment. Not easy to measure—but critical to focus on!

Interview with Mac Adkins, SmarterServices: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Colleges find that they can help their students by providing support services such as tutoring and writing lab / math lab support in a distributed, online environment. The colleges and universities that are primarily online find they often need to offer a variety of courses and support services which often include links to Purdue's Online Writing Lab, the West Texas A&M Math Lab, and others including learning readiness tools, including SmarterServices.

Welcome to an interview with Mac Adkins, CEO and founder of SmarterServices, an array of services that help online students succeed.

What is your name and your relation to e-learning?

My name is Mac Adkins, with SmarterServices (http://www.smarterservices.com/) We provide four web-based services that schools use primarily in their distance learning departments. Our services measure online student readiness, collect & report perceptions of course effectiveness from students, provide a searchable database of online faculty, and provide a searchable database of neutral testing proctors.Please see the information on our Products page at http://www.smarterservices.com/products.cfm

How has your vision / mission changed over the last few years?

What caused it to expand, change, become modified?SmarterServices was founded in 2002 as DECADE Consulting (Distributed Education Consulting And Development Experts). Our initial mission was to identify common problems in leading distance education programs and then develop low-cost yet robust resources. After doing that for four years, we had crafted a "tool box" of resources that many schools were using to make their distance education programs stronger. In 2006 we changed the name of the company to eLearningToolBox to denote the set of tools that we provided to distance learning leaders.

Toward the end of that decade, schools were using our tools across the enterprise and not just in their eLearning programs. At that point we recognized that the name eLearningToolBox was a limiting descriptor. In 2010 we changed the name to SmarterServices. At the same time we also changed the name of each of our four products using a consistent naming strategy with the word "smarter" as the first part of the product name.

Since 2002 over 830,000 students from over 500 colleges, universities, K-12 schools, and corporations have used our tools and services.

What do you see as the most important emerging trend of the last 18 months?

What do you see emerging right now? How will the emerging trends of today affect tomorrow's elearning environment? In the last 18 months the emerging trend has been passing the educational buck on to the students. Because of the declining budgets of most states schools have had to reduce services and/or increase prices. The cost of education, in most cases especially online learning, has substantially increased.

What often happens is that the students then finance these increased costs through student loans. Now as those students are finishing their degree programs their student loans are coming due yet the economy is not much better and many of them are experiencing problems obtaining gainful employment with their degrees. In the next 18 months I see mobile learning as being a growing trend.

Students are expecting to be able to engage in their learning experience using small segments of time as they connect through their mobile devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, etc. Most of the major learning management systems providers are not scrambling to make sure that their interfaces and communications channels are accessible through these mobile devices.

Where do you see the biggest bright spots in education for at-risk populations?

I am not sure in which sense you are using the term “at-risk populations.” So if my response does not fit your question please let me know. I consider the term “at-risk population” to mean a subset of learners who are at-risk of not doing well in an online course due to individual attributes, skill sets, or external circumstances. It is a fact that some learners are more ready to learn at a distance than others. I think the bright spot is that schools are not realizing this and doing something about it.

Very often the first thing they do about it is using the SmarterMeasure Learning Readiness Indicator to identify the students who may be at risk. Then they are providing appropriate forms of remediation and support to make them better equipped to succeed. Finally they are using forms of business intelligence such as online course participation metrics that can be harvested from learning management systems to quickly flag students who are not participating at an acceptable level then intervening with appropriate forms of communication.

Using these three steps of assessment, remediation and monitoring schools are not longer just tossing the at-risk students into the pool and hoping that they can swim.

What do you do to assure that online assessment is the best it can be?

The only assessment that I can speak for is the online assessment that we provide – the SmarterMeasure Learning Readiness Indicator. Almost monthly we make enhancements to the assessment and/or the related services.

These enhancements almost exclusively come from suggestions for improvement from the schools and students that are using the service. In addition to this constantly evolving process every other year we have a professional psychometrician conduct an item analysis to make sure the reliability and validity of the assessment remains strong.

Moodle Security: A Review

Even if you're using a third-party service for your learning management system (LMS), it is still important to be mindful of security, and to understand the ins and outs of where the vulnerabilities exist. For Moodle administrators, the issue of security is important on a number of levels. First, are privacy issues and regulations; second, are integrity issues, as you seek to keep your information and data intact; third, are authentication issues to protect users. Finally, is the issue of ongoing bot activity that can potentially hijack your server and make it perform in ways that you would prefer it not to.

Packt Publishing's Moodle Security (https://www.packtpub.com/toc/moodle-security-table-contents) addresses concerns of both administrators and users. The book provides information that can be helpful in addressing the very real legal liabilities that occur with security breaches.



The organization of the book is easy to follow, and screen shots allow the user to work through the processes in a step-by-step way, and it allows both Linux and Windows users to implement security protocols for Moodle.

The first several chapters have to do with securing Linux and Windows servers. The chapters that deal with authentication, roles, and permissions include a variety of configurations, that include installation procedures.

On the side of user authentication and content assurance, the chapters are thorough and clear. Some current and ever-evolving threats -- bots, viruses, and other types of vulnerabilities are dealt with on a conceptual level as well as with step-by-step instructions.

One area that could be expanded in the Moodle Security is the underlying approach to computer forensics and historical approaches to determining crime / criminal elements.

Note: This title and other Moodle titles are available at a discount through the publisher for a limited time. (Moodle March campaign).

Reality TV and E-Learning: The Next Frontier? Three Possible Edu-Reality Shows

Are you one of the 2 million or so viewers who watched Charlie Sheen's UStream show (Sheen's Korner) within the first week of its broadcast? Are you one of his 2 million Twitter followers? If so, you may have witnessed a new form of reality television -- one that could have applicability to e-learning. There are courses that study cultural and sociological phenomena, and there are entire degree programs that focus on trying to make sense of our rapidly evolving world. Why not consider new kinds of informal learning?

Let's look at where we are. So far, reality television and live news coverage functions as an enhancement to courses, but let's think of them as the course itself. What would it look like?

The idea of streaming video and live feeds of classrooms, surgical centers, and other instructional settings is definitely not new. One could argue it's as old as television itself -- how many people remember when children gathered around the television set brought into the classroom specifically to watch lift-off of the various NASA missions, starting with Gemini, and moving on with the Apollo missions, and the various space shuttles.



Reality television is a different prospect altogether. Certainly, recorded snippets and entire episodes are often woven into online courses as examples, case studies, and discussion / debate points. Think of various intervention shows, along with family and community relations / situations.

So, to return to the idea of reality television as the course itself, how would we do it? What would it look like?

Here are a few ideas / suggestions, which could all be extremely low-cost, especially if they're done via UStream (http://www.ustream.tv). The production values could be as low as in the case of the now notorious "Sheen's Korner" -- which can be seen either as a feeble attempt to usurp Conan O'Brien, or, a way to push the boundaries of reality television, particularly the "train wreck" genre. Celebrity meltdowns, unfortunately, tend to be the gift that keeps on giving -- the more you watch, the more mesmerized you become -- it's almost like watching clips of exotic pets mauling their hapless owners in Animal Planet's "Fatal Attractions" ("My Pet Crocodile").

You don't want to watch, but once you do, you want more and more. You ask yourself why, and all you can come up with is that there is something cathartic about tragedy (not exactly a new finding -- but ranks up there with the eternal verities) -- and, the Aristotelian ideas / precepts still hold: the tragic hero is compelling because of the essentially flawed nature of his/her beingness, and hubris resides at the core.

"There but for the grace of God ..." we intone because we all have a "hubris trigger" in our heart of hearts -- we all would love to be invincible and to somehow transcend / escape angst, pain, fear of death, and death itself.

But the tragic hero tends to die -- and to die prematurely -- precisely because he / she tried to cheat death, and to grab onto all the spoils of life -- wealth, glory, fame, progeny -- and the act of grasping is what triggered the downward spiral.

In very cogent terms, we can say that we participate in our own destruction and salvation. We position ourselves psychologically on the edge of the abyss, and, depending on our mood, we push ourselves over, or, we snatch ourselves back.

USTREAM EDU-REALITY PROGRAM #1: PET SHOP CHRONICLES

Needless to say, the opening credits would need to be accompanied by a link to something by the Pet Shop Boys -- my vote would go to "You Are Always On My Mind" but of course, it's up to the pet shop owner...

People have short attention spans. Keep it short. Keep it tight, and quickly shifting scenes and situations. I'd recommend five 3-minute scenarios that are shot live, but which have been planned in advance. I'd recommend a simple flow from one place / activity to another. Each activity would bring to bear real issues "teachable moments" that have to do with the following categories:

1 -- "Yes, we eat our young" -- The tragedy of overpopulation. Talk about the gerbils, white mice, and, well, the snakes.

2 -- "Sure, we can sell you a genetically engineered Rainbow Goldfish, but is this really what you want?" The dark side of extreme breeding.

3 -- "You make me sad when you make your breed do that!" Breed rescue situations -- why / how the popular way to deal with a breed leads to tragic exploitation (look at pugs, pit bulls, exotic popular pets, and more.

4 -- "I will pay you $5,000 for a Rhodesian Black Mamba" and other ethical dilemmas

5 -- Pet therapy saves lives -- how pet stores can help institute pet therapy in ways that no one really thought would work; and how people's lives are materially changed / benefited

USTREAM EDU-REALITY PROGRAM #2: MATH MATTERS
Here's a way to bring together the way we use math in every day matters, but do not realize how powerful the decisions can be when they are connected to real-life situations.

1 -- Casinos R Us: the mathematics of gaming / gambling

2 -- Insurance? What, Me Worry? Delusion is not always the best mindset to maintain when you are trying to live your life in a sustainable way.

3 -- Felicific Calculus Redux: Death Panels, Hospice, and Cost-Benefit Analyses of Keeping Hope Alive -- What do Jeremy Bentham and the purveyors of health plans have in common?

4 -- Was Malthus Right? The Corn Revolution Did Not Count on Technologies of Seeds, Husbandry, and Finance

5 -- Urban Patterns: Why Urban Planning Matters, or, How So Much Crime Is Geographically Determined

USTREAM EDU-REALITY PROGRAM #3: GEN ED LIVES! A RETAIL OPERATION WHERE THE EMPLOYEES LACK BASIC GEN ED ABILITIES -- AND THE CONSEQUENCES

This would be a 40-minute show (with commercial breaks, if you can find sponsors and advertisers) with 8 minutes per segment: the goal is to look at what people are doing, and to explore in a rather depthful way, what happens when one goes with the flow rather than hanging tough and enforcing an aggressively egalitarian view of competence and inclusion (essentially a meritocracy).

1 -- Twitter Backfire: What happens when you entrust your publicity to a person who is grammatically inept; the tweets erode your brand image!

2 -- Facebook Shame: Poor grammar, inadequate communication skills; your Facebook presence is suddenly a liability rather than an asset

3 -- Geographical Netherland: We try to go global, but it's not good when our employees think that Ecuador is in Africa.

4 -- Math Phobia Is No Longer Cool: A live feed of employees caught in painful math gaffes

5 -- The Leaderless Organization: Enlightened, Evolved, or Utterly Foolish?

Ratatat! I love it -- why not pull in music from MySpace and incorporate it as the reality soundtrack for reality elearning / education ... ??

My recommendation? Ratatat!! Please suggest your own (it's up to you...)

Find more artists like RATATAT at Myspace Music

Interview with Paul Cypher, NP Training Works. E-Learning Innovator Series

Finding affordable ways for associations to provide elearning for their members can be a challenge. Professional development, lifelong learning, certification, and skills-building are important to the members. Welcome to an interview with Paul Cypher, NP Training Works, a provider of elearning services for not-for-profits.

1. What is your name and your relation to elearning?

I am Paul Cypher. I am President & CEO of NP Training Works. We have been in the eLearning business since August 2009. I have been a trainer and adjunct professor at Medaille College for many years and have many experiences with eLearning as both a teacher and learner.

2. What is NPTrainingworks? How did it get started? What is its goal / mission / vision?

The NP Training Works eLearning Partnership Program was designed specifically for the needs of National, State, Regional and Local associations who serve members. Our partnership model gives our partners the ability to meet their mission of providing outstanding professional development options while creating a new revenue stream. Their members have access to more than 600 courses specifically designed for them. We partner with leading content experts to offer courses in compliance, management, leadership, finance, accounting, computer programs, IT, media, design, personal development, fundraising, marketing, human resources, program development and more - all provided within a learning platform user interface that is straightforward and easy to use.

Our Learning Management System (LMS) is extremely user-friendly learning platform. Our partners’ members simply go to their home page where they manage their learning environment. Simple clicks take them to their courses and/or progress reports. Our highly interactive courses provide depth, allow for downloading of files and incorporate activities that address multiple intelligences.

Intuitive back-end management gives our partners all of the report functionality they need in a simple to navigate format. On their administrator profile page they access reports that provide them with the information they need to make great decisions as a Chief Learning Officer. All reports can be downloaded in Microsoft Excel format. And, on a quarterly basis, they receive up to 20% of the revenue from courses taken by their members. All we ask is that they promote their online learning program at conferences, on their website, and other places they promote professional development opportunities.

The NP Training Works partner process is simple. There is no initial or annual investment from our partners. They provide us with their brand elements – logo, color and images. We set up their branded LMS. Their members access the LMS through a link on our partners’ organizational website. After they register, members are provided with their own personal learning page where they access their courses and receive newsletters and other information from our partners.

Our staff has more than 90 years combined experience serving the nonprofit sector. Paul Cypher, President and CEO of NP Training Works, knows the challenges our partners face. As Vice President for Advancement at the Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) he faced the challenge of trying to provide training opportunities for 20+ staff members on an annual training budget of less than $6,000. In 2001 he saw the same challenge magnified, when, as Executive Director of the Baltimore Museum of Industry (BMI), Cypher was tasked with providing training opportunities for 62 employees with an annual training budget of $25,000. As a consultant to nonprofit organizations he saw that many others faced the same challenges. It was very frustrating for him to see the immense need for training among a very dedicated staff and not have the resources to address that need.

As he discussed his frustration with hundreds of colleagues he quickly realized he was not alone. He spent years, researching a solution and came to the conclusion that the answer was available through affordable and available online training. In 2009 Paul started the business using his savings and investment from three partners with an affinity for the nonprofit sector. From 2009 until 2011 we built the LMS and tested the system with two initial clients, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the YMCA of Greater Rochester. The goal of NP Training Works is to provide the highest quality, latest and greatest learning opportunities at costs that are affordable to professionals in the nonprofit field. Below are our mission and vision.

3. What makes the LMS different than others? I noticed that your LMS has a special program for not-for-profits and associations. Could you explain?

I combined your number 3 & 4 questions because they are related in our mind. NP Training Works exists to meet the needs of nonprofit associations who want top-notch eLearning programs, but lack the staff expertise or financial resources to develop a system in-house. We are focused on a very specific market sector.

As you know, to develop an eLearning program institutions need to purchase an LMS (or implement an open source solution), then they need to pay for content development, and often they have to pay fees per user. In addition, they need staff to support the system or they need to pay for annual licensing/support fees. Often their customers are not comfortable navigating through the more complicated LMS systems that were primarily designed for instructor-led courses in a University setting.

According to a 2009 report by American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) most smaller businesses and nonprofits reported they would like a low-cost, easy-to-use, easy-to-maintain system. The LMS systems that were developed for Colleges and Universities are not offering what the small business and association clients need.

The learner interface needs, time and attention for a business and/or association is drastically different than it is for a University. Learners in a business/association environment want straightforward, easy access to their information in one central area. They don’t have time for extensive training on how to use the LMS or to search through a number of modules to get to information as the University Learner does. Systems designed with instructors and for the contact hours required for a 3-6 credit University course are far different from systems designed for the learning needs of someone who is trying to find and retain information for use in a business environment. In addition, the costs of a typical LMS is prohibitive for the association/business customer. According to the Association Learning Management Report the average three-year cost of implementation and maintenance of a traditional LMS is $59,450 for 500 users. For unlimited users the three-year cost average sky-rockets to $435,500. These systems require set up costs in the tens of thousands of dollars, and per-user fees that range from $8 - $64/user. While this cost structure is okay if you are charging a student $1,500-$5,000 per credit hour, it doesn’t work for associations and businesses who are trying to provide professional development opportunities for their employees and members at a reasonable cost.

There are no companies offering the partnership program model that NP Training Works offers. This model was created based on the knowledge and experience in the industry of our President & CEO, Paul Cypher, who has spent his entire career in the nonprofit sector. Our target markets are nonprofit associations and companies/organizations that serve nonprofit or for-profit businesses. Examples include Realtor Associations, payroll companies, nonprofit membership associations (i.e. Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and professional associations (i.e. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). In addition to our LMS with an established course catalog we develop custom eLearning courses for our partners who have a need for specialized training. Our rapid development model offers a low-cost development option for our partners with the opportunity to earn revenue if the coursework can be added to our catalog and offered to others.

As stated previously, our model is simple. We have an established catalog of courses. Our partners receive a branded LMS at no cost. They promote the courses to their members. Our partner receives quarterly payments for their percentage of revenue from their members who take courses.

Here is a chart of our client process:

At our initial meetings we explain the NP Training Works partnership model and gain a thorough understanding of your professional development goals and objectives. You decide which path you want to follow; Partnership Program, Custom Instructional Design or a combination of both. We then present you with a project proposal.

When the proposal is approved we follow one, or both, of the project paths below.

Branded Marketing Partner

NP Training Works has developed a catalog of courses for nonprofit professionals. We take on all costs associated with course design and development, web hosting, eCommerce and customer support. There is no front-end cost or investment by you. The process is simple:

1. You list our courses and provide a link on your website or anywhere else you promote professional development opportunities.

2. You promote the courses to your membership and/or customers. We will attend your annual conferences to promote as well.

3. Your members are taken to a branded site with your logo where they enroll in a course.

4. We provide you with a quarterly report and check for 5-20% of the course fees from your members/customers.

Custom Instructional Design

1. We begin the Custom Instructional Design Process with a Discovery Meeting on your premises.

2. We utilize the ADDIE model of Instructional design—Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation—as a guideline for building effective training and performance support tools.

Our typical client process includes the following steps:

a. Project history, overview, and introductions

b. Purpose and objectives of the project

c. Audience Issues

d. Look and Feel - Functional / Branding Specs

e. Resource Analysis

f. Detailed Content Analysis

g. Review of Project Scope

h. Detailed Project Management Plan and Schedule developed

3. Implementation of Project Plan and Schedule

5. Many associations provide professional development and certification for their members. After students complete training, do you send the information to the association in a form that they can use for generating certificates and keeping track?

We have the ability to incorporate certificates for download in courses after the learner completes assignments. Our SCORM/AICC compliant LMS tracks learner information from the course, such as time spent, information viewed, and test/quiz results. These are stored within the reporting area of the LMS. Administrators from our partner organizations have the ability to view their reports in chart and table formats and download the information in Excel spreadsheets. Our system also offers an association to set up groups and allow group managers access only to the reports for the members of their groups, with the association administrator having access to reports for all learners in all groups. For instance, the administrator for the AZA has access to all learner reports for all zoos and aquariums groups under the AZA.

6. Do you maintain a talent management system? Do you have plans to do so? Can you work with associations to help them develop lifelong learning tracking for their members?

We are in the process of developing a talent-management system at this time. It will be released in the new version of the LMS within the next 18 months.

7. What is your philosophy of learning? How do you view your product and how does it reinforce what you consider to be the most effective way to develop one's professional skills and credentials?

NP Training Works’ learning approach and educational philosophy are grounded in the conviction that learning happens every day and everywhere, and you learn best by doing. We utilize sound learning techniques in a constructivist learning environment. Constructivism is a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world through active experiences and reflecting on those experiences. We provide tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities with which you formulate and test your ideas, draw conclusions and inferences, and then put your conclusions into practice and share your findings with peers. Our educational philosophy transforms you from a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process.i

To accomplish these learning objectives we immerse you in an active learning environment that incorporates cutting-edge technologies and interactive experiences, with a goal of improving your knowledge and confidence. We complete the process by connecting you with peers in our Social Network.

Our approach makes learning available anytime from anywhere in an effort to reduce travel, time, space and other barriers that get in the way of learning and restrict access. Our approach works best with learners who are motivated, have self-discipline and are actively engaged in your own learning outcomes as a means to your own personal and professional development.

NP Training Works educational philosophy views learning as a process and understands that learners have different needs. Therefore, our courses incorporate a variety of learning styles to accommodate the various learning preferences of each learner. We know that well-designed learning environments offer individualized learning experiences. To this end we utilize Bloom’s Taxonomy Learning Model when constructing our courses. Bloom demonstrated decades ago that most teaching tends to be too focused on fact-transfer and information recall - the lowest level of training - rather than true meaningful personal development. ii

NP Training Works instructional design incorporates interactive experiences to make learning powerful and fun. We create a learning environment that encourages exploration of new avenues of learning and allows you to better yourself and your organization. To do this we employ these strategies:

 We bring the most knowledgeable experts to the learner. Our course instructors are consultants, professors and professionals with many years of experience and knowledge.

 We build on your current knowledge. Our courses give you an edge by building on base courses and prior knowledge to help you expand your horizons and find new areas of learning.

 We provide instruction that addresses multiple learning styles. We utilize exercises, hands-on practice, case studies, simulations, games, and discussion opportunities to diversify the learning experience and incorporate your learning preferences.

 We encourage interaction and information sharing. Our Learning Connection site gives you the opportunity to share your own ideas, information, experiences and solutions with their peers.

 We help you put your new learning into action. Our courses provide exercises and examples that encourage you, the learner, to put what you are learning into use immediately in your daily work life and in your organization.

8. Please share the name of a book you recently enjoyed.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I have always been fascinated by Abraham Lincoln as a leader and person. This book delves into the strategy he used to bring his rivals into his cabinet and accomplish great things by working with other strong leaders who challenged his thinking. I really enjoyed the book because it encapsulated my view of the essence of a learning leader - to constantly stretch yourself and your modalities and learn from those around you, especially if they challenge you.

Interview with John Alonso, OutStart: Innovators in E-Learning Series // Corgi Big Bark Award

Mobile learning continues to evolve quickly as mobile devices, access, and connectivity speeds continue to improve. The potential to leverage social networking in order to create a robust social learning environment, with reliable outcomes-based assessment represents a dramatic step forward, as does the "multi-screen" approach. Welcome to an interview with John Alonso, CTO of Outstart.

E-Learning Queen is happy to announce that Outstart is the recipient of an E-Learning Queen Corgi Big Bark Award for forward thinking and a commitment to innovative approaches to e-learning.

1. What is your name and your relation to e-learning?

My name is John Alonso – I’m the CTO and one of the Founders of OutStart. I evolved into eLearning about 16 years ago. I started as a software developer, worked in multiple industries and in the mid 1990’s found myself in front of the classroom as a teacher. I did that for several years and learned a great deal. I became a video star , doing a several DVD based learning courses. This led to working on CBT’s as an author and subject matter expert, which led to eLearning. In 1999, I and a few others started OutStart. Our focus and goals where to create a company that would focus on learning and specifically on learning content. We didn’t want to be a content provider, we wanted to be enablers, to provide tools and technologies that would make it easier, faster and cheaper to create content.

2. What is the name of your company and what are its main products?

OutStart Inc.

OutStart LCMS

• OutStart LCMS is the leading Learning Content Management System (LCMS) for automating the development, management, maintenance, delivery, and publishing of modular and personalized learning to enhance both learning and development teams and learner effectiveness. Available SaaS or On-Premise.

Participate

• Participate is social business software that integrates social networking, collaboration, and knowledge sharing technologies, enabling organizations to more effectively collaborate, contribute and share knowledge. Available SAAS.

Hot Lava Mobile

• Hot Lava Mobile is mobile platform to develop content, deliver and immediately analyze results in support of corporate communications and mobile learning. SaaS offering.

TrainingEdge.com LMS

• Full-featured, configurable learning management system to administrate, document, track, report, and deliver learning in support of classroom, online, and mobile learning. SaaS offering.

TrainingEdge.com

• TrainingEdge.com is an integrated suite combining LMS, LCMS, Social Business Software and Mobile to meet the breadth of learning and knowledge needs of an organization. Available via SaaS.

3. How has the popularity of tablets changed your product line?

Our product philosophy of single-sourcing, which at its core is about isolating presentation from content, makes supporting Tablets easy. While I’d like to claim that we foresaw Tablets in 1999, the reality is that we could not foresee what future technology trends would arrive. That being the case, we wanted to protect the investment that people made in content. Our OutStart LCMS platform allows for the creation and management of content without having to declare what the output format needs to be. This allows us to transform the content to whatever delivery device we choose. Our viewers, which are really the plug-ins that we use for transforming the content, allow us to deliver to almost any target device. A specific viewer can easily be created for different platforms, for iOS, Android, or WebOS. We also can create viewers that generate HTML5 allowing us to target modern browsers on mobile devices.

4. What do you see as the next directions with respect to tablets and elearning?

I believe that Tablets are here to stay, unlike Netbooks, which seemed new, but in essence was an inexpensive laptop with many compromises; Tablets are a whole new thing. They are the ultimate device for consuming content, they are highly portable, rugged, work for a long time between charges and have almost ubiquitous connectivity … and their interface is truly intuitive. I expect that Tablets will evolve to provide more consistent capabilities, making it easier and cheaper to target multiple devices, instead of having to build for each tablet out there. I think that tablets will become the primary device that we will consume content with, and that laptops and desktops will be relegated more to content creation devices and “power-user” devices. I do not believe that tablets will replace the pc, but they will be the key device that we see people carrying and using. This will force content developers to think of tablets as the primary target, instead of it as an afterthought or add on. I also believe that the gap between tablet capabilities and laptop capabilities will become very small. The choice will be more made on the form factor and use case, not on capabilities.

5. Does OutStart incorporate simulations and serious games?

We and our platform view serious games and simulations as a logical extension of the learning experience… a natural evolution of what can be done with rich media. 15 years ago, the state of rich media was audio for eLearning, 8 yrs ago video was becoming more common place and expected, within the next 2-3 years, consumer will come to expect much more interactive and intelligent interaction with their content. The technical challenge of incorporating simulations and serious games has been met, we have several examples of solving those problems. Unfortunately, the cost for creating these rich experiences and the skills needed to create them is the largest roadblock. While many want these things, few understand the cost of building them and the cost of maintaining them. In our current economic climate, it has been very hard to justify the expense for these things for most developers.

We have some customers who are using simulations and serious games today, leveraging their investment in them throughout their curriculum.

6. What is your philosophy of growth for tablet-based and smartphone-based elearning? Which areas turned out to be dead ends? Which areas evolved in ways that you did not expect?

I think that today we are in the middle of a hype cycle … mobile, mobile, mobile … mobile is cool, mobile is hot, mobile is the future. Yes, yes, and yes … but I believe that we are focusing on the wrong things today. The key to mobile is not the technology, it isn’t the features and it isn’t the devices … to me, and I think of the importance to the learning community, mobile is really about always having a device on you, regardless of what that device is. This is the fundamental change, and this is what will make significant changes in learning and performance support. As mobile devices mature, we will not be talking about what they can do or are capable of, we will be talking about how we have changed the way we design content. If you can count that a person always has a device on them, you can design content very differently. You start to realize that what is important is understanding context and delivering the right content for a given contextual situation.

Unfortunately, today we are focused on mobile being something different. We think that creating content for iOS, RIM or Android is the important part, yet we seem to fail to realize that the technology is evolving incredibly quickly and that creating for a given device will have a very short lifespan. I think that in 2 yrs we will look back and question why we invested in building content for a specific device.

This is also the thing that I am surprised by the most … as an industry we do not seem to learn from history or previous experiences. I see us committing the same mistakes we made 12 yrs ago when we chose to focus on specific browsers. Many people spent great deals of money building content for Netscape, only to have it made obsolete 3 years later and their content unusable. I understand that this is somewhat of a natural evolution, steps we must go through to learn and move forward … but we should be studying history and learning from it. We should really question whether assuming that all content will always be consumed by a specific device (say BlackBerry) is realistic? Will RIM be here in 5 yrs? Will their platform look the same?

7. Please recommend a book that inspired you.

I’m not a big book reader, although I am a voracious reader. I have many varied interests which means my reading list is very broad. I read many blogs on a daily basis, I’ve probably been most inspired in the last year by;

Setsail.com – a boat related site, an accomplished yacht designer and his wife share their experiences, the writing and the approach is inspiring. Things are clearly explain, data is provided and conclusions are always supported.

Yankodesign.com – is very different subject matter, I’m constantly inspired by the ideas of others, the different viewpoints they bring and the concepts I never considered.

IKEAhackers.com – yet another subject matter, yet similar to the design example, truly inspiring to see how people are solving problems, cheaply and effectively.

The Petroleum Geology of Libya

The turbulence in Libya makes one mindful of the petroleum resources and what is at stake. Presented here are articles and presentations on the geology of Libya that you might find of interest.

The Petroleum Geology of Libya (Hassan Salem Hassan):

http://sepmstrata.org/Libya-Hassan/Libya-Introduction.html

LIBYA: PETROLEUM POTENTIAL OF THE UNDEREXPLORED BASIN CENTERS—A TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY CHALLENGE

Donald C. Rusk

http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/rusk/index.htm

Total Petroleum Systems of the Pelagian Province, Tunisia, Libya, Italy, and Malta—The Bou Dabbous– Tertiary and Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite

T.R. Klett

http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/b2202-d/b2202-d.pdf

Central Sirte Carbonates

http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/WEcont/regions/reg2/p2/tps/AU/au204312.pdf

SARIR FIELD SIRTE BASIN, LIBYA

Desert Surprise Then -- and Now Some Keys to Revisit of Libya

Compiled by Jingyao Gong, AAPG Data Systems

http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/sarir/sarir.htm

Pore Pressure Prediction Based on High Resolution Velocity Inversion in Carbonate Rocks, Offshore

Sirte Basin Libya, Robert M. Gruenwald1, Javier Buitrago2, Jack Dessay2, Alan Huffman3, Carlos Moreno3, Jose Maria Gonzalez Munoz2, Carlos

Diaz2 and Khaeri Segayer Tawengi

http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2010/40551gruenwald/ndx_gruenwald.pdf

Background on Libya

Libya is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the country's economy relies heavily on hydrocarbon exports.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Libya/Background.html

Framework for the Exploration of Libya: An Illustrated Summary

Jingyao Gong

http://www.searchanddiscovery.net/documents/2004/libya/index.htm

Recent discoveries:

Waha JV wildcat makes discovery in Libya's Sirte Basin

http://www.worldoil.com/Waha_JV_wildcat_makes_discovery_in_Libyas_Sirte_Basin.html

Interview with Learnable: Innovators in E-Learning Series

Online courses in health, fitness, weight loss, and personal improvement are now more feasible than ever with new approaches to enhanced e-learning, which involves a flexible array "you choose" delivery modes and technologies. Multiple screens are the norm as people work with smartphones, mobile devices of all kinds, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. You may find yourself taking a personal improvement course through a university's outreach programs, through a community college's lifelong learning branches, or a career college's certificate program. You might even take courses directly from the experts in the field. The flexibility is made possible through innovative course delivery systems that allow instructors and institutions to host their courses in the Cloud, and to take advantage of a flexible content and learning management system. An example of this is Learnable, based in Melbourne, Australia. (Is Melbourne where Lycos originated?)

1. What is your name and your relation to elearning?

Our name is Learnable.

We're a website that helps students learn about a range of topics through online courses that are created by a range of everyday experts in their fields. Our online courses are therefore non-formal in nature, sitting between the more structured institutional learning and unstructured self guided learning. They allow people to gain tangible skills and knowledge in a semi-structured online environment that guides and facilitates their learning.

2. What is Learnable?

Learnable is a web site where anyone can learn online about a range of topics that interest them. This is delivered through asynchronous online courses that allow students to learn in bite-sized chunks, at their own pace and in their own time. It’s also gives knowledge experts the chance to become instructors, and share their expertise by creating and selling their own online courses. At Learnable you can be a student, an instructor, or both!

So in a sentence - Learnable is where anyone can discover or deliver an online course.

3. How does it work? Why was it established?

Learnable is based around an online course creation tool that packages and delivers courses for students to take online.

Students pay for these courses online, and then gain unlimited access to the course. Courses are all structured around a series of lessons, articles, online videos, and other downloadable resources, as well as a very smart tool we like to call our social Q&A. The Q&A tool allows students to ask as many questions as they like, get answers from instructors, as well as learning from all the previously answered questions from other students. They can even ask questions of fellow students.

This means courses are broken down into a series of easy-to-follow steps that students can then work through at their own pace, as well as having access to personalised support from instructors throughout.

Instructors on the other hand, have the ability to share their knowledge or skills by creating and delivering their own courses on Learnable. They do this by using our super easy-to-use course builder that helps organise, package and turn their knowledge into online courses that they can then sell on Learnable.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Learnable began as a series of online courses about web development on www.sitepoint.com, one of the largest online communities of web designers and developers. It was established as a way to build on SitePoint’s existing online courses, and to then share this online learning platform with the world.

4. How can it work with respect to health and fitness? how can the courses be used for diet / fitness / nutrition courses?

There is no limit to the topics and courses that can be created on Learnable.

So someone interested in health and fitness would find it easy to create a course that could share their insights, ideas and thoughts on how to live a healthier, happier life, and with a worldwide audience. Students of the course could take the course in the comfort and privacy of their own homes, any time throughout the day, whilst still having the support of the instructor through the interactive Q&A system.

We like to think Learnable will be a fantastic resource for instructors and teachers in this field.

5. What are your goals?

Our goal is to be the largest marketplace for online courses in the world, and we believe that we have the opportunity to fundamentally transform education for the better. We’d like to achieve this by making non-formal learning easy, and in so doing empower knowledge sharing between students and instructors.

Professional development and training is evolving quickly to meet the needs of busy professionals who want to implement micro-learning. In addition, the need to make learning modules accessible via multiple devices is also driving innovation. Welcome to an interview with Julie Ogilvie, vice president for Skillsoft, a provider of integrated learning solutions in a wide array of subject areas.

1. What is your name and your relation to elearning?
Julie Ogilvie. I’m the vice president of corporate marketing for SkillSoft – an e-learning provider.

2. What kinds of elearning does Skillsoft offer?
SkillSoft is primarily known for its vast collection of off-the-shelf e-learning content which serves a broad range of business needs such as needs such as compliance, IT, business (soft) skills, project management, leadership development, desktop application and customer service. Our content takes many forms – courses, online books, videos and simulations and also comes in 19 languages. Customers can use the content as-is or customize it using tools that we offer. Many of our customers have adopted our products because they just have so many needs, they simply can’t keep up with the demand. Off-the-shelf learning products are a great fit for today’s overburdened training professionals who are simply swamped by the constantly changing and growing needs of their global learner populations.

We also provide the technology to deliver, manage and track learning. Our SkillPort platform is a SaaS solution used by over 2,000 customers and 7 million end users. We also work with many clients who use third party learning management systems – and often our customers have a hybrid environment.

What is most important is finding a way to deliver learning that makes it easy for the employee to access and apply the learning – so in the last several years we’ve been developing products that are geared around helping employees get to the learning and find what they need quickly - things like our KnowledgeCenters which are learning portals that focus on a particular topic and bring together all of the formal and informal learning resources in one location.

3. What are the ways in which Skillsoft offers mobile learning / training?
What is your view of assessment in mobile learning? Currently, most of our customers are looking for mobile learning solutions that are geared more toward “performance support” than “formal training.” As such, they are looking to deliver information that employees need to answer questions and solve problems when they are away from their desks. Our Books24x7 On The Go platform is designed specifically for this; it allows users to search for answers from the thousands of business and technical titles contained in our Books24x7 collections. They can even view our Leadership Development Channel QuickTalks on their phones…this has been very popular with field-based populations such as sales reps and executives.

We do recognize that as the mobile options continue to grow, so will the demand for mobile learning solutions, including formal training that requires assessments. We are actively working with customers to support these needs right now.

4. How is Skillsoft responding to new eLearning trends? What are the trends you see the most promising in the next 12 - 18 months?
E-learning trends are a by-product of the overall work environment. All of us are being asked to do more work, get things done in shorter timeframes and wear more hats. For learning professionals, these effects have been especially acute. Many of our customers are struggling to deliver high-quality learning experiences with limited budget and resources. They have had to take a new view of their work – shifting from the viewpoint of “instructor” to more of a supply-chain expert – looking for ways to ensure a smooth flow of current, consistent, quality resources to meet skill demands of hundreds of job roles.

In our world this has translated into customers asking for a more modular approach to e-learning – “bite-sized” learning that can fit into busy schedules. So today many of our learning experiences are designed to be consumed in less than 5 minutes. Even formal training courses are now often designed for use in an hour rather than 2-3 hours, which used to be the standard.

Learner expectations are also driving changes in e-learning. They want rich learning experiences that engage them in the topic. In recent years that has led SkillSoft down a path of increasing the availability of video, gaming techniques and other rich media. Our customers have found that their learners react very positively to these approaches, and it increases the likelihood that learners will be pro-actively seek out additional learning on their own.

The other trend in the workplace is that now when learners have question or a problem they think “Google it!” We see more and more that even the assets we have designed for “formal learning” are being used in a just-in-time, informal way. The importance of an effective search engine cannot be overstated. Many companies have recognized that time spent searching for answers is a productivity drain, and on top of that, the “answers” available on the Internet aren’t always the right ones. This is leading to a greater appreciation of the need for vetted, expert content in combination with a search function that can quickly pinpoint the most relevant passages.

5. How are training needs changing in today's workplace?
Training needs are expanding but the time available for training is contracting. Today’s workforce is under pressure. Many companies have needed to downsize in the past couple of years, which means employees need to do more work in more different areas. They have needed to learn new skills, and they have had less time to devote to doing it! These are the trends that are producing greater demand for all kinds of online learning that can be accessed during the “in between” times in the work day.


6. Please recommend two books you've recently read.
Here is a book that I would recommend to everyone - The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor. Shawn spoke at our user conference last year, and I have to say it was a life-altering event for me! So I dashed out to get his book when it became available. What you will find compelling in this book is that the ideas expressed are backed up by research on how the brain works. As learning people we can appreciate this. The book is full of wit and insight that you will think about and use in your life (at least I have in mine).

Another book I would recommend is The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done. I happened to pick this up because an executive in our company was speaking at the annual Drucker Symposium in Vienna this past year. I knew about Peter Drucker – “the father of management” – but I didn’t realize how vast his influence has been on our way of working and thinking. Drucker believes that continuous learning is essential to creating a culture of innovation – and this is something that learning professionals should take to the bank! This little book is good way to get into Drucker in nice bite-sized chunks.