World of Learning Conference programme
announced
iHow can learning and
development (L&D) professionals help
businesses revitalise and grow
post-recession? This is one of a series
of topics under debate at the World of
Learning Conference 2011 taking place on
27-28 September 2011 at the NEC,
Birmingham.
Valerie Todd,
director of talent and resources at
Crossrail and commissioner at the UK
Commission for Employment & Skills, will
deliver the opening address on Tuesday
morning, tackling the impact of the
recession and how L&D professionals can
drive business growth following the
recent downturn in her seminar entitled
'What does today's business need from
L&D'?
In his keynote
address on Tuesday afternoon, Charles
Jennings, managing director at Duntroon
Associates, will examine the issue of
Transforming L&D through effective
learning governance, covering how L&D
professionals can secure management
buy-in and ensure their work is closely
aligned with business objectives.
Speakers from
organisations such as Lloyds Banking
Group, London Fire Brigade, NHS,
Eversheds, Shelter and FirstGroup will
also present seminars on a wide range of
topics including 'The criticality of
learning in delivering business change';
'Investing in the leaders of the future'
and 'Integrating the formal, informal
and social in learning'.
In the Future of
Learning Forum, taking place on
Wednesday 28 September, a panel of
industry figures will debate how to
reengage organisations in order to
deliver something new, and how to employ
a flexible approach to L&D to allow for
future change.
A host of subjects
will be under the spotlight in
Wednesday's seminars with contributions
and case studies from British American
Tobacco, Xerox Europe, VSO and St
Mungo's. L&D professionals from these
enterprises will, along with other
speakers, discuss 'Constructing a
compelling business case for L&D',
'Harnessing the potential of social
learning' and 'Maximising the
transferral of learning into behavioural
change'.
The final keynote
speaker will be Laura Overton, managing
director at Towards Maturity, who will
advise the audience on 'Adapting to
change and influencing success – five
new conversations for L&D'. In this
interactive session, Laura will explain
how to engage a range of stakeholders
from peers to senior management, using
material from the conference, audience
experiences and the latest research.
Andrew Gee, senior
project manager at Venture Marketing
Group, organisers of the World of
Learning Conference & Exhibition,
commented: "With an impressive line-up
of leading names and key industry issues
under debate, The World of Learning
Conference offers just what L&D
professionals need and represents
excellent value. Visitors will come away
with genuine and inspiring solutions for
their day-to-day and long-term business
objectives."
Skills for Health announces e-learning
milestone
Skills for Health, the Sector Skills
Council for health, has announced that
more than 250,000 health sector staff
are using its online e-learning
programmes to develop statutory and
mandatory skills.
More than 20 courses are now
available via Skills for Health's
e-learning programme, with subjects
ranging from Health & Safety Awareness,
to Food, Nutrition and Hydration.
The courses are used by almost 500
employers across the NHS, independent
and voluntary sectors. They include NHS
Ealing, which is currently using the
system to deliver a CQC-mandated course
in Child Protection Awareness in Health
to over 250 dental practice staff across
its area.
Trust business manager Janine Smith
said: "We have been using Skills for
Health's e-learning programmes for
training dental staff and have been very
impressed with the flexibility, quality
and cost-effectiveness of the system.
"The online delivery is particularly
valuable because it means that staff can
fit the training around their busy work
schedules, reducing the need for day
release and cutting down on costs
associated with face-to-face training.
"We have also found it really useful
to be able to track and monitor
learners' progress, so that we can see
who has completed the training and who
still needs to take it."
Skills for Health says its statutory
and mandatory e-learning courses are
suitable for new starters, updates and
refresher training.
Skills for Health executive director
Sam Gallaher said: "At a time when
employers need to get the maximum value
from development budgets, Skills for
Health's e-learning courses offer a
high-quality, cost-effective means of
delivering essential statutory and
mandatory skills.
"Although they are not designed to
completely replace face-to-face
training, they can help to substantially
reduce the staff and administrative
costs associated with statutory and
mandatory training. They also offer
enhanced reporting functions which allow
managers to keep track of learners'
progress and help measure the impact of
training interventions."
National skills academy for
environmental technologies announced
Skills Minister John Hayes has
announced a new National Skills Academy
(NSA) for Environmental Technologies.
The NSA will provide training in the
design, installation and maintenance of
technologies such as solar thermal,
photovoltaics, heat pumps and water
harvesting and recycling.
In its first 5 years, the National
Skills Academy aims to deliver around
2000 publicly funded and over 200,000
privately funded training courses.
The Skills Academy will develop an
initial network of 14 specialist
training provider 'hubs', based in
Further Education colleges, with over 80
accredited training providers throughout
England. The Skills Academy will receive
up to £2.5m of funding over three years,
matched by employers.
The initial accredited Skills Academy
hubs will be:
- Bedford
College (East of England)
- Blackburn
College (North West)
- Bradford
College (Yorkshire & Humber)
- College of
North West London (London)
- Cornwall
College (South West)
- Dudley
College (West Midlands)
- Hartlepool
College (North East)
- Leeds College
of Building (Yorkshire & Humber)
- Liverpool
Community College (North West)
- Stephenson
College (East Midlands)
- Stourbridge
College (West Midlands)
- The Genesis
Project (Somerset College) (South
West)
- Trafford
College (North West)
- Weston
College (South West)
Skills Minister John Hayes said: "The
Prime Minister has set an ambition for
this to be the greenest government ever.
To achieve this, government, employers
and training providers must work
together to deliver the skills that will
enable our economy to achieve truly
sustainable growth.
"By giving the industries that
design, install and maintain green
solutions for homes and buildings access
to world class training, the Academy
will help ensure that the UK not only
meets its emissions targets but leads
the world in innovation."
The accredited environmental
technologies training delivered by the
Skills Academy will be approved by
SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council
for building services engineering.
The building services engineering
sector employs over 600,000 people,
including plumbers, electricians and
heating engineers.
SummitSkills Chief Executive Keith
Marshall OBE said: "The building
services engineering sector is playing a
vital role in helping the Government
meet its carbon reduction targets. Via
the National Skills Academy we now have
an accredited, quality assured training
infrastructure to ensure the sector has
access to the skills it needs to meet
the challenges and opportunities of the
low carbon economy."
Ian Livsey, Chief Executive of the
Gangmasters' Licensing Authority, and
SummitSkills' chair, commented: "The
Skills Academy will revolutionise the
way providers and employers communicate
on training issues and will deliver
innovative solutions for the changing
needs of business and the wider
employment market. And importantly, it
will provide a vital foundation from
which the UK economy can build its low
carbon future and compete on a world
stage."
There are currently 18 National
Skills Academies in various stages of
development. Sixteen are in operation:
Manufacturing; Construction; Financial
Services; Food and Drink Manufacturing;
Nuclear; Process Industries;
Hospitality; Creative and Cultural;
Sports and Active Leisure; Retail;
Enterprise; Social Care; Materials,
Production and Supply; Information
Technology; Power; Railway Engineering.
Two other new Skills Academies are
currently in business planning,
including this one - Environmental
Technologies, now approved - and
Logistics.
Why
e-learning can under-perform
Too many companies are not getting the
most out of their initial venture into
e-learning. But the causes of this
disappointment are preventable.
Often organisations invest significant
amounts of time, energy and money in
developing e-learning programmes, only
to find that they are not as successful
as they hoped they would be with the
learners. Take-up of the courses can be
poor and the percentage of learners that
not only start a course, but actually
finish it can be low.
Let’s consider the reasons behind this.
When people are happy with the status
quo, it can be difficult to implement
change. So, for example, if learners are
used to, and enjoy, going on training
‘away days,’ there may be resistance to
a change in the way training is
delivered. It can give rise to thoughts
such as ‘I didn’t ask for this,’ and an
uncooperative attitude.
In addition, simply telling learners
that there is an online training course
available will not necessarily have them
rushing to go through it. To be honest,
it does not sound terribly exciting and,
depending on the job function of the
learner in question, at the mention of
technology, some people do get decidedly
nervous. All this has an impact on
learner take-up.
So, getting learners started can be an
issue. Then, why do people who have
actually started not complete the
course? This is where the quality of the
content comes into question. If the
content is poor and not engaging,
interactive or immersive, organisations
should not be surprised that learners
are losing interest part of the way
through.
Star IT
Euro Middle East Branch
Star IT Euro will
be active on Middle East market to offer
eLearning services and products in Dubai
city.
To more information please contact, Mr.
Taleghani (Marketing Manager Dubai
branch).
Mobile: (+971) 050 8480883
