News & Comment

CERTIFICATION: ASPs ASAP

With the growing interest in e-learning, especially among venture capitalists, it's no surprise that application service providers (ASPs) have permeated the training industry. These companies provide their clients with the hardware and software infrastructure necessary for various types of ebusiness , from ecommerce to Web-based training (WBT). Research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) of Framingham, Mass., predicts the ASP market will swell from $150 million in 1998 to $2 billion in 2003.



One ASP that's trying to stay ahead of the curve is Austin, Texas-based IBT Technologies (www.ibt-technologies.com). The company, which hosts Web-based training, recently launched the first certification program for training-related ASPs.



"While [traditional training companies] have the corporate relationships and the subject-matter expertise to deliver courses on various topics, they don't typically have the technology infrastructure to accommodate this emerging interest in Web-based training," says IBT chairman and CEO David E. Warner.



A series of instructor-led and Web-based training courses, the Training Service Provider (TSP) certification program is designed to equip training companies to offer media-rich e-learning to their clients. Once certified, TSPs are kept abreast of industry developments through online workshops and seminars.



- Bob Oas



HIGHER ED: Distance Learning Takes Off

There's good news for working adults who want to pursue a degree but can't do it in a traditional way. A recent study by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that 44 percent of two- and four-year colleges and universities offered distance education during the 1998 academic year. That's up from 33 percent in 1995, the year the Internet first caught the attention of universities as a delivery option. Here's what else the study turned up about distance ed and the way it's delivered:



1995* 1998**



Number of courses offered 25,730 52,270



Enrollments in those courses 753,640 1,632,350



Percentage of institutions using one-way

video with two-way audio to deliver classes 24 14



Percentage using two-way interactive video 57 56



Percentage using Internet for synchronous

computer-based instruction NA 19



Percentage using Internet for asynchronous

computer-based instruction NA 60



(Source: National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov)



* based on responses from the 33% (1,130 out of 3,460) of institutions that offered distance learning in 1994-95

** based on responses from the 44% (1,590 out of 3,580) of schools that offered distance education in 1997-98



THE FUTURE: Risks and Rewards

What lies ahead for the training field, and how does e-learning fit in? Here are a few predictions from Jeanne Meister, principal at New York City-based Corporate University Xchange. These predictions will be discussed in more detail at CUX's Corporate Universities 2000 symposium next month (www.corpu.com).



Learning programs will continue to become commodities. Customer service and 24-hour online concierges will differentiate programs.



Accredited four-year universities risk becoming "Delled" , in other words, getting permanently leapfrogged by competitors who offer customers a faster, easier, higher-quality and more cost-efficient product or service.



The training industry will follow the lead taken by the financial services industry. Competitors will become strange bedfellows, joining forces to offer corporations and individual learners answers to their most pressing learning needs.



Institutions of higher education will finally acknowledge the double-edged threat/opportunity posed by "corporate universities" and will follow the lead of New York University and Columbia University in launching their own for-profit subsidiaries.

The market for open executive education programs will be overtaken by the growth in company-specific custom programs. The open programs themselves will be shorter, and will integrate theory with practice. There will be a continued focus on managing change and adding value to one's job.



For-profit universities will emerge as the vendors of choice, offering soft-skills training and MBA programs at the right price and in an accessible delivery format.



Sales of business-to-business products through the Internet will surpass $500 billion. This will have profound implications for training programs. As the transaction elements of the customer relationship are transferred to the Internet, the training and development salespeople will become value-added consultants rather than simply being experts in sales and relationship management.



The training industry will discover that e-learners are really e-customers who expect the same quality, service and accessibility they get from Amazon.com or E*Trade. In order to thrive, organizations will have to develop a strong brand in the minds of learners.



- Amy Sitze



SECURITY TRAINING: Uncle Sam Wants You (to protect the country from hackers)

Students looking for a way to pay for college , and get high-paying computer skills , may soon be able to join a new corps of cyber cops.



Earlier this year, President Clinton unveiled a $25 million proposal for a federal training and education initiative that would increase the number of specialists protecting the country from computer crimes.



Under the plan, the White House would create a Scholarship for Service program that would be similar to the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Students would exchange one year of paid college education for two years of government service working in information security. The initiative also includes plans to certify current federal employees in such technologies.

"The Cyber Service model advanced in the President's plan will provide incentives to attract students in great numbers," Linwood Rose, president of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., told a White House press briefing. Rose believes it will also prompt more colleges and universities to add courses to their IT programs on encryption technology, building firewalls and trusted systems, and detecting intruders.

James Madison began offering an online master's program in information security in 1997 and is developing an MBA program with an emphasis on information assurance.

The school is one of eight universities that have been designated Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency.



- Kim Kiser



WARNING: The following Web sites are intended to take the edge off of work life. If you are overly serious about work or simply lack a sense of humor, turn the page now and don't look back.



www.cooljobs.com

At Cool Jobs, users can search for cool jobs, post cool jobs or determine the cool factor of their own jobs. The site also features a humor section that lightens the load when work isn't so cool, and a mailing list that gives you the heads-up when cool job opportunities arise.



www.disgruntled.com

Disgruntled is an e-zine for people "who work for a living." Read news, features, satire and commentary about the darker side of the work world.



www.guru.com

Guru.com provides freelancers and consultants, including those in training, with a forum for finding gigs. Organizations can post projects, independents can browse postings, and both can seek advice from industry leaders.



www.webmonkey.com

Wired Digital's Webmonkey touts itself as "the Web developer's resource." It covers industry trends and explores emerging technologies in authoring, design, multimedia, ebusiness, programming and the back end , all with plenty of attitude.



www.workingwounded.com

Working Wounded is a online community designed to help people survive today's turbulent workplace. Lick your wounds, tune your funny bone and dial in for some advice that adds "insight to injury."



- B. Oas



IT TRAINING: From Welfare to Webmaster

Some San Francisco residents who've successfully made the move from welfare to work may soon make another transition , from entry-level jobs to lucrative IT positions.



That's the goal of Heather Hiles, president and CEO of SFWorks, a nonprofit organization that has incubated training programs for welfare recipients since 1997. Working with DigitalThink, a San Francisco e-learning company, Hiles created Welfare to Web, a pilot program that will allow SFWorks participants to learn coveted computer skills.



The goal of Welfare to Web is twofold: to help people who were once on welfare move into better paying jobs and to provide the Bay Area with much-needed high-tech workers. A 1999 report by Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network shows the valley's workforce falling short of high-tech employers? needs by more than 30 percent, costing an estimated $3 billion annually.



Through the partnership, DigitalThink will offer SFWorks participants free access to a learning portal where they can take mentored online courses on Microsoft Office applications, HTML programming and networking. SFWorks will provide career counseling. Hiles is also trying to get donations of computers and Internet service so participants will be able to train at home.



According to Hiles, Welfare to Web will target graduates of other SFWorks training programs, many of whom are working in entry-level jobs at law firms, banks and insurance companies and have basic computer skills. "For these graduates, knowing more advanced



PowerPoint or learning Microsoft Office 2000 applications might help them get a promotion," she says. Hiles hopes to have 15 participants enrolled in the online computer courses this month.



Pete Goettner, DigitalThink's president and CEO, would like to see a different kind of payoff. As an employer who must compete with the area's expanding warren of dot-coms for skilled professionals, he sees it as a chance to grow his company's own talent. "We want to train workers we can hire in the future," he says.



- K. Kiser



PARTNERSHIPS: Across the Great Divide

As e-learning vendors scramble to stay ahead of the crowd with new content and software, they're turning their attention toward overseas partners. In recent months, several of these providers have announced international alliances that extend their reach past U.S. shores.



Click2learn.com of Bellevue, Wash., is forming a joint venture with Softbank Publishing Inc. and Softbank Forums Japan Inc. The new venture, known as click2learn.publisher, will provide books, instructor-led training and off-the-shelf courseware to Japanese business professionals. Also in Japan, SmartForce of Redwood City, Calif., is teaming up with a division of Nippon Telegraph and Telephony to develop Japanese-language versions of SmartForce's Microsoft Windows 2000 Certified Systems Engineer, Cisco, Lotus Notes and Windows 98 courseware.



Singapore-based 1to80.com, which claims to be Asia's first online knowledge portal, has signed contracts with two American firms. Learn2.com, based in White Plains, N.Y., will provide IT and desktop education courses for 1to80.com's portal. OnlineLearning.net, which distributes online courses for UCLA Extension, will also bring content to 1to80.com's users.



DigitalThink, a San Francisco provider of e-learning courseware and content, is branching into the United Kingdom. British Web-based training company blueU.com has agreed to distribute DigitalThink's online courses on programming languages, IT management and Internet literacy. Can online courses on how to play cricket be far behind?



- A. Sitze



ONLINE LEARNING: Just a Game?

It may be time for trainers to put down the textbooks and pick up the joystick. According to a recent report from the GartnerGroup, an IT research firm in Stamford, Conn., manufacturers of computer games have a lot to teach us about designing successful technology-based training. Here's what we can learn from them:



Keep instructions simple. Few interfaces are as complicated as those in a computer game, making simple and thorough instruction an absolute must. Video game manufacturers have developed the resources to train customers at breath-taking speeds. They use simple tip sheets instead of manuals, they build extensive training segments with high entertainment value, and they allow users to practice before starting the "real" game.



Give people a taste. Many buyers of video games learned how to play them by downloading demo versions from the manufacturer's Web site. "This may seem trivial to teenagers who regularly play computer games, but it could be of staggering importance to manufacturers outside the computer games industry," says Clark Aldrich, senior research analyst at GartnerGroup. On 3Com's Web site, for example, a brief tutorial teaches prospective customers how to use the PalmPilot's Graffiti script.



Encourage shared learning. Computer-game players share information at a rate most corporations would envy. Hop on the Internet, and you'll find hundreds of Web sites dedicated to the most popular video games. Webmasters post news daily, provide links and present best-practice information. Chat rooms give players a forum to discuss strategies and share insights. In some cases, game developers visit the chat rooms to get players? feedback on new products.



Turn work into play. Interactive problem-solving is a mainstay of computer games. In a game called Alpha Centauri, for example, players race to dominate the planet before competitors can beat them to it. Along the way, they're faced with business decisions such as investing in technology and building market share. "A change to the graphics and sounds of Alpha Centauri, but not much else, might produce a perfect virtual business simulation," Aldrich says.



- A. Sitze



Full text COPYRIGHT Bill Communications Inc. 2000. All Rights Reserved.