Abhisam Software’s e-learning blog

Jan1, 2010-Today, we released our newest course so far-an e-learning course on Safety Instrumented Systems. This topic may sounds esoteric to some, but in relaity it will only grow in importance as more and more autmation systems get installed in plants on one hand and on the other hand, governments and other regulatory bodies make protection of the environment, people and assets mandatory, through the use of such systems. Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS for short)  are also known by other names like Emergency Shutdown Systems (ESD for short) and Safety Shutdown Systems. If you are working in any large process industry such as Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Chemical, Nuclear, Power Generation, Metals Processing or gas processing, then you must be aware that Safety Instrumented Systems are used in all these places to prevent harm to people, the environment and of course the plant itself. Upto now, however there was no easy way to study SIS in detail. You would either have to refer to books (that may not be too easy to understand) or depend on “free” white papers, etc on the internet that often cause more confusion that comfort. Merely making sense of the voluminous information online can make a time-starved engineer dizzy.

Of course, you could always ask your bosses to sponsor you for a classroom course. But though the courses are excellent and have the best instructors, it is a pain to travel halfway round the world to such an event, many of which are not held too frequently.Besides, it does make a dent in an otherwise shrinking training budget.

So we thought about having an e-learning course on this important topic, so that any engineer or other technical professional, at any level in any company, could simply download and install this training course on his/her PC or laptop and have all the information needed to make an informed decision on SIS, whether it is to design and buy a new system, or to upgrade one, or merely to keep the existing one in good shape. However, this is not just a rehashed power point presentation that some other vendors out there hawk as an “e-learning course”. This one’s the real McCoy, my friend. It is full of explanatory Flash animations, interactive simulations, graphics, easy to understand text written in a way that anybody can relate to and worked examples from everyday industries. A Self-Assessment test at the end will gauge how much you have understood the subject.

Once installed on your PC/laptop it stays there forever (at least until your laptop works). Once you pay the on time ridiculously low price , you don’t pay a dime more in “licensing fees” nor do you have to be online to refer to it. It’s there always with you whenever you need it. No need to pay anything more for “refresher” courses. So go out and get it, before your peers do and boast that they now “get” what is SIL 3 and SIL 4 and IEC 61508 and all that!

Download it from here instantly.

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It’s sad but true. Many people, even now, have never seen what a real e-learning course looks like. They think that e-learning is just a power point slide show that is shown on a user’s PC. The same dry text and the same dry bullet points. Only instead of a teacher and a whiteboard or blackboard, one has the slide show.

Nothing can be further from the truth, though. A good e-learning course will have plenty of graphics, simulated exercises, animation videos (that make it ultra-easy to understand the concepts) and self assessment tests, that enable you to know exactly if you have understood anything at all. Of course, it will have text but the main factor that produces a “force-multiplier” effect are the animations. Just one look at our courses, even the free ones and you will understand what we mean.  For example, even our RFID training course, the free version has got some very good animations, that help one understand the concept immediately. This is of course not surprising, as “a picture is worth a thousand words”. We extend this old saying to “an animation is worth a thousand pictures”. Hence, rather than going through some dull dry textbook on a subject, why don’t you give our free courses a try.  Our free RFID learning course will enable you to grasp key concepts almsot immediately (and may I add, effortlessly). Come on give it a try. Download it here. Don’t worry-nothing to buy.

See the power of animation for yourself.

Why use eighteenth century technology to learn about twenty first century technology?

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A new ebook on Hazardous Area Classification has been launched by Abhisam Software. This ebook in pdf form is a practical “how-to” guide to classifying hazardous areas, with easy to understand language and actual engineering drawings that detail a step by step approach to area classification for hazardous areas.

You need not actually buy this however, as all those customers who buy the Hazardous Area Instrumentation e-learning course, will automatically  get this ebook as a bonus! (A $27 value!). There are plans to publish this book also in a printed format at a later stage, but right now you can download it immediately to understand the mystery of area classification.

Engineers, safety managers and consultants working in the oil & gas, chemical processing, shipping, tank farm terminals and other similar facilities that have hazardous areas in them will find this ebook immensely useful. Find out more about it here.

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To all of you there who regularly read this blog, subscribe via RSS and drop meaningful comments, here’s a very Happy New Year 2009!

The year 2009 would be an important milestone in the learning industry, as we expect a lot of initiatives from governments across the world, for better and more effective training programs. We strongly feel that to have a secure future, one must have a variety of skills that have value in the marketplace and that there is no full stop to learning. Existing skills too, must be polished, honed and developed so that they become an “expert” level skill. And of course, the best way to do this is by utilizing technology that can train thousands if not millions effortlessly- by e-learning, m-learning and other 21st century methods. This is because there won’t be enough teachers and professors and classrooms to engage everybody and train the thousands of people that need to be trained. The only answer is to go beyond the classroom, to e-learning, m-learning and more.

This week the Economist has carried an article, The People Puzzle, on retraining of laid off workers and the difficulties it places on everybody, including the learners, implementers of the program and the government. Needless to say if the re-training really succeeds, it will give laid off workers a second chance, improve the quality of life and also the economy (due to the newer disposable income of these new employees) and reduce burdens on social security systems. E-learning can be a big part of this plan.  Those of you who are reading this could possibly suggest this to the “people who matter”?

Finally we hope that the new year 2009 brings hope and cheer and some ne wthings to learn to all of you!

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The dreaded R-word is finally here. Everybody was fearful about the R-word and few dared to even utter it a year back. After that hesitation, today we find we’re in the midst of it. I am talking about Recession, the economic one. So now that we’re so as to speak, deep in the economic soup, what can we do about it?
Well, for starters its not as if everything has collapsed and nobody’s buying anything.  Of course, the economy is still running, but the euphoria has ebbed.  The mad frenzy of rising stock, home, gas and other commodity prices has ended. But economic booms and busts are always a natural part of the business cycle. A bust is a chance for the economy to shake off its fat, become lean and mean, ready and fit for the next boom, which is sure to come, just as the sun will rise at dawn after the night is over.

This is a chance to take a look back and think about everything.  What have you learned in the past few years? Have you updated your skills or acquired new ones? Shouldn’t it now be the best time to sharpen the saw, as it were. The recession will blow away sooner than you think and the economy will once again pick up.  But now, in this slower pace is the chance to work less, learn more and prepare oneself for the next boom.

So go forth and learn some new skills. Could be anything useful. And I might add that now is a good time to enroll in some low cost e-learning courses, preferably with certification, that will come in mighty handy in the next upswing. Especially that now, most of these are available at discounted prices. There is no sense in letting this opportunity go, no sense in just lolling about and doing nothing.  So buck up and learn something new.

You won’t regret it, I am very sure! As usual comments on this topic are most welcome.

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For the past two years or so, there was a lot of hype about mobile learning or m-learning; which is seen to be a step forward from e-learning. However, the much vaunted numbers of m-learners are nowhere to be seen. Yes, we had the I-Phone and now we have the G-phone, but have you heard about any great m-learning applications yet?

The reason is not for want of courses, software or products. We had launched our m-learning course on RFID (actually a quiz),  more than a year back, but it is not very popular.  Cost is not an issue, it costs just a dollar.  Compatibility is also not an issue, it can run on a Windows smartphone or a Blackberry or a Palm, equally well.

The real issue seems to be that the small screen size of most smartphones (small compared to the large  monitors on most computers). People are used to viewing things on larger and larger screens by the day and the small screen seems to be the biggest hurdle in getting users to accept m-learning.

If there is a way to project the mobile smartphone screen on another surface (like the way a beamer projects a PC screen on a wall), then there may some interest generated, else the situation may remain the same.

What do you think? Comments are always welcome!

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This was a concept that we pioneered about five years ago.  We were the first company to make extensive use of animations in various training programs made for the process industry. A classic example is the training course on Hazardous Area Instrumentation, which makes extensive use of animations to explain concepts effectively.

We are happy to note that the trend has caught on and the US Chemical Safety Board, has started usage of such animations in its safety training videos. Their findings are that the viewers pay more attention, understand the concept better and hence, are more likely to actually learn the stuff.

They have even started posting these videos (part video, part animation) on their own site and also on YouTube (of course!). Here is an example of one of these videos below. It shows how an innocuous device like a level instrument float, can cause a major fire due to static electricity!

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If you have noticed the headlines in the press recently, they are

• Gas prices go through the roof !
• Driving anywhere is now unaffordable !
• Economic recession stares us in the face !
• Skills shortage in engineering fields !
• Immigration reform- Should we agree to a “guest worker” program?
• Budgets slashed as companies get into cost-cutting mode
• Gamers grow in numbers

So what’s new that am I saying here?

All this is well known.

Well, all this together, means just one thing—-that the good old days of e-learning are back!

Remember a few years ago, when e-learning was touted to be the next big thing, but none of us really saw it take off and reach its full potential. That’s because the right time for e-learning to take off was not then , but now.

It is a fact that in an economic downturn, companies will slash jobs as well as other costs to stay afloat. But it is also a fact that if a worker or any professional gets up to date on newer skills that are in demand in the market, the jobs are almost assured. IN fact downturn or no downturn there is currently a large shortage of skills in many professions today. The only way to build up these skills quickly is by training large numbers of workers and professionals in newer technologies by using not age-old methods of seminars, classrooms and blackboard based teaching but by…. you guessed it right, by e-learning!

E-learning is the perfect solution to all the woes expressed in the headlines given above. How?

Read on below….

• High Gas prices means that commuting to classes is not very smart-get into an e-learning course instead! (University students have started doing this)
• Economic recession-get trained in newer skills fast, so that you can protect yourself from a downturn. Again e-learning is the fastest, most practical solution.
• Skills shortage in engineering today-less kids enroll today in engineering courses, leading to a shortage of fresh engineers. Amongst those who are still available, the set of skills they have is obsolete ; how to get them up to the benchmarks fast?  Simple, by e-learning of course!
• Instead of guest workers, wouldn’t it make sense to re-train existing workers, who may be getting laid off? Which is the fastest, least costliest option to do this? E-learning of course!
• E-learning costs have continued to come down over the years, due to lower costs of hardware and better technology. Which means that penny pinching companies will find it a great solution for training their employees without breaking the bank.
• A larger number of people in the workforce today are kinda more comfortable today with computers, gaming and hi-tech gadgets. So there is no tecno-resistance as compared to the earlier generation of workers. In fact at many companies a decade ago, I know that many e-learning initiatives could not really get off the ground due to the low computer penetration and suspicion about computers in general (among the workforce of that day). This is simply not true today. Hence there is no “user-resistance” to e-learning today. Which is why it will succeed today even more.

Now is a great time to be in the field of e-learning.

We are happy to be in these exciting times in this area.

Check out some of our e-learning courses today like Hazardous Area Instrumentation, RFID and Gas Monitors.

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Welcome to the Abhisam Software blog!

This is our first post and we hope to post most of our articles, whitepapers and other information related to e-learning courses, developments in automation and other issues here. The next post will be related to the importance of e-learning as a method of training in today’s economy.

Watch this space!

Comments, when they relate to the subject matter, are always welcome ! Other irrelevant comments will be promptly deleted.

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