Abhisam Software’s e-learning blog

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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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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