Sumtotal Systems asked:


One of the biggest challenges that organizations face today is reducing costs from fines and lawsuits. Many organizations have specifically mandated training that their employees must complete to maintain regulatory compliance. Thorough education of the organization can greatly reduce the likelihood of a fine or lawsuit for non-compliance. When employees are fully informed, they are better able to perform their daily activities in a way that does not put the company at risk for a lawsuit.

Compliance requirements can originate in many different places from a variety of triggers: Federal and state regulatory agencies can impose regulations on organizations; internally driven initiatives can take many forms and can impact the entire organization; and external organizations can mandate processes and procedures that must be followed. Adding to the burden, the management of compliance requirements can be expensive and time consuming. While compliance can be tracked manually, manual tracking is often time consuming and error prone. Being out of compliance can be very expensive due to fines and lawsuits.

This whitepaper explains how a Learning Management Compliance Solution can help manage an organization’s compliance requirements.

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Jim Zorn asked:


A distance learning business degree program is for those who have decided to make business administration, marketing, finance or any of the related areas their career path. If you have decided to acquire skills in this profession, the numbers of levels you can work through are only limited by the available degree options. Business degrees can be Associate degrees, Bachelor degrees, Masters or Doctoral degrees in a variety of business related topics and specializations. An MBA degree will start you off on a higher salary, put you on a fast track to management, will spell a change of career or allow you to start a business on a sounder footing.

Course Content

The course-work in a distance learning business degree program is focused on imparting knowledge and skills in business critical thinking and communication in the local and global market environment. Technology is used to hone up the students skills in Business Management and Leadership, Finance, Marketing, Accounting; Economics, Organizational Behavior, Statistics, Operations and Human Resource Management. MBA students require basic skills in quantitative methods even though many of the courses are moving away from purely analytical approaches to ’soft’ areas of communication and interpersonal skills. Some computer skills are also desirable. Team activity is encouraged. While the Associate degree prepares you for deeper understanding of Business Administration and related areas, it also gives you a broad idea of the subject. Specializations can be taken up at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, so that the course is more career-specific. The extensive and varied curriculum is directed towards developing problem solving skills in business.

Universities

The list of Universities offering a distance learning business degree program is very large. The Capella University, the Walden University, the University of Phoenix, the Concord Law school, the Kennedy-Western University, the Boston University are some of the Universities that offer Business Administration courses at the Associate, Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels. The North Central University, the Grantham University and scores of other Universities in the USA offer degree programs in related fields of Business study.

It is important that you establish that business school is right for you. It can open a world of opportunities but it also means a lot of hard work. It is a serious commitment. If you are still convinced that Business is your forte, you have a wide variety of Universities to choose from. Select the distance learning Business degree program that best appeals to you!



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Vishwanath Shankar asked:


Open source applications have gripped businesses across industries. Its use in the education sector has spelled a wave of phenomenal success for learning initiatives transversely through academic and corporate learning circles. Its high time educationalists unravel its power to revolutionize e-learning. With budgets for e learning initiatives contracting, it also becomes one of the most pocket friendly learning applications.

Definition of open source software

Software programs that are distributed along with their source code are called open source software programs. Users can run, study, modify, and redistribute the original or modified program. Though open source software is constructed on the same lines as proprietary software, it differs from the latter in the following issues

Since copious individuals and/or teams work on the program all at the same time, it evolves and advances at a far greater pace than those that are worked upon by a single team. A core team supervises the improvements made to the program before releasing them.

It can more efficiently meet the needs of users because it takes advantage of their collective expertise with improvements often being a consequence of users fixing their own problems or adding new features to the existing software.

The testing is done by scores of user teams working over different platforms and environments, unlike proprietary software, which ensures its superior quality.

The distributed and diverse team of developers, comprising of volunteers and users ensures the quality of the software application. Managing and organizing the work done by volunteers and users comes under the purview of the paid members of the development team.

Proprietary software applications have the disadvantage of limited viewership of the source code, whereas, an open source application possesses enhanced security features because of it being subjected to tight scrutiny by users.

Open source software in education

Though open source software has proved to be a boon to most of the businesses worldwide, it has had a marked effect on the education industry. Though open source applications have been used to produce infrastructure software for a while now, its use in the production of application software is only a recent development.

Universities and colleges have lead the way in producing open source applications like course management systems and electronic portfolios that compete directly with their proprietary counterparts. And at this rate of development, it will not be long before learning moves on to open source software from the proprietary one. The advantages of the open source applications in education, when juxtaposed with the drawbacks of their proprietary counterparts, have had immense impact on the functioning of institutions and learning organizations alike.

How open source software benefits e-learning

There are several benefits of an open source software as far as e learning is concerned. Some of them are

With e-learning budgets going through the roof, open source software fits many a pocket with its trademark markedly low or no license fee. The learning budget of an organization becomes more predictable, with decision makers having an choice of investment.

An open source software does not come with albatross of service providers, and hence gives institutions the freedom to choose them separately.

Development of functions or addition of features can be done at a desired rate, rather than pleading with the vendor and waiting endlessly for it to happen.

An open source LMS incorporates more flexible features, because of the community development efforts. This gives more power to both learners and instructors with the liberty of changing or modifying features according to needs rather than the other way round.

The collective success of the open source community is an outcome of peer support, wherein the success of one is reflected in the success of the all users.

There is a quick redressal of any problems that arise in connection with the software, because of its subjection to intense scrutiny by users, on different parameters including functionality, implementation and usability.

Low end software applications with outdated features face quick extinction, while well designed ones survive the rigorous testing that they go through.

An open source application is not subject to changing business models or acquisitions, which are the major sources of risk for an investment in software.

The service providers need to focus on the quality of services offered in order to retain clients, because they do not own the software themselves.

It supports innovation through collaboration, creativity, and a combination of ideas, which, in turn, enhances learning.

The open source application is a testimony to the fact that constant improvement and rapid development is the key to successful running of systems.

Wrap-up

The rapid evolution of e learning is being curtailed by the not-up-to-mark technology. Organizations often find themselves altering their learning needs to suit the e learning software, not because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the best option available to them thanks to the perils of extensive customization. Open source software could change the face of e-learning for better, by empowering learners and instructors alike.



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Tim Keelan asked:


Copywrite 2006 Tim Keelan, StoryQuest Inc.

What do Duke University, IBM, Capital One, Newsweek and Barenaked Ladies all have in common?

Answer: they are all reaching out to staff, students, and customers with a new and powerful tool – podcasting. You may have heard about podcasting from your kids or on the news, but podcasting is much more than some phenomenon started by the rock and roll or techy crowd. Podcasting is a powerful communication tool being used to reach global and mobile audiences, save people time and, most importantly, really connect with their audiences in news ways – in today’s communication/message glut. But let’s take a look at what podcasting is, who is using and why it is so effective for both business and individuals.

First, we’ll look at the size and scale of the podcasting phenomenon…

– A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than 22 million American adults own Ipods or and MP3 player and 29% of them have downloaded podcasts or listened to podcast that have been “pushed” to them. That equates to 6 million people listening to podcasts. Market researchers and analysts continue to buoy up podcasting’s future with latest figures suggesting a US audience alone of 56 million by 2010.

– Jupiter Research recently predicted that US digital music player sales would grow to 56 million by 2010, up from 16.2 million in 2004 and by 2010, three-quarters of all people who own portable digital music players will listen to podcasts, a growth from less than 15% last year.

What is podcasting?

Whether you describe it as the greatest communication tool since email, or as an RSS feed for audio, podcasting is a way to “push” audio content to subscribers for virtually zero cost. Podcasting allows anyone (me, you, IBM, or NBC) to post audio content that gets pushed to any subscriber’s desktop and then directly to their iPod or MP3 player. This is global. Anyone, anywhere can “tune in” to your podcast and learn what you have to offer or say. You don’t need to be NBC with a global distribution infrastructure. Now people can “subscribe” to a podcast and have new content “pushed” out to them without them having to surf the web, download MP3s or burn CD’s.

Ideas/Stories/Voices -to- Audio/MP3’s -to- Internet -to- PC -to- MP3 players

Notice: all the arrows go in one direction! Once someone has subscribe to your podcast, your content get “pushed” out to them. There is no turning in to stations with podcasting. You don’t have to visit a website to find streaming podcasting. Podcasts show up (pushed) when new content is produced. If you are a subscriber, you get the podcast right then. All you need is an Ipod or MP3 player of any kind for listening, thus the word podcasting.

The term “Podcasting” is derived from the iPod (Apple Computer’s popular device for playing compressed audio files) and “broadcasting.” Podcasting allows for audio files that would have been previously downloaded and played on a personal computer to be automatically downloaded and listened to on portable music playing devices (such as the iPod and other MP3 players).

Having originated in the world of blogging, some have even referred to podcasting as “audio blogging.” For many, podcasting is a logical next step from blogging. As Business Week Senior Writer Stephen Baker observes, “The heart of the podcasting movement is in the world of blogs, those millions of personal Web pages that have become a global sensation. In a blogosphere that has grown largely on the written word, podcasts add a soundtrack.”

Now that you know what a podcast is, let’s look at where they come from: who is producing the “pushed audio content.”

Who is producing podcasts?

The answer is wide ranging. Teenagers, techies and rock musicians were early adopters. Today you see the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Business Week, ESPN and news programs of all types producing, distribution and marketing podcasts. The number of podcasts available is growing at a very rapid pace. In late 2004, there were close to 500 podcasts available. Today there are over 10,000 different podcasts to choose from.

Now that podcasting has becoming more mainstream, corporate and non-corporate organizations are getting into the act, using podcasting to connect with customers, students, staff and partners. Here are some examples:

– Duke University handed out iPods to their entire 2005 freshman class so they could receive podcasts that included university news, class work and social content.

– Capital One University has handed out over 3000 iPods to support corporate training and communications. This includes, leadership training, sales, customer service and other topics.

– IBM has created podcasts to show their thought leadership to customers investors and prospects.

– Keane Inc. has handed out over 100 ipods to their global sales force to share training, customers’ stories and organizational content.

Why have these and other organizations gotten into podcasting? They have gotten into it because they know their audience (whether internal or external) is inundated with text-based content: emails, articles, the web portals, and marketing messages. Podcasting allows them a unique medium to reach and connect with their audience.

iPods will be part of Duke University’s new Duke Digital Initiative (DDI). “We’ve been focusing on iPods and other mobile computing, but our wider goal is to integrate technology broadly into the teaching and learning process,” said Peter Lange, Peter Lange, the university’s provost and senior academic officer. “The iPods have helped jump-start this process, and we plan to keep pushing ahead.”

Listeners love podcasting because it delivers rich content directly to them, in a form that allows them to save time, control what they hear and listen to while commuting, working or whenever it works for them. No longer is learning tied to a book, PC screen or web portal.

Content is still king in any communication, especially recorded podcasts. Podcasting is the delivery tool. Compelling content ensures continuous listening and not a flip of the power switch or turn of the dial.

Should you podcast?

Podcasting is not answer to all your learning and communication problems. As great as audio is, like any medium, it has its limits. While audio allows users to multi task, it is not easily scanned – which means you consider the listeners needs very carefully. You must provide value.

Corporate podcasting is different that individuals or media podcasting. The standard for a corporate podcast is much higher than for individual or media. Your staff and customers expect certain from your communication with them. You can’t just offer long-winded rants, self serving commercials or cute content. It is all about value. When producing that value, ask yourself; who and how will you produce your podcast? Who will review it and how? Will you get it transcribed? There are legal issues to consider as well.

Despite these issues podcasting can be simple. Once you have determined your format and established a process the whole process gets much easier. Still podcasting takes a proactive effort, a planned approach, creative development and the courage to try new things. But if you have the courage, and are willing to put the front-end work into it podcasting and mobile audio can provide huge benefits. If you would like to:

– Reach a global audience — Connect with that audience in a new and effective ways — Save your audience time — Share the passion, experience and stories of your business

…try podcasting – it works!



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