Elearning blog: Learning re-imagined

Skillsoft Introduces Project Management Curriculum to Prepare for New PMI Certification Exams

We are excited to announce a 28-course curriculum to help professionals prepare for new Project Management Institute (PMI) certification exams that will be introduced in July and August, 2013. This new curriculum covers the full range of project management topics included in the recently-published “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) – Fifth Edition” and features courseware, mentoring services and practice tests to ready professionals for the Project Management Professional (PMP^®) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM^®) exams. 

As the field of project management continues to evolve, so does the need for proper training and certification to ensure professionals are up-to-speed on the essential tools and latest in project management best practices. We are happy to offer curriculum to prepare project managers to master the latest advancements in the field so they can pass their certifications and quickly apply this knowledge to their jobs . As a PMI Charter Global Registered Education Provider, we are proud to be recognized as a trusted provider of project management courses and look forward to enabling professionals to prepare for these certifications through elearning.

The new CAPM and PMP certification exams will cover new material based on recent advances in the field of project management and will go into effect on July 1 and August 1, respectively. The internationally-recognized “PMBOK Guide” contains fundamental practices that project managers need to attain high standards of project excellence and is available as part of Skillsoft Books24x7 collections. In addition, we plan to update our popular Live Learning PMP class to reflect new material presented in the fifth edition guide beginning in July.

For more information about Skillsoft’s PMI and other certification curricula, visit http://www.skillsoft.com/catalog/certification/curricula.asp.

Check out our New Look!

Skillsoft is excited to announce the launch of a newly designed and re-architected website.

The site’s homepage features an inviting color palette, a clean, uncluttered design, simplified navigation and sample learning content. To help our clients and prospects find what they’re looking for, the new site is organized primarily around the three brand pillars—Content, Service and Experience—and secondarily around Business Solutions, Products and Resources. A login menu conveniently allows our customers to find the Skillsoft® Books24x7® login page or support for their Skillport login URL.

Resources such as white pages, case studies, webinars on demand and demos are all readily available and relevant to each page. This saves our visitors from sifting through the site to locate what’s of interest to them. To support visitors on-the-go, our website features a responsive design, ensuring they have an optimal experience whether they’re on a tablet, smartphone or a desktop.

To celebrate this milestone, employees in the corporate headquarters enjoyed a special, festive cake.  

Mobile learning: Increased personalization?

By Margot Cook, Skillsoft Learning Strategist and Program Manager

I was amazed this morning as I watched my 5-year old daughter use my smartphone. She happily sat down, played a math game and when she was done, found a video to watch. I’ve had conversations with colleagues and friends, marveling about how our children would rather watch a video on a smartphone screen than on the big screen. Growing up in a world of ever increasing TV screen sizes, I’ve always wondered what the appeal is. Five minutes later, I had my answer when my 3-year old son attempted to sit with his sister to watch the video, and the screaming started. Watching the video and learning from the mobile device was her experience, and, at that time, not one she wanted to share. The small screen provides a more intimate setting, and is targeted just at her. It was highly personal.

That being said, mobile learning can also be collaborative. The night before, when we were discovering how to cut a pineapple, the 3 of us huddled around the small screen together. While I was cutting, my daughter re-watched the video and my son gave me other pointers and ensured I followed all of the steps. We were truly collaborating in the battle of the pineapple, and eating the yummy pineapple together was our reward.  

Are you ready for web standards in advertising?

We’re pleased to bring you a guest post by John Percival, an author featured in the Skillsoft® Books24x7® ITPro collection. John is the author of a new book, HTML5 Advertising.

By John Percival

If you're a front-end developer or web designer, you know the importance of web standards. They set a baseline for functionality and aesthetic that can be achieved within our browsers regardless of vendor and operating system (OS). But what does this mean for online advertising? You know, the multi-billion dollar industry of marketers, data analysts and creative minds that rely so heavily on Flash as their sole technology to deploy ads to their audience?

Wait, did you hear me? I said a multi-billion dollar industry: http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-101112. Seriously, this stuff is important!

In 2013, one important thing to take notice of will be the imminent shift from Flash based advertising to open web standards with HTML5, CSS and JavaScript in order to reach the platforms and operating systems that do not support plugins like Flash.

This is a huge step in the right direction and I'll tell you why.

Cross platform:
From your kids to your grandpa, we all seemingly have either a smart phone or tablet device in our family and with the vast amount of new devices pumping into the consumer market at crazy rates, we should expect to see these devices overtake desktop computing accessing web content in the next 1-2 years (depending on which research firm you trust).*

Pair this with all the major players in the web space (Microsoft, Google, Apple, Mozilla, Opera) becoming huge advocates of open web standards and this should be a clear view into the online world we'll all soon be taking part in. 

Adaptive approach:
With this cross platform approach, this means more devices, variable screen resolutions and higher pixel densities all accessing web content. Which means our ad content will need to follow suit and adapt correctly in both layout and functionality.

One single ad tag that will be deployed across all distribution channels, while handling the feature detection logic before actually serving the ad’s creative elements.

What this means for content producers is that you really need to get serious about your user base and start taking notice of who's requesting your content. If it's all HTML5 compliant browsers and devices, let that be your baseline for content development and give your users an amazing experience with all the bells and whistles. If it's still IE 6, 7 and 8, you'll know you'll still have to cater to those outdated users. Which does suck but you can't overlook them.

Amazing API's:
When you finally know your user base, you can start leveraging the true power of the new (open) web. Using all the new and shiny API's available to us; we can really cater our web and ad content to do amazing things in the appropriate environment. This could be the use of device accelerometers, ambient light sensors or more emerging API’s like WebGL and WebRTC to name a few.

You name it; it's either coming to the modern browser or already here in the latest versions and if you ask me, this is where it really gets exciting for web developers since it will open up new worlds of creative opportunities that were once unachievable.

Performance:
While we can give our users amazing new experiences, we can't escape the performance gains and constraints in this new ecosystem. Since we're no longer confined to a plugin environment we'll have to understand that our ads are now apart of the page markup. This means we need to be conscious of our CSS namespaceing and scripting so it doesn't conflict with the page we’re serving on.

On the flip side, this does mean performance gains because our ad content is now relying on the modern browser and leveraging the powerful rendering engines associated with them. We no longer have to optimize our ad content in a plugin environment like Flash or Silverlight as well as the rest of the page content.

What this means for ad developers is that now more than ever, we’ll need to act more like front-end web developers. Dealing with feature detection, various levels of HTML5 compliance, browser rendering issues and performance optimizations.

The guys and gals that can achieve this will be in high demand come 2013!

What this all means for marketers and more importantly, users?

A better web, of course! It’ll be faster, more accessible to users and operating everywhere regardless of platform, device or browser.

It's really an exiting time to be developing online advertising and for the web as a whole.

About John Percival
John Percival is an established creative director and technologist that resides in the Philadelphia area. He specializes in digital media production, multi-screen development, interactive design and video creation and delivery.He currently works in the digital advertising space working for many Fortune 500 clients solving complex problems.

HTML5 Advertising is available through the Skillsoft Books24x7 ITPro collection and for purchase here: http://www.apress.com/9781430246022

 

*http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/14/comscore-us-internet-report-yoy-pinterest-up-4000-amazon-up-30-android-top-smartphone-more/desktop-mobile/. 

Throw back Thursday: How to measure training effectiveness

We receive so much valuable content from our customers, partners and internal subject-matter experts. On Thursdays, we thought it would be fun to do a “throw back” and bring back an older post that was valuable to our audience. Today’s throw back is about measuring the effectiveness of training.

How to measure training effectiveness

We are pleased to bring you a guest blog post today from Martin Klubeck, a Skillsoft® Books24x7®  BusinessPro™ Collection author. Klubeck is a strategy and planning consultant at the University of Notre Dame and a recognized expert in the field of practical metrics. His passion for simplifying the complex has led to the development of a simple system for developing meaningful metrics. Klubeck is also the founder of the Consortium for the Establishment of Information Technology Performance Standards, a nonprofit organization focused on providing much-needed standards for measures. His most recent book published by Apress - Metrics: How to Improve Key Business Results - is available in the Skillsoft Books24x7 BusinessPro collection.

By Martin Klubeck, Strategy and Planning Consultant for the University of Notre Dame

Learning solutions can be very expensive. Are you getting your money’s worth? Metrics can be used to measure the effectiveness of your training.

Metrics are at their best when they are designed to answer a root question – not when they are driven by a need to compare ourselves to our peers or in finding “interesting” viewpoints. In the case of learning solutions, the root question often times is, how effective is the training?

Or another way of looking at that question is, how does the learning solution affect the capability of the students? In business, these students are normally workers and managers attending a diverse set of learning opportunities for the purpose of improving their performance of specific tasks. I highly recommend using tasks (and subsequent task-breakdowns) for focusing training metrics on what really matters – the attainment of skills.

Metrics are a great tool for providing the answers to how effective training is and the necessary corollary question – what is the level of capability before the training? All of this is simpler in relation to a task. This baseline is required so that you can correctly measure the change after the training.

By applying the rules for developing metrics found in Metrics: How to Improve Key Business Results, my recently published book from Apress, you can identify the right measures. Let’s look at one sample task to demonstrate – writing HTML5 code:

Capability can be measured by three outputs – specifically speed, accuracy, and efficiency.

Speed. How fast does the worker write code before and after training? You’ll want to know how long it takes to perform the task, not how long it takes in total time since this would include non-value added time (breaks, time to power up the computer, answering the phone, etc.) So this requires the worker to track the actual time-to-task. It is important to use measures which if the training was successful, we would expect to see (positive) change and speed fits that description.

Accuracy. How accurate is the coding effort? Does it have to be reworked or rewritten? If you use rework as a measure of accuracy, it can be in the form of time spent allowing you to use the same data used for Speed. You can also use defects or errors. This is when the classic “defects per lines-of-code (LOC)” comes in handy. If one worker has 10 errors and the other has 5, which is better? Well it depends, if the worker with 10 errors wrote 1000 lines of code and the one with “only” five errors wrote only 10 lines of code, which would you choose?

Efficiency of the Code. Efficiency helps us to see why Triangulation is important. In the scenario for Accuracy, it isn’t enough to know that the five-error-programmer only wrote 10 LOC. It is important to know how efficient both programmers’ code is. If you only look at errors-per-LOC, you might choose the one with 10 errors since it was spread over many more lines of code (1 error for every 100 lines vs. 1 error for every 2 lines of code). But if the one writing 1000 lines of code was not very efficient, and wrote more code than needed, your choice of the better programmer could be wrong (for example if the code they wrote did exactly the same things).

By looking at all three measures together, Speed, Accuracy, and Efficiency of the code, we can build a picture of how capable or skilled the worker is. By measuring this performance before and after the learning solution, we can determine the effectiveness of the training for improving the skill of the worker to perform given tasks.

The steps for measuring the effectiveness of training can be summarized as:

• Identify the performance (in the form of specific tasks) you are trying to improve. If necessary perform task breakdowns, as was done in the example of writing HTML5 code.
• Determine which attributes you want to see positively affected. Speed, Accuracy, and Efficiency of the code were used in our example.
• Measure those attributes before the training.
• Measure those attributes after the training.

The final step is to again measure the attributes after an extended period of time (say six months) to determine the retention of the improvements. Many times performance improves for reasons other than effective training so measuring performance over time helps ensure you are getting a true picture.

To learn more about using metrics to improve key business results, read my new book Metrics, which is available in paperback, Kindle, and other electronic formats.

Book Review: Building the Learning Organization: Achieving Strategic Advantage through a Commitment to Learning, Third Edition

By Pam Boiros

It’s no secret that over the past decade economic, social and technological forces have intensified significantly, dramatically altering the traditional work environment. External change and forces demand either organizational adaptation or extinction. 

Now in its third edition, Building the Learning Organization is a recognized classic in the field.  In the years since it has been published, hundreds of organizations worldwide have learned about and applied the learning organizational model and strategies in the book.   

Author Michael J. Marquardt is professor of Human Resource Development and International Affairs as well as Program Director of Overseas Programs at George Washington University.  Dr. Marquardt also serves as President of the World Institute for Action Learning and is the author of 20 books.  In this new edition of Building the Learning Organization, Marquandt makes a bold assertion:

“As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, organizations must learn even faster and adapt more seamlessly to changes in the environment or they simply will not survive...  I predict that within the next ten years, only learning organizations will be left. Companies that do not become learning organizations will soon go the way of the dinosaur; they will die out because they were unable to adjust to the changing environment.”

With case studies from several global corporations, and a review of the key organizational and leadership theories, this book is designed to help learning leaders at all levels understand how to leverage existing resources and build successful learning organizations.  Applied effectively, these techniques can result in an organizational culture of learning, and a highly skilled and competitive workforce that helps your organization grow and achieve success.

The shift in training – complimentary webinar with Lynda Gratton

Your business may well be investing in training but has it taken “The Shift “into account? In her book The Shift: The Future of Work is Already Here, acclaimed author and global authority on the people implications of strategies Lynda Gratton says, there have been three shifts that businesses need to embrace in order to be a success.

Attend a complimentary webinar

Lynda Gratton will address topics from her book in a complimentary 45 minute webinar. Lynda’s discussion kicks off at 12 p.m. GMT on Friday 30 November and is followed by an interactive Q&A. Register completely free of charge.

The first shift manifests itself in a change from a generalized to specialized approach. As the world becomes increasingly connected in the 21st Century, having a small amount of knowledge about a lot of subjects gives next to no competitive edge to a business. In contrast, a workforce with a depth of knowledge on a specific area will be able to offer insights and points of view which will keep them ahead of the rest of the field.

People who can become serial masters are well-equipped to be both happy and successful in their careers. Serial masters’ working lives can revolve around a core of highly valuable skills that they love. These can be used as a gateway to rediscovering lost passions, reforming initial ideas into new mastery or spinning off into new paths.

Last year one of the most interesting ideas that came out of the Future of Work Consortium was that by 2020, five billion people will be connected with each other through their handheld devices.

Throw Back Thursday: performance reviews

We receive so much valuable content from our customers, partners and internal subject-matter experts. On Thursdays, we thought it would be fun to do a “throw back” and bring back an older post that was valuable to our audience. Today’s throw back is on mobile resources that support performance reviews.

Mobile Learning Support for Performance Reviews

By Ann Gebreselassie, Learning Consultant, Skillsoft

As the end of the year approaches, you may be deep in the performance review process. Skillsoft offers many tools and resources to assist your organization during the performance management cycle, as several of my colleagues have recently written about on this blog. Skillsoft also offers mobile learning solutions to help support managers as they prepare to conduct performance reviews.

As technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, has your life-long-learning strategy kept pace?  Certainly there is still value in face-to-face learning interactions.  Both formal, as in a classroom setting, or informal as in mentoring, traditional methods of learning are not going to disappear.  With the globalization of business, and the advanced technologies that support it, the need for quick and agile learning opportunities has risen as a priority.  In particular, the more senior your role within an organization, the more necessary it becomes for your learning and development to gel with hectic schedules.

Here are some examples of ways that Skillsoft supports continuous learning on-the-go for leaders at every level of an organization, including solutions to help managers prepare for performance reviews:

• Skillsoft® Books24x7® ExecSummaries™: These 8-page summaries provide a synopsis of some of the top business books.  Written by the authors themselves, ExecSummaries are perfect for a quick read on a tablet.  Some of my personal favorites include: The Truth About Leadership, Multipliers, and Win: The Key Principles to Take Your Business from Ordinary to Extraordinary.

Throw Back Thursday: The Impact of Steve Jobs

We receive so much valuable content from our customers, partners and internal subject-matter experts. On Thursdays, we thought it would be fun to do a “throw back” and bring back an older post that was valuable to our audience. Today’s throw back is in remembrance of Steve Jobs and his legacy.

Steve Jobs' influence on Skillsoft® Books24x7®

By Pam Boiros

As I use my iPhone® to read through all of the remembrances being posted on the internet for Steve Jobs, I can’t help but reflect on the impact he has had on me – not just personally, but professionally.

I look back on the evolution of the Skillsoft Books24x7 product since I started 10+ years ago and I see so much of Jobs’ impact on our product.  I see his boldness in us when we were so proud to launch a one-of-its-kind product in 2000 – Skillsoft® Books24x7® ITPro™ – that had web capabilities not available in other products.  I see his inspiration in our  social media layer – Skillsoft® inGenius® – which was designed to digitally connect communities of users in an intuitive interface.  And his technical genius continues to influence us as we design our next generation of products.

Skillsoft® Books24x7® expands offering with HarperCollins partnership

By Pam Boiros

What do best-selling authors Geoffrey Moore, David Rock, Dan Ariely, Jeanne C. Meister and Karie Willyerd all have in common?  They are all HarperCollins authors whose business titles will now be available in the Skillsoft Books24x7 BusinessPro™ collection along with many other highly-regarded authors.

I am very excited for our clients because this relationship with HarperCollins will enhance the diversity of BusinessPro with the addition of their business titles.  This is the first time that HarperCollins has participated in a subscription model and it will allow them to extend their reach into the global corporate market.   We are very excited to welcome them as the newest member of Skillsoft’s Publishing Partner Program.

Looking at the list of "Coming Soon" titles reminds me of reading Geoffrey Moore’s blockbuster – Crossing the Chasm – as part of my MBA curriculum.  It was considered so radical in relation to earlier marketing theories and energized many classroom discussions.  But it was even more relevant for me when I joined Books24x7 during its early start-up phase and I experienced, first-hand, the chasm between our early adopters and the early majority.  Many of our clients today were those early adopters who are still with us!

These are just some of the exciting titles that HarperCollins will be contributing to the BusinessPro collection:

• Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
• The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely               
• Quiet Leadership  by David  Rock
• Reengineering Management by James Champy
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker        
• The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker              
• Executive Intelligence by Justin Menkes
• The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries
• The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today by Jeanne C. Meister and Karie Willyerd