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PRESS INFORMATION ISSUED ON BEHALF OF:
Tata Interactive Systems
18 Grosvenor Place, LONDON, SW1X 7HS
tel 020 7235 8281; fax 020 7235 8727; web: www.tatainteractive.com
16th November 2007
Tata Interactive Learning Forums explore key themes in learning, in
both the corporate and academic sectors
The Tata Interactive Learning
Forums (TLFs), held recently in Chicago and Boston, in the USA, debated
key issues in learning and learning technologies in the corporate and
academic worlds.
Organised by Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) (
www.tatainteractive.com ), a world leader in custom e-learning
design / development and organisational performance improvement, the
forums included two tracks, focusing on higher education and corporate
training.
"One of the biggest challenges facing training and educational
professionals today is the application of technology to increase
learning efficacy, bond the learning community together and facilitate
the dialogue between them," commented Sanjaya Sharma, CEO of TIS. "As
technological and economic changes continue to redefine the dynamics of
learning, there are more questions than there are answers."
Among the highlights of these one-day conferences was a demonstration
of an immersive simulation - by Colonel Stephen G Visco, Dean of
Distance Learning, at the USAF Air War College - built by TIS, which
deals with issues of responsibility, accountability and ethics as well
as the military decision-making process.
Another key theme of the TLFs was the growing use of electronic
performance support systems (EPSS) to improve time to competency,
productivity, and worker accuracy.
Dr Allison Rossett, of San Diego State University, author of
best-selling business books, a board member of the E-learning Guild and
a noted authority in the field of e-learning, explained that, while all
performance support is provided ‘just-in-time’, some performance
support is also ‘just-for-me’ - delivering solutions geared to who I
am, what I need and what has happened to me in the past.
Fellow speaker, Anita Pai, of ICICI Prudential, India’s leading
financial institution, outlined how her organisation is using an EPSS,
produced by TIS, to continue to stay competitive in the Indian life
assurance market. She said:
"The EPSS reduces dependency on senior professionals to handle complex
service requests; it releases specialists’ ‘bandwidth,’ and brings
standardisation, consistency, and efficiency in service delivery - and,
as an added bonus, has reduced the cost of training our employees."
In addition, Dave Vance, former President of Caterpillar University,
the ‘CLO of the Year’ in 2006, and a board member of the American
Society for Training and Development (ASTD), not only shared his
knowledge on making the right training decisions but also conducted an
interactive session where the TLF delegates played one of TIS’s suite
of business simulations - TOPSIM - to determine efficient and effective
training interventions for their organisations.
Vance explained: "The keys to implementing effective learning in your
organization are to align your strategy to business goals, in concert
with the goals’ owners and addressing all business priorities.
Among the other speakers at the event were Dr David A. Foster, Dean of
Advanced Program Development at DeVry University Online, who discussed
the future of online course provision within higher education, and John
F Ebersole, President of Excelsior College and a Past President of the
University of the Continuing Education Association, who discussed
improving student retention through the use of e-learning -
particularly for students who lack self-confidence and have weak
‘traditional’ academic skills.
In addition, Stephen Laster, CIO of Harvard Business School, explained
to delegates that, within higher education, costs are increasing,
budgets shrinking and there is increasing demand for distance learning.
He added that globalisation is changing the nature of collaboration;
collective intelligence is pushing the boundaries of scholarship, and
the assessment of new forms of learning is challenging.
TIS plans to stage further TLFs around the world over the next 12
months, bringing together thought leaders and decision makers in the
training and education industry from across the globe gain new
perspectives on learning, share success strategies, as well as network
informally with other industry leaders.
End
Notes for editors
About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)
Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), a
global leader in e-learning, is a part of the $22bn Tata Group. Truly
international, TIS has a presence across the US, Canada, UK, Australia,
New Zealand, the Middle East, Japan, India, and mainland Europe. TIS
offers corporations, universities, schools, publishers, and government
institutions a diversified and innovative bouquet of learning and
training solutions including Simulation-based Learning Objects (SimBLs),
Story-based Learning Objects (StoBLs), courseware and curriculum
design, special needs education, assessments, electronic performance
support systems (EPSS), mobile learning, along with other corporate
training and consultancy services. Our multi-disciplinary expertise and
16 years' experience across domains helps us design e-learning
programmes that are unique to clients' requirements and specifically
crafted to boost knowledge retention and application.
Apart from holding ISO 9001 certification, TIS is the only e-learning
organisation in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM
and P-CMM frameworks. TIS's quest for excellence is reflected in
numerous prestigious industry awards, including a Silver Brandon Hall
Excellence in Learning Award 2005 and 2004, APEX Award of Excellence in
2005 and 2006, BETT Awards in 2004 and 2006, and two Business World-NID
Design Excellence awards.
For more information log on to
http://www.tatainteractive.com
Further information from:
Alan Samuel, Tata Interactive Systems, 020 7905 0156,
www.tatainteractive.com
Bob Little, Bob Little Press &
PR, 01727 860405, www.boblittlepr.com
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