The Competency Company

Learning Management Systems (LMS) for Associations - A Report & Audio Interview

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:02:25 -0400

Earlier this year, Avilar was highlighted in a report published by Tagoras called Association Learning Management Systems. This report takes a detailed look at the sometimes unique features and capabilities typically needed by associations in order to provide successful learning management programs. This report compares and contrasts a handful of different learning management systems, including Avilar's own WebMentor LMS, which have been shown to support the unique requirements of associations. You can learn more about and purchase the Association LMSes report at http://www.tagoras.com/catalog/association-lms/. Want some free info? To follow up on this already valuable report, Tagoras conducted an interview with Avilar's CEO and co-founder Tom Grobicki to gather his insights and hear his perspectives on a range of substantive topics relevant to eLearning, training, and associations. The 12-minute audio interview is well worth listening to if you're considering a new learning management system. Listen to it now for free at http://www.tagoras.com/2009/12/28/association-lms-avilar/ Are you currently using or looking for a LMS for your association? What features and capabilities matter most to you?

School Systems face unparalleled budgetary stress

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:08:00 -0400

The economy has a rather strange impact on local government budgets, particularly school systems. While I can't say that commercial companies are out of the woods yet, everyone is at least predicting a mild recovery in 2010. Yet local school systems are facing incredible pressure because their "revenue", driven by all kinds of taxes derived from economic activities, is going to be down in 2010 and 2011. State government sometimes steps up to help, but in this case so many states are economically stressed that in fact there isn't a white knight out there (stimulus money aside). While commercial companies can adjust their spending to match their revenue or borrow to make it to the other side, local school systems have to make do. In addition, their ability to make adjustments is controlled by a dizzying array of rules on the Federal, State, and local level in addition to dealing with negotiated agreements with much of their labor force. Much of their spending, up to 85%, goes to their workforce which is largely determine by the size of their student population. Their clients are students who don't go away as the economy goes bad and in fact have to be taught at a predefined pace that allows them to graduate. So how does a school system save money to meet the new budget realities yet continue to preserve or even increase performance in their student population? It probably comes down making their workforce more effective and efficient. If a school system can increase class size by one student, the system can often realize significant cost savings. A recent article in the Washington Post about the Montgomery County Maryland proposed school budget showed that millions can be saved. But how do these savings impact student performance? What steps can be taken to help teachers deal with increased class size? I would propose that school systems will have to turn to newer methods of teaching that incorporate blended learning activities. The traditional instructor led model has to be supplemented with newer eLearning activities using multiple modalities of delivery. It might also mean that more elaborate scheduling techniques be used. School systems will have to establish R&D activities to measure the impact of such approaches to determine what works in their systems.

46% of new hires fail - and not because they lack skills

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:16:00 -0400

In an article on the HR Morning Network, it was pointed out that 46% of new hires fail within 18 months not because they lack skills. So what was the biggest reason given, 26% fail because they can't accept feedback followed closely by an inability to control emotions. This would suggest that your interview questions should at least look into these two areas. You might even consider conducting a behavioral assessment. Skills are still important and cause 11% of the failure, but this lower number would tend to point out that companies are most likely screening for skills already. Check out the article for some questions that you can use during the interview to help screen for these potential problems.

US Dept of Education Reports that a Blended Learning Approach is Most Effective

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:50:00 -0400

The US Department of Education recently released a report called "The Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning; a Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies." The full report is available to the public at http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf. There are many interesting findings in the report but one that stood out was that "classes with online learning (whether taught completely online or blended) on average produce stronger student learning outcomes than do classes with solely face-to-face instruction." In this study, students took the same courses in both online learning environments and in face-to-face learning environments. While, the students who completed online / eLearning courses did show better results, those who were exposed to a blended learning approach (with both online learning and face-to-face elements), did even better. It was also found that students who only completed online courses, did not have as high results as those who experienced the blended environment that also included some aspect of face-to-face instruction. Another part of the report goes on to state that online learning with student-prompted interaction and the ability to be individualized based on specific needs produced even better results. "Studies comparing variations of online learning provides some additional insights with respect to designing effective online learning experiences. The practice with the strongest evidence of effectiveness is inclusion of mechanisms to prompt students to reflect on their level of understanding as they are learning online. In a related vein, there is some evidence that online learning environments with the capacity to individualize instruction to a learner's specific needs improves effectiveness." It has long been Avilar's feeling that a blended learning approach is most effective and this really encourages us. That's why our WebMentor LMS has a full set of features for delivering and supporting blended learning environments and our skill assessment and development product WebMentor Skills allows users to create their own Individual Development Plans. I was very pleased to see the results of this study which show the value of weaving online learning into training and development programs.

Welcome

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:13:00 -0400

Welcome to the new Avilar Technologies, Inc. blog site. We plan on using this blog to discuss workforce issues, competency management, talent management, eLearning, blended learning, and general techniques to help you get the most out of your employees. We strongly believe that competency management is at the foundation of an effective and agile workforce. -- Tom Grobicki, CEO