eCornell

Online Providers of Specialty Curricula Vie for Academic Credit

Since the online-education boom, the notion that students could cobble together a curriculum that includes courses designed and delivered by a variety of different institutions — including for-profit ones — has gained traction in some circles.

Much of the talk about this imminent unbundling has come from colleges that predict that students might want to transfer credits from other colleges that might have different missions. But the competition may also come from entities that do not even offer degrees.

Consider Statistics.com, a company that teaches a swath of online statistics courses to mostly adult learners. In eight years, Statistics.com has grown its menu from a half-dozen professional-development classes to more than 80 courses designed and administered by top statisticians, many of them professors at leading universities. It enrolls about 2,500 students per year. And although the company caters primarily to the professional-development crowd, Statistics.com says it is now looking to grow its introductory offerings in a way that could compete with “any university, whether online or brick-and-mortar, that is going after the nontraditional student market,” according to Peter Bruce, its founder and president.

"Organizations that provide the 'best' online education in a given subject area will come to dominate others," he says. In other words, as technology allows students to pick and choose courses from different institutions, the education providers that thrive will be those that concentrate their resources in particular fields.

Skeptics who object to counting credits from courses taken through commercial providers toward degrees at a traditional institution usually do so based on concerns about quality and rigor. But Michelle Everson, a lecturer at the University of Minnesota who also serves as a consultant and an instructor for Statistics.com, says there is, pound for pound, no difference in rigor between Statistics.com’s introductory courses and the ones Minnesota offers as part of its curriculum. She teaches both.

Burck Smith, the founder and CEO of StraighterLine, says that, while the precepts of higher education are difficult to change, he believes the confluence of several economic factors — particularly rising tuition and the unwillingness of many students to take on exorbitant debt, especially as they see their degree-holding peers struggling to land jobs — may force institutions to consider turning to outside specialists if they want to continue offering certain courses.

And if they don’t, Smith says, students will likely turn to the outside specialists themselves.

Read the full article.

Six Best Practices to Create a Mature Leadership Development Program

In early February, eCornell hosted an education webinar Six Best Practices to Create a Mature Leadership Development Program presented by Kim Lamoureux of Bersin & Associates. An archive of that event is available at www.ecornell.com/feb3archive, and the presentation slides can be downloaded from www.ecornell.com/feb3ppt.

According to Lamoureux,, leadership development has “risen to the top of mind” due to the stresses of the global financial environment. A well-conceived and developed leadership development program is going to help you grow and retain the best leaders possible for your organization in these trying times.

It is therefore time to consider the “maturity” of your leadership training programs, and assess where your organization stands in this model. The maturity of an organization's leadership development program is not determined by financial resources or age of the company, but rather by several key practices used in its training programs.

In addition to improving leadership training programs, this Leadership Development Maturity Model will help you create an enterprise-wide understanding and adoption of leadership development strategies.

To learn more about this maturity model and the methods used by successful leadership development programs, please download the whitepaper available at www.ecornell.com/maturity.

eCornell Named to List of Top 20 Leadership Training Companies

eCornell has been named to Training Industry, Inc.’s 2010 list of The Top 20 Leadership Training Companies. The first annual list was assembled by Training Industry’s review committee to include companies that have demonstrated experience and excellence in providing leadership training services to a variety of clients.

A complete list of the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies can be seen online at www.trainingindustry.com/leadership/top-companies-listings/2010/2010-top-20-leadership-companies.aspx.

Selection of the Top 20 Leadership Training Companies was based on the following criteria:

• Thought leadership and influence on the leadership training industry.
• Industry recognition and innovation.
• Breadth of programs offered and audiences served.
• Delivery methods utilized.
• Company size and growth potential.
• Strength of clients.
• Geographic reach.
• Experience in serving the market.

“Leadership training represents one of the broadest content segments of the training industry,” said Ken Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of Training Industry, Inc. “Our list of the Top 20 companies highlights the best in class organizations focused on the leadership skills critical to driving business performance.”

“It is certainly rewarding to be considered in the top echelon of leadership training providers,” said Chris Proulx, CEO of eCornell. “This is a strong affirmation of the significant capabilities, resources and experience we have assembled at eCornell and brought to bear on our clients’ leadership and management development initiatives.”

Predictions for 2010

At the start of each year, contributors to eLearn Magazine predict what changes are afoot for the coming 12 months. This year's installment features the thoughts of such e-learning luminaries as Stephen Downes, Roger Schank, Jay Cross, Elliott Masie, Allison Rossett, Clark Quinn, and others. 

Upcoming eCornell Webinar: The Next Evolution in Leadership Development

eCornell will be hosting a no-cost educational webinar with Training Industry, Inc. in December.

The Next Evolution in Leadership Development
presented by Ed Cohen
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific
Register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/699992520

Why is most leadership development still stuck in the ages of Aristotle and Socrates? Given the need for business leaders to be well-rounded professionals with global, multimedia perspectives, why is the “sage on stage” still such a common method for developing leaders?

In this complimentary webinar, workforce learning expert Ed Cohen will provide five ideas for evolving leadership development. As the former CLO for global businesses like Booz Allen Hamilton and Satyam School of Leadership, Ed will show you why leadership development should be a process rather than a program. You’ll get the chance to interact with Ed as he provides concrete examples from his work in the USA, Europe and Asia, and helps you ensure your own leadership development is delivering full value.

You will learn:

• How leadership development is more than training.
• Ways in which Web 2.0 is evolving leadership development.
• Practical ideas that can be implemented immediately.
• How to align learning with today’s leadership needs.

About Ed Cohen
Ed Cohen is Executive Vice President at Nelson Cohen Global Consulting, providing thought leadership and strategic guidance to global companies. He has worked in more than 40 countries with organizations including Booz Allen Hamilton, Satyam, Seer Technologies, National Australia Bank, Larson & Toubro, Farmers Insurance Group, Banco Banesto, and the World Economic Forum. Ed is the only Chief Learning Officer to lead two companies to an ASTD BEST Award #1 ranking; Booz Allen Hamilton and Satyam Computer Services (only company outside USA to achieve this). He is the author of Leadership Without Borders published John Wiley & Sons which received multiple international accolades.

5 Ways E-Learning Can Improve Your Leadership Development Program

Why Leadership Development is Important
Leadership development is a high priority and increasing as an overall percentage of training delivered in many organizations because of several positive business benefits:

• Financial return.
• Employee satisfaction and retention.
• Building bench strength.
• Strategic and competitive advantage.
• Enhanced productivity and faster resolution of problems.
• Continuous innovation.
• Organizational agility.

Leaders drive performance, and the higher the leader and the broader the scope of his or her responsibility, the greater the impact that the individual can have on an organization. So while it may difficult to measure exactly now much leadership development programs contribute to something like financial return, it is generally accepted that good leaders and managers produce higher performing teams that produce better results.

Demographic shifts are also forcing companies to focus on their leadership development efforts. With almost 80 million baby boomers approaching retirement in the next decade, there will be significant impact on pipeline of available leadership talent, and the cost of recruiting and retaining competent managers is going to increase.

E-Learning Can Improve Leadership Development Programs
While e-learning is not a complete solution when it comes to leadership development, it can be used to increase its effectiveness in several important ways:

Increased Reach
Traditionally, leadership training has been confined to employees who can attend a classroom event. This makes it difficult and/or expensive to reach geographically dispersed employees. The increasingly global and mobile nature of today’s workforce means that many employees may be left out of traditional classroom-based leadership training programs.

But technology-based learning content can provide basic soft skills training and information to any learner with an Internet connection. E-learning can effectively eliminate the barriers of time and geography.

Consistency
Ensuring a consistent approach to leadership often means instituting a talent management process based on a system of competencies that align with specific company objectives. If leadership competencies are identified for all levels and job roles, there can be a systematic process for assessing employees and recommending training interventions based on job role and level. Competency management gives organizations better visibility into their leadership strengths and weaknesses, and aids in long-term planning.

Speed & Efficiency
While leadership training must include “high touch” activities to be effective, e-learning can often be used to reach the training goal quicker and at a lower cost. There are numerous models for blended learning ranging from the very simple to complex. One of the most common is to use e-learning as a pre-requisite to classroom training. This can shorten the overall time needed for employees to complete training. It also ensures that learners arrive at the training event with a common understanding and baseline of knowledge, ready to take advantage of the unique benefits of being with other students and a live instructor.

E-Learning also shortens the amount of time that employees are physically away from their jobs. Online learning also offers the opportunity for learners to take classes when it is most convenient for them, and to progress as quickly or slowly as necessary.

Skills can also be assessed online prior to training, which may allow some learners to test-out of certain parts of training. Shortening time away from the job can be an especially important benefit in leadership training, which often involves key employees with significant responsibilities.

Reinforcement Over Time
Training impact tends to fade over time. But research shows that when learning is reinforced before and after the training event, the positive effects are greater and last longer. Managers can use e-learning to reinforce key points of training, thereby taking leadership development from a series of disconnected events to more of a continuous development process.

Support Collaboration & Relationship Building
Managing global teams is a reality in today’s workplace, and also one of the greatest challenges managers face. Technology such as the virtual classroom, blogs, wikis and social networks are being used to support collaboration for geographically dispersed teams. “Blended” does not have to imply “classroom.” Many of today’s leadership programs are exclusively conducted virtually. In this format, participants take online courses that are augmented with online collaboration sessions, conference calls or virtual collaboration exercises.

Tandberg, Cisco and Lecture Capture

The October 1 announcement of Cisco's offer of $3 billion to buy the video conferencing company Tandberg could potentially have significant implications in the lecture capture market. ...

Lecture and presentation capture will be as important in the higher education space as video conferencing is in the enterprise (and increasingly small business) sectors. Tools, platforms and services to easily record campus activity - whether this activity is a regular lecture, an invited speaker, or a voice-over recording made from a professors desk - are poised to become ubiquitous on campus. Students will expect the ability to time shift their learning. Faculty will come to understand that recorded presentations offer the potential to free class time for discussion and debate, as students escape the pressure of having to take exhaustive notes during the lecture. Parents will look for schools that record lectures as an aid to their child's learning, as students with diverse learning style can take advantage of recorded classes to review materials at their own pace.

Read the full article.

New Evidence Supports Effectiveness of Online Learning

Online learning has definite advantages over face-to-face instruction when it comes to teaching and learning, according to a new meta-analysis released Friday by the U.S. Department of Education.The study found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction. Further, those who took "blended" courses--those that combine elements of online learning and face-to-face instruction--appeared to do best of all. Read the full article.

Kaplan Higher Education Joins the OCWC

Kaplan Higher Education today announced that it has joined the OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC), making select Kaplan University courses and teaching materials available for free online. Through a new website, lifelong learners, students and faculty across the world can access select Kaplan University courses anywhere Internet access is available. Courses currently offered include Academic Strategies for the Business Professional, Nursing Fundamentals and Forensic Biology and Impression Evidence.

Read the entire article.

Valuing Human Capital

By now the incident involving the crash landing of USAirways flight 1549 is well documented.  There is no doubt that Captain Chesley Sullenberger  is a genuine American hero for his skills and even-tempered approach in landing his aircraft on the Hudson River and ensuring that all his passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft.  Indeed, he has trained and prepared for this event his entire life.

What you made not of heard is that on Friday, the day following the crash landing, USAirways stock price was up 13%, on a day when the overall market was up less than 1%.   Historically, airlines see significant drops in their stock value when they experience an incident as fears of lawsuits, reductions in passengers, and loss of goodwill impact the market’s perception of the company’s value.

I see the stock’s rise on Friday as the market’s valuation of the human capital at USAirways.  Those of us in the learning and human capital development industry have long argued that a company’s greatest asset is its people, but that it is perhaps the most underestimated asset by traditional company valuation tools.

On Friday, the market was not just assessing the heroism of the captain, but the training, skills, competencies, and judgment of the captain and his crew.  From this experience, the market was drawing a broader conclusion about the value of USAirways’ human capital.

In many organizations, the moment of truth for its human capital may not be life and death moments, but it does not dilute the value that is created when a company invests in developing its people.   In this economic environment where the financial assets of most companies has evaporated before our eyes, human capital remains as an enduring, dynamic, and productive asset in which investments can be made. By choosing to train, develop, and engage the people in your organization, you are choosing to prepare your people to react, respond, and lead when your company most needs them, and in doing so, you are creating value for your shareholders in the process.