Trainer1 launches ‘Ecademy’

Trainer1, one of the UK’s leading independent e-learning specialists, in collaboration with By-Design, has established ‘Ecademy’ to help those who are producing e-learning materials to become proficient in all the knowledge and skills required for these e-learning materials to be successful. Ecademy was launched simultaneously in the UK and the USA – with a well attended and well received course on instructional design (ID) being run in Atlanta, GA, at the end of June, and the next UK version at the end of August.

The courses offered by Trainer1’s Ecademy cover such topics as:

• Executive Summary
o An executive level introduction to the different models of e-learning with their respective benefits and a high level overview of the technical implications inherent in each.

• How to convert classroom-delivered material to an effective e-learning format
o In this fast-paced one day event, delegates learn techniques to bring e-learning ‘alive’.

• Better e-learning design
o A comprehensive two-day course to ensure that the content delegates create is not just a 'page turner'. This course looks at how the brain and the eye work whose message will be received and remembered.

• More than instructional design
o This two-day course covers every aspect of ID in e-learning and goes on to explain how some of the layout designs can have instructional links. It concludes with a realistic workshop that provides delegates with practice in using ID principles to create actual e-learning materials.

• JumpStart
o This comprehensive development and training package guarantees that delegates can get an interactive training and testing centre up and running, containing delegates’ company-specific training, in one week.

Ecademy courses being run in the USA over the next few months have been scheduled for Portland, OR, and Dallas, TX. These courses are receiving support from such organisations as Nestle, General Motors, Bayer, Hewlett Packard and Procter & Gamble.

“All Ecademy courses are ‘classroom-based’ – even though they relate to e-learning!” explained Neil Lasher, managing director of Trainer1 and the author of the recently published ‘The four ‘A’s of Learning’, a new model of ID which encapsulates the lessons of 20 years of designing e-learning and related materials to produce a model for ID specifically relating to task-based and workflow e-learning.

“The courses are designed to further delegates’ understanding and creation of e-learning, helping them to become both proficient and self-sufficient in producing effective e-learning materials,” Lasher continued. “They help delegates to create precise, reliable, and cost-effective learning for the most demanding of professionals, feedback received from clients has been wonderful.”



Those who want to take the ‘ultimate step’ towards self-sufficiency in e-learning materials development can attend a five day masterclass, called ‘e-learning JumpStart’. Lasher commented: “This masterclass not only covers how to create e-learning materials using Lectora, one of the most widely-used authoring tools on the market, but delegates also receive ‘hand-holding’ help to create their own e-learning materials.

“The whole range of Ecademy courses gives delegates a chance to find out if they are suited to creating e-learning materials and takes the novice from the ‘toe in the water’ stage to ‘full immersion’ in the world of e-learning,” he added.

The Trainer1 Ecademy caters not only for e-learning novices but also for those who are experienced e-learning developers, since there are always new development techniques and styles to learn in such a fast-moving sector as is e-learning.

Lasher explained: “In the early days of e-learning, there were ‘courses’. Then learning content was split into ‘chunks’, or learning objects.

“In the last year or so, we have seen the rapid rise of informal learning, with its ever-decreasing, discrete pieces of learning content,” he said.

“And, as technology continues to develop, the Ecademy courses will reflect this – allowing Ecademy members to stay at the leading edge of e-learning design and development while delegating the time and effort required to research into these technological developments to Trainer1.”

All Ecademy course delegates become members of the Ecademy – allowing them on-going access to on-demand coaching and mentoring from Ecademy staff. And those who complete an Ecademy course receive a certificate, which they can add to their continuing professional development (CPD) portfolio.

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Notes for Editors:

About Ecademy

There are five Ecademy courses:
• Executive summary (one day): An executive level introduction to the different models of e-learning with their respective benefits and a high level overview of the technical implications inherent in each.
• Convert classroom to e-learning (one day): Techniques to bring e-learning alive in the way you do in the classroom.
• Better e-learning design (two days): Ensuring that the content you create is not just a 'page turner', this course looks at how the brain and the eye work together in relation to screen usage to help you in designing courses where your message will be received and remembered.
• More than instructional design – instructional design for e-learning (two days): Covers every aspect of instructional design (ID) in e-learning and goes on to explain how some of the layout design can have instructional links. It concludes with a realistic workshop that provides delegates with some real practice in using ID principles to create e-learning materials. This is an instructional design course with a difference, this course is a must if you want to know why people read and remember some things and not others.
• E-learning Jump Start – hands on building e-learning (five days): A development and training package that guarantees you're getting an interactive training and testing centre up and running, with your company specific training, in one week. It also provides the tools and training you require to edit and create your own training courses.

The Basic JumpStart Package Includes: one day on site planning, followed by five days on site training and one day skills gap training (six weeks later) for up to eight people (software licenses can be added to meet your requirements).

About Trainer1

Trainer1 is one of the UK’s leading independent e-learning specialists, creating sophisticated courseware for learning. It works in a number of areas including:
• Creating custom-built e-learning solutions
• Supplying e-learning consultancy to make clients self-sufficient in servicing their e-learning needs – especially in terms of embedded and workflow learning
• Operating as a ‘tools warehouse’ for tools used by Trainer1’s clients

It has lengthy experience in computer delivered learning. In particular, Trainer1 develops, supplies and supports:
• Authoring tools - for the creation of content, meeting SCORM, AICC, LRN, XML, and QTI standards.
• Learning and Knowledge Management tools - for the management and distribution of content, including accreditation and reporting of data within existing databases.
• Delivery systems for workflow learning - CSL™.
• Tools and libraries to create multimedia content, including image editors, easy to use Flash production tools, libraries of sound, graphics and animation.
• Specialised training events to assist trainers become self sufficient in e-learning design and production.
• Development services in the creation and maintenance of learning content.

Trainer1’s client list includes international major corporations such as ABN AMRO, Kraft Foods, Deutsche Post (DHL) and Mitsubishi Corporation, along with clients including the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the UK, the Department for International Development, and the UK’s Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, along with many municipal authorities.

Trainer1 is privately owned and remains a small, friendly company providing high quality product combined with personal service to Blue Chip Companies, as well as small and medium sized enterprises. Trainer1 is a member of many e-learning organisations, and Neil Lasher, Trainer1’s managing director is a committee member of the ELN and President (in 2006) of the Global Network of ASTD UK. He also works with standards bodies to ensure technology is meeting the needs of users worldwide, as well as the guidelines determined by the governing groups in the e-learning industry.

Further information from:
Neil Lasher, Trainer1, 00 44 (0) 20 7264 4844
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0) 1727 860405

www.trainer1.com