Tata Interactive Systems discusses key e-learning issues at the Tata Interactive Learning Forum 2006

The global e-learning producer, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), has held the latest in its worldwide series of ‘Tata Interactive Learning Forums’ – in New York (on 28th September) and in Chicago (on 2nd October).

The Tata Interactive Learning Forum (TLF), now in its third year, is where thought leaders and decision makers in the training and education industry from across the globe come together to gain new perspectives on learning, share success strategies, as well as network informally with other industry leaders. Attendance at these events is strictly by invitation only.

Traditionally, the US TLF focuses on higher education and corporate training. Topics under discussion included:
• Performance support: connecting knowledge, performance and technology
• The learning ecology matrix: learning for the 21st century organisation
• Making online learning more engaging
• The future for corporate universities

Delegates also heard case studies, including those from Northwest Airlines and the Caterpillar University.

Speakers in the ‘Corporate’ track included: Carol Silk, CLO of NewYork Presbyterian Hospital; Corinne Miller, Director of Training at Motorola University; Steven Smith, Manager of Strategy and Technical Projects at Northwest Airlines, and Gary Dickelman, President and CEO EPSScentral and Faculty, George Mason University. In the ‘Education’ track, the speakers included Craig Swenson, Provost of Western Governors University; Jeff Schultz of McGraw-Hill Higher Education Online, and Kip Becker, Chairman of the Department of Administrative Sciences at Boston University.

“As technological and economic changes continue to redefine the dynamics of learning, there are more questions than there are answers,” commented Manoj Kutty, TIS’s worldwide president of sales and marketing. “This TLF addressed some of these critical issues, including:
• Is just-in-time training possible?
• What are the challenges posed by an increasingly diverse workplace?
• How do you meet growing compliance challenges in the global environment?
• Is learning innovation the key to success?
• What will the changing demographics and outsourcing trends mean for higher education?”

“At TIS, we believe that learning is an on-going process and it is this passion that finds expression in the TLF,” Kutty added. “Our spirit flows from this belief and is embodied in the slogan: ‘Interact. Innovate. Inspire.’”

TLF delegates were also given free access to a half-day workshop which examined multiplayer simulation products which were new to the US market. In particular, they examined the TOPSIM product suite - which models real industries and simulates complex corporate decision-making scenarios to help people make better decisions. Those participating in the workshop particularly commended that the opportunity for hands-on experience of the TOPSIM software was exceptionally valuable.

TIS plans to hold a variant of the TLF solely focused on learning disabilities - called the Tata Interactive Learning Disabilities Forum (TLDF) later this year. For updates on forthcoming TLF events, please visit www.tatainteractive.com.

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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, 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 www.tatainteractive.com

About the Tata Group

The Tata Group, established in 1904 by the great visionary Jamsetji Tata, is one of India’s largest and most trusted business houses. The group pioneered the industrial revolution in India by founding the first steel plant, power plant and chain of luxury hotels, to name but a few.

The Group employs more than 220,000 people in 93 companies across diversified industry sectors including steel, automobiles, cement, telecom and IT. Generating revenues to the tune of $22 billion per year – some three per cent of India’s total GDP – it is recognised as a leader in several industry segments such as such as steel, power, software exports and chemicals. It is also the parent company to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asia’s largest software producer.

For more information, log on to www.tata.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