Mobile learning is a core feature of Echelon’s stand (number 85) at this week’s Learning Technologies exhibition and seminar.
Twelve mobile learning tools benefiting customer service operatives (CSOs) in their jobs at the recently re-opened St Pancras International station are shown on the LCD screen of an attention-grabbing giant mobile phone.
Echelon has been recruiting and supporting the CSOs in their jobs as part of its successful work with London & Continental Rail, the company tasked with overseeing the transformation of the landmark London site.
Also featured at the show will be a new generation of online qualification-based university and professional learning materials developed for professional bodies, business schools and blue chip businesses.
A specific example is Echelon’s web-based ‘Urban Design Skills’ (UDS) learning, commissioned by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as a central resource for universities and institutes participating in the government sponsored ‘Pathway to Professions’ initiative.
“The major cost in developing blended or distance learning courses for CPD, Diploma, Certificate or Masters qualifications lies in content development and its editing,” explains Echelon director David Hill.
“However, being split eight ways between the universities and institutes involved, with centralised editing and web-based distribution, origination costs for Echelon UDS learning are markedly lower.”
Publishing is via a proprietary content management system offering a capability for interactive questions and hidden feedback, and a rapid and cost effective means of editing and updating.
Distribution is via a lite learning management system that allows for storage, search and usage tracking capabilities via the web.
The two case studies above demonstrate the scope for the professional learning design and publishing services which Echelon offers.
Anything from learning delivered by PDAs to a blend of proprietary and generic content for qualification, CPD and performance support published in text and/or electronically.
Echelon clients include institutes such as the RTPI, CIPS and the IIA, business schools and universities (Ashridge, Southbank University, Westminster Kingsway College) and corporate clients including BUPA, Moat, and Vodafone.
The company’s virtual resource of 2,000 generic business and management modules can be accessed at www.learningmatters.com.