Lambda Solutions e-Learning 2.0 Online Training and Moodle Experts

Earlier this Fall Rogers Wireless, one of Canada's largest providers of Wireless, Digital Cable and Hi-Speed Internet products and services, chose Lambda Solutions to develop a blended learning course designed to support Rogers' B2B division. Lambda's team was tasked with developing the content as well as designing the framework of this unique tool. The course is based on the Lambda's ClearView technology.

This tool will be used as a common resource by the members of the Rogers Business Support Group across the country and will consist of two components: synchronous and asynchronous. Over 200 employees across the company will take part in the real-time launch of the course that will be presented in both French and English. The second part of the course is asynchronous and is designed to serve as a reference tool for current and newly hired employees to help them educate and transition customers through the local network portability era set to kick-off in March 2007.

"This course allows Rogers Wireless to seamlessly incorporate blended learning into their corporate training environment and boost their competitiveness to help them meet the challenges that will arise once the Mobile Number Portability commences," says Jason McIvor, Director of Sales at Lambda Solutions. "The LCV technology also allows Rogers to easily update the content once the course goes live."

Our November issue focused on Moodle, an open source learning management system (LMS) designed to help educators create quality online courses and manage learner activity. Today, Moodle is installed in over 18,000 sites worldwide (165 countries) and is available in 40 languages. As this technology continues to increase its share in the eLearning market, it becomes increasingly important to understand how Moodle works.

Lambda Solutions, known for its expertise in Moodle, plans to launch its own Moodle 101 learning series to answer some of the questions that arise around this open source technology and to share our experiences with our colleagues in the eLearning community and corporate educators. "We hope that this series will encourage discussion around Moodle and will increase awareness on the subject," comments Scott Tearle, Director of Information Technology at Lambda Solutions. Scott will be one of the facilitators for the series.

Lambda's Moodle 101 will consist of hands-on classroom sessions and webinars designed to cover various aspects of Moodle: administration, best practices, implementation, customization, hosting and course development. The webinars will be 1.5 to 2 hours long and will focus on general aspects of Moodle. The first webinar, Moodle 101, will take place in late January and is intended to give learners an overview of Moodle, its features and capabilities. The classroom seminars are designed to provide learners with a more detailed overview of Moodle and will give them an opportunity for some hands-on training. The first classroom seminar will take place in the first week of February and will focus on best practices on how to create and manage a course using Moodle as a blended learning environment including the Lambda ClearView.

For further information on the series or to register, contact us.

Research shows that people learn faster when they are introduced to a variety of learning modes as opposed to a single mode of learning (be it traditional or online). The reason for this is simple: blended learning enhances the learning experience and provides learners with the opportunity to choose the most appropriate option that best suits their learning style. While traditional classroom setting and online approach offer a number of advantages and can be very beneficial to the learners, both of them are limited by their media. Blended learning, as the name suggests, allows having the best of both worlds and more.

Just like a cooking recipe, where one can mix and match certain ingredients to suit individual taste, blended learning is a custom approach that applies a mix of training delivery options to teach, support, and sustain the skills needed for top job performance. Blended learning utilizes the most effective method for each stage of the learning process and, at the same time, leverages the power of technology to allow users to learn on the job. The key is to know the target audience and to choose the right type of learning mode to enhance their learning experience.

The blended learning framework is widely used among members of the eLearning community. Lambda Solutions was one of the early adopters of blended learning. Through years of experience, the company has developed a wide variety of tools and services that they can draw upon when solving clients' learning needs.

What makes Lambda's approach unique is the Analysis tool designed to analyze and understand technological, business and learning aspects of the learning project. The insight uncovered through the Analysis Tool is presented back to the client for further analysis and confirmation. When this stage is completed, Lambda's project managers determine the best learning modes and begin to work on the instructional design. Lambda's preferred technological platform for Blended Learning is Moodle as it is designed to promote a number of learning modes where the learner can easily transfer from one mode to another.

For further information on blended learning refer to

• http://www.learningcircuits.org/2003/jul2003/rossett.htm
• http://www.learningcircuits.org/2006/September/rossett.htm