"E-learning is just not the right word anymore"

E-learning is just not the right word anymore, says Jane Knight, founder of the e-learning centre in an interview with Kineo.

[ClickPress, Sat Dec 17 2005] In a recent interview with Stephen Walsh from Kineo, the new learning consultancy, she lamented that people still don’t see beyond the idea of e-learning as a formal course. “E-learning is so much more than that, it’s about collaboration, communication between learners and the sharing of knowledge and experiences…people think of e-learning as formal courses and all this other stuff as something else”. She noted that it may be a definition problem: “E-learning is just not the right word anymore…it’s got more to do with e-working and performance support”.

Knight and Walsh went on to talk about that ‘other stuff’, particularly the huge growth in free tools for e-learning development. “For small companies with tiny budgets, these tools are a godsend…the great thing about them is that e-learning is now within everyone’s budget”, she commented, drawing attention to Skype, Moodle, and Wink as prime examples, all of which are described in detail in Kineo’s free report, “50 ideas for free e-learning”, available from www.kineo.co.uk.

They’re not without their challenges though. Knight noted that “Just because they’re free doesn’t mean they should be used just for that reason”. Walsh agreed: “You need to consider urgency, how volatile is the content, and audience size…then determine if a free tool can help you.”

The wide-ranging discussion also covered collaboration and communities, e-learning trends of 2005 and predictions for 2006.

This is the latest in Kineo’s series of audio interviews with key influencers in the learning and training market. It is available to listen to as a podcast at www.kineo.co.uk

Note to Editors:

Kineo is a leading consultancy practice providing advisory services, research and niche e-learning products to support learning and development teams in the public and private sectors. Founded in November 2005 by Matthew Fox, Mark Harrison, Steve Rayson and Stephen Walsh, Kineo is a limited liability partnership with offices in Brighton.

We have a press centre for journalists on our site and are always happy to help with stories and provide commentary on the latest developments in learning. Our Knowledge Centre provides monthly updates on the latest in learning. More at www.kineo.co.uk.

For further information, contact:
Steve Rayson 07774 498285
steve.rayson@kineo.co.uk

Registered Office:
24 Bavant Road
Brighton, East Sussex
BN1 6RD

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