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e-learning yet to make an impact

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CIOL Bureau
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PUNE: Though e-learning is here to stay, the Indian corporate sector has to still wake up to its benefits. According to an online survey conducted by STC-India (Society for Technical Communication), over 97 percent of the respondents felt that that e-learning as a method for delivering information to users has a future. Of the 101 respondents, over 80 percent have used e-learning at least once and almost all of them have found e-learning useful. But when asked about their companies' involvement with e-learning, just a quarter of the respondents said that their companies purchased e-learning products.



According to the survey, hardly a third maintained that their companies sponsored e-learning for employees and a mere 15 percent said that their companies develop e-learning content. Over 59 percent of respondents said that their companies had neither purchased e-learning products, sponsored employees for e-learning courses, nor developed e-learning content in-house.



STC is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. The Indian Chapter of STC conducted the survey.



 



India occupies the fifth position in terms of membership in the e-learning Guild, a professional group for designers, developers, and managers of e-learning. Subash Babu, a member of STC-India who has written on e-learning scenario in India in the STC-India newsletter ‘Indus' is of the opinion that a handful of organizations is trying to create awareness about the potential of e-learning, as a viable alternative to diverse learning methodologies and capitalize on the emerging opportunities.



He pointed out to several developments that spoke of progress in this area. For instance, IBM is in the process of developing its global resource bases for technology content development in India to meet its e-learning services business and other content requirements for its worldwide operations. Macmillan has also transitioned its major e-learning initiatives to India through the newly launched e-business division, emacmillan. The division has tied up with management and technology institutes in the country to offer online courses. Other companies who have undertaken e-learning initiatives include NIIT, which had launched its NetVarsity as a Web-based, learning tool for NIIT students and later converted it into a comprehensive learning portal. Mentorix is another provider of outsourced e-learning content development, program management, and application development and maintenance solutions. Education Grid of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), Kerala aims to establish collaborative information and knowledge networks over the Internet and online-assisted learning environment for colleges.



Babu was of the opinion that more and more e-learning projects will be outsourced to India because global outsourcing organizations have ranked Indian companies among the best e-learning service providers. Another possibility is the entry of established global education service providers to the Asia-Pacific region, especially India.

(CyberMedia News Service)

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