Agyeman revealed this in a presentation – ‘Making learning count’ – at the Learning Technologies exhibition, held in London recently. Asking his audience three questions – have you bought any e-learning you regret, have you done this more than once, and will you do it again? – Agyeman went on to examine some of the reasons why e-learning fails to meet its buyers’ and users’ expectations.

He advised: “Always test whether the business objective you want to achieve really is achievable via this medium. Consider the characteristics of your target audience and decide whether your chosen solution will make a positive difference to business performance.

“In order to make your training solutions count, you need to choose the best medium for the task, weighing cost and against likely return,” he said. “You should understand the delivery medium’s limitations and risks; the vendor’s capabilities and your business’ need.

“Moreover, you should decide on your success criteria before embarking on the project – and then monitor the results,” Agyeman added.

“TIS’s many years of experience in this sector, working with clients all around the world, has taught us that e-learning can be a highly effective and cost-effective learning medium but it is not always the only answer,” he said. “It’s important to link what you’re doing in terms of people development to supporting the business in achieving its bottom line objectives – which, of course, is where we believe that TIS can help!”

A key feature of TIS’s stand at this year’s Learning Technologies exhibition was its ‘minimalist’ design, focusing on ‘no frills, just expertise’. Alan Samuel, TIS’s head of UK operations, explained: “We wanted to show that TIS has ‘cut the clutter’ and, in the light of the current developments in this sector, has moved to supporting our clients’ businesses through the use of consultancy and the use of technology.

“This approach is helping them to achieve their business objectives through staff development activities and, what’s more, it is helping them to demonstrate a connection between those development activities and ‘bottom line’ improvements.”

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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, the 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