E-learning solution for distance learning

news

Foreign language learning in French companies

February 11, 2008 | Leave a comment

One-quarter of all employees in French companies with 20 or more employees are called upon to use a foreign language at one time or another in their professional activities. The most revealing fact in the latest DARES survey was the high percentage of the subjects who were ill at ease reading a document in a foreign language. The figure represented approximately 500,000 people in companies with over 20 employees, or 22 % of all of those interviewed.

France lags behind in language learning
The rigorous laws regarding the respect for a country’s language of origin are perfectly compatible with multilingualism. Take Quebec, for example, where 62.5 % of the French-speaking active population use English in the context of their work, and only 12 % feel uncomfortable with it.
France has a lot of catching up to do; especially as relatively few companies offer language learning programs. According to DARES, 62 % of the people who said they were uncomfortable understanding a foreign language had taken courses during their professional careers, but only one-tenth of them had done so in language learning.
The debate over foreign language training in companies has become all the more relevant as more and more members of the workforce require these skills. Nowadays, supervisors and technicians need to be competent in foreign languages. In the near future, factory employees and workers will be joining their ranks.

A range of training options
The software market for language learning methods, in particular English, is growing slowly but surely. It now represents 5 % of the total training methods market, estimated at 300 million Euros. There are currently 2,000 business-related language schools in France. They all offer several learning modes, most of them combining traditional presential methods and the use of multimedia or e-learning tools. To attract and retain these targets, the software industry will have to find new solutions for 2008.

Online voice exchanges between learners are likely to grow, thanks to lower Internet telephony rates.
Visioconferencing, which up to now has been expensive and relatively inaccessible (special equipment, dedicated lines) will spread with the development of ADSL connections. It is now being used in conjunction with local networks and general public educational software. These usages lead up to the concept of communicating classrooms, which could become a major feature in “blended learning”.

Post by : ILT | under Trends, soltend-accueil 

Mobility, heterogeneity, teamwork: higher education has embraced E-learning.

February 11, 2008 | Leave a comment

E-learning is taking on a role in the world’s leading universities and international schools that goes beyond simple online access to courses. Far from being detrimental to the reputation of these establishments, the virtual classrooms that have been put into place have cut participation costs, enlarged audiences and enhanced their brand image.

Students nowadays are a particularly mobile population with very different needs. Distance learning permits the setting up of customized study programs. Students can benefit from all the school’s teaching tools, thanks to easy 24/7 Internet access, while away on internships or studying abroad.

The virtual campus includes special programs for basic training or continuing education covering the entire curriculum. The administration platform enables teachers to monitor individual student results, the time spent, and adapt the programs accordingly.

Following the example in leading schools, e-learning content is now being offered in the so-called “closed” subjects (office automation, mathematics, finance…) as well as in open ones (management, HR, research, languages…).

The system is also being extended to distance learning offers shared by several large European universities. The e-LERU virtual campus brings together eight universities that are members of LERU (League of European Research Universities) and includes first-rate distance learning modules that are taken into account in the degrees offered by the partner schools. The aim is to enhance the value of each of the partner university programs, and to highlight their strengths, specificities and complementary aspects.

Some examples
MIT
University of Geneva
e-LERU Project

Post by : ILT | under Trends, soltend-accueil 

Innovative learning technologies, the leading magazine for E-learning solution, distance learning and course online