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Ten fun eLearning Facts this Friday!

As it’s Friday, we are sharing our favourite eLearning facts from the list compiled by Talent LMS:

 

  1. The term ‘eLearning’ has only been in existence since 1999, when the word was first utilised at a CBT system seminar.
  2. eLearning is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today and it will continue to grow quickly.
  3. 25% of all employees leave their jobs mainly due to lack of training and learning opportunities. While companies who do provide eLearning opportunities, generate about 26% more revenue per employee.
  4. The Internet is widely and increasingly used for self-directed learning. In 2010 32% of the total population in the EU has consulted Internet for the purpose of self-directed learning. This is an increase by 9% compared to 2007.
  5. By 2020, the global mobile learning market is projected to be $37.8 billion.
  6. eLearning is good for the environment. Britain’s Open University’s study found that producing and providing eLearning courses consumes an average of 90% less energy and produces 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student than conventional face-to-face.
  7. 77% of U.S. corporations report using online learning to enhance their employees training and educational programs.
  8. 52% of people using mobile learning do so in bed after waking up and 46% do so in bed before they go to sleep.
  9. The eLearning market has grown an incredible 900% since the year 2000.
  10. Networked devices will grow from 15B to 21B by 2018. Of these, 57% will be mobile devices. eLearning will benefit from faster Internet access everywhere and availability on any device.

 

View these fun facts and more in infographic form at https://www.talentlms.com/blog/20-facts-elearning-infographic/

 

Business Planning for Social Enterprises

As more and more non-profits look to diversify their funding streams, directors and executives are looking at the financial opportunities afforded by social enterprise initiatives. But moving from a grant administration set-up, to one that actively seeks out earned income streams, needs to be carefully planned. Needless to say, traditional business planning has an important role to play in ensuring that sustainable business markets are pursued. Irrespective of the business planning approach used, non-profits should seek to identify and put in place strategies that clearly play to their business strengths.

As an initial first step in the planning process, it can be beneficial for directors and executives to create a “Business Model Canvas” of their proposed social enterprise initiative. The canvas focuses attention on nine core elements, that collectively, impact on the sustainability of an organisation’s business model. Completing the business model canvas in advance of writing a business plan is helpful, as it forces boards and committees to test the assumptions upon which their business model and thinking are based. As a result, a more accurate picture of market opportunities and non-profit competencies and strengths emerge. This in turn enables a business plan to be developed, that selects the specific business strategies that can best help a non-profit to succeed in achieving its social enterprise objectives.

In preparing the business model canvas, boards and executive staff should seek answers to nine key questions:

1. What customer or social problem are your solving?
2. Why will customers buy from you?
3. How will customers access your services or obtain your products?
4. How will you acquire and keep customers?
5. How will you generate cash?
6. What assets do you require?
7. Who are you dependent on to deliver services and produce products?
8. What are the most important activities for the social enterprise to focus on?
9. Where does spend need to be concentrated?

Once directors, trustees and executives have a solid basis to answer each of the nine questions, then they are better equipped to write a business plan that can be successfully executed. The business plan will provide readers with mission critical information with respect to proposed strategy, operations, marketing and finance. Importantly, the business plan will show clearly the sustainable basis upon which the social enterprise is being built. Hence, directors and executives should view the business plan, not just as a planning tool, but also as a significant communications tool in their bid to influence stakeholders!

Business Planning for Social Enterprises presentation slides available at: http://www.slideshare.net/CramdenTECH/business-planning-for-social-enterprises

Leadership Shouldn’t be Left to Executives!

Training Managers to LeadGlobal adventurer Alison Levine had some interesting thoughts to share on the nature of leadership recently. She said “… I think it’s a mistake to rely on executives for leadership or people that have certain titles or a certain amount of tenure.” She went on to say “I think people realise everyone’s in a leadership position. And leadership shouldn’t be left to an executive staff or board of directors or heads of department.”

If we take these words to heart – then our jobs as CEO’s, Executive Directors and Vice-Presidents, is to cultivate the leader within each employee. There isn’t a magic formula to achieve this, but we can start by assessing our own behaviour and attitude to work and seeing how our style of management or leadership influences the styles of the people around us. Moving beyond ourselves, how does the culture of the organisation in which we work, affect the emergence of leadership behaviours as the norm, rather than the exception. And what of the power structures within the workplace? What impact would a workplace of leaders have on the exercise of authority, autonomy and consistency in decision-making?

Perhaps the answer lies in creating a culture that enables different people to emerge as leaders as and when the need arises. As circumstances and situations differ, the individuals taking on leadership roles also differ. Hence, the person best placed to fill the leadership role does so, rather than the person whose job title denotes leadership authority in the situation. Managers and supervisors can be trained to exhibit leadership behaviour and to cultivate leadership behaviours in their colleagues and direct reports. CramdenTECH’s two-day programme “Leadership Skills for Supervisors and Managers“, is designed to help participants to develop their own leadership potential and that of the people they work with. You can learn more about the programme at https://cramdentech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Learn-with-CramdenTECH-Spring-2014-Workshops-and-Seminars.pdf.

And if you would like to learn more about Alison Levine’s thoughts on leadership, you can watch her appearance on CBS http://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-the-edge-an-adventurers-guide-to-leadership/ as she promotes her new book, “On the Edge: The Art of High-Impact Leadership.”