Atlantic Link announces new Rapid E-learning software at Learning Technologies

Learning Technologies 2008 - Atlantic Link

24-Jan-2008 » Training Press Releases » Despite already boasting the finest feature set in rapid e-learning software, Atlantic Link will demonstrate many exciting new features and functionality with the launch of Content Point 2008 on Stand 5 at the Learning Technologies Exhibition at London's Olympia2 from the 30th to 31st January.

Here is a quick insight into some of the major developments and how they make a difference:

Collaboration - Workflow engine - create tasks for rectification, assign authoring tasks to users, let Subject Matter Experts review courses and raise issues, mark-up slides for modification and much more.

Collaboration - Course locking - automatically lock courses, sections, subsections and slides when authoring. Prevents 2 users from modifying the same content simultaneously.

Collaboration - Content Point manager groups - create groups of authors and limit which courses can be seen and modified by authors. Ideal for large organisations with multiple course development teams. Includes 'read only' courses for global template use.

Simulation - 'Show me, try me, test me' - automatically create 3 modes of playback from a single Capture Point file. Full movie output complete with mouse movements, mouse clicks and typed input. Full author control on fade-in, fade out and display times.

Simulation - 'Word' output from Capture Point - automatically create documentation for your IT training projects.

Rapid Authoring - Enhanced PowerPoint conversion - convert your PowerPoint slides and now bring through the Notes fields. Display the notes in your courses in pop-up windows anywhere on the screen.

Managing Director Mike Alcock is enthusiastic about the promise of the new features: "We have been listening carefully to our customers and a number of the developments have come from their suggestions. Others have been introduced because we always like to look ahead, giving users facilities that they hadn't dreamt about but which will instantly provide them with new ways of producing first class e-learning.

In the last month HSBC, Trinity Mirror, Otto and the London Management Centre have all selected our software, proving that we are the first choice for collaborative rapid e-learning software,"

"Learning Technologies is a showcase event for the e-learning industry and I would encourage those attending to visit us on stand 5 to see what is now possible with rapid e-learning - I promise they will be blown away by the potential for their organisation."

About Atlantic Link

1. Atlantic Link is taking part in this year's Learning technologies exhibition on 30 and 31 January and will be demonstrating its award-winning e-learning products. See us on stand number 5.

2. Atlantic Link provides the world's most advanced rapid elearning tools. Record breaking sales figures and big name clients demonstrate that Atlantic Link's rapid authoring software is revolutionising elearning production.

Atlantic Link Limited was founded in 2002 by Mike Alcock and Tony Reddington. Having worked in e-learning for many years, Tony and Mike had come to the conclusion that e-learning was too slow and expensive to produce, too complicated for most people to create and almost impossible to maintain.

The aim is to bring e-learning development to ordinary users. With the Atlantic Link software, anyone who can use a computer can create stunning e-learning and unleash the knowledge locked within themselves and their organisations.

Atlantic Link has built up an impressive blue-chip customer base in the UK and overseas, including world-leading brands from the automotive, finance, retail and government sectors. It is also developing an extensive channel partnership network for the provision of e-learning solutions internationally.

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	For further information about this story, please contact:
	Contact name: Andrew Third Contact e-mail: andrew@integra.gb.com Contact telephone: +44 (0)115 906 1377 Web site: http://www.integracommunications.co.uk Contact name: Mike Alcock Contact e-mail: mike.alcock@atlantic-link.co.uk Contact telephone: +44 (0)115 906 1375 Web site: http://www.atlantic-link.co.uk
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E-Learning is Good for the Environment

Organizations have paid close attention to the cost reductions associated with online learning and reduced travel. However, have you ever thought about the environmental energy savings and benefits? Probably not. You may be surprised, then, to discover that a recent study by Britain’s Open University found huge energy savings associated with e-learning! Let’s take a look at what they found.

Consider the energy consumption that occurs whenever employees travel to attend training sessions, seminars, conventions, and face-to-face meetings. Environmental impacts include fuel for transportation (plane, train, bus, car, taxi); electricity to light and heat (or cool) conference rooms, training facilities, and hotel rooms; electricity and water to launder sheets and towels; and gas and electricity for restaurants to cook meals. Imagine also the mounds of paper used for all the training manuals, brochures, business cards, and handouts that are distributed at these events. On top of it all, add in the rising costs of fuel and travel.

Now consider the many e-learning formats that provide energy-saving alternatives to traditional classes and meetings. Synchronous online classes and seminars, asynchronous e-courses, self-study programs, online collaboration (blogs and wikis), rapid e-learning, you name it. Here comes the good part!... Open University’s study found that producing and providing distance learning courses consumes an average of 90% less energy and produces 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student than conventional face-to-face courses. Wow! Double wow!

Now think of all the trees that are saved by e-learning. Using online content, PDF manuals, synchronous classrooms, and other web-based tools, acres and acres of forests can be saved. Factor in the resources required to manufacture paper, such as water, electricity, fuel, bleach, and other chemicals, and you can really see the environmental benefits of online learning.

Mobile (m-learning) provides distance learning via audio and video blogs, web-based conferencing, handheld devices, video phones, iPods, and MP3 players. As m-learning continues to grow, we will continue to see a reduction in energy consumption and an increase in technological changes enabling richer content over ever-smaller devices.

The Open University study also found that learning online transformed students’ attitudes about how they can learn and work without traveling. They began shopping more online, corresponding more via email, and doing more research on the internet.

I hope organizations begin to recognize the extremely important benefits to our environment – not just to a company’s bottom-line – that e-learning provides.

Mother Earth will surely thank us.

posted by Jenna Sweeney

Technological Solutions for Environmental and Societal Issues

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Using Technology to Solve Environmental and Societal Issues

Links available online

Presenters: Priya Govindarajan, Intel

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Official Session Notes are lower down (second half of the page).

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Going Green. Recently "being green" has come in vogue and it's been given a lot of time in the news and in our media culture. Focus on global warming and environment is increasing and during this time it's important to think about the different reasons for companies to help out and pitch in so that you can convince people to make a different. Some companies are altruistic and believe in corporate citizenship, others are more concerned with meeting green regulations and others are interested in going green but are concerned about sustaining growth while being able to help. When you know how to approach these companies you know how to work with them to help your own cause. There are many reasons for companies to "do the right thing."

In the states, a study by the information technology and innovation foundation cited ICT as directly responsible for contributing to thwo-thirds of the productivity gains in the US economy between 1997-2002. So technology is good? However Garner research shows that IT industries contribute to 2% of the carbon emissions which seems low but is definitely higher than need be.

how can technology help save the environment? Let's look at some examples Electronic banking: If everyone in the US started paying bills online, we could save 18.5 million trees each year and reduce toxins in the air (from paper creation and transport) by some 2.2 billion tons. Openeco.org: organizations can calculate on a granular level the GHGs related to their facilities and vehicle fleets based on standard approved carbon accounting standards Interface Carpet Company: new computer controls on the boilers in a fabric factory reduced CO emissions by 99.7% (2 tons/week to 200 lbs/year). Computer controls also improved efficiency of boilers by 23% by minimizing human error and by monitoring temperatures more precisely

People sometimes are adverse to the big bad anti-eco giants but these are the places we need to be making an effort. For example: people are adverse to working on cruise ships because they're not very earth friendly except by helping them improve their efficiency etc. you can help save the environment by cutting their energy/resource consumption and waste.

Green Tech Actions to help Minimize: Let's look at the earth friendly R's. Reduce: optimize X. Reuse: use X as X. Recycle: extract materials from X. Reconstitute: replace X with Y. Reparation: compensate for X by doing Y. Rethink

Green Technology to help enable: Design & invent: design green buildings. optimize & automate: efficient route planning (for UPS for example) monitor & model: Trying to monitor computer systems and only keep those needed on operate & sell (online stores are much more eco friendly than running a physical store) educate & persuade (create websites to help educate people on how to switch) minimize miles (ie: instead of going to a meeting, have a teleconference to save the trip)

Braining Storming Ideas: Move all data centres to cooler climates to minimize cooling needed. (ie using the environment around the data centre in the design) Sharing data centres across companies to minimize the amount of space each company uses. Switching from AC power to DC power. Use sensors to detect where hot spots are so that cooling is only directly applied where it's needed. Leasing of servers, resell to secondary markets Carbon Offsetting

Pillars of sustainable Innovation: Control Risks Cut Costs: Adobe spent about 1.1 million to restructure their buildings and yet they'e saving 1 million each year. Even little things like replacing all their light bulbs to more eco friendly bulbs are contributing to their compay's improvement. Enhance Brand: GE Ecomagination - GE managed to increase profits by introducin their new brand Create Revenue: Toyota Prius

Using Technology for Social Good: -Kiva, Globalgiving.org Using the power of the net to connect grass root humanitarian efforts with resources

-TechBridge World, CMU: Education to help bridge the technology gap in countries. Engineering students at CMU developing tools to help these people with their day to day problems.

-United Villages: drive by Wifi Technology. To help bring online contact to these communities, people are able to write emails at a computer centre and then when the local bus drives by, the bus provides wifi to the computer centre and sends all the saved emails at that time. It is not constant internet however it allows them to be in contact and use their current infrastructure to get temporary access to as many cities as possible.

Rural telemedicine: Using technology to connect medical support to rural areas. Video conferecing etc. to help diagnose from afar

yara's Precision farming: decision support tools to help farmers apply fertilizer where it is needed.

Find out how your own companies can and already are helping. Intel has the World Ahead program to supply 100 schools in India with desktop PCs and the intel-powered classmate PC. They've trained more than 730000 teachers through the intel teach program and inaugurated a pilot program for remote diagnostics and screening for medical assistance. Similar programs hae been established in China, Costa Rica, Ireland, Israel, Brazil and Russia..

Intel community Solutions: http://www.intel.com/community/solutions/success_stories.htm

Things you can do! Engage more in expressing your beliefs in your work: see if you can get your workplace's support and assistance in realizing your goals. You can form/join employee groups to help educate as well as gain new support for your cause. Look for opportunities to use your tech skills towards your cause. Volunteer actively for your cause. Look for partnerships with non-profit organizations. For example Dell + NCF/goodwill are paring to donate used computes.

links: http://www.sustainablility.com/index.asp http://www.environmentaldefense.org/ http://www.greenercomputing.com/ http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org http://www.sdchronos.org/en/index.htm (Elearning tutorial on business case for sustainable development http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/g100/?campaign_id=msnbc_green (global 100 - Role models in sustainable business practices) http://www.oneworldprojects.com http://techsoup.org (technology place for nonprofits) http://dotorganize.net/

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**Official Session Notes**

“Green is IN”

- Magazines and newspapers are addressing environmental issues - Companies must comply with regulations, foster corporate citizenship, tie growth to sustainable operations. - There’s money in being green - save energy for example.

Drivers for environmental and community stewardship:

Companies don’t establish offices in places that are not environmentally responsible. Reputation - investing in companies that are environmentally friendly makes socially responsible investments.

How much regulations are playing a role:

From 2000 to 2007 significant increase in environmentally aware regulations: waste disposal (energy, e-waste, battery), packaging, etc. In march 2007 a study by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation cited ICT as directly responsible for 2/3 of the productivity gains in US economy from 1997-2002.

While technology is doing great, there’s an area for improvement.

How technology can help environment

- e-banking can save 18.5 mil trees each year + reduce toxins in air from paper production and transportation - OpenEco.org - organizations can contribute by ensuring their vehicle fleets are environmentally friendly for example. - Interface carpet companies - new computer control in a fabric factory reduced CO emissions, boilers efficiency improved 23% by using computer controls

Green technology actions to help Minimize*

Reduce, Reuse (donate old computers to charity instead of dumping), Recycle (extract materials from substance) => minimize Eco impact + Reconstitute (replace X with Y), Reparation (compensate for X by doing Y), Rethink (increase awareness).

Green technology to help Enable*

Technology used to design/invent: green buildings, solar power plants, etc. Optimize and automate (manufacturing), monitor & model, operate & sell (energy savings in retail), minimize miles(presenter from UK for TechLeaders used her SecondLife avatar to present instead of flying over), educate & persuade (create more awareness of environmentally friendly technology).

Technology + environment case study

Speaker has asked attendees to propose green actions to minimize:

- Virtualization: Pooled data centers pool systems together, use air to filter and flow instead of using coolers. - In an office added increased insulation to avoid unnecessary heating of the neighboring unoccupied spaces. - Keeping as many servers up as needed instead of all and auto sense the need for more/less and adjust.

Some current solutions to user study:

- Virtualization - Power management for servers - Intel’s eco-rack - uses DC power - Sun’s water cooling technology that cools servers in rack instead of the whole room - Leasing of servers, resell to secondary markets - Carbon offsetting - Green design of data centers

Pillars of sustainable innovation

Control risks(Palm, RoHS), cut costs(Adobe), enhance brand (GE Ecomagination), create revenue(Toyota Prius)

Using technology for social good

- Use net to connect people who need something with those who need that something - Education to help bridge the technology gap ( TechBridge World, CMU), helping next generation of students think innovatively. - United Villages: in remote villages in India, Africa: drive by busses with pay-per-use Wifi technology allowing people to send messages to each other.

(Comment from the audience): radiation emitted by these devices is bad for the environment. (Speaker’s answer): in rural villages this is the only source, so the emitted pollution from the radiation is very small compared to the impact of innovation of giving people access to the avail technology.

- Intel has a program on educating teachers, doctors on technology use: remote tele operation, monitoring nursing homes, cleaning up the beaches, etc.

Moving forward:

- Get involved with groups in your organization, start one if there are none. - Look for ways to use technology in your community. - Look for ways to impact company’s bottom line. - Network with other fields to see their perspective.

Presenter closed with a cartoon drawing of a person in a supermarket faced with a choice of apple varieties that all have had some negative impact on the environment in their production and.or delivery.

Follow up discussion:

Question: Today’s fast paced technology leads to large amounts of e-waste. Is there’s a program at Intel trying to address this, to foster reuse here locally or even by end users. Answer: You can donate your old computer to local charities, there’s on-going discussion to reuse & refurbish, end-user re-use is interesting, but not yet being addressed.

(The speaker will post her presentation slides to GH Wiki.)