Welcome to the December issue of Element K News, the e-Learning newsletter from Element K®, intended for our customers and other friends! Element K News provides a monthly update of our latest e-Learning product releases. But it goes beyond that, variously including partner spotlights, dates of upcoming Element K webinars and conferences, highlights from Element K Blog, and more. This month includes many exciting updates, so please read on!

• ASTD Employee Learning Week
  
• The 2009 ASTD State of the Industry Report 
  
• On the Need to Prepare for an Aging Workforce
  
• What's New at Element K Blog

• Two 2009 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards 
• Elearning! Magazine 2009 Award of Excellence
  

• Conference, January 27-29:
  ASTD TechKnowledge
• Conference, February 1-3:
  Training 2010
  

• KnowledgeHub LMS Platform
  
• e-Learning Courses
• K-Cards
  
• GetAbstract Book Summaries
• Did You Know?

ASTD Employee Learning Week

The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) is again celebrating employee learning in organizations with their Employee Learning Week (ELW) program from December 7-11, 2009. As their website indicates, "Employee Learning Week is an awareness campaign highlighting the important connection between learning and achieving organizational results." Learning and training are more important now than ever before, as "the growing skills gap and the increased need to compete in today's economy require organizations to develop a knowledgeable and highly skilled workforce."

All organizations are encouraged to participate, and ASTD provides the following helpful tips and ideas for making your ELW efforts a success:

• Work with members of your ASTD chapter to pilot a PR campaign targeted to business leaders and learning professionals in your community.
• Institute an employee development recognition event for individuals and departments in your organization.
• Introduce new learning opportunities during the week.
• Work with government officials to pass a proclamation recognizing Employee Learning Week.
• Communicate learning and development tips to your workforce each day of the week.
• Host a press briefing with the local media.
• Host a program with a local university or community college.
• Help employees create individual development plans to increase and enhance their skills.
• Submit an article about your company's learning efforts to a local newspaper.

ASTD provides some additional information about a few of these ideas at www.employeelearningweek.org/involve.html.

Note further that your organization can be designated an ASTD "Champion of Learning" by participating in ELW. See what some of your L&D peers did in 2008 and 2007 to showcase their ELW efforts!

The 2009 ASTD State of the Industry Report

On the Need to Prepare for an Aging Workforce

The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College has published a report titled "The Pressures of Talent Management," which covers the extent to which organizations are aware, and prepared for, the effects of an aging workforce. They found that overall, "nearly 70% of the almost 700 organizations surveyed do not yet know how old their workers are or what proportion is likely to retire. 40% stated that the aging of the workforce will have a detrimental impact on their organization in the next three years."

Based on specific demographics, some organizations will of course be harder hit than others. But Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Director of the Sloan Center on Aging & Work and report co-author, puts the overall issue well when she said: "Knee-jerk reactions to today's challenging economic reality aside, U.S. companies need to start planning strategically for workforce sustainability. The current abundance of older worker talent and experience is going to dry up, and businesses will very soon need to fill hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs."

The report examined "talent management practices at 696 organizations representing the 10 leading sectors of the economy. These types of employers account for 83% of employment and 85% of payrolls in the United States. The companies studied, which range from small enterprises to very large organizations, collectively employed over one million workers." As noted in their press release, some of the key findings include:

• 77% of employers surveyed had not analyzed projected employee retirement rates or assessed employee career plans.
• More than half (56%) had not assessed the skills their organizations need today and into the future.
• About one-third of employers reported not having enough programs for recruitment or training of older workers.

Although recent economic conditions are leading many to stay in the workforce longer, the demographics of the "Baby Boomers" (born between 1946-1964) will eventually hit some industries very hard, "leading some economists to predict labor shortages of 10-15 million in the coming decade." Eventually, this inevitable "brain drain" will impact every organization -- so what are you as a learning and development professional doing to ease these effects?

Contact your Element K Account Executive or Learning Consultant to learn more about how Element K's innovative and award-winning learning solutions can be a crucial part of your organization's talent management initiatives.

What's New at Element K Blog

At Element K Blog, we provide commentary and insights on the Learning and Development industry. This includes reports on industry conferences, pointers to the best industry resource sites, and the regular feature "Learning and Development Roundup," where we point you to key resources and opinions from the past four to six weeks.

Here is what you'll find at Element K Blog recently:

• Learning and Development Roundup (Vol. 8) - Includes links to items from ASTD, Ambient Insights, Chief Learning Officer magazine, Harold Jarche, Jane Hart, David Mallon, and more.
• New Roles for Instructors, Instructional Designers, and Subject Matter Experts - What new opportunities are there for traditional L&D job roles as social learning plays a bigger role in learning programs?
• The 2009 Edition of Top 100 Tools for Learning - Jane Hart has released the final results from the 2009 edition of her Learning Tools survey, and has been hard at work creating other great resources for you as well!
• The Transition from Top Performer to Manager - Comments on a key organizational learning need: aiding top performers as they become first-time managers.
• Learning and Development Roundup (Vol. 7) - Includes links to items from Harold Jarche, Dion Hinchcliffe, T+D magazine, Elearning! magazine, ASTD's Learning Circuits Blog, and more.

We hope you'll check out Element K Blog, come back regularly, and add us to your RSS reader. Also, if you use Twitter you can follow us there at our account "Element_K."

Two 2009 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards

Elearning! Magazine 2009 Award of Excellence

Conference: ASTD TechKnowledge

January 27-29, 2010, Las Vegas, NV

Element K's Tom Stone will be presenting "Overcoming Obstacles and Objections to the use of Web 2.0 in Organizations." To learn more about this conference, visit the ASTD TechKnowledge website.

Conference: Training 2010
February 1-3, 2010, San Diego, CA

Element K's Tom Stone will be presenting "Overview of Twitter for Learning Professionals" and "Overcoming Obstacles and Objections to the use of Web 2.0 in Organizations." To learn more about this conference, visit the Training 2010 website.

We are pleased to offer you a $200 discount to the Training 2010 Conference and Expo in San Diego, CA February 1-3. Simply use VIP code CTSM2 when registering online at www.TrainingConference.com. This offer is open to new registrants only. No additional discounts will apply. 

For more information about conferences that Element K will be participating in, see the Element K Events page.

For more information about our webinars, see the Element K Webinars page.

KnowledgeHub LMS Platform

In an effort to continually improve the reporting capabilities of KnowledgeHub, Element K's full-featured LMS, we have added a new feature called Spot Reporting. In addition to the 13 Standard Reports and robust Advanced Reporting Engine, KnowledgeHub now has Spot Reporting which gives an administrator the ability to instantly create hundreds of "on the spot" reports from web tables throughout the KnowledgeHub administrator site. Key aspects of this new functionality include:

• Access to over 3200 instant reports.
• The use of standard search criteria to define each report.
• An export button creates the Spot Report in CSV format.
• Any table with the export button becomes a Spot Report.

An administrator can now create reports that show content assignments, class schedules, group assignments, etc. The following are some examples:

• Report: All the users assigned to a subpool
  Spot Report Workflow = Users > Student > View/Edit – View Subscriptions
   
• Report: Subpool expiration dates
  Spot Report Workflow = Orders & Subscriptions > Subscriptions > View/Edit – View Subpool – Assigned Quantity
   
• Report: Users with a particular custom field or in a specific group
  Spot Report Workflow = Users > Student > View/Edit

Contact your Element K Account Executive or Learning Consultant to learn more about this powerful new Spot Reporting feature of Element K's KnowledgeHub LMS platform.

E-Learning Courses
Element K's award-winning e-Learning content includes robust multimedia content, software simulations, business simulations, quizzes, assessments, and more. And our massive libraries continue to grow each month! The latest e-Learning course additions in the following general areas include:

Business Skills

• Excellence in Technical Customer Service (Includes Simulation)

Office Productivity

• Microsoft® Entourage®: Mac 2008
• Microsoft® Windows® 7: Level 1
• Microsoft® Windows® 7: Level 2
• Windows® 7: Transition from Windows® XP

Design and Media

• Adobe® Fireworks® CS4: (Macintosh)
• IT Professional

IT Professional

• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) Certification: Fourth Edition
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 1 of 13): Understanding Project Management Fundamentals
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 2 of 13): Identifying Project Management Processes
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 3 of 13): Initiating a Project
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 4 of 13): Managing Project Scope
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 5 of 13): Estimating Project Time
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 6 of 13): Developing and Controlling a Project Schedule
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 7 of 13):Analyzing Project Cost
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 8 of 13): Measuring Project Quality
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 9 of 13): Organizing Human Resources for a Project
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 10 of 13): Devising Effective Communication Methods
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 11 of 13): Analyzing Project Risks
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 12 of 13): Processing Project Procurements
• CAPM® Certification: 4th Ed. (Part 13 of 13): Integrating Project Workflow

Localized Courses

• Basics of Effective Communication (Second Edition) (Includes Simulation) (Indian English)

Contact your Element K Account Executive or Learning Consultant to learn more about our various libraries of e-Learning courses.
 

K-Cards

K-Cards are convenient quick reference cards that can be printed and referenced quickly to find answers to common tasks. They provide useful tips, techniques, procedures, and other reference information. K-Cards are comprehensive guides that increase productivity and expertise and provide an excellent on-the-job, performance support solution that can extend the value of both e-Learning and classroom learning.

The latest K-Card made available is:

• CompTIA® A+® (2009 Objectives)

Additional K-Cards exist for topics such as Office 2007 applications, Office 2003 applications, Windows XP and Windows Vista, Project Management, and CompTIA® Security+.

Contact your Element K Account Executive or Learning Consultant to learn more about Element K's K-Cards product.
 

getAbstract
One of our most innovative partners, getAbstract, provides book summaries of the latest and most important books in business. Most of us don't have time to read every interesting book that comes along, but with getAbstract, you don't have to. Access book summaries in a variety of formats, including PDFs or as audio content for your iPhone, iPod, BlackBerry, or other MP3 player. The latest getAbstract additions include:

• Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment by Jamie Showkeir and Maren Showkeir
• Green Tech: How to Plan and Implement Sustainable IT Solutions by Lawrence Webber and Michael Wallace
• Information Technology Project Management: Providing Measurable Organizational Value by Jack T. Marchewka
• Innovation Tournaments: Creating and Selecting Exceptional Opportunities by Christian Terwiesch and Karl T. Ulrich
• Jeff Immelt and the New GE Way: Innovation, Transformation and Winning in the 21st Century by David Magee
• Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy by Bates Gill
• Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life by Len Fisher
• Streetwise Credit and Collections: Maximize Your Collections Process to Improve Your Profitability by Suzanne Caplan
• The Business Value of IT: Managing Risks, Optimizing Performance and Measuring Results by Michael D.S. Harris, David Herron and Stasia Iwanicki
• The Busy Manager's Guide to Delegation by Richard A. Luecke and Perry McIntosh
• The Effective CIO: How to Achieve Outstanding Success through Strategic Alignment, Financial Management, and IT Governance by Eric J. Brown and William A. Yarberry, Jr.
• The Geek Gap: Why Business and Technology Professionals Don't Understand Each Other and Why They Neeed Each Other to Survive by Bill Pfleging and Minda Zetlin
• The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate by John Zenger, Joseph Folkman and Scott Edinger
• The Leader's Way by Dalai Lama and Laurens van den Muyzenberg
• The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making by Scott Plous
• The Secret Language of Business: How to Read Anyone in 3 Seconds or Less by Kevin Hogan
• Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition by Michael Mauboussin
• This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff

Contact your Element K Account Executive or Learning Consultant to learn more about the getAbstract products.

Did You Know?
Did you know that training courses from Element K may qualify you for college credits towards your bachelor's degree at University of Phoenix? You may be closer to earning your college degree than you think! Element K and University of Phoenix teamed up to provide Element K customers with access to a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs—delivered through the University's convenient online format or offered at a campus near you. University of Phoenix offers programs in the areas of business, education, health care, management, technology and more.

For more information about this program with University of Phoenix, visit their website. And to learn more about the many other certification and accreditation benefits available through Element K's learning solutions, visit us online or contact your Element K Account Executive or Learning Consultant.
 

For more information on Element K:
http://www.elementk.com or call 1-800-434-3466.
Element K, 500 Canal View Blvd., Rochester, NY 14623

Copyright 2009 Element K Corporation. All rights reserved. Element K and the Element K logo are trademarks of Element K Corporation. Products or other names may be trademarks of their respective proprietors who may not be affiliated with Element K. Element K is part of NIIT, a global talent development corporation operating in 40 countries.