NewMindsets Chairman Dr. Gareth Morgan Delivers Keynote Address at Conference Board E-Learning Event

Toronto, Canada. - April 9, 2002 - Dr. Gareth Morgan, Chairman of NewMindsets Inc delivered the keynote address today at The Conference Board of Canada's 2002 Learning and Development Conference: Successfully Implementing E-Learning. The focus of the event was to showcase best practices in implementing e-learning solutions and to discuss changing trends in the e-learning industry.

In his keynote, Dr. Morgan talked about how e-Learning has evolved over the past five years and what is required to offer learners a meaningful e-Learning experience. "Our industry is undergoing a tremendous amount of change. The first wave has been disappointing in terms of learning impact because applications have been technology driven, not learner driven. This is now changing as we build learning platforms rather than technology platforms," noted Dr. Morgan.

Dr. Morgan further outlined that "part of the problem rests in the fact that there has been an overemphasis on learning management and tracking systems dominated by a 'first generation' paradigm in which content developers have taken classroom based models and books and streamed them for on line delivery. The focus has been on putting old style content and instructional models on line, rather than tapping the power of the Internet to develop completely different kinds of learning opportunities. This is why many early adopters of e-Learning have been frustrated with their experience."

Dr. Morgan described how, to overcome the current dissatisfaction , a new wave of development using content specifically configured for the Internet rather than plucked from other sources is on the way. He said that "what we are at last seeing is what we knew intuitively upon the inception of e-learning - that content is king." He suggested that those companies that can offer learners this 'second generation' approach where learning-configured content is provided at the point of need in the context of a learner-driven, performance support environment will "lead our industry."

"The industry up to now has been driven by a 'compliance approach' to learning - largely generated by the desire to manage and measure, learning. The future belongs to targeted performance learning - where the traditional pre-designed course model gives way to learning experiences that can be configured at the point of need, and where success is evaluated in terms of the impact of learning on job performance," concluded Dr. Morgan.

Dr Morgan suggested that "the big strategic choice facing every organization interested in tapping the full benefit of e-Learning is not what learning management system they should select, but whether they are positioning for second generation Performance Learning, as opposed to first generation Compliance Learning. Key decisions on e-Learning should always be made with this consideration in mind."

Other insights that Dr. Morgan shared focused on the need to blend e-learning with other forms of organizational learning, such as classroom instruction, coaching and on-the-job projects. "By learning through multiple stimuli and then being encouraged to apply the learning, we are finding the greatest levels of content retention and learning, both individual and enterprise-wide," described Dr. Morgan.

Other speakers at the event included representatives from The Conference Board, Monsanto, Ceridian, Cisco, Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada who shared their experiences in developing and driving e-learning across industry.

About NewMindsets

NewMindsets is a 'second-generation' e-learning company whose products and services provide real-time, online performance support and offer granular content that helps learners address key business issues and develop critical competencies. Based in Toronto, Canada, NewMindsets e-learning solutions serve organizations and individuals globally across a variety of industries including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, professional services, technology and governmental organizations.

Contact:

Brenda Turgeon,
NewMindsets Inc.
4800 Dundas Street West, Suite 105
Toronto, Ontario M9A 1B1
Telephone: 416-233-3737
Fax: 416-233-7698
E-mail: info@newmindsets.com
http://www.newmindsets.com

A copy of Dr. Morgan's presentation is available upon request.

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