NewMindsets Courseware Receives American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Certification Institute Certification

Chicago, Illinois. - December 5, 2002 - NewMindsets, Inc. received The American Society for Training and Development's (ASTD) Certification Institute E-Learning Courseware Certification (ECC) today for its content in the field of general business management. The certification was awarded after a rigorous evaluation of the course's usability and instructional design. The certification indicates that the courseware demonstrates the characteristics associated with excellent instruction.

The ECC program is the only program of its kind, designed to evaluate the compatibility, interface, production quality and instructional design of e-learning courseware. The ASTD Certification Institute Certification Standards Committee, composed of e-learning experts, academicians, instructional systems design practitioners, and other learning leaders in the industry, has created these standards. The standards are supported by examples, clarifications, definitions, scoring criteria, and other supporting information.

NewMindsets submitted all its general business management content for ASTD Certification Institute's Certification evaluation and certification. The material contains learning resources, practical worksheets and job supports with an integrated Notebook and bulletin board for knowledge capture and knowledge sharing on a wide range of business topics such as leadership, teamwork, creativity, innovation, communication, delegation, managing projects and change management.

Unlike many other content libraries, NewMindsets learning resources can be mixed and matched by the user to create unique learning and competence development programs for every learner, as well as support project and team-based learning. This highly customized approach creates learning focused on unique performance improvement needs with a direct return on investment.

Dr. Gareth Morgan, Chairman of NewMindsets, noted, "We are extremely pleased that ASTD Certification Institute Certification has recognized the uniqueness and power of our approach to performance-based learning and welcome this certification. As a company we want to continue leading the way to new e-learning standards and effectiveness and are grateful to ASTD Certification Institute Certification for their thoughtful evaluation of our system and the opportunity to contribute to future standard-setting activities."

"This certification provides a valuable selection tool for trainers and suppliers when they're faced with the overwhelming array of e-courseware," said Tom Kelly, chair of ASTD Certification Institute's Certification Board of Directors. "Courses that bear the certification seal demonstrate the characteristics associated with excellent instruction."

Steve Strelsin, CEO of NewMindsets, added that "the certification speaks to the quality, rigor and usability of our learning system. We look forward to working with ASTD as we continue to build our content base, expand our relationships with channel partners and serve our customers".

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

About ASTD and the Certification Institute Certification

ASTD is the world's leading association of workplace learning and performance professionals, forming a world-class community of practice. ASTD's 70,000 members come from more than 100 countries and 15,000 organizations - multinational corporations, medium-sized and small businesses, government, academia, consulting firms, and product and service suppliers. Founded in 1944, ASTD is now a global force, widening the industry's focus to connect learning and performance to measurable results, and is a sought-after voice on critical public policy issues.

ASTD has formed the ASTD Certification Institute Certification to take the lead and set professional standards/industry standards for courseware development. Courseware must meet rigorous standards based on criteria established by ASTD Certification Institute's Certification Standards Committee composed of e-learning experts, academicians, ISD practitioners, and other industry leaders. The program will also help training professionals choose the right courseware from among the 650,000 e-learning courses available today. For more information, visit www.astd.org.

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