Public Sector Learning Conference Agenda

Public Sector Learning
Fresh Ideas for Tomorrow’s people

Date    Wednesday 20th May
Place   Hilton London Kensington Hotel
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What’s it all about?
Learning Pool’s first ever annual conference will benefit smart organisations who want to find out how to use new media to create efficiencies and service improvements.

Having a well trained and motivated workforce is the key for the future. This interactive, fun and unstuffy conference featuring speakers, interactive showcases and masterclasses exploring new media, will generate practical ideas to help make this happen.

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Who should come?
Anyone who wants to know how to use new media simply and effectively to create efficiencies and service improvements.  So that’s public sector IT and L&D people.

Key Note speaker
Ben Page, MD of IPSoS MORI named ‘one of the 50 most influential people in local government’ by LGC will be talking about the social networking phenomenon and how it has evolved from being the domain of techno geeks to the fabric of society in just a few years.

Other speakers include:
 •   Charles Jennings on how to develop a robust technology-enabled learning & development strategy
•    Donald Clark on why social-networking will shape the 21st Century and where the opportunity is
•    Major Roy Evans on how he has developed and delivered mobile e-learning activities for active frontline personnel
•    Henry Stewart will be providing top advice on ‘How to turn learners on’ and keep them engaged

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What else is happening?
Conference delegates can choose to attend one of 4 master classes on:
• Writing for Electronic Media
• What’s the point of Equality & Diversity?
• Taking control of your email
• How to develop your e-learning strategy

There will also be a series of showcases run by public sector organisations on:
• Using e-learning to communicate policy
• Training lots of colleagues quickly on Government Connect
• Delivering social care e-learning
• Collaborative partnership working by Essex HR Partnership

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Sounds good
We think so and we hope you do too.  For more information and to book places click here or call 0207 101 9383.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Janet

Learning Pool conference – Donald Clark’s Weapons of Mass Collaboration

 E-learning has rarely, if ever, been called a weapon of mass collaboration but if the cap fits wear it.  

Donald Clark, board member of UFI LearnDirect and blogger extraordinaire, cites Audit Commission statistics that show that local authority spending on training per annum is over £500m and two thirds of this spend is duplicated. 

Shocking statistics in today’s environment of efficiency savings and frugality. 

It seems the opportunity for collaboration is massive.

Donald is speaking at the Public Sector Learning Conference on 20th May where he will build on what he sees is the big opportunity and quick win for public sector organisations.

Donald will be outlining why he feels sharing, self-publishing, search and social-networking will shape the 21st Century and how, in the middle of the current financial difficulties, lies opportunity.

Other speakers at Public Sector Learning – Fresh ideas for tomorrow’s people include:
 
Ben Page, MD, Ipos MORI
Major Roy Evans, British Army
Charles Jennings, Duntroon Associates
Henry Stewart, Chief Executive, Happy Computers

For more information and to book places click here or call 0207 101 9383.

It’s still good to talk

Do you remember a BT ad from the late ‘80’s where the dad answers the phone and immediately passes the caller, his daughter, to the mum to chat to?

Well, I was one of those daughters.

Whenever I called my parents my dad would answer and say, “Hang on, I’ll get your mum…” and would only spend a few seconds on the phone with me.

But I’ve noticed that now I’m a skype user via the laptop the tables have turned – and it’s dad who spends all the time on the ‘phone’ and not mum.

In fact he has become something of a skype stalker and relishes in ‘catching’ me when I happen to be on line for any other purpose. He seems to delight in giving me an entire run down of every goal scored in the Premier League each week.

Perhaps there’s something about the use of technology that makes it more ‘manly’ for the more traditional generation to call now? Or maybe my dad’s just a mischief maker.

Wendy

Shared not secret

The James Bond classic ‘The World is not Enough’ was on TV again recently. 

Now I’m not a massive fan of the three digit daredevil but I do like the sequence where Pierce Brosnan and Robbie Coltrane’s characters are on a wooden platform in the middle of the Caspian Sea.  

A helicopter with a rotating saw is swooping down and Robbie Coltrane’s Rolls Royce goes into the sea.  Oops.

That platform was originally built during the first oil rush.  Apparently oil could only be recovered when it was near to the surface and at that particular geographic point in the Caspian Sea the water is shallow, and the oil not too far below the surface.  At one time a whole town used to live out there and they even had a Mayor.

Anyway, up until not so long ago a gas bubble was venting into the atmosphere just off the structure.  Natural gas worth $250,000 a day (and that was then) or $91,250,000 a year of natural resources was being lost.  And then a company called Pennzoil was able to cap the bubble, compress the gas and pump it onshore. Hey presto – everyone wins.

That got me thinking that there is generally a huge amount a resource out there, if you just know where to look.  That’s the secret.

For those interested in e-learning in the public sector there are lots of different projects that your fellow L&D professionals are working on.  Plus lots of ideas for treatments of difficult topics, creative use of images and so on.

That’s one of the great things about being in my role as a Learning Pool technical trainer – I get to chat to people about what they’re up to and find out about some of the really interesting things going on.

So instead of keeping your own ideas, projects, questions capped, why not release them into the Learning Pool community so that everyone can win?  That would be an emission that is good for the environment, I promise you.

Andy

Happy Birthday to us!

Hip, hip, hurray! We’re 2 years old on 1^st August 2008 and it feels fantastic.  My, how we’ve grown in the last 2 years since Paul and Mary bought Learning Pool from IDeA.  A roller coaster ride, if ever there was one! 

 

In the last two years we have:

• Re-branded and re-launched Learning Pool
• Kept the IDeA’s original customers and added 50 more
• Moved offices once
• Launched 4 new services
• Recruited 22 new team members
• Doubled our number of customers
• Been shortlisted for a national e-learning award
• Been on TV
• Had 10 customers hug us
• Had a few wild staff nights out
• Launched our (hotly contested) Customer of the Year award
• Met Elvis
• Introduced over 400 customers to each other
• Had a Learning Pool baby (2 more on the way!)
• Lost 4 customers and got them back
• Had 8 Steering Group meetings
• Met or spoken to all the LEA’s in England (hello!)
• Worked with some fab suppliers (and a couple of not so fab ones)
• Met about 300 councillors
• Delivered instructional design authoring training to 168 people
• Written lots of lovely blogs
• Created over 40 e-learning courses
• Revamped and re-launched our Authoring Tool
• Eaten too many cakes at our team meetings
• Visited over 300 councils (and counting)
• Clocked up too many air miles
• Spent about 600 days on our mobile phones (wow… should have bought shares in Vodafone!)

 What’s Mary’s highlight from the last 2 years?

“Launching the fabulous Learning Pool DLE and seeing it being used so widely – it brings me joy every time one of our customers finds something new they can do with it that we hadn’t thought of and I still have nightmares about the county council that had spent £1m on an LMS.”

And Paul’s?

“Being in a room full of prospective customers and having one person stand up and say that Learning Pool’s customer service was the best she had ever experienced… anywhere!  Well done Ben, thanks Christine and welcome on board Essex councils!”

The Learning Pool Concept

Paul and Mary, our founding directors, explain the Learning Pool concept very simply and talk about why e-learning is a real solution for creating efficiencies in today’s public sector.