Archive for the ‘benefits of e-learning’ Category
The 10 rules of painless procurement - from both sides
Monday, November 15th, 2010
The 10 rules of painless procurement - from both side
A few weeks ago I picked up on a tweet about the tender process from @
As we had all been involved in the procurement process (from both sides) we decided to come up with a few tips on how to manage the process - if you are looking to submit a tender or if you are looking for a supplier.
We used a shared google doc to come up with several ideas, tips, experiences and these are our top 10 for both! I hope that you find it useful.
by Scott Hewitt, Tim McShane and Kevin Mulryne
scott.hewitt@realprojects.co.uk
kevin@mulryne.com
tim@fluffyclouds.co.uk
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Rules for bidders (tendering for work and filling in the forms) |
Rules for clients (writing the tender docs and running the tender process) |
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1 Make sure you are in possession of all the available facts
Ask to see the grid the team will be using to judge the bid so you can make sure you have each area covered. |
1 Know what you want
Ideas cost money and time. If you don’t know what you need it’s a specification that you should write, not a tender. |
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2 It’s all in the preparation
Read the given criteria carefully and plan to match what you are producing as closely to the requirements as you can.
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2 Tell bidders if they are likely to be wasting their time
If you are going to have a threshold based on company turnover (or some other criteria which will automatically exclude bidders) let people know.
Why allow people to write a whole tender when they are never really able to be a supplier? |
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3 Be sensible with your time - and money
If you don’t like the tender, project or the idea behind it - don’t submit a response! |
3 Be open about your requirements
If you want environment, QHSE policy etc. explain why you want them and the relevance to the tender.
Provide bidders with a scoring matrix so they can concentrate their efforts on what you think is important. |
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4 Pay attention to the process of filling in the form
Make sure you have plenty of time to write the whole return - uneven sections read badly and create a bad impression.
If it’s an online form, go in and get the questions then create answers offline to copy and paste in later - don’t try and compose answers ‘live’ on the system. |
4 Give bidders some guidance on word count
Consider limiting the number of words for each question - this will make returns easier to compare and focus bidders’ attention on what you think is important. |
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5 Be a bit pedantic about language
Check spelling, punctuation and grammar - mistakes can put off the more exacting employers - or those who are looking for ways to differentiate between close competitors. |
5 Make it simple
The PQQ is meant to be an introductory, pre-qualification process. 40 page documents are not helpful to anyone. You will get stock answers.
Why not have an initial, high-level PQQ that covers the main important issues? If you pass that then provide the more detailed PQQ. |
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6 Answer the questions which are asked, where they are asked
Answer the questions which are given - don’t give ‘stock’ answers copied from elsewhere.
In multi-part tender returns, write a new answer for each section - don’t copy and paste between sections as they will probably be read by the same rater and this can give a negative impression.
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6 Be transparent about money
While you want best value, providing an indicative budget allows clients to be innovative within a framework.
If you have a budget of £20k and then receive ideas which cost £60k that you can’t use everyone has wasted their time and effort. |
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7 Keep it real
Only use real evidence - exaggerated or invented experience can be checked - especially when you are in a small area of work - the rater may well know the situation you are exaggerating/inventing details about! |
7 Keep it real
Don’t run a procurement process and ask for tenders if you don’t have the budget to do the project.
Also just getting quotes for comparison and having no intention of using the client for a real project is unfair. |
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8 Raters are people too!
Remember that if a team are looking at a bid then some of them won’t be experts in every area so write for them as well as for the experts. |
8 Use realistic and fair timescales
Be sensible about your time deadline. People need time to put a tender together.
Also if you set the tender make sure that you meet your own deadline for feedback and decisions. |
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9 Use your best people
Each section of a bid will be reviewed - potentially by an expert. Get an expert at your end to look at the bid so it isn’t obvious that sufficient time hasn’t been spent on key sections.
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9 Respect your bidders
Provide detailed feedback on successful and unsuccessful tenders.
Respect ideas and concepts within a tender response. If you want to use them, you should pay for them! |
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10 Check it…and then check it again
Make sure you check the document you are sending out. One of us found someone’s comments left in saying, “No one will read this section so just put anything in.” Needless to say….
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10 Play nicely
It’s a relationship - you both need each other. Be clear about what you both want from the project. |
Can Kinect make a difference within e-learning?
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Each month and week seems to see the launch of a new piece of technology for people to get excited about. Last month I saw that the Bigtrak is making a comeback! Companies are able to have global launch days that captivate their customers with their new product and service. The new Apple iPad launch has been a huge success with huge volume of units being sold in the first days. The e-learning community has rightly been excited by the iPad and the possibilities that it provides for mobile learning.
The kinect launch doesn’t seem to have been met with the same levels of excitement despite the possibilities that it provides for learners and developers. Originally called Project Natal kinect is a movement controller that allows you to control the software with your body movements, you don’t need to hold any type of device. Due to my interest in game based learning I’d be interested in the first promotional video and the opportunities that this could provide for learners and developers. When the Nintendo Wii was launched people were amazed about the new game controller and the way that it would change the way that we play games.
A few months after its launch I was thinking about how we could use the controller within an e-learning resource. After testing, reading, coding, prototyping we realised that we could develop flash games within the Wii browser and develop a series of game based learning resources. The development project was a success but for each user to benefit they would need a Wii device, something that we are unlikely to see within an office or school environment. Jonny Lee through his TED video had showed the possibility of the controller technology being used on its own and we had high hopes for a working alone device to reaching the market after time.
After E3 2010 the game industry was buzzing with hope that the Kinect technology will make it to the PC. The ability to use this device will open up new possibilities for designers that will allow learner to have an immersive experience. We don’t have any development costs or platform ideas but if we are able to have a device that works on a standard platform and supports PC development it can have a real difference. For example the driver assessment course that alongside actual drive training also has a hazard perception section using the device, a flight simulation or a adventure location based resource where you actually walk within the environment.
Kinect could offer a new device that will provide an interface that could make the same impact that the PC joystick made. The development of game based learning, virtual worlds and simulations appear to be the most platforms that will make the most of these technology. At the moment we don’t know the development platform or how much development costs will be but it looks like a very interesting movement.
40 applications in 40 minutes
Friday, October 30th, 2009
40 apps in 40 minutes
For the latest Norfolk e-learning forum I decided that we should run a session on open source and free software tools. There are so many well known open source and free tools in use such as Moodle and WordPress that setting up the session was a challenge.
I settled on 40 applications in 40 minutes. A whirlwind tour of 40 of our favourite free applications that would hopefully offer something for everyone! I had a list of personal favourites that I needed to add to and spent a few afternoons searching the web for some new additions. After only a few hours I was amazed and the sheer number of free apps and also the quality of the apps. One of the first new apps I found was the awesome highlighter, a brilliant website that lets you mark up and highlight a website – allowing you to copy & paste, save the link and share with colleagues. A really simple idea with so many applications, you can use it in the classroom, presentations theatre or during development meetings.
40 in 40 was pretty fast paced and there wasn’t much time to look at anything in detail other than a couple of videos that I created in xtranormal and animoto to show what was possible.
The response to the session has been great with several people adding their own applications to the list and more commenting that they didn’t realise how many of these apps were available on the internet.
During the session I worked on the basis that if you didn’t like an app or wouldn’t find it useful there was another coming in less than a minute! We published the list on the real projects website alongside our other resources.
My top 3 are
There are so many ways in which you can use the applications and it was great to listen in on some of the discussions afterwards. I’ve seen xtranormal used an an online icebreaker, animation software, for product demonstrations, adverts and for teaching! The awesome highlighter can be used by the web designer and client or the teacher in class.
As I come across more I’ll add them to the list!
The Problem With PowerPoint?
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
The BBC website is carrying a feature on PowerPoint. It’s 25 this month if you didn’t realise! The author of the article details some of the problems with presentations and some of the common mistakes that people make.
If you are interested in presentations and improving your slides, regardless of what tool you use then I suggest that you take a look at these 2 websites.
http://www.presentationzen.com/
I first came across the book a few years ago and it changed the way that I thought about presentations. I’ve recommended the book to lots of colleagues and have had to re-order as we keep giving away our office copy to clients and friends. The website is well supported by a range of videos that provide an insight into the presentation zen style. The author is Garr Reynolds, a designer who has worked in the US and Japan and he advocates the use of strong imagery and a single key message. The book shows several iterations of the same slide to show how simple design changes can dramatically alter the power of a slide.
We have used the presentation zen style on a few occasions. It is hard to get right and I don’t think we’ve mastered the art but it certainly improved the quality of our presentations.
Visit the prezi website and view the 1 minute video to find out how it works in detail. The basic idea its like using one big canvas that you can move around all areas of the canvas, linking objects and delving into specific areas.
http://prezi.com/w79q1epfl27s/view/ - is an example using emerging technology.
Is PowerPoint really the problem? Surely the issue is how we decide to use the tool? We should be thinking about how porly constructed PowerPoint files are now being transformed into e-learning content using Rapid Development tools. The tools are not the issue it is the content that is being used to create the courses. Rapid tools have an important place in the e-learning sector for developers and internal teams but we need to make sure that we are getting the learning design right.
twitter - follow us?
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
we are on twitter (who isn’t?). We had a look at twitter last year, tried a few things out and didn’t really return to it until recently. We’ve been interested in the apps that have been created to support it.
twitterfon for the iphone really extends twitter and has made it a very appealing app when one the move. Tweet feeds and widgets for your own website also have extended the twitter reach.
We’ve been posting all kinds of ‘tweets’ from who’s going the shop to interesting things we’ve found on the web and at exhibitions. We are looking to see how we might be able to use it at the next elearning forum.
You can follow us at www.twitter.com/realprojects
learning on the road
Monday, January 12th, 2009
Writing in the Guardian, Julie Ferry has looked at the increasing number of students who are choosing to study and travel at the same time. The article looks at 3 people who have successufully combined their studies and travel. With a number of companies offering paid sabaticals to try to avoid redundancy and an increasing number of training grants on offer could we see more people escaping the british winter to travel and study online overseas?
Liverpool University already offers an online MBA and there are many other online courses on offer. E-learning and learning technologies allow learning and academic institutions to offer online courses and open up their courses to a whole new audience.
Norfolk County Council has already implemented an e-learning programme that lets children who are not able to get to a school to sit their exams at home. The programme allowed nearly 100 children to sit their GCSE’s in 2007.
The technology and programmes have fantastic potential to help a wide range of organisations from hospitals, schools and colleges to businesses.
The benefits of e-learning
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
Working in e-learning I’m often asked by people what the benefits of e-learning are. This can lead to quite a lengthy discussion covering Rapid development, induction modules, animations, instructional design and many other areas of e-learning.
E-learning and learning technology covers so many elements it can be difficult to cover all of the benefits and some of the issues that also arise.
After talking to some of our clients, friends and colleagues we’ve listed some of the benefits that they have come across!
Learning from home
Courses can be deployed over the internet and via a range of devices from Blackberry to a PC allowing the learner to access the content at a time that is suitable for them. Access to online materials also allows part-time, job share and employees who work from home access to training material.
Handheld devices are opening up e-learning to a new user base, check out the blog post on e-learning on a blackberry.
Reduction in travel time
The use of online learning can lead to a reduction in travel time and associated costs, one of our clients reported that they were able to reduce the number of training classes that were held each year. Team members were also pleased that they could reduce their personal travel time.
Deployment across multiple locations
For businesses with multiple locations, e-learning allows for multiple location deployment. It also allows learning to take place in environments where getting trainers and holding training courses may have been difficult. At Real Projects we developed an e-learning course that was used by employees on offshore installations which could only be reached by helicopter and had no internet access. We used a cd-rom to allow learning to take place on the installation.
Learn at your own pace
Many e-learning courses and modules allow learners to work through modules at their own pace. A well constructed module will also take the learner through all of the learning outcomes and ensure that they have covered all of the subject material.
Fast and effective content updates
e-learning content is often stored on a Learning Management System (LMS) that allows learners to access content from a PC, Mac or other device. The content is in an electronic form which means that updates can be performed quickly and effectively with new releases being deployed across an organisation in an instant.
This is not an extensive list, just a few of the benefits that we’ve come across over the past few months when talking to clients.