People working for the European Commission, Parliament, its Bodies and Agencies will now have access to state-of-the-art online blended learning materials and programs on EU decision making, law and policies. The contract to supply these materials has been awarded to The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA, the leading centre of European learning and development for the public sector), the College of Europe (the world’s first university institute of postgraduate studies and training in European affairs) and eXact learning solutions (a leading European online and mobile learning solutions provider).

 

The four year framework agreement includes:

  • Consultancy to prepare tailor-made (face-to-face and e-learning) training courses
  • Delivery of professional tailor-made training courses run by a trainer
  • Consultancy on managing and mentoring blended learning projects
  • Provision of a standard ‘EU Governance matters’ face-to-face training catalogue
  • Provision of a standard ‘EU Governance matters’ e-learning catalogue and its integration within existing learning management systems (LMS) platforms by means of innovative learning content management system (LCMS) and Digital Repository (DR) solutions

 

After over 30 years of providing classroom-delivered training on European affairs, EIPA selected eXact learning solutions and its eXact LCMS platform to help its instructional designers develop blended learning solutions based on a new e-learning catalogue, co-produced by eXact learning solutions with EIPA in association with the College of Europe. The catalogue – known as the ‘EU e-learning Governance Collection’ – currently contains over 30 titles, developed by these three organisations. These titles are available to all European Union Institutions, bodies and agencies’ staff members as online learning.

 

Thanks to the advanced DR and content management features of the eXact LCMS the catalogue can be dynamically integrated with any third party LMS, including the Blackboard™ LMS which is at the heart of the Commission’s training services. It can also be customised for each contracting body, with this customisation ranging from brand re-skinning to additional language localisation and content re-packaging. In addition, eXact learning solutions’ LCMS authoring tools are being used to coordinate and collaborate with distributed content production centres in Maastricht and Bruges, where dedicated subject matter experts and instructional designers maintain and extend the online courses.

 

The modules aim to provide learners – who tend to be widely distributed geographically, with different professional profiles and not completely experienced in using PCs and/or e-learning for their training needs – with a clear understanding of the various topics related to EU Governance. In addition, the learning materials have to cater for the individual learning needs of a multilingual audience – and so provide an intuitive multimedia interface as well as pedagogically sound training interactions.

 

Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of eXact Learning Solutions’ North America and Australia operations and Chair of the European Learning Industry Group, commented: “In the current political climate, it’s more important than ever that we train people to be well versed in EU decision making, law and policies – and, that this relies on native European technological leadership as well as subject matter expertise, working together for Europe’s future.”

 

For further details on this story, visit: http://www.exact-learning.com/en/news/2012/03/14/exact-learning-solutions-and-partners-win-blended-learning-project

 

Comment: Many people around Europe – not just in the UK – might feel that those associated with EU decision making, law and policies (especially with regards to the current euro zone financial situation) ought to have access to some up-to-date learning materials. It’s probably worthwhile trying anything that could be useful in helping to prevent further problems. So, the whole of Europe will be wishing this consortium well as it develops and delivers these learning materials over the next four years.