manager-bookstore.com - SYBASE EDUCATION LAUNCHES LATEST VERSION OF NGL STUDIO

Sybase Education has launched version 2.1A of its innovative
Next Generation Learning Studio. Next Generation Learning
(NGL) is a revolutionary, learner-led approach to training
which enhances and extends classroom training by integrating
Web-based course content - delivered through the Internet or
on company intranets - with classroom training.

The NGL approach is underpinned by NGL Studio, an
unprecedented tool that allows training modules to be
developed once and used often. By storing material centrally
but allowing replication anywhere, content may be updated at
one point and changes distributed and deployed instantly to
multiple locations according to need. But, unlike most of
the authoring tools currently on the market, dynamic,
customised content can be developed without the need for
advanced technical skills.

NGL Studio provides a comprehensive package for training in
any field ranging from new product introductions to sales
and employee induction and development. The combination of
classroom and Internet/intranet can considerably improve the
knowledge transfer process. The new version of NGL Studio
will be available from Sybase's new European Software Centre
(see accompanying release) and is equipped with the
following new functionality:

Improved status tracking of all content in the database from
development through to testing and production.

The ability to create links to URLs, anchors within pages
and create improved links between topics in order to give
more dynamic course paths to students.

Previous releases of NGL Studio allowed developers to
classify training content as pre-class during-class and
post-class. Version 2.1A allows new classifications to be
created by the developer e.g. Basic/intermediate/advanced.

"Today's learners require ongoing access to up-to-date
learning materials and this is one of the reasons why
conventional classroom-based training is less effective.*
Training providers require the ability to quickly update
these materials and distribute these changes instantly
around the globe, NGL Studio provides the capabilities
required to meet these demands, "said Justin McCarthy,
education manager, Sybase.

Sybase Education's research has shown that the key
challenges for management in providing effective training
are:

* Time - students often cannot be provided with enough time
away from their jobs to attend sufficient classroom training
that will enable them to learn effectively

* Cost - sending students on sufficient formal training
courses to achieve desired results inflicts high direct and
opportunity costs on companies

* Flexibility - each person learns in different way and at a
different rate. Research has shown students who are able to
own effectively and control their own learning experience
have better training outcomes.

* Change - products and service cycles are shortening all
the time and information sources are proliferating. Keeping
up-to-date is a constant challenge, this means that students
need access to learning materials that are updated
constantly and quickly redistributed.

Sybase is one of the world's largest vendors of the
technology for building and supporting Web sites. The
company built the world's largest Web site for the France
1998 World Cup, a site which has entered the Guinness book
of records as the most visited Web site ever.

NGL Studio is based on the same architecture and uses three
key Sybase technologies: PowerBuilder for development;
Adaptive Server Enterprise and Adaptive Server Anywhere for
storage and PowerDynamo for deployment.

Content capture is achieved by using PowerBuilder to present
an easy-to-use content capture tool called the Education
Builder (EB). NGL Studio then uses Adaptive Server
Enterprise to create a content repository for storing
learning objects in the database. Using PowerDynamo it is
possible to dynamically generate Web-based learning
materials at the time of request for a course.

Set up specifically to address the growing need for
life-long skills refurbishment in fast moving organisations,
Sybase Education is a world leader in career-enhancing
training. Using techniques refined over two decades, Sybase
Education aims to be the pre-eminent educational
organisation specialising in flexible learning.

Today, Sybase Education trains over 60,000 students across
45 countries in 17 different languages annually. Its work
includes course content development, classroom learning and
remote training using the advanced technology only available
to Sybase Education, as a subsidiary of a global top ten
software company.

Using proprietary methods, its course development
methodology allows trainers to develop relevant courses with
digestible modules which can then be conveyed by tutors
using a variety of techniques from classroom learning to
Computer Based Training, or even interactively, via the
Internet.

Initiatives such as the Next Generation LearningTM
methodology and the Passport To Knowledge flexible course
structure programme embody many of the principles which
makes Sybase Education the leader in skills transfer for
organisation's facing the future today; cost-efficiency,
convenience and results-orientation backed up by proven
training expertise.

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