4 December 1998

Next Generation Learning brings together the best of the
classroom and Internet

Sybase Education has today launched Next Generation Learning
(NGL) a revolutionary, learner-led approach to training. NGL
enhances and extends classroom training by integrating
Web-based course content - delivered through the Internet or
on company intranets - with classroom training.

The combination of classroom and Internet/intranet can
provide much improved knowledge transfer process. NGL is
suitable for training in any field ranging from new product
introductions to sales and employee induction and
development.

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
technical skills or tools.

"Sybase's aim has been to put the development of
computer-based training back into the hands of the content
experts. If you can use Microsoft Word or Windows Explorer,
you can build interactive Web-based training using NGL
Studio," explained Justin McCarthy, manager of Sybase
Education.

Yet technology alone is not the answer, however simple it is
to use. "The Web cannot replace the class room experience
and it is still the focus of the new methodology," added
McCarthy. "There's no substitute for students interacting
with an instructor whose real world experience can help them
learn exactly what they need to know to get their jobs done
correctly."

"The issue is that the conventional classroom setting -
where training is given in isolated `learning events`- is
unable to deliver against modern requirement for constant
skills enhancement," he continued.

NGL in Action

NGL responds to the need for ever more effective learning in
fast moving companies - a need that cannot be delivered by
conventional classroom training alone* by delivering
information in three phases:

· Online pre-class learning · In-class learning · Online
post-class learning

The classroom still lies at the heart of the NGL approach.
The student focuses on the tasks and information best taught
by an instructor in a group setting. The pre- and
post-learning online components are designed to maximise the
class room experience.

"Even before they enter the classroom, NGL allows the
student to take an online test, to assess their knowledge of
the class prerequisites" emphasises McCarthy. "Learning
Objects are then presented to the student online, to meet
any skill gaps identified".

In addition, if students cannot attend the classroom portion
of the class they can still learn from one of the Online
components. If a minority of the class are not up to speed
on a certain subject to be taught in the classroom then they
can be delivered pre-class learning through the
Internet/intranet to bring them up to standard.

Post-class learning offers the opportunity for students to
extend and deepen their knowledge. For instance, they can
access further information specific to their working
environment or to information that may not have been covered
in their class. They can hone their skills with additional
exercises or explore more advanced topics.

"Leaders in industry and education recognise that an ever
increasing quantity of information must be absorbed, managed
and used on the job," added McCarthy. "The accelerating rate
of change in the workplace and ever-faster introduction of
new technology has meant that learning has become a
career-long process and it's that learning that gives
companies real competitive edge."

"Yet, at a time when the UK is experiencing severe skills
shortages in many areas of the economy, traditional ways of
training are just not delivering. We believe NGL can make a
major contribution in this respect," he concluded.

Learning Objects

A key benefit of NGL Studio is the ease with which newly
designed self-contained training components - essential in
fast-moving businesses - called `learning objects` - can be
reused across courses.

This offers vastly increased efficiency by substantially
reducing the burden of authoring, maintaining and
distributing content. NGL Studio includes a content manager
that allows full 'drap & drop' customisation of course
structure.

NGL technology

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.

Traditional Web authoring tools or CBT (Computer Based
Training) builders cannot achieve this, as they are too
time- and resource-intensive and thus too costly to deliver
effective training in the real world.

ends

About Sybase Education

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.

*Why is conventional classroom-based training often not
effective?

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.