e-COMMERCE COURSES BIG ON CAMPUS - Although the tech-driven economy has begun to slowdown, the demand for e-commerce is rising. For example, at Northwestern Oklahoma, enrollment grew from 50 in the fall to 750 in the spring. The number of students is expected to double in coming semesters. The rationale is that in spite of the economic slowdown, half of the 1.6 million IT jobs in the US remain unfilled. Graduates are needed who understand e-commerce, know the basics of business and can avoid the mistakes of the earlier dotcoms. They believe that the e-commerce courses will give them this grounding. (Knight Ridder, 16 Apr 01)

E-LEARNING AND HUMAN RESOURCE EXECUTIVES - Elliott Masie of The MASIE Center shares key perspectives and lines of questioning from HR executives:

* e-Learning in a Time of Layoffs: Several vice-presidents of HR talked to Masie about their new need for e-Learning for implementing and surviving significant layoffs and reductions in force. They saw e-Learning a fast reacting tool to help them cross-train and re-deploy remaining staff, as a way to offer access to e-Learning collections and courses as part of termination packages.

* Skills Assessments and Inventories: there was strong interest in finally being able to have skills (and recently verified competencies) available as part of an ERP system and a driver for learning and training investments.

* Digital Collaboration and Communities Highly Ranked: The HR perspective was extremely favorable towards the development of communities of learning, communities of practice and communities of support. In addition, there was a fever for using virtual classrooms.

* Covering the Teleworker: A fair number of folks drilled down into ways in which e-Learning could be harnessed for teleworking.

* The X Generation Learning Style: One company sent a team of 5 HR associates under age 26 as a way of getting a different perspective. The team was emphatic about moving away from the metaphor of the classroom for e-Learning offerings, to visit Knowledge World, access on- going content and not feel like they were in a class. They were shocked that multi-players, and ongoing simulation learning experiences were not offered.

* Business and Soft Skills Development via e-Learning: While many groups are successfully using e-Learning, there were pockets of resistance about how to deeply impact people through e-Learning. The most common solution seemed to be in the blended approach.

* High Potential Leaders: A number of companies have high-potential programs that identify future executives and focus development attention on this group. A good number of Fortune 500 companies are looking for new models for blending e-Learning with high employee programs.

When Masie asked 600 HR executives, how they learned to do their jobs. NOT ONE PERSON indicated they learned to do their job in a classroom. Adding e-Learning to the mix of corporate offerings is one way in which the HR executives see expanding the reach and reality of training expenditures. (TechLearn Trends #201, 14 Apr 01)

EXPERIMENT IN FUTURE COURTROOMS GIVEN ENCOURAGING VERDICT - The College of William and Mary held a simulated trial in Courtroom 21, a model of a courtroom of the future. Fred Lederer, director of Courtroom 21, explained, "We're doing it to learn what happens when you use all the technology available at our disposal to determine the legal and ethical questions that occur when you have a high-stakes case." The courtroom features technology such as plasma televisions and LCD monitors, digital projection technology, and automatic speech transcription. Participants can communicate from remote locations using two-way video. The highlight of the simulated trial, participants agreed, was a nearly lifelike video animation of the incident at the center of the trial, the midair collision of a passenger jet and a military plane. Lederer says the technology on display in Courtroom 21 has been used as a model for the War Crimes Tribunal in the Netherlands. He estimates that between 300 and 500 high-tech courtrooms are now in use in both the United States and Australia. (Associated Press, 5 Apr 01 - Edupage 6 Apr 01))

MOTOROLA U TRADES EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR MARKET ACCESS IN CHINA - Motorola University, the education arm of US communications and technology solutions giant, Motorola Corporation, plans to move 50% of its employee education services online by 2003. With 103 sites in 24 countries the super-corporation has a lot of ground to cover. The University's operations in China may prove one of the trickiest to convert. Cultural, governmental and technological factors combine to force Motorola University to find ways to acquire the technology infrastructure-or create alternative means-to educate its employees in China. Motorola has been in China since 1988. In the early 1990's the corporation reached an agreement with the Chinese government to provide education initiatives in exchange for business privileges. Read the entire article online at the Virtual University Gazette CLICK: http://www.geteducated.com/vugaz.htm (The Virtual University Gazette, vol. 4, no 4, Apr 01 ISSN #1099-4262)