 | | |
 | | |
 |  | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
 | | |
TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE
KnowledgeNet Partners With
American Management Association
Launch Top 50 Business Skills Seminars In "Live" E-Learning Format
KnowledgeNet Quickly Ramps Up E-Learning Presence in Growing Business Skills Training Market with Ground-Breaking New Delivery Method That Enables More Effective and Efficient Learning
PHOENIX--September 3, 2002--KnowledgeNet(R), Inc., the fastest-growing
provider of enterprise e-learning solutions, today announced an expanded development
and marketing partnership with American Management Association (AMA) to create
an entirely new and distinctive business skills training offering, KnowledgeNet(R)
AMA Live. KnowledgeNet AMA Live marries the quality and interaction of instructor-led
classroom training with the convenience and cost-effectiveness of web-based
training. This new e-learning curriculum combines AMA's well-respected instructors
and content with KnowledgeNet's award-winning instructional design expertise
and the KnowledgeNet Live delivery technology. The result is business and interpersonal
skills training that offers significant advantages over other interactive offerings
currently available, and complements the existing classroom training offered
by AMA. Both KnowledgeNet and AMA will market the new KnowledgeNet AMA Live
web seminars.
"Today, business and IT managers are being asked to take on more responsibilities
and tougher assignments with reduced resources. As a result, contemporary, effective
business skills are more essential than ever and we are seeing increased demand
for AMA's seminars," said Edward Reilly, AMA President and CEO. "Live
e-learning over the web is a natural extension for AMA because our experience
tells us that the most effective model for business skills training relies upon
live interaction with qualified, experienced instructors and superior course
content. As the leader in live e-learning and as a provider with a reputation
for delivering e-learning of the highest quality, KnowledgeNet is the perfect
partner -- for both the adaptation of our classroom instruction to a web-based
format and for the marketing and delivery of this new form of
learning to customers around the world."
The Challenge: How to Adapt Intensive Business Skills Classroom Training to the Web?
AMA currently offers 160 instructor-led seminars featuring a broad range of topics, including leadership, communication skills, management development and even disaster recovery planning. Each year, thousands of business professionals, from chief executive officers to administrative professionals, acquire the latest business know-how, valuable insights and increased confidence at AMA seminars held at venues around the world.
However, for those business professionals whose time, travel and budgets are constrained, KnowledgeNet AMA Live is an ideal solution. With KnowledgeNet AMA Live, course selection and sign-up takes place online, with the course itself being taken on the web -- all from the convenience of a desktop or laptop computer. This web-based approach offers significant benefits since e-learners can more easily accommodate the training into their schedules without the travel expenses associated with offsite training.
Unlike other business skills training solutions, which are essentially 'canned,' self-paced courses, KnowledgeNet AMA Live courses are hosted and moderated by live, approved AMA instructors -- active business professionals with years of hands-on experience. The live instructors are accompanied by state-of-the-art video, scenario-based group discussion simulations, memorable graphics and photorealistic animations produced by KnowledgeNet's team of in-house designers. These features, a KnowledgeNet hallmark, allow students to 'role-play' and practice the concepts they are learning in a real-world environment. The entire broadcast is delivered live, over the web, from KnowledgeNet's Scottsdale studios. A typical KnowledgeNet AMA Live course lasts about twelve hours and is delivered over three consecutive afternoons. It includes materials modeled after those used in AMA's classroom seminars.
An appealing aspect of the new KnowledgeNet AMA Live courses is that they are designed to complement the AMA seminars held in classrooms. Any enterprise can design an optimal mix of online versus classroom training, tailored to its budget and the locations of its employees. KnowledgeNet has been offering its KnowledgeNet Live format for over four years, during which time it has become the company's most popular e-learning delivery method. In 2001, KnowledgeNet delivered over 192,000 student hours of KnowledgeNet Live training, and is the recognized leader in delivering a live, web-based classroom experience. Companies like Bank of America and Cisco rely on KnowledgeNet Live as a key component of their employee training programs.
For more details see http://www.knowledgenet.com/productsandservices/delivery/live.jsp.
Commenting on the announcement, Michael Brennan, Manager of IDC's Corporate Learning and Performance research practice said, "KnowledgeNet has become synonymous with a unique form of live e-learning that leverages the internet to deliver high-quality, cost-effective training that is not compromised by bandwidth. E-learning has made enormous in-roads in the IT industry, where students consider the computer a natural way to receive technology training. However, for business professionals looking for 'soft' skills training, there is more resistance to self-paced e-learning. We see the 'classroom over the internet' approach offered by KnowledgeNet AMA Live as an effective way to overcome this resistance and to introduce a new, influential audience to the benefits of e-learning."
Official AMA training, delivered in two effective formatsIn addition to the KnowledgeNet AMA Live courses, KnowledgeNet will also offer AMA business skills training in its KnowledgeNet(R) Express title format. KnowledgeNet Express is a recorded version of the KnowledgeNet Live training that combines the benefits of web-based, expert-led instruction with the flexibility and value of a self-paced environment - essentially bringing an AMA instructor to the learner's home or office via a web browser, according to the learner's preferred schedule. For Global 2000 companies, the availability of the Top 50 AMA courses in this convenient self-paced format enables them to add a skills library of over 200 two-hour titles to their enterprise e-learning library over the next 12 months.
All of the new KnowledgeNet AMA Live e-learning courses are supported via the KnowledgeNet Learning Management System (LMS), which registers and tracks students through the web classroom and self-paced learning process, and provides HR and employee development personnel with state-of-the-art reporting, including enrollments, progress, completions, and pre-/post-assessment. KnowledgeNet LMS enables enterprises to develop and implement an enterprise-wide e-learning strategy, and accurately measure knowledge transfer.
"Through our close partnership with AMA we are breaking
new ground in business skills training. No other company will be able to match
the depth, breadth, and quality of our AMA Live solution," said Tom Graunke,
CEO and Co-Founder of KnowledgeNet. "Our customers are telling us that
they are unhappy with the usage rates, learner satisfaction, knowledge transfer
and retention that they are seeing with self-paced business skills training.
We saw an opportunity to change the rules regarding how customers receive this
crucial training by offering AMA instructor-led seminars with the convenience
and cost-savings of our internet-enabled technology. We intend to invest heavily
in this area, and to offer a compelling and comprehensive business and interpersonal
skills solution
for the Global 2000 in the next year."
Availability and Pricing
During Q4 2002 KnowledgeNet will release three of the most requested AMA courses in the areas of management skills, sales techniques and project management. The Top 50 AMA courses will be added throughout 2003. Pricing per course is $1,495 (single user). Enterprise and site-wide pricing is available for both the Live and Express versions.For more details see http://www.knowledgenet.com/amalive.
About AMA
American Management Association is the world's leading membership-based management development organization. It is distinguished by the quality of its faculty, the practical, action-oriented focus of its programs and the dynamic, interactive nature of its courses. AMA offers a full range of business education and management development programs for individuals and organizations in the Americas, Asia and Europe. Each year, more than 500,000 AMA customers and members, including 486 of the Fortune 500 companies and many government agencies, learn superior business skills and best management practices through a variety of seminars, conferences and executive briefings, e-learning and self-study courses, books, research studies, and on-site and customized learning solutions. Visit AMA at http://www.amanet.org/.
About KnowledgeNet
KnowledgeNet is the fastest-growing company in the learning industry. KnowledgeNet offers a second-wave, internet-based learning suite - "enterprise e-learning" - that is the only results-based corporate e-learning solution. The Company's over 1,500 titles of instructor-led and self-paced business and technology content, combined with the KnowledgeNet LMS and LCMS constitute an integrated suite of e-learning products that can be easily customized to suit both the enterprise and any individual learning styles. KnowledgeNet has received nearly a dozen industry distinctions for its e-learning solutions. KnowledgeNet is a Cisco Learning Solutions Partner, and is a Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center (CTEC) as well as a Microsoft Certified Partner. Of the Fortune 50, 47 companies are KnowledgeNet customers, including blue-chip companies and institutions such as Cisco, EMC, GE, Lockheed Martin and Sun Microsystems. Founded in 1998, KnowledgeNet is a privately held company based in Phoenix, Arizona. Visit KnowledgeNet at http://www.knowledgenet.com/. For more information, call 1-888-577-5779.
KnowledgeNet is a registered trademark of KnowledgeNet.com, Inc. All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Press and Industry Analyst Contacts
David McCann, KnowledgeNet Public Relations
(480) 315-4724 david.mccann@knowledgenet.com
Tim Cox, Zing Public Relations for KnowledgeNet
(650) 369-7784 or cell (650) 888-6116 tim@zingpr.com