Posts Tagged ‘business’

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Open Education Will be Great for High-Quality Content Providers

Monday, August 31st, 2009

As the Web is converting from 1.0 to more social-based 2.0, the next 3.0 generation of how the Web will affect all of our lives is starting to surface. Various social media networking sites, blogs and free online learning communities have brought free knowledge to an infinite amount of people around the globe and have grown exponentially through the last decade. One of the biggest things that will change peoples lives is the amount of free education people will be able to access.

As most will agree, everyone in the world should have access to learn and grow. The question is, as more free learning sources appear, how will this affect colleges, universities and continuing adult education? Will open education eliminate the demand for expensive online programs?

We don’t think so. Open education should bring positive results if you offer quality content.  As the world starts to even out and poor and rich alike can learn at the same level, a larger need for advanced training will surface. Therefore, as long as your courses and degrees are among the best in the world, then you should not suffer any loss.

Think about it, more people learning means that more people will need to advance their education to keep competitive, this will further separate low end education providers and great ones. Low end content providers might be wiped out by free education. The best quality education providers will come out on top.

The challenge of competing with free learning on the Web brings an opportunity to content providers, so while there are thousands of free learning sources out there, don’t let it worry you.

Offering content in areas like video game design and development, business marketing design, Six Sigma, and Microsoft Certified Application Specialist takes advantage of highly demanded fields, and your content will fill a need for advanced training that free resources don’t provide. You might also consider providing content on the lucrative and growing healthcare industry. The superior skill sets your content presents for a career such as pharmacy technician is something that open education cannot compete with. Free education can be your friend by sparking an individual’s interest in any given topic and creating a craving for a deeper knowledge and need for your course.


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Career Switch on Workers’ Minds

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

This study found on the Tri-City Herald Web site finds that more than 60% of participants are worried about losing their jobs, and many are going back to school to train for a new career. Some of the most popular industries are business, economics, radiologic sciences and computer science. Medical assistant programmes and paralegal courses have also shown an increase in enrolments.

The fear of losing their job is making some Washington workers take a fresh look at their careers, says a new study released Tuesday.

About 57 percent of respondents, with an annual income of $40,000 or less, said they would change careers if nothing stood in their way, according to theWorkplace Confidence Survey, sponsored by Everest College, which has six campuses in the Seattle area.

About 65 percent of survey respondents reported suffering from work-related stress about potential pay and job loss. A total of 502 adult Washington workers were interviewed for the survey in early March.

For many feeling stuck in their jobs, the recession is an opportunity to do something different, said Maureen Moriarty, a career transition coach and founder of Pathways to Change in Sammamish. A lot of her clients are talking about going back to school to learn new skills needed for jobs in the health care industry, which has survived the recession better than most sectors of the economy.

Aging baby boomers and the rising demand for health care has sustained the industry’s growth, said Chris Weber, an economics professor at Seattle University. He said unemployment may continue to rise, even after the recession is over.

That makes going to school a nice option, said Randy Rogers, regional vice president of Northwest operations at Everest College, which sponsored the survey.

Enrollment in nursing and dental hygiene programs at Columbia Basin College continues to remain strong, said college spokesman Frank Murray. The number of CBC students in all disciplines this spring increased 12.3 percent compared to the same period last year, he said.

Medical assistant, radiologic sciences, computer science, business/economics and paralegal are some of the programs that have seen an increased enrollment, Murray said. Health care related jobs are particularly in high demand in the Tri-Cities, he said.

Enrollment at Everest College campuses has been rising in the last 15 months, Rogers said. More people want to improve their job prospects, he said.

Personal and home care aides, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, legal and accounting administrative assistants and dental assistants are considered to be among the top recession-proof careers, he said.

People can use grant money to pay for college, he said. A number of funding resources are available for those planning to go back to school, Rogers said.

Workers today need to be lifelong learners with the globalization of the economy and quick-paced technological changes, Moriarty said. That’ll help take care of some of their work-related stress, she said.

 

e-Business Important Tool in Competitive Economy

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Having an e-business certificate is important for success in today’s economy. This article from The Brunei Times describes how the growth of the Internet has changed the way companies do business.

The highly competitive economic environment today demands businesses to strive to create, to invent and to innovate not only products but also business models and processes to ensure their survivability.

Dato Hj Yusof Hj Abdul Hamid, deputy minister of communications cum cochairman of the 11-Business Leadership Forum (EBLF) stated this during the first ever dialogue session between private companies in the ICT sector and board members of the Authority for Info-Communications Technology Industry of Brunei (AiTi) at Empire Hotel and Country Club yesterday. 

He said that the existing competitive environment highlights how e-business can be used as a tool to help companies progress.

“We have made many achievements thus far, and I am confident that we will keep on doing so,” he said, adding that with better planning, consultation and socialisation between relevant players, any challenges that lies before them can be resolved and turned into opportunities.

The deputy minister gave a brief history of the development of ICT in the country, stating that ICT development initially began with the Telecommunications Department being the only service provider that offered voice telephony.

The advent of Internet services has changed the entire telecommunications landscape as it became the basis for communication, changing into a global infrastructure of increasing value in many dimensions.

“Its ability to absorb new technologies and to support an increasing variety of applications

are indicators of the power of its simple, clear and well-defined architecture,” he said.

The government, he added, was aware of the country’s advancement towards ICT, as they made changes by corporatizing the telecommunications department and creating AiTi. 

“Since its inception, AiTi has played an important role as the promoter for the development of ICT industry in Brunei and through the dialogue, I hope that the agency will be able to acknowledge and understand the voices and challenges of the industry in order to create a blueprint specifically for the development of the local ICT industry.”

The deputy minister pointed out that the formation of the EBLF, a proposal by BIT Council was approved by His Majesty in February 16 this year, with its main function is to monitor and make decisions on e-business initiatives and programmes in Brunei and is accountable on its total effectiveness.

“The dialogue is the first of its kind and is an initiative that provides a platform for those industries involved in ICT, be it users or developers, to participate and suggest the way forward for the development of the ICT in the country,” he said.

He went on to say that the event can he seen as part of the business process management life-cycle which contains the elements of design, modelling, execution, monitoring and optimisation where he hoped that the consultative effort would not be wasted, stating that its focus should be in getting clearly defined solutions for development.

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