Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The International Accreditation Organization


Any education system depends upon parents having the ability to choose the right school for their children. In order to help parents make an informed decision, schools often seeks various accreditations. These accreditations are hard to achieve, but well worth it since they let parents know about the level of quality they can expect from the school. The International Accreditation Organization (IAO) seeks to establish and promote educational standards around the world for traditional and non-traditional educational institutes.
Accreditation organizations, working on regional or national levels, have already laid down the framework for domestic accreditation levels. However, with increased globalization, there is a need to establish international standards. These will help students reach the correct decision while picking institutions for international studies. An IAO accreditation does not seek to replace any current accreditations a school possesses. It acts as a secondary accreditation, to compliment any other ones that an institution has received from regional organizations. Any educational institute that carries the IAO accreditation commits to delivering quality education, at par with international standards.
The IAO was conceived by education professionals from 25 different countries. Rather than replace regional organizations, IAO seeks to work with them in order to establish new standards. Regional accreditation organizations usually have their own standards already in place. These standards have been vetted through the years, and are of the highest quality and are very stringent. The IAO adopts these standards and infuses them with their own experience of standardizing at an international level. Over the years, other global accreditation associations have recognized IAOs' services and expertise.
IAOs' accreditation process covers all traditional and non-traditional educational institutions around the world. In addition, vocational institutes can also qualify for an IAO accreditation. Schools are eligible for IAO accreditation at elementary, primary, and secondary levels. This is done to ensure that children are attending a high quality institution from the very beginning.
The International Education Accreditation Commission (IEAC) evaluates and regulates accreditation agencies that are devoted to online education. The Global Education Support Forum for Working Adults (GESFWA) was conceived to promote and standardize education for working adults throughout the globe. The IAO claims membership to both, IEAC and GESFWA, in an effort to ensure that its accreditation activities adhere to the highest standards.
In order to receive IAO accreditation, institutions have to score high enough on IAOs' Points Profile System. An institutions' regional location does not have any effect on the points an institution gathers. This ensures that the institution is graded fairly and in an unbiased manner; the points system is strictly based on educational quality offered. The Profile Points System is continuously evolving and is updated to integrate new academic developments.
Institutes that have achieved IAOs' international accreditation are able to indulge in the many benefits that membership can offer. The biggest benefit is international exposure; a student is more likely to attend an institute that has received some sort of internationally recognized accreditation. Students graduating out of IAO accredited institutes will also find their qualification to be acceptable anywhere in the world.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Conducting Instructor Led Trainings Through LMS


An Instructor Led Training (ILT) is one of the best ways of teaching learners the finer points of any subject and ensuring that they comprehend topic at hand. However, hosting such a session can prove to be difficult due the geographically dispersed corporate professionals of today. In such a scenario, a Learning Management System or LMS with ILT capabilities is a must for any company that regularly conducts such trainings. Such solutions lay the groundwork for lessons moderated by a teacher, who can virtually propagate the requisite content to a number of remotely located learners simultaneously.
A LMS, learning management system, with ILT capabilities will have features that will enable the teachers to create instructor presentations as well as instructor and participant guides. It can also be used to come up with certification exams, job aids and in-built games, which can help improve the skill set of the learners. Therefore, it can also act as an interactive learning tool, so that individuals can learn through games integrated in the course module, thus 'enjoying' learning. This can prove to be the perfect stimulant for those who are averse to accepting technologies in education.
The lessons delivered through learning management system compatible with Instructor Led Training requirements should be similar to a lecture or an interactive workshop. This demands a platform where the learners can practice the skills being taught to them to some extent. Thus, the solution should have video conferencing capabilities in order to hold demonstrations and facilitating face to face communication during the sessions. This way, students can be taught any topic through different modes of learning in the best possible manner.
Since real-time communication between learners and teachers is one of the prerequisites of a sound Instructor Led Training session, it is imperative that the learning management system is capable of maintaining constant communication between the two parties. Thus, features that allow all participants to give feedback, participate in impromptu polls and start a Question & Answer (Q&A) session can be expected from such a solution. Likewise, the teacher should be able to manipulate and modify the content delivery channels so that they can conveniently switch between them while teaching a class. Moreover, they would be able to utilize videos, audio and other multimedia content while teaching students.
Most of the reputed service providers that offer LMS with Instructor Led Training tools recruit Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in a number of areas, such as soft skills and technologies. Their proficiency with a host of fields, which can be instrumental for an organization that requires training solutions that emphasizes equally on the teachers as well as the students. Thus, it can easily be justified that a LMS with ILT capabilities can streamline the content delivery system and help teach the learners better.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

E-Learning Made Easy With Offshore Development Center


E-learning solutions have become indispensable for any organization that aims to keep its employees up to date with the latest industry developments. Such products are specifically aimed at the corporate sector and can easily create an ideal environment to hold a collaborative remote learning session for company executives. However, ever-rising costs in the business world are making it difficult for firms to develop in-house content for their employees. In such a scenario, e-learning off shoring has emerged as a feasible option for firms that want to reduce the costs involved with this process.
Service providers that render outsourcing services for e-learning projects have offshore development center, where they create the content for Instructional Designing, graphic designing and localization for their clients. They recruit Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who have immense experience in the fields of instructional designing, editing, graphics and technology. These professionals ensure that the content delivered to the clients from the offshore e-learning development center complies with the industry norms and caters to the requirements of the customer. While coming up with the content for the e-learning projects, they put emphasis on ensuring that the end product is strategically sound, linguistically articulate, visually appealing and technologically accurate.
Vendors engaged in providing outsourcing services for e-learning projects offer turnkey solutions, thus taking care of all the corporate learning needs of their clientele. Such companies keep the specific enterprise level teaching requirements of a wide variety of organizations, including blue-chip firms, training companies or even an e-Learning solution provider. By leveraging upon their expertise with offshore e-learning development, they make sure that the quality of the content is at par with the expectations of the end user.
Considering that the learners are high level corporate employees, it becomes essential that the learning management system has high turnaround time. This will save precious time while ensuring that the requisite content is delivered to them in the best possible manner at low costs. Moreover, the reliable learning outsourcing solutions rendered by service providers ensure that the content is concise and maintains coordination between the learning activities of the learners located in different parts of the world. These off shore e-learning development centers can help take care of issues like aging workforce, regulatory compliance as well as complex products, services and solutions.
There are four primary factors that ensure the success of outsourcing activities in the field of e-learning. The first is that companies can easily identify the leadership capabilities needed to moderate the learning management solution. Secondly, they can use a suitable plan for transferring the responsibilities related to e-learning to the vendors, which will put the burden off them. Third is the governance and relationship management structure that is created in order to resolve issues between all the concerned parties. Lastly, clients can keep track of the work being done by the service provider through a measurement and reporting framework. These prove to be instrumental in making sure that the vendors are rendering quality services and deliver effective content to enhance the e-learning experience of the users.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Abreaction and Trauma


1. An abreaction is the reliving of traumatic early life experience.
Sometimes abreaction are deliberately evoked. Sometimes they occur spontaneously. They usually involve a total re-experiencing in every detail of an early life trauma. They can often be dramatic and frightening not only for the Patient but also for the therapist.
2. These traumas have often been repressed and amnesia for the traumas may exist prior to the abreaction. Sometimes people are aware of early traumatic events, sometimes they have forgotten them. Amnesia usually exists when the trauma is so severe that the child blocks out the experience as a way of surviving. This is particularly true in the case of multiple personality. Multiple personality, often caused by abuse, is the experiencing of many sub-personalities caused by continual abuse followed by dissociation from the traumatic experience. The child learns to dissociate from the memory, create an amnesia for the experience, and then when abused the next time to follow the same pattern until a number of personalities exist each with their own unique experience and their own personality. These personalities usually have no knowledge of each other at a conscious level. Once an abreaction has occurred Patients usually remember the event although sometimes a spontaneous amnesia occurs as well.
3. An abreaction should be carried through to the end.
In therapy, therapists work with the raw materials. Emotion is the rawest material a therapist can work with. An abreaction offers the therapist raw materials. If an abreaction starts to occur spontaneously the therapist should encourage it to develop as long as he is confident to handle it. If the abreaction is prevented from occurring it is usually very difficult to access at a later date. The reason for this is that the Patient now has an awareness of a hidden traumatic experience. The Patient is aware that at any time these feelings could overwhelm. Any attempt to evoke the abreaction will usually result in intense resistance to any efforts by the therapist. Once an abreaction does occur is should not be terminated halfway through. This would only leave the work half done. abreaction should be carried through to the very end. By going through the whole cycle of experience the Patient is able to express the feelings fully. Usually when this is complete the Patient experiences a release of feelings, intense exhaustion, and extreme stress.
4. An abreaction can be dramatic and the therapist should stay calm throughout. As well as being terrifying for the Patient abreactions can be frightening for the inexperienced therapist. Sometimes Patients may even become violent. This is especially true when the Patient identifies the therapist as a participant in the traumatic experience. If a transference occurs whereby the Patient imagines the therapist to be an active participant in the early life memory the Patient can become aggressive towards the therapist. In these cases the therapist should attempt to protect the Patient and himself. Whenever possible the therapist should remain calm and detached from the experience whilst maintaining control of the situation and support for the Patient as they ab-react.
5. An abreaction can sometimes lead to realization but rarely resolution.
After a Patient has ab-reacted they will often have new information about the cause of their problem. However knowing why a problem exists doesn't usually solve it. When Patients ab react they release energy and they free additional energy that previously was used to repress the traumatic memory. This new release of energy can be applied and directed into future positive outcomes. However the release of energy is in itself not a cure.
6. Patients often feel vulnerable after an abreaction - this is when therapy should occur. At the end of an abreaction the therapist should start to consider various therapeutic approaches to repairing the Patient. At this time more than any other the Patient feels the most vulnerable. To send the Patient home in this state would be criminal. It is very important for the therapist to utilize the Patient's experience now and re-frame it in some way so that the Patient leaves the therapy setting with new beliefs.
7. Guilty parties/negative experiences/events should be re-framed to "heal the memory". Usually traumatic memories have a cast of characters. In the case of abuse it may be one person. In the case of humiliation, for example a child at school being laughed at, it may be a number of characters. The Patient will usually have intense feelings towards the characters in the trauma. These feelings may be anger, resentment, and maybe even revenge. The feelings that the Patient has are normally negative and aggressive in some way. In a way the Patient is quite justified in feeling this way as they have probably carried around the symptoms caused by this event for most of their life. Sometimes it is positive to allow the Patient to keep these feelings. Usually it is more therapeutic to re-frame these feelings in some way. For example a child abused by a parent will feel very angry and resentful yet at the same time want to be loved. The needing to be loved is an important element in Re-framing the Patient's belief and attitude towards the parent. The parent may be alive or dead, the Patient's feelings of anger may still be the same. An approach might be that the therapist suggest that the parent had a reason for abusing. Usually the Patient has available to him, information about the parent received unconsciously in childhood. The Patient may even be able to give valid reasons why the parent abused. Bearing in mind the Patient wishes to be loved he may be willing to look at ways of understanding why the parent abused. Maybe the Patient has an awareness that the parent was abused as a child. This might help explain the parent's behavior. Leading on from this the therapist may be able to suggest that the Patient think of forgiving the parent. If the Patient wants to be loved and would like to change the negative feelings they have towards the parent then it may be possible to convert the hatred into forgiveness. The Patient would then leave the therapy session having had the emotions evoked by the abreaction, and dealt with positively by the Hypnotherapist.