The E-Learner Issue No. 1
1st October 1999
Published by

© European Consortium for the Learning Organisation.

All rights reserved.

Welcome to the first edition of The E-Learner, ECLO's new electronic newsletter for members. This newsletter is designed to provide you with regular updates about ECLO's activities and also to offer information about the material on learning and learning organisations available through web-based resources.The E-Learner will compliment our existing hardcopy newsletter that will continue to carry articles and information of interest to ECLO members. This new service will carry short items and provide single click links to further material on any topic.

As always, we welcome contributions from members, as it is impossible to keep on top of the wealth of information on the World Wide Web on topics of interest to you all.

We will publish The E-Learner monthly in the first instance and learn from this experience. We value your comments on this edition and your recommendations for future issues.

As well as bringing you customised information on learning organisation issues, we will be collaborating with the TrainingZone to bring you the best of material from the LearningWire, a weekly e-newsletter that offers useful LO material as well as a range of other material.

For your ongoing reference The E-Learner will be archived in the members' zone of our web site.Editor:

Mike Kelleher

New web siteECLO has launched its new

Web site

At its most recent meeting the ECLO Executive Board appointed Bernard Donnay to be our new web master. Together with Brigitte Casteur, Bernard has been busy designing and creating our new site.

The frame of the site is different with new navigation buttons and, over time, it is our intention to make this site a portal for all of your learning organisation news and information. A password protected section will allow you to see the contact details of other members as well as information about their expertise and experience.

The public arena will devote itself to access to publications, tools and other useful material produced by members as well as links to a variety of excellent web sites on the subject. To offer information or products through the site please contact Brigitte Casteur.

Communications

For security purposes, messages to all members will in future be distributed through ListBot website, which allows secure mass mailing. Please make sure you register through replying to the note you have received from Brigitte. This will then make sure you continue to receive our information regularly. Once registered you will then receive mails automatically. If, for some reason you did not receive an invitation to join the list please advise the office immediately.

Society for Organizational Learning

Mike Kelleher has met with Göran Carstedt, President of SoL International. SoL is chaired by Peter Senge and is establishing fractals throughout the world linked through the SoL International. These fractals are self-organising and autonomous bodies with practitioners, researchers and consultants and a commitment to share through SoL activities. ECLO will be in dialogue with SoL in the period up to Christmas to esta (LTI). This programme sponsors 16 projects developing new technological solutions to specific industry based problems. ECLO is working with Kenniscentrum Cibit, one of its Netherlands-based members,

Eelco Kruizinga of Cibit is the project manger. Cibit brings its expertise in knowledge management to the project and together we are attempting to create a common pool of knowledge and shared learning from the sixteen projects to the European community as a whole.

In agreement with the projects we began the project by making the web site access password protected. This was to enable the projects to gain confidence in the process in order to share their lessons learned. It is our intention to provide an increasing amount of information through the public access sections of the web site.One key feature that is emerging from the project is the lessons we are learning from attempts to create collaborative communities of practice. Our aim is to publish this issue during 2000.

Discussion Forum.

ECLO is involved in a discussion forum on learning organisations hosted by the TrainingZone.

On the same site Graham Guest is moderating a discussion forum on coaching issues. If you are not already registered with the TrainingZone you will need a user ID and password. These are necessary to enable the programme to accept your contributions.Training & Development Resources

Gower, the UK-based publisher of training and development resources has a very good site, which is worth visiting if you are looking for workshop-based material to support your activities.

Echelon offers more than 1,000 resources for purchase and downloads via the Internet. (You can also purchase most of the resources on CD-ROM.) Prices range from £15 for a single item, up to £200 for complete suites of resources. There are samples of their materials to view before you buy and a reasonable search facility. By buying and downloading materials in this way, you have the benefit of instant access and use.

The Toolkit area offers users of TrainingZONE a range of learning materials, handouts, programmes, discussion papers and other resources to download and use. Browse through the listings to find relevant material, or use the TrainingZONE search facility.Opinion Poll

The TrainingZone is conducting an online poll to determine whether training should be driven by goals of individual or organisational development. Why not cast your vote and check the ongoing results.Anyone you know?

Two men are being chased by a bear, which is rapidly gaining on them. The first man stops to put on some running shoes. "I don't know why you're bothering," screams the second "we've got no chance of outrunning a grizzly!"

"I don't need to outrun him," returns the first "all I've got to do is outrun you!"


Hot news

On behalf of all of our members I would like to wish Brigitte and Jim a wonderful day on the 30th October. They are getting married.

Our best wishes to you both and may all of your days be happy.

Perhaps you would like to join me in sending your

congratulations.

Items

The E-Learner will publish any requests you might have for Sift for permission to publish articles from the LearningWire.