Friday, November 24, 2006

Welcome to the Autumn edition of Abacus News & Views 2006

Dear Reader,


This edition contains articles on national and international news;

Local News

- successful implementation of language courses on wireless networks

Abacus personnel have been involved in a number of wireless implementations of its language resources in the recent past. These projects were supported by the Irish Department of Education.

Some of the organisations to recently adopt Abacus learning resources are;

Blackrock College, Dublin
Colaiste Dhulaigh, Dublin
Cavan Institute,
DBL College, Dublin
Colaiste Cois Life, Dublin
Colaiste Magh Ene, Bundoran
King's Hospital, Dublin
Loreto Community School, Milford, Donegal
St Colman's Community School, Middleton Co Cork
Youghal Community School

Abacus has run in-service programmes at

Pobal Scoil Inbhear Sceine, Kenmare, Co Kerry
St Joseph's Secondary School, Athlone

Stephen Byrne gave a presentation of a range of language products and tools being used in Irish schools and colleges to the staff at St Angela's Secondary school, Waterford as part of their in-service programme at the invitation of the ICT centre in that area. The text of this presentation is available at http://www.abacus-communications.com/downloads/Abacus%20WICT_All.ppt

Congratulations

Abacus would like to congratulate Calasantius College, Galway on its recent official opening of its new facilities on October 20 2006.

Abacus would like to congratulate Mr Niall McDermott (formerly of Castletroy College) on his appointment as principal of the Colaiste Iosaef
Community School in Kilmallock, Co Limerick.

International News

Accredited tests

- Production of new course tests for the Let's Do Business language skills programmes (Negotiating and Meetings to date) online

Abacus content experts have developed a range of tests to support its web-based English for Business programmes. These tests are currently certified by Abacus (with certification by the relevant national authority pending).

To preview the tests, visit http://www.language-software.com

Course Accreditation - national and international recognition

Stephen Byrne is advising a number of professional associations and colleges on achieving accreditation (FETAC, HETAC, NQAI) of their training programmes. He is also on the panel of Learning Network Consultants for Skillnet projects for 2007. All Abacus EFL products are approved by the National Training Authority http://www.fas.ie.

Events

Abacus were invited by the Korean eLearning Association to showcase its learning programmes at Expo 2006 held in KINTEX, Korea. There was a lot of interest in Abacus' products and there are plans to extend the range of products and services available to our clients in this market early next year.

Abacus has been selected by the EU commission to participate at the next Japan ICT Trade Mission, 29 January - 2 February 2007. This is an open competition and companies are selected on a range of criteria including product excellence and product innovation from across the EU states.

New partner in Portugal

INSIA and Abacus have signed a heads of agreement to promote its language portfolio to their clients. Abacus sells its products and services on a business-to-business basis rather than business-to-consumer. "We are always looking for international partners to help us enter new markets", says Abacus CEO Stephen Byrne. "Our international partners are established language organisations looking to offer web-based products and services or new media companies looking to extend their portfolio of web-based training solutions to their client. We are planning to start business in Portugal in early 2007."

"Abacus is also working with a number of private language organisations on a range of projects to offer its award winning product portfolio to their clients. Abacus' technical expertise built up over 10 years and its strong product portfolio combined with each organisation's access to end users is a win-win solution for all. Non-disclosure agreements prevent us from saying too much about these projects."

Other Notes

- There is a list of reasons why customers are investing in Abacus learning solutions @ http://abacusblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/you-get-what-you-pay-for-english-idiom.html

- There is a list of events that Abacus or its national partners are attending in 200 @ http://abacusblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/elearning-in-europe-winter-2006.html

Abacus Editor

Thursday, November 09, 2006

eLearning in Europe Winter 2006

Newsletter elearningeuropa.info - November 2006

NEW MEDIA PARTNER. The iLearning Forum Paris 2007, International Exhibition and Conference for Learning Technologies, will take place on 29-31 January 2007 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. The theme of the conference is "Learning in the 21st Century" and the specific topics are eStrategies and learning organisations, Regions and eLearning, ePortfolio, eQuality and Advanced Learning Technologies. Presenters and authors are invited to submit an abstract of their contributions by 1 December, 2006. Entrance to the exhibition is free of charge, and visitors will have free access to live demonstrations and presentations. For more information and to register for your badge, please visit www.ilearnforum.eu.

ONLINE EDUCA 2006. Over 1,900 visitors are expected at this international e-learning conference, to be held from 28 November to 1 December 2006 in Berlin. Pre-Conference Forums this year include: E-Learning in the Automotive Industry Sector, Virtual Mobility Forum, E-Learning for Defence and Security Forum, and Lifelong Learning in the UK Forum. Also, several workshops and seminars will be organised. For more information, please visit http://www.online-educa.com.

EFQUEL - NEW PORTAL LAUNCHED. The European Foundation for Quality in eLearning (EFQUEL) has launched its new portal, the European Quality Service Portal. Visit the portal here: http://www.qualityfoundation.org.

NKI Distance Education in Norway has developed a new online service for distance education.

INTED 2007 - International Technology, Education and Development Conference. It will be an excellent opportunity to present, demonstrate and discuss research, development, applications, and the latest innovations and results in the field of Higher Education and Industry.

IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE - The information on this site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice.