Cementing its long-term relationship with Microsoft, e-Learning company SmartForce has announced a training programme for Microsoft`s new Office XP suite.
Office XP is the core productivity tool in Microsoft`s suite of products and the first end-user product to be compliant with Microsoft`s .Net strategy, which allows users to take advantage of the flexibility of Internet-based services.
SmartForce`s e-learning programme for Office XP is designed to help users optimise its advanced features. These include new editing tools, Web-enabled collaboration techniques and elements such as smart tags, task panes, document recovery and Microsoft SharePoint Team Services, which have been introduced to boost both individual and group productivity.
SmartForce is targeting its e-Learning programme at company administrators, developers as well as end-users.
"In support of Office XP, SmartForce is rolling out the most comprehensive e-Learning program in the industry," says Milton Goldschmidt, MD of SmartForce Africa.
"Totalling approximately 100 hours, the 16 learning paths provide a flexible way of mastering Office XP that dovetails with the needs of different users.
"For example, people already familiar with previous versions of Office can begin by taking the `new features` learning paths, which address innovations introduced by the Office XP suite. And learners who have never before used Office can quickly get to grips with an application by taking any of our six `beginning` learning paths - each one designed to allow a learner to start using, for example, Word or Excel productively for their everyday tasks," he says.
Goldschmidt says that once learners have mastered the essential features of an Office application, they can move onto the `advanced` series of paths.
"One for each XP product, advanced learning paths are intended to enable learners to become `power users` who are comfortable with the products` more sophisticated functionality," he explains.
Both the "beginner" and "advanced" sets of learning paths for Office XP will be mapped to the requirements for Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) exams. The content in all the XP learning paths is built according to SmartForce`s next-generation architecture in which information is conveyed through a diverse range of learning object types (instruction objects, simulations, seminars, workshops, and articles), ensuring that learning is always conveyed through the most effective medium.
According to SmartForce, mentoring at the learning path level will become accessible to students as the relevant content is made available on its My SmartForce Web site. Additional resources complement each learning path, providing students with Web links, supplementary articles, reading lists, and glossaries.
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