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Tata Interactive Systems provides interactive induction at the University of Sheffield
Tata Interactive Systems
| London
22-Mar-2005 » Training Press Releases » When one of Europe's leading universities - the University of Sheffield - decided that it needed to provide a consistent, easily accessible induction programme for new staff, it turned to global e-learning pioneer Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) to provide it.
Currently, the university has some 5,500 staff - including over 1,100 full-time academic staff - working within a campus that extends over much of Sheffield. In addition, it has over 24,000 students, drawn from 116 countries, and its annual income is some £261m.
According to Carol Cockayne, of the University' Department of Human Resources, Staff Development: "e commissioned the induction programme from TIS in May 2004. Being a huge organisation we saw enormous value in offering an easily accessible induction package that ensures that all new staff receive a consistent level of initial support from the University. That support is then complemented and supplemented by a range of activities and procedures at University, departmental, and team level."
Alan Samuel, of TIS, commented: "TIS acted as a 'consultant' to the University of Sheffield throughout the overall development process and, importantly, in the development of the e-learning programme."
The TIS-produced e-learning induction programme is intended for all staff - academic, academic-related, ancillary, clerical, secretarial and technical. The programme enables new staff to:
learn more about the University they have joined;
gain an overview of the University's activities, and
get their bearings around the University.
It was TIS's task - with subject matter guidance from Carol Cockayne and her team - to present this information in an 'interactive' way that would appeal to the programme's users and motivate them to use the programme to learn what they needed to learn.
"Developing the programme was very much a collaborative effort between TIS and the University - with staff in the Department of Human Resources being the main point of contact," explained Carol Cockayne. "We had never undertaken a project of this kind before.
"So, we didn't have any experience of collaborating in the production of such a visually rich product with a partner organisation whose headquarters were in Mumbai, India - many thousands of miles away. Moreover, each organisation involved in the project had its own unique culture.
"In reality, none of this proved to be an obstacle," she added. "That was mainly because of the excellent communication processes that we - and TIS - put in place.
"For example, both organisations established a dedicated project team and team management; we held regular conference calls; communicated extensively by emails to help define exactly what we wanted from the final programme, as well as agreeing the use of screen shots in the programme and using the potential of the web to enhance the final product."
One of the key features of the programme is a specially developed interactive 'map' of the university which users can explore in order to help orientate themselves. The programme also features a section on famous alumni of the university - a list which includes David Blunkett MP; Jack Rosenthal, the playwright; Helen Sharman, Britain's first astronaut; former England cricketers Frank Hayes and Tim Robinson, as well as football manager Howard Wilkinson.
"While we were researching what was technologically possible for us to do and which was the right developer to produce this induction programme for us, we had meetings with a number of providers," said Carol. "In the end, we decided on Tata for four key reasons.
"We were already using a suite of online, open learning packages produced by Tata - and these had been well received and had proved themselves to be successful in consistently achieving their learning objectives.
"Secondly, Tata were able to guarantee delivery of the final product within the timescale that we required.
"Thirdly, Tata were able to deliver an innovative, visually and intellectually attractive online package within the available budget.
"And, finally, we knew that Tata had developed other successful induction packages for the commercial and educational sectors around the world."
The programme went 'live' early in 2005 - after an extensive pilot exercise. Carol commented: "The comments we've received about the programme have been highly favourable. We have now launched the package university-wide and will continue to closely monitor our staff's responses to it.
"Initial responses are that the programme is proving both useful and popular. Indeed, it seems that the Tata-produced programme is achieving all that we had hoped it would: providing high quality, accurate content in a memorable way that involves and motivates the user."
About the University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield dates from 1828, when the Sheffield School of Medicine was founded. The Sheffield School of Medicine, Firth College (founded in 1879) and the Sheffield Technical School (1884) combined in 1897 to form the University College of Sheffield and this body was granted a University Charter in 1905.
Currently, the university has some 5,500 staff - including over 1,100 full-time academic staff - working within a campus that extends over much of Sheffield. In addition, it has over 24,000 students, drawn from 116 countries, and its annual income is some £261m.
An academic ranking of the world's universities, published in September 2004, places the University of Sheffield 20th in Europe and 7th in the UK. Researchers at China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University evaluated the universities using several research performance indicators, including academic performance and the number of Nobel prizewinners. According to the study, Sheffield is the second-highest ranked university in England outside Oxbridge and London.
University guides confirm The University of Sheffield's position as one of the UK's leading universities. The Virgin 2005 Alternative Guide to British Universities, for instance, says that: 'Sheffield is a top university across the board'.
The university' research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and other household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations. Its academic partners include leading universities around the world. It is involved in international partnerships such as the Worldwide Universities Network (involving universities in the USA, Europe and China), while its partnership with Leeds and York Universities - known as the White Rose Consortium - has combined research power greater than that of either Oxford or Cambridge Universities.
The university currently houses 70 academic departments and sections, grouped in seven faculties - Architectural Studies, Arts, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Pure Science and Social Sciences. It has 54 research units conducting interdisciplinary research across a broad range of subject areas; ten specialist advisory services for industry and commerce; over 1.4m books, periodicals and other items held in its libraries, and more than 70 concerts and plays are organised each year by university students and staff.
Famous alumni include David Blunkett MP; Jack Rosenthal, the playwright; Helen Sharman, Britain' first astronaut; former England cricketers Frank Hayes and Tim Robinson, as well as football manager Howard Wilkinson.
About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)
Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) is the world's leading developer of learning solutions - with a team of over 600 multi-disciplinary specialists, TIS creates 3000+ hours of learning content across 160+ concurrent projects every year.
Backed by an unmatched 19 years' experience, TIS develops unique and innovative learning solutions that are designed to enable clients achieve their organizational goals. Whether it is performance and productivity gains, streamlining operations and financials, developing leadership and decision-making skills, enabling smooth product development, reducing time to market, boosting employee motivation, or any other corporate or learning initiative - TIS' solutions have proven their effectiveness at more than 60 Fortune 500 companies, leading educational institutions and government departments worldwide.
TIS' clients include more than 60 Fortune 500 companies, leading educational institutions, and government departments worldwide.
TIS is the first learning solutions organization in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. Its solutions have won widespread industry recognition with prestigious awards including Performance Centered Design, ASTD, IT Training, Brandon Hall, APEX, BETT, BIMA, SIIA Codie, FICCI BAF and Business World-NID awards.
TIS caters for three segments - Corporate, Education, and Government. It offers its clients innovative learning solutions including:
• Web-based Training & Courseware - to help achieve learning goals
• Simulations - to offer immersive learning experiences
• Electronic Performance Support Systems - to provide on-the-job support
• Software Solutions - to leverage technology in learning
• Game-based Learning - to enhance learner engagement
The scope of TIS' learning solutions encompasses on-boarding, sales training, process training, product training, curriculum design, assessments, soft skills training, and technical training, among others. TIS has extensive experience across diverse industry domains including pharmaceuticals and healthcare; banking, finance, and insurance; IT; communications and telecom; publishing; virtual and online schools and universities; transportation; government and defense; and not-for-profit organizations.
TIS has development centers in Germany, Switzerland, and India. Its sales and marketing operations span the US, Canada, the UK, mainland Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Asia.
For more information log on to www.tatainteractive.com
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