With a view to establishing closer communications with its clients and strengthening its reach in the overseas market, Upside Learning recently welcomed Alan Samuel, former head of UK operations at Tata Interactive Systems, as Director of Client Solutions for the UK & Europe. Alan will head Upside Learning’s offshore Europe and UK market to manage and promote the company’s award–winning suite of eLearning solutions and services.

With over 12 years of eLearning experience, Alan brings with him a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the use of learning technologies in the corporate, education and publishing sectors in the UK market. Prior to joining Upside Learning, Alan headed Tata Interactive Systems’ UK operations for almost 10 years and was a partner in The Learning Coach, a company specialising in building eLearning capability. He has hands–on experience of working with offshore environments and teams, and has helped a number of Fortune 500 companies to develop their eLearning strategies and build eLearning portfolios. Apart from these, Alan has also held senior roles in the fields of IT offshoring, hospitality, media and advertising.

A strong believer in the role of technology in improving and supporting business and individual performance, Alan holds a track record of excellent customer relationships, and is well known for being a leader with clear, direct and effective communication skills.

“I enjoy the challenge of marrying Technology and Learning to build solutions that add value and support people in the work place. The opportunity of being part of an eLearning company whose innovative products and services are helping organizations drive performance and business improvement is exciting!”, said Alan.

“We are pleased to have Alan join us in our journey towards providing the best eLearning solutions in Europe and the UK. His extensive experience in working with offshore teams and a clear understanding of eLearning will help us immensely in strengthening our relationship with our clients and developing effective eLearning strategies for them”, said Amit Garg, Director of Custom Leaning Solutions at Upside Learning.

In today’s day and age where mobile devices and mobile technologies have become ubiquitous in nearly every aspect of our daily lives, it’s no surprise that Mobile Learning is emerging as the future of learning. And one company that has made robust investments in this new learning media is Upside Learning. At the upcoming CIPD HRD 2012 expo, to be held on 25^th and 26^th April at Olympia, London, the company’s focus on mobile learning will be evident as it exhibits its wide range of mobile learning solutions.

Visitors at Upside Learning’s booth (#671) can get a taste of some of the company’s wide range of custom mobile learning offerings that include micro courses, quizzes and games, mbooks, mobile videos, augmented reality apps and custom mobile apps for different smartphones and tablets. Upside2Go, Upside Learning’s revolutionary platform for Mobile Learning available on iOS, BlackBerry and Android, will also be on display.

Visitors can also check out Upside Learning’s Custom eLearning Solutions and the recently released version (version 5.0) of its two-time Brandon Hall award-winning Learning Management System – UpsideLMS.

Attendees at the expo can also attend a session on mobile learning to be delivered by Amit Garg, Director of Custom eLearning Solutions at Upside Learning. Titled ‘Implementing Mobile Learning In Workplace – Benefits, Strategy & Success Factors’, this session will be held on the concluding day of the conference and exhibition i.e. 26^th April at 10.15 a.m. BST.

The company’s representatives will be present at booth (#671) throughout the event. To pre-arrange a meeting with a member of the Upside Learning team, send an email specifying your preferred time and date to sales@upsidelearning.com

The second edition of MobiMOOC has started on 8^th September, and will run until 30^th September. Of the many impressive weekly sessions lined up for these 3 weeks is the Corporate mLearning week starting from 24^th September. And facilitating this is Amit Garg, Co–founder and Director of Custom Learning Solutions at Upside Learning.

The entire week will see Amit sharing his expertise on mobile learning, and its role and necessity in the corporate world today. Some of the MOOC topics that will be covered by Amit include:

• The potential of mLearning
  • Why is Mobile unique?
  • What is Mobile Learning?
  • What can mLearning help a corporate in?
  • Why escaping mobile learning is impossible?
• Busting the myths of mLearning
• Getting started – Key elements in implementing mLearning in workplace

Below is the schedule for Amit‚s webinars during the Corporate mLearning week:

Webinar Topic : Understanding Mobile Learning

Date/Time : Monday, 24 September 2012 | 10.30 AM, Brussels time

Webinar Topic : How to implement mLearning in workplace

Date/Time : Tuesday, 25 September 2012 | 3.00 PM, Brussels time

Webinar Topic : Future of mLearning in workplace

Date/Time : Friday, 28 September 2012 | 3.00 PM, Brussels time

Through these webinars, participants will be able to understand and appreciate the potential of mLearning in the workplace, understand the key elements of mLearning implementation strategy, identify the myths related to mobile learning and learn how mLearning can actually be implemented in the workplace through examples.

Talking about his selection as a course coordinator for MobiMOOC, Amit Garg commented, “MobiMOOC 2012 has a very impressive faculty to conduct the weekly sessions on mobile learning and related topics. I feel absolutely honored to be included amongst them and I look forward to interacting and learning from the participants of these sessions.”

Organised by Inge Ignatia de Waard, and already running in its second week, MobiMOOC 2012 is divided into three weeks with each week covering different course topics related to mLearning. A unique initiative exclusively on mobile learning, it invites industry experts to share their knowledge on mobile learning and embark discussion and open dialogue between the audiences. All the courses conducted on this open platform are freely available to everyone.

Interested individuals can register for MobiMOOC 2012 by becoming a member of the Google group.

Learning is not just a part of Upside Learning’s brand name; it’s what forms its foundation. True to this, the company will be offering a learning platform to the attendees of ASTD International Conference & Exposition (ASTD ICE) 2012. This also reflects ASTD’s theme for this year – ‘Learn something new, perform something extraordinary’.

True learning will be enabled as visitors interact with Upside Learning’s team ,discuss their learning problems and requirements and gain practical insights on the role that eLearning can play in building a strong training function in their organisation.

Further, as learners continue to seek knowledge beyond formal modes and turn to newer technologies, the Upside Learning team will also demonstrate the value of these new technologies and suggest solutions on how they can be leveraged to make learning more effective.

Visitors at Upside Learning’s booth (#1729) can also get a taste of some of the company’s wide range of solutions and services. These include award-winning Custom eLearning and Mobile Learning Solutions. Upside2Go, Upside Learning’s revolutionary Mobile Learning platform for iOS, BlackBerry and Android, will also be on display along with UpsideLMS, the company’s 3-time Brandon Hall award-winning Learning Management System.

The company’s representatives will be present at booth (#1729) throughout the event. To pre-arrange a meeting with a member of the Upside Learning team, visitors can send an email specifying the preferred time and date to sales@upsidelearning.com

ASTD ICE 2012 will be held from 6^th to 9^th May 2012 at Denver, CO, USA. The expo will be open from 7^th May (9.30 a.m.) until 9^th May (1.15 p.m.).

Consistently surpassing its past achievements, Upside Learning has won a Bronze for Best Extended Enterprise Learning Program under the 2012 Brandon Hall Excellence Awards in Learning.

The company’s winning entry, a range of custom learning solutions, has been developed for VoCollect, the number one developer and manufacturer of voice solutions. Called the VoCollect University, the courses offered include VCT, WBT and ILT; and ranges from technical to sales training. The primary goal of the VoCollect University was to provide all individuals using Vocollect products and services (namely the employees, partners and end–users) the required training to use the products safely and efficiently. The delivery of this training was carried out in various forms, and its programs can be best described as holistic blended training programs carefully designed and delivered for maximum learning impact.

The judging panel for the awards consisted of several veteran, independent senior industry experts along with Brandon Hall Group’s Sr. Analysts and Executive Leadership. The winning entries were selected based upon different criteria’s, which included: fit to the need, design of the program, functionality, Innovation, and overall measurable benefits.

“This years’ winner should be very proud of their achievements especially based on the rigorous judging process all submissions underwent,” said Mike Cooke, Chief Executive Officer of Brandon Hall Group, Inc. “We are honored to recognize the award winners who exemplify a high standard of performance in their organization and demonstrate clear, measurable business results through these innovative programs.”

In its 18^th year now, the prestigious Brandon Hall Excellence Awards in Learning are held annually to acknowledge best technologies, innovations, strategies that deliver astounding results in the learning domain.

About Brandon Hall Group

Having worked with more than 10,000 clients globally and after 20 years of delivering world–class solutions, Brandon Hall Group is the preeminent research and analyst organization focused on developing research–driven solutions to drive organizational performance for emerging and large organization. Brandon Hall Group has an extensive repository of thought leadership, research, data and expertise In Learning and Development, Talent Management, Sales Effectiveness, Marketing Impact, and Executive Management.

To learn more, visit www.brandonhall.com