BT Flexible LearningAn essential part of a blended learning experience

Delivering a personalised experienceLocal authorities are being asked to reform children’s services, createsustainable communities, build leadership and capacity, comply withthe proposals embodied in the Gershon efficiency review and copewith regulatory and legislative changes.

In order to achieve all this and the implicit transformation of public services, your people will need to acquire new skills and knowledge and adopt innovative ways of working.

Strong leadership and clear communication strategies are essential; as is the necessity to adopt a flexible approach to learning and training, whereby it becomes personalised and available wherever and whenever required.

BT FLEXIBLE LEARNING 01 02

BT Flexible Learning can help to deliver apersonalised learning and training experience,anywhere, at any time.

We’ve been through the learning curve, so you don’t have to

Over the past two years, BT has successfully delivered a million eLearningevents to more than 100,000 of our own people, plus many more tocountless thousands of end users across the public and private sectors.

The figures are remarkable, but they do not tell the whole story. The learning curve we have been through – both as a practitioner and supplier – is what really matters, as itenables you to avoid potential pitfalls and us to add the kind of value you expect on thepeople development front.

When we first started out on the eLearning road, our sole objective was to reduce costs.Next, we realised that we could utilise our own technology to speed up learning and training,while making it available 24x7, in a secure manner, from any location.

Only then did the penny drop. We were creating or buying in off-the-shelf content forspecific job functions, without integrating it with our business processes. We did not have a clear people development strategy. Moreover, as our delivery was fragmented, we wereunable to manage it properly.

That is no longer the case. We no longer rely purely on eLearning. We provide blendedlearning and training opportunities for our people, all of which are dovetailed into ourbusiness processes. We also track their online and classroom progress and manage theentire function in a highly efficient and cost effective manner.

Creating appropriatesolutions

You might want an entry level BT FlexibleLearning solution that you can deploy quickly,either by department or right across yourauthority. This would typically provide trainingfor specific skill sets, like IT, Health & Safetyand/or negotiating.

Alternatively, you may wish to adopt a holistic strategyfrom the outset; aimed at upskilling your entire workforce,as appropriate, around multiple Government initiatives.

Whether you start with a handful of highly focused coursesor wish to deploy a bespoke business transformationsolution, you are guaranteed robustness and scalabilitywith BT Flexible Learning.

Either way, our first priority will be to get to grips withyour business drivers; after which our professional servicesin the shape of needs analysis, design and implementationplanning, followed by readiness auditing, will help toensure a successful implementation.

This same tried, tested and provenmethodology is now available to you, in the shape of BT Flexible Learning.

BT FLEXIBLE LEARNING 03 04

Delivering complete solutions

In association with our market leading partners, BT Flexible Learning will deliver a solution that can:

• Enable you to plan, deliver and manage your blended learningactivities faster, more efficiently and in a far more sophisticatedmanner than is currently possible

• Extend the reach of your training department to employeeswherever they happen to be located, be it an office, their home or while they are out and about

• Reduce the cost of generic training by sourcing and integrating off-the-shelf eLearning packages into our solutions

• Provide and integrate bespoke content as part of a businesstransformation programme that will examine existing systems,process and work patterns and advise how they should be modifiedin order to ensure your people have the time, incentive andwherewithal to access your learning and training offering

• Relieve you of an unnecessary administrative burden, by hostingand managing your content at a BT data centre

• Make life even easier for your end users, by providing real timecollaborative tools for peer-to-peer and group eLearning (e.g. virtual classrooms).

Providing the right infrastructure

Our hosted Learning Management System is the key enabler of a knowledgeand learning based culture and therefore critical to the BT Flexible Learningsolutions we deliver and your people development strategy going forward.

You can use it to input the skills and competencies required for various job descriptions and map them against each individual’s current capabilities, so they know how and where theyneed to improve.

BT people simply log on to our intranet to see what courses they have to take as part of theirjob development programme and are able to sign up for them there and then. Your people willbe able to meet their mandatory learning and training obligations in exactly the same manner.

Our entire workforce is now also empowered to study topics outside their normal jobdescriptions, yet within a tightly controlled permissions framework that ensures they do notwaste their time or our resources. Once again, your people will be able to fulfil their ambitionsin exactly the same manner, ensuring they become virtually self-sufficient in the longer term.

On the management front, you can use the system to book classrooms and trainers, closelymonitor classroom and online progress, check who has completed their training andautomatically remind people when to take refresher courses.

You can additionally record externally provided learning and training, enabling managers tosave time and produce far more accurate reports around, for example, equal opportunities andcontinuing professional development.

Finally, staff who used to spend a fair proportion of their time booking courses on behalf oftheir colleagues will be freed up to get on with more creative tasks, such as developing adultlearning programmes and training road shows.

You are guaranteed robustness and scalability with BT Flexible Learning solutions.

BT FLEXIBLE LEARNING 05 06

Why BT?

Our track record in delivering successful blended learning and trainingsolutions is unrivalled, starting with the BT Group itself and extending tocustomers as diverse as…

• The Ministry of Defence: BT is providing an integrated managed learning environment for both internet basedaccess to unclassified content and intranet based access to restricted content forthe MoD’s 300,000 users, including civil servants and all three armed forces

• The Police National Training Agencies (Centrex): BT is providing consultancy and design services to help further enhance the lifelonglearning opportunities designed to increase the proficiency and professionalism ofpolice personnel throughout the UK

• The National College for School Leadership:Referring to the blended learning experience for head teachers, designed anddelivered by BT, Tony Richardson, NCSL’s Director of Online Learning, says: “We wanted suppliers with a good understanding of the education environment,who would work in partnership with us. Leading-edge practice was important, but ithad to come hand in hand with the pragmatism to deliver it as a robust and scalablesolution. BT fulfilled all those criteria.” Award note: NCSL’s Learning Gateway – which provides access to an increasing number of programmes, including Leading from the Middle, the Certificate of School BusinessManagement and the Leadership Service for Head Teachers – recently won an Award forExcellence at the eGovernment National Awards.

We believe that BT Flexible Learning is an essential part of a blended learning experience. In addition to being robust and scalable, thesolutions we provide are easy to use, easy tomanage, cost effective and, above all, empowering.

To find out more about BT Flexible Learning, contact your BT Account Manager.

Offices worldwide

The telecommunications services described in this publication are subject to availability and may be modified from time to time.Services and equipment are provided subject to BritishTelecommunications plc’s respective standard conditions of contract. Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract.

© British Telecommunications plc 2005.Registered Office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ.Registered in England no: 1800000.

Designed by Jacob Bailey.Printed in England by XXXXXXXX

PHME 0000000

Printed on paper which meets international environmental standards.