New generation portals

Discussion on leveraging digital learning would be incomplete without exploring how changes are occurring in the world of learning portals. A learning portal, or what is often called a learning hub or weblog, is a web site that customizes a one-stop shop of vital contacts, resources, performance tools and e-learning.

The term ˜portal reflects a move away from electronic versions of business information to a haven for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Again the facilities can include communication facilities, data stores and software applications. These services could be available via an intranet to people within a business, or available to approved external users such as customers, suppliers or business partners . These portals are either open to anyone who might be interested or might need permission to use them.

A well-presented and well-organized portal can provide a gateway to a whole range of people, including customers, employees and the community at large. In this context a portal could be defined as any web presence that helps steer people to multiple sources of mission-critical knowledge. The term ˜portal here is being used quite liberally and can mean a wide range of things to different audiences and could be the front edge to a system that drives knowledge and innovation. Without getting too caught up in the evolution of language, it is more important to see the underlying trend, that is, the desire to aggregate assistance, learning and knowledge into a central point where important discovery and human connections can be made.

To help you get a sense of learning portals, here are some examples you may wish to visit on a diverse range of topics:

• About “ Human Internet at www.about.com

• Education World at www.education-world.com

• IT Skills Hub at www.itskillshub.com.au.

Not surprisingly, the growth in portal providers has been very high as it helps to simplify and consolidate the best resources and gateways for winning the knowledge game. In many cases businesses have teamed with external third party portal providers who help to consolidate resources and permit access to vital knowledge and collaboration opportunities. These strategic alliances not only save time, but also help kick-start the creation of a solid framework for learning, discovery and connection.

As you would expect, depending on your business needs there is a wide diversity of features and related web-based applications that can form the basis of such a service. Again it is important to see portals as just another way to win the knowledge game by sharpening your focus and positioning your knowledge. To do this you need a well-hosted solution and the management of it needs to be first class. The advantages of well-designed portals can be numerous , particularly if people are able to obtain mission-critical knowledge on learning hot spots. Conversely, portals that lack quality control and fail to adapt to business and learner needs will quickly lose value.

In terms of businesses that use this approach, one notable example is the chemical company, Buckman Laboratory, which was highlighted in Chapter 6. Buckman have built a portal that includes a wide variety of on-line services. These include customer service, technical experts, laboratory analysis, safety and environmental services, product development teams , problem-solving workshops and change management seminars , and their corporate university, Bulab Learning Centre, provides e-learning in a range of different languages, disciplines and technical areas. There is also access to on-line degrees and higher education.