UK Training Industry Press Releases

October 6^th saw the second E-learning Debate at the Oxford Union, organised by Epic, one of the UK's leading e-learning companies. Following the highly successful inaugural debate last year, expectations were high for an event that's fast becoming one of the key dates in the learning and development calendar. The event was attended by over 300 learning professionals who witnessed a lively debate on the motion: "This house believes that technology-based informal learning is more style than substance"

The debate was chaired by Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC's technology correspondent, and led by Dr Allison Rossett arguing for the motion and Professor William H. Dutton against it. In the debating chamber, a packed audience spent nearly two hours listening and contributing to the arguments and counter-arguments. In the end, the ‘noes' won a landslide victory, with 54 in favour of the motion and 259 against.

The overriding conclusion from those in attendance was that informal learning not only has a place in training and education, but that technology has a key role to play in enhancing it.

Dr Naomi Norman, Director of Learning at Epic, said: "I'm delighted that such a large proportion of the audience recognised the value of technology-based learning. Hopefully, this will encourage more organisations to think again about their training strategies and consider ways to harness and encourage informal learning initiatives in the workplace. It's something we do successfully at Epic, and for some of our clients."

To enable further debate and discussion, online users can read a summary of the arguments, view highlights via Flickr and YouTube, add comments and continue voting on the motion at www.elearningdebate.com