Vubiz and Farm Sanctuary partner to provide complimentary online course to volunteers

Vubiz Elearning and Farm Sanctuary together announce the release of a new online certificate program for Farm Sanctuary volunteers. Farm Sanctuary is America’s largest and most effective farm animal rescue and protection organization. Their three shelters in New York and California provide lifelong care for almost 1,000 rescued farm animals. These animals are ambassadors for the billions on factory farms who have no voice, and their stories help raise awareness about the harsh realities of factory farming.

Vubiz created the online course in partnership with Farm Sanctuary whose goal is to streamline education and help volunteers with strategies to improve their advocacy on behalf of animals. The new program, called The Fundamentals of Compassionate Campaigning, is offered free by Farm Sanctuary and includes topics such as the power of activism, how to effectively promote a vegetarian lifestyle, four tools to use to maximize the impact of activism, how to effectively use social marketing and many more resources. The program includes a test and certificate.

"This online class is perfect for anyone who cares about farm animals and wants to learn how to be a more effective advocate for them,” explains Nick Cooney, Farm Sanctuary’s Compassionate Communities Manager.

Here is a link to the program on Farm Sanctuary's website:
Farm Sanctuary Volunteer Course

Vubiz is proud to be part of this initiative by Farm Sanctuary. Vubiz is an award winning elearning company in business for 15 years offering quality courses at unbeatable prices.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/2/prweb10481019.htm

E-learning Trends: 2013

This time of year, bloggers and experts forecast trends for the elearning industry. In reviewing recent articles, and attending the recent ASTD Tech show in Silicon Valley (American Society for Training & Development) the three biggest trends being talked about by elearning bloggers are Games, Video and M-Learning.  Recent Ambient Insight Research predicts the worldwide market for elearning to reach over $51billion by 2016 proving that elearning is a solid, mainstream industry and growing rapidly. 

Many experts talk about “gamification” as an important emerging element.  As elearning evolves with better, less expensive software, the bar for interactivity is also elevating.  Games in elearning are easier to build and they add high levels of interactivity while enhancing the learning experience overall. Simulation games are also increasing in popularity as designers find them to be effective training tools which keep the learner coming back.  As with video games, elearning games require you to play until you win, which in instruction design terms, means you play until you learn it.  Games in elearning have become a hot trend mostly in the corporate sector, and gamification can be as simple as an interactive quiz or as elaborate as an animated simulation. 

With the changing technical aspects of elearning, from flash to html5, the importance of video in elearning is skyrocketing.  Improved internet and bandwidth combined with today’s social media/YouTube culture elevates video to an essential part of elearning.   Again, with elearning evolving, interactivity and visual appeal is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.  Video is a very engaging form of communication for the learner and it quickly adds interactivity, interest and tangible learning benefits.  Today’s less expensive cameras and video capture tools make video much more accessible for everyone.

Mobile Learning or MLearning was definitely the buzzword at the Tech show.  In 2013, elearning companies will have to accommodate learners who use mobile devices on a daily basis. The explosion of tablets has pushed mobile learning to the forefront.  And globally, MLearning is vital as countries in Africa and India have gone straight to the smartphone for access to learning materials.

Social Learning is another buzzword for 2013.  It basically means learning with, and from, others.  Today, social media gives learners a great platform for communicating information.  Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites encourage people to connect and share information, which can enhance the learning process.It’s likely we’ll see brand new ideas in elearning from the social media phenomenon that we don’t see right now.  We’ll definitely see more apps to support social learning and MLearning.  

Social media is changing the way we do everything, and it will be exciting this year to see how it changes elearning.  

Java Software Scare and How it Affects Elearning

The recent scare with Java software has big implications for some elearning providers, especially those who rely on Java software to run. In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security urged computer users to disable Oracle Corp.’s Java software to minimize the risk for hackers to access vulnerabilities and gain control of computers. Vubiz Elearning does not rely on Java to run its courses and is unaffected by this serious security threat.

Java is both a language and a platform to run websites and programs and is used by many computer users, both on the PC and Mac. The problem is that there is a hole or vulnerability in Java 7 which requires a patch. This vulnerability leaves millions of computers open to malware attacks and can lure online traffic to virus-infected websites. Hackers try to exploit this vulnerability to install malicious software which enables them to commit crimes such as identity theft and attacking websites.

“We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem,” the Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team said in a posting on its website this month.

“This and previous Java vulnerabilities have been widely targeted by attackers, and new Java vulnerabilities are likely to be discovered,” the agency said. “To defend against this and future Java vulnerabilities, disable Java in Web browsers.” http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA13-010A.html

It is rare for the government to advise computer users to completely disable software due to a security issue, especially with widely used programs such as Java.

Full press release