Irvine, CA - October 1, 2001. -- Ascolta announced today that its INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY, Ping the RouterTM, has received the WORTHY OF NOTE Excellence in e-Learning Award.
Ping the Router is an internetworking game geared towards professionals interested in pursuing technical certifications. It is a way to practice the challenging skills required for passing the Cisco® certification exams by completing complex IOSTM command-based tasks while racing against the clock. It is accessible through Ascolta’s website and is provided as a service to internetworking professionals. Motivation is provided through increasing levels of learning and challenge, prizes, and a scoreboard that posts weekly winners.
"I was able to learn in the process of playing the game," states Michael Bradvica, a recent Ping the Router winner. "It was helpful to take the IOS commands that I already knew and associate them with an actual task. It reinforced what I have learned. The paradigm of learning within your web browser is dynamic and compelling. KUDOS!"
“We’re proud of our team of instructors who have created Ping the Router as a practical, hands-on learning tool,” states Irene Kinoshita, CEO at Ascolta. “It was designed to provide an entertaining way for our students to apply some of the difficult concepts presented in our classes, and give them a chance to experience a real-world scenario on an actual router.”
The Excellence in E-Learning Awards have been presented by brandon-hall.com and Online Learning magazine. Now in its fifth year, the awards program (formerly the “Brandon Hall of Fame Awards”) showcases exceptional work in the e-Learning industry by providing feedback and benchmarking to entrants in an overall effort to help advance the e-Learning industry. As they have each year, the winning entries pushed the bar higher than the year before. This year, there were a total of 103 entries submitted in the Custom Content and Innovative Technology categories, which were evaluated by over 90 judges with expertise in instructional design and online or multimedia training.
“We’re excited about the depth of the award winners this year,” says Brandon Hall, Ph.D., lead researcher for brandon-hall.com and chairman of the Excellence in e-Learning Awards Program. "These companies are making huge strides in advancing e-Learning, and we’re really starting to see some high-quality content being created with the tools that are out there.”
Ascolta, leaders in technical training, empowers network professionals through education, information and community. As an authorized Cisco Learning Solutions Partner, Ascolta services primarily enterprise corporations and service providers through instructor-led classrooms and virtual, web-based formats. Specializing in internetworking training, certification and recertification, Ascolta is a global leader in IT training and services. Fully customized programs further enhance Ascolta’s offerings to its customers. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Ascolta has locations nationwide. Information about Ascolta and its products can be found at www.ascolta.com.
The awards program is chaired by the leading authority on e-Learning, Brandon Hall, Ph.D. Dr. Hall is the CEO of brandon-hall.com and author of the groundbreaking Web-Based Training Cookbook. Since 1992, brandon-hall.com has been providing independent expert advice in the form of published reports and phone consultations on the tools of e-Learning: LMS, LCMS, authoring tools, content providers, and any other tool that helps organizations develop successful e-Learning solutions. Dr. Hall participates regularly as a featured speaker in conferences such as ASTD and Online Learning. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology and has served on the faculty of San Francisco State University’s Multimedia Studies Program.
OnLine Learning 2001 is produced by VNU Business Media and VNU Expositions and is presented by Online Learning Magazine, Training magazine, Presentations magazine, Creative Training Techniques newsletter, and OnLine Learning News and OnLine Learning Reviews e-newsletters. VNU Business Media Inc. is the world’s authority in business publishing, trade shows, conferences and information-based Internet sites. It includes VNU Business Publications USA (formerly Bill Communications and BPI Communications), publisher of many influential business magazines, including Billboard, Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Progressive Grocer, Beverage World, Convenience Store News, National Jeweler, Sales & Marketing Management, Successful Meetings, Incentive, Architecture, Hospitality Design and approximately 60 other successful titles. VNU Business Media is a subsidiary of VNU, one of the world’s leading media and information companies. Its core activities are marketing and media information, business information, and directories. VNU is active in more than 100 countries around the world. The company employs more than 35,000 people and has annual revenues of approximately $4 billion.
