Our eLearning portfolio
From learn@WU to the norris&steiner learning portal
Online English Mentor (OEM)
From 2001 to 2004 we authored a series of eLearning programmes for the Learn@WU platform of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien).
The three parts of the Online English Mentor were designed to complement three face-to-face courses (i.e. Englische Wirtschaftskommunikation 1, 2 and 3) at the Institute of English Business Communication. Access to OEM is restricted to students enrolled in these courses.
In addition to the general language and communication skills required for business studies at university level, OEM focuses on
- business content and terminology, e.g.:
- business organisations and structures
- personnel and industrial relations
- marketing
- finance and banking
- the national economy
- international trade
- and business communication, e.g.:
- negotiating a deal
- writing offers, orders and complaints
- report writing
EUROSPEAK:online
In 2005 we were commissioned by the Federal Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt) to develop a specialised eLearning programme for the Federal Academy of Public Administration (Verwaltungsakademie des Bundes).
EUROSPEAK:online is tailored to the needs of public administration, designed to be used on its own or as part of a blended learning package in combination with the face-to-face seminars offered by VAB. The programme has been available to Federal Civil Service staff since 2006. There are currently about 3,700 registered users.
Eurospeak:online covers a range of EU topics, e.g.:
- structure and development of the EU
- decision-making in the EU
- EU policy
- EU law
as well as “national” topics, e.g.:
- national law
- levels of government
- the civil service
Embedded in these topics are interactive exercises on
- vocabulary and technical terminology
- grammar
- spoken and written communication, e.g.:
- meetings
- presentations
- small talk
- summaries
- position papers
- e-mails
In addition, there are a comprehensive grammar reference, a glossary and an interactive pronunciation section.
Eurospeak CZ
In 2008 we wrote Eurospeak CZ, a specialised eLearning programme for the Institute of State Administration of the Czech Republic (now Institute for Public Administration), after providing face-to-face training for Czech officials in preparation for the country's EU Council Presidency in 2009.
This compact eLearning programme was tailored to the specific needs of the target group, i.e. Czech civil servants. Therefore, in addition to a range of EU-based topics, e.g.:
- EU institutions
- decision-making in the EU
- EU law
the programme also includes specifically "Czech" content, i.e. units on
- the political system of the Czech Republic, as well as
- Czech law.
Interactive tasks on relevant vocabulary, grammar and communication skills are integrated into these specialised topics, along with pronunciation exercises, a glossary and a reference section.
Writing Skills
In 2009 we completed our second eLearning programme for the Institute of State Administration of the Czech Republic (now Institute for Public Administration), this time with a fous on Writing Skills. This was a follow-up to a series of writing workshops we had held for the same target group, i.e. Czech officials with international duties.
Based on our experience of working with the target group, we were able to design an eLearning programme to help them develop exactly the writing skills they needed in the context of their international work:
- official correspondence by e-mail, e.g.:
- enquiries
- complaints
- making arrangements
- writing as part of decision-making, e.g.:
- minutes of meetings
- summaries
- official positions
The norris&steiner learning portal
In 2012 we launched our own eLearning site for participants in our face-to-face seminars. Find out more about our learning portal or go there directly.