“They can be used as standalone learning tools or can be blended with other forms of learning for use as ice breakers, pre-assessments or even assessment tools.”

Sanjaya Sharma, chief executive of TIS, added: “Using SimBLs at the University of Phoenix has demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach in facilitating learning. The University now incorporates SimBLs in its business management program and uses SimBLs simulations on other courses being taught throughout the university.”

Being more tightly focused than many online business simulations, SimBLs can offer a cost-effective way of learning – being available on a ‘pay-per-user’ basis.

About the award-winning entry

The Business Ethics Simulation-based Learning Object was created for the online MBA program at the University of Phoenix (UoP), Arizona, USA, who aimed to:

· Increase instructional efficiency

· Handle larger classes

· Cover ‘difficult to learn’ concepts

· Focus on real-world application

TIS’s solution was to develop small, self-contained chunks of learning for each subject – including business ethics – that simulate real-world scenarios and aid focused learning. The solution provides

§ Uncertainty and unpredictability

§ Instant feedback

§ External influences

§ Opportunities to review decisions

The solution focuses on comprehensive feedback to improve learning effectiveness, by discussing their decisions, the optimal solutions and the rationale behind them.

TIS’ simulations helped enhanced conceptual understanding, boosted relevant classroom discussions and reduced the number of doubts that the teachers had to respond to. Their effectiveness is reflected by the fact that today UoP offers nearly 100 simulation-based courses in its online MBA program.

(More information at www.apexawards.com)

About the APEX Awards

The APEX Awards for Publication Excellence is an annual competition for writers, editors, publications staff and business and nonprofit communicators. It is sponsored by Communications Concepts, Inc., publishers of business communication reports, including Writing That Works, a subscription monthly for professional communicators, and special reports on topics such as Writing for the WEB.

According to the APEX 2004 judges: "The awards were based on excellence in graphic design, quality of editorial content and the success of the entry in conveying the message and achieving overall communications effectiveness."

In the 16th Annual APEX Awards, awards were given in 109 communications categories, in 11 main categories including: newsletters; magazines and journals; magapapers and newspapers; annual reports; brochures, manuals and reports; video and electronic publications; Web and intranet sites; campaigns, programs and plans; writing; design and illustration; and special publications.

5,462 entries were received (across 109 categories) including 329 entries in the Campaigns, Programs & Plans category, in which Tata Interactive Systems won an Award of Excellence.

About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)

Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) has one of the world’s largest teams for the design and development of custom-built e-learning solutions. It is part of the Tata group, India’s largest business house, employing over 330,000 people and accounting for some two per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).

TIS’s services include: building corporate e-learning solutions, creating learning portals; courseware conversion, and developing education products. It focuses on developing high quality products, using mature systems and processes.

TIS, established in 1990 and fully operational within the UK since 1998, is an offshoot of Tata’s involvement in the IT sector. TIS now employs over 400 people – most of whom are

based in India – who work with many of the UK’s largest companies, along with commercial publishers of e-learning materials.

TIS clients include blue chip corporations and publishing companies including Abbey National, Barclays Bank, Transco (British Gas), CGNU, BP-Amoco, the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD), Quisic.com, SkillSoft Inc and Unilever.

TIS offers a personalised service to each of its clients. Its many years experience of producing high quality programmes, along with the size of its operation helps to reassure clients that it can provide anything and everything that they want from e-learning materials effectively and efficiently.

Apart from holding ISO 9001 certification, TIS is the first company providing custom-built e-learning solutions to be assessed at level 5 on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) scale. The Software Engineering Institution (SEI), a federally funded body set up at Carnegie Mellon University to deal with various issues affecting the software industry, established this quality assurance model in the late 1980s. Designed as a method for evaluating defence software subcontractors, the CMM evolved into a model that can be used to assess internal process improvements. For further information, see http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sema/pub_ml.html

TIS’s products have won numerous awards, including gold awards from BIMA, the Personnel Today E-learning Award in 2001, along with a BETT Award in 2002.

About Tata Group

The Tata Group was established nearly 100 years ago by Jamsetji Tata to help build India’s industrial infrastructure. Tata established India’s steel, chemical and automobile engineering industries. It founded Air India and was instrumental in establishing the information technology (IT) industry in India.

It is now India’s largest business house, employing over 330,000 people. The Tata group accounts for some two per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Currently, there are 86 companies within the Tata group, which continues its original practice of distributing a proportion of its profits to charity – including funding India’s largest cancer hospital.

Within the IT sector, the Tata group employs some 25,000 consultants working across the globe – some 900 of them in the UK servicing 100 or so clients.

Further information from:

Sambit Mohapatra, Tata Interactive Systems, 020 7235 8281

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 01727 860405