Overview
ReadyGo Inc. specializes in tools to automate web based training. Its primary product, ReadyGo Web Course Builder (WCB), significantly alters the way organizations develop training materials in much the same way that word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software revolutionized their respective business tasks. This powerful authoring tool quickly and efficiently lets subject mater experts (SME) produce web based training in a fraction of the time previously required.ReadyGo WCB grew out of the founders frustration with graphics-heavy, cumbersome authoring tools that attempted to control rather than exploit capabilities of the web.
The result is ReadyGo Web Course Builder, a product providing major benefits:
- Cuts course development costs to produce an hour of training from $15,000-$50,000 to less than $500
- Reduces web course development time by 80 to 90 percent
- Eliminates complexity - the SME can author and maintain the course
- Provides output that can be easily placed on a CD, intranet, extranet, or any Internet web site
Training Market
Companies release new products and services that require varying degrees of training, either to use or to sell. In addition, employers must teach employees new technologies and adherence to government regulations needed on the job. Company contractors and vendors must also be bought up to speed on new products, services, and government regulations. In short, there is a constant, need to provide training to employees of every type, as well as to customers and vendors who work with the company.Eighty percent of corporate training is produced internally, according a study by British Telecom. In most instances, the managers, training departments, or the Human Resources (HR) department are charged with creating teaching materials, although they seldom have a large budget for such undertakings. With the advent of web-based training, it is necessary for IT to join the training effort, providing the programmers and other experts required to produce a viable site.
ReadyGo Web Course Builder: Simplicity, Speed, and Low Cost
Creating training for the web has traditionally been a complex, expensive, and time-consuming operation involving programmers, artists, instructional designers, and, of course, the subject matter expert. Traditional course building tools come from the computer-based training (CBT) world. They are graphically heavy, and designed for the design oriented power user, such as a Macromedia artist or programmer.ReadyGo WCB offers a product that a trainer, manager, vice president or administrator, or any other subject matter expert can use to develop content. The cost to develop training is dramatically reduced by employing SME rather then a team of specialists. According to a ReadyGo survey, costs to create an hour of web-based training can run between $15,000 to $50,000, using traditional authoring tools. With ReadyGo WCB those costs are brought down to $500 to $5,000.
Likewise, the time required for course development and maintenance is reduced. ReadyGo clients have told us that a 200-page course that previously took then 400 hours to develop using other authoring tools now take them approximately 20 hours.
The tools attributes - simplicity, low cost, and speed - place course development and e-learning where they belong: firmly in the hands of the subject expert.
Integration With Portals and Learning Management Systems
ReadyGo WCB works with popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) including Avilar, Claroline, Click2Learn, Docent, GeoMetrix, Hospital U, ILIAS, KMS-inc, Knowledge Planet, LearnFrame, MaxIT, MeridianKSI, Moodle, OnTrack, Oracle, Pathlore, PeopleSoft, Plateau, Questionmark, Saba, Sun, Track-ED by MRT Multimedia, Test Track, THINQ, and Ynot Learn. To integrate a course built using ReadyGo the course creator simply selects the desired LMS name from a pull-down menu, and the course is saved in a compatible format. Courses integrated with a LMS can automatically track student progress, and forward the results to the LMS.ReadyGo Web Course Builder: How it Works
ReadyGo WCB runs on any MS Windows-based system. Courses can reside on any web server, and can be accessed by any web browser. The subject matter expert inputs content through a series of dialog boxes, that are structured for content pages, links, and graphics (JPEG, GIF, streaming media and Java applets). There are also dialog boxes for creating quizzes, tests, and interactive exercises.Content creators work in the language they understand -- Danish, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Swedish. - and ReadyGo WCB automatically creates the web course.
The plug-ins common to many training sites designed with traditional tools create problems because corporate firewalls often block them. In addition, many users cannot download plug- ins offsite. ReadyGo WCB resolves this issue by eliminating the need for plug-ins.
ReadyGo WCB and SST (a companion tracking module) can be purchased at the ReadyGo web site (www.readygo.com).