Higher education has never been more essential to career success than in today's fast changing job market. Information and expertise have become the most valuable assets within any organization and on any professional resume.

A high quality degree with good grades in your final exams remains one of the most effective ways to open the door to that dream corporate office. However, stiff competition for jobs also means that employers increasingly examine the CVs for clues to people who are interesting, well-rounded, has leadership qualities and excel in teamwork.

According to 2001 Annual Association of Graduate Recruiters/Financial Times survey of Britain's top employers, today's employers want graduates who have a firm grip on the "world of work".

Calhoun, college relations manager at JC Penney Co. Inc. in Dallas, Texas, says she looks at the experience section first. "I look to see if the student has retail experience," she says, adding that she then checks out the graduation date and the GPA.

Other key traits that any employer looks for are energy, intelligence, aggressiveness and persistence. How a job seeker demonstrates those traits may mean the difference between landing a new job or heading back home to print out more resumes.

Lack of concentration, procrastination, cold sweat, sleepless nights - many of us have forgotten how nerve wrecking exams can be till we picked up our textbooks again.

To make the trip to examinations hall less intimidating, PurpleTrain.com introduces e-Revision, a virtual platform integrating Informatics' on-campus students, PurpleTrain's e-learners, lecturers and unit leaders globally to help students in their preparation for examinations.

Distinct Advantages to learners:

We are confident that eRevision will be an excellent tool to help you prepare for your exams. That's why we even offer to pay for the subsequent exam sitting FREE OF CHARGE if you fail the first examination despite completing the e-Revision.

e-Revision is available for:

For more information, please visit
www.purpletrain.com/e-revision.

*for one sitting only

To ThanaLakshmi, the Best Online Facilitator Award (Nov 2001) winner, e-learning is the most efficient and effective way of learning.

"Unlike a traditional classroom setting, students tend to participate more in a virtual class sessions. As such, it increases interactivity among students and facilitators. This high level of participation and enthusiasm encourage me to provide even more and better services to learners."

The Best Online Facilitator Award is based on the feedback gathered from students and the criteria include interactivity, reliability, responsiveness to chat and discussion rooms, as well as compliance to e-learning governance and deadlines, amongst others.

Lakshmi facilitates learners on some of the subjects/modules from Certificate In Computer Studies to Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies, which include Business Organisation & Communications and Business Management, amongst others.

Another winner of the award, Yvonne Ng (Dec 2001) shares her winning formula.

"I broke up the class into small discussion units so that all students are actively engaged in the discussions. You have to respond to the students' queries promptly, so that they will not have to wait for a long time to clear their doubts. This is especially important in an online environment, as students will feel frustrated and discouraged when their queries are not attended to on time." Said Yvonne, who facilitates the Master of Business Administration (MBA) by the University of Wales through e-learning with PurpleTrain.com.

According to Jim Smith and Andrea Spurling, writers of 'Lifelong Learning : Riding the Tiger', teachers draw on their own and the other people's stock of knowledge in order to help others learn. The techniques they use range from prescriptive and didactic at one end, to facilitative and supportive at the other. The teaching of adults tends towards the latter. Good facilitation helps students learn better than they can on their own. That's why self-instruction or self-learning is seldom sufficient in itself, even among skilled learners.

Alan Phua, Assistant Director, Academic at Informatics Global Higher Education, was delighted with the quality of our online facilitators.

"The private educational industry environment is getting increasingly competitive. Academics are required to assist in more student counseling, as well as adopt a more personalized approach in their roles as educationists, mentors, counselors, and role models with the intention to raise the level of academic service offered to students. We hope that such encouragement by the Informatics and PurpleTrain management would spur greater ownership in the standards, performance, results and expanded roles of lecturers and facilitators. This will go a long way in providing students with a holistic educational experience." said Alan.

If it doesn't work, CALL for Help! This is the advice given by some of PurpleTrain's e-learners to its e-community.

Below is a thank you note from Zul Hisyam who is happy to have his connection problem resolved.

He wrote:

I would like to take this opportunity to thanking you on your advice regarding the connection problem occurred. I do hope that your excellent works maintained forever. Once again thank you very-very much. I now can access my subject without any problem.

Roopkiran kaur, another student of PurpleTrain.com, posted the following note to her classmates on the prompt action and timely solution she received from PurpleTrain's Technical Team.

Hi there and a good day to everyone. Same as some of you, my name too was not in any of the chat groups, so I contacted (e-mailed) the helpdesk and technical people of PurpleTrain. The problem has been solved and I have since been assigned a chat group (Group G). So, my advice is e-mail them too. I got my response within 12 hours. Quite impressed! Anyway, you can get their e-mail address from the "Contact Us" section of the PurpleTrain website. Good luck and happy studying!!!

In response to the above postings, Mike Khoo, Technical Manager of PurpleTrain said: "Always call or email us directly at tech@purpletrain.com for technical and login problems. It's our responsibility to ensure that all technical issues are resolved within 24 hours."

USEFUL CONTACTS:

Programme Enquiries
enquiry@purpletrain.com

Technical Enquiries
tech@purpletrain.com

Examination Enquiries
Exam & Test Deferments, and other examination enquiries
exams@purpletrain.com

Operational Enquiries
Textbooks, payment, course deferment & other operational issues
opns@purpletrain.com

Other Enquiries
helpdesk@purpletrain.com

24-hour helpdesk hotline
(65) 9362-9292

As manager of a distance learning program at a community college, Donald Smith can't help but evaluate his own educational experiences from two perspectives -- as a provider and a learner. So when it comes to time for him to choose an institution for his PhD in Organization and Management, he casts a critical eye over the offerings from leading institutions.

To him, Capella University was the clear choice. In fact, this self-confessed "hard rater" has given his experience with Capella a 9 out of 10. So impressed is he with Capella that he is adopting it as the model for his school's distance learning program.

"Things could always be better, but I'm just not sure how in this case." He says, "Capella has managed to build a back-end that is focused on service and support. But the front-end remains driven by seasoned, veteran faculty members who are passionate about education. Other institutions should be learning from what they're doing. It's spot on."

Smith is in total agreement with Capella's application of e-business principles; learners are treated like customers, and support and service are organized around the individual's needs rather than internal bureaucracies.

"Traditionally, higher education is not really good at customer service. But Capella is using e-business strategies to change the way educational services are delivered. They pay attention to the little things like advisories, the content, web site design, and the enrollment process. Less than two weeks from the time I chose Capella, I was learning in my first class. That's amazing."

PurpleTrain.com represents Capella University in marketing, recruiting, pre-screening applications and collecting tuition fees for non-US citizens interested in any of the three graduate programmes offerred by Capella University School of Business (MSc, MBA or PhD).

For a full listing of the courses available, please visit purpletrain.com or email enquiry@purpletrain.com.

About Capella University

Capella University is an accredited university that offers courses, certificates and degree programs in business, technology, education, human services and psychology. Through its online campus, Capella University educates more than 3,700 learners throughout the U.S. and in 40 other countries. Designed to inspire achievement, Capella removes institutional and logistical barriers to help individuals unlock their full potential in a changing world.

The University works to create and embrace innovative academic programs that have real time impact and enduring value. Founded in 1993, Capella's proven experience encompasses stimulating curriculum, individualized access to higher education and a strong sense of community. Capella University is affiliated with the for-profit Capella Education Company, headquartered in Minneapolis. For more information, visit Capella University at http://www.capellauniversity.edu or call 888.CAPELLA.

"You must be self-discipline and never procrastinate. Always follow the guidelines given and at the same time adopt critical and creative thinking and make full use of this web-based training," said Heriyanto Lai, one of the PurpleTrain's e-learners who has excelled in class.

Out of the 198 graduated with Bachelor of Science in Computing (Honours) degree in 2001, Heriyanto is one of the two graduates who achieved a First Class Honours Degree.

When asked to compare the traditional taught mode learning to online learning, the 24-year-old said: "e-Learning is cost-effective and very flexible. Based on my experience as an e-learner, learners are very active during class sessions and in discussion rooms. They tend to be more open in expressing their thoughts, exchanging ideas and experiences. Ideas are shared freely amongst learners and facilitators, thus making learning more exciting and fruitful."

To Heriyanto, Bulletin Board is one of the best features about e-learning.
"Bulletin Board is where idea sharing takes place. I can post my questions whenever I've one and can expect a reply within 24 hours from the other learners/facilitators. I like the fact that responses from the facilitators and PurpleTrain personnel are considerably fast and this enhances my overall academic performance/productivity. However, there are also some occasions where unclear explanations were given. Under such circumstances, I would usually try to do my own research and then seek clarification from other course-mates and facilitators."

But nothing beats the chat sessions according to him,"I really enjoy the chat sessions, as you can expect active participation and interactions between learners and facilitator. Problems are solved immediately with the fast responses from participants. Most of my questions for the lessons are clarified here. Even if I missed a scheduled chat session, I can still view the chat log which is always available on the web. I find that the retention rate is higher when compared to the traditional taught mode learning."

To those who are uninitiated about e-learning, he has this to say,
"I would recommend others to take up e-learning as the benefits that I have gained are tremendous. It makes me more disciplined and independent. E-learning has given me invaluable experience which will certainly help me in my career development."

"I greatly appreciate the help and contribution from PurpleTrain's staff for making e-learning a success. I also wish to thank my classmates and friends who have contributed to our routine discussions during the course!" he added with a huge grin.