Astute eLearning Platform v3.1.0 Release Notes

Astute eLearning Platform v3.1.0 Release Notes

1) Risk Assessment Version 3

We are delighted to announce the general release of our new and improved Risk Assessment Version 3 tool to the Astute Platform.

This feature is designed to allow customers to develop risk assessments which enable users to manage low-level issues and escalate high-level concerns directly to administrators for further investigation.

Available to all subscription-based customers, there are two guides available with further information on building risk assessments and management of concerns:

Risk Assessment Building Assessment

Risk Assessment Review and Manage

2) Additional Filters on Compliance Reports

New filters have been added to compliance reports, which will now default to exclude expired, archived and future events. Filters have been added to the report to include these events, along with filters by ‘job title’ and ‘additional field (s)’:

3) KPI Reporting

A new report in reporting and analytics is now live: KPI reporting. The KPI report is designed to give a simple, high-level overview of critical training and risk assessment data:


4) Additional Filters on Enrolment Activities

Additional filters have been added to enrolment activities, making it easier to search and filter activities when assigning to enrolment events:

5) Auto Enrol All Users in Enrolment Event Rules

Auto-enrolment has been updated such that all active users will be automatically enrolled on an event immediately upon selecting this option:

6) Archiving Enrolment Events – Workflow Update

The workflow associated with archiving enrolment events has been updated. Upon achieving an enrolment event, no further enrolments and / or re-enrolment will occur (whether manual or rules-based). Current incomplete enrolments will remain in place with learners until such time as these are completed, or the learner is removed from the enrolment event:

7) Additional Recipients to Trigger Emails

Additional recipients can now be added as a cc to trigger email notifications:

DeltaNet International Extends its Anti-Money Laundering Online Training Collection

We have today announced the availability of our newly refreshed and expanded Anti-Money Laundering (AML) collection of online training courses. With a comprehensive offering of 16 courses, the AML collection provides everything an organisation needs to train employees about compliance with AML best practices and legislation, and in turn, ensure their business remains compliant and avoids financial penalties.

The updated collection of training solutions allows organisations to navigate recent changes to AML legislative requirements, and through a catalogue of courses, offers guidance on global best practices. Available in various course lengths and learning styles, the online training supports different learning preferences. This includes immersive training, detailed study, gamification and interactive courses, toolbox talks, adaptive courses, diagnostic assessments, and ‘take 5’ microlearning courses.

With organisations facing increasing scrutiny surrounding anti-money laundering legislation, educating employees on the importance of recognising red flags and reporting suspicious activity are fundamental to ensuring compliance. Using AI-powered technology and diagnostic assessments, the adaptive AML course saves employees valuable time by only recommending learning content they need to know – adapting learning pathways to each individual. Adaptive learning not only reduces costs but improves employee engagement with compliance training.

Leveraging the scenario-led immersive courses allows employees to use gamified scenarios to learn due diligence, understand global best practices for AML compliance and find out how regulated and non-regulated sector businesses have different responsibilities.

The new list of courses include:

“Time and time again, financial and non-financial institutions fall victim to lack of compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, causing them to face extortionate sanctions. Mitigating this risk is key, and that can only happen with the right training,” highlights Darren Hockley, Managing Director at DeltaNet International. “With the global workforce dispersed across a mix of office, hybrid and remote teams, ensuring employees understand the latest AML regulations and how they each have the responsibility to their organisation to report suspicious activity is critical. We are thrilled to have extended our course offerings for AML compliance to provide a comprehensive overview, allowing organisations to provide more effective training.”

For more information on DeltaNet’s AML training courses collection, please visit: https://www.delta-net.com/anti-money-laundering.

DeltaNet International Bolsters eLearning Capability with Cylix Integration

DeltaNet International, a global eLearning provider of compliance, health and safety and performance training solutions, has today announced the growth of its business through the integration of Cylix Limited, which was recently acquired by parent company Marlowe plc. Following this expansion, DeltaNet International will also be aligned into Marlowe plc’s new WorkNest brand.

Cylix Limited, an eLearning software platform based in Bath, was acquired earlier this year with a total enterprise value of £1m. It provides accredited equality, diversity, wellbeing and health and safety eLearning courses to organisations within the UK.

From today, Cylix customers will have an opportunity to access an expanded library of 200+ compliance, health and safety and performance courses, in addition to fresh content in different formats to help them re-invigorate training, keeping learners engaged. Cylix brings strong expertise working with various sectors, such as education and public sector organisations, including the University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh and LSE.

WorkNest is a collective of employment law, HR and health and safety support services, comprising specialist companies within Marlowe plc. The integration strengthens DeltaNet’s offering, as the leader of Marlowe plc’s eLearning platform, within the WorkNest brand. DeltaNet will continue to retain its autonomous position within this group, and the investment of the collective will further drive the organisation’s growth in specialist eLearning.

Darren Hockley, Managing Director at DeltaNet International, said, “We are very excited to welcome Cylix into the DeltaNet family. Both organisations share a strong commitment to delivering quality eLearning courses and providing first-class customer service. The array of talent and the 150+ years of industry expertise joining the DeltaNet team will enhance our skills to continue furthering our growth and providing courses which matter to our customers.”

Steven Price, Managing Director and Owner at Cylix Limited, commented, “Our customers can continue their exciting journey with us through DeltaNet’s state-of-the-art eLearning Platform, Astute LXP, and a wider collection of courseware, whilst retaining access to our current high-quality content. Since our acquisition by Marlowe earlier this year, it is clear that we share the same vision to strengthen the quality of courses and support to organisations looking for compliance, health and safety, diversity and wellbeing eLearning.”

DeltaNet International Launches Phishing Simulation Tool

DeltaNet International, a global eLearning provider of compliance training solutions, has today announced the availability of its Phishing Simulator, to help organisations strengthen their cybersecurity awareness training against phishing attacks.

This solution enables organisations to assess the effectiveness of their cybersecurity education, diagnosing vulnerabilities and identifying urgent skills gaps through realistic phishing simulations.

How likely is your organisation to become the next phishing victim?

The phishing simulation tool can be used simply to test the susceptibility of an organisation to falling victim to a phishing attack, but when combined with follow-up training to close knowledge and risk gaps, users can experience true added value.

The simulator allows users to choose from thousands of phishing email templates, or create new templates specifically for their campaign and fully customise the software based on their brand and requirements. Available direct or through resellers, users can simulate targeted spear-phishing attacks, such as clicking on malicious URLs, and requests for personal information and passwords.

Automatically deploy training to users who ‘fail’ the test

The tool is delivered through the intelligent learning experience platform, Astute, which also makes it easy for businesses to deploy refresher eLearning to employees who ‘fail’ the phishing simulation through its cloud-based platform.

“Regardless of size, every organisation is under threat of phishing attacks and with the headlines constantly announcing the latest breach, it’s high time cybersecurity awareness training became a priority for all employees. All it takes is one click on a malicious link, and it could open your organisation to a cyberattack,” said Darren Hockley, Managing Director at DeltaNet International.

Organisational Resilience

“By simulating an attack, you can test the resilience of the employees within your organisation and then quickly deploy focused training to those employees that need it. This builds organisational resilience to cybersecurity risks and can continually be assessed and measured through multiple campaigns.”

Industry leading online learning content

Benefiting from high-quality eLearning and 20+ Information Security awareness training courses, users of DeltaNet International’s Phishing Simulator can automatically enrol participants who failed the phishing test onto any courses via Astute, or access other company policy documents and eLearning.

Business leaders can measure the effectiveness of the testing by tracking in real-time how employees have reacted to the fake phishing email, allowing security, compliance and HR teams to understand where to provide additional support to mitigate risk and reduce susceptibility to phishing attacks.

Impersonation phishing attacks

“With impersonation phishing attacks becoming increasingly common, we will additionally be working closely with our users to create highly personalised templates designed to test the vulnerability of their employees.

By impersonating considerable levels of familiarity, these emails will test even the most highly aware and vigilant employees, so organisations understand where to prioritise training,” added Jason Stirland, CTO at DeltaNet International.

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Mental Health – Top Tips to Support Employees

Mental Health issues are not something we ought to treat lightly. Recent research by the ONS revealed that around 1 in 5 (21%) adults experienced some form of depression in early 2021 – an increase since November 2020 (19%) – and more than double that seen before the pandemic (10%).

For organisations, it’s crucial mental health is prioritised as it affects employees’ wellbeing and productivity. Worryingly, the latest findings by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England found that a quarter of employees had not received a mental health check-in since the beginning of the pandemic, and 29% of those surveyed said they have never had a conversation with their line manager about mental health.

Mental Health Awareness Week serves as a reminder for organisations to consider their mental health and wellbeing policies and initiate conversations not just with colleagues but also with loved ones.

Organisations and HR teams must recognise that their duty of care not only extends to compliance and health and safety training, but to taking responsibility for mental wellbeing too.

Here are some top tips organisations can do to support employees with mental health:

1) Remember to check-in

It may sound simple but checking in with your employees and colleagues to find out how they’re doing is important. Many of us will simply reply with “I’m fine”, but as a line manager, get to know your staff better and understand if they really mean it or if they’re brushing off something they don’t want to talk about. The fact that 41% of respondents revealed they had none or less frequent wellbeing check-ins is worrying. Employers need to encourage their managers to regularly have a wellbeing check-in with their employees. The pandemic has taken its toll on most of us, and the anxiety around it has affected our personal and working lives.

2) Encourage leaders and managers to undertake training

Organisations that provide the training and resources for their leaders and managers around mental health and wellbeing will be able to better support their employees overall with guidance. Unfortunately, according to a study by IOSH, 62% of line managers are not receiving enough help from their organisation to support their staff’s mental wellbeing. In addition, only 31% of respondents said they feel they have been sufficiently trained to recognise the signs of poor mental health in their direct reports. It’s clear that organisations need to be doing more, and ensuring your leaders and managers understand the signs to look out for means they can start supporting their staff to get the help they need.

3) Support employees with mental health and stress training

Self-care goes a long way when dealing with mental health issues including stress and anxiety. Providing a training course for your employees to take part in can help them recognise if they need help or understand how to cope with it. Dealing mechanisms for stress such as learning to be better organised with work priorities or learning to communicate with colleagues and managers can be the first step in the right direction for them.

4) Create a mental health culture

Creating a culture that is supportive of mental health in the organisation is important. Put up posters around the office or in the kitchen about mental health and make it clear who they can reach out to if they want to discuss issues. Normalise discussing topics in the open, bringing up mental health in team meetings. This will make employees feel more at ease to discuss their worries more openly.

5) Go outdoors

This year’s theme for Mental Health Awareness Week centres around connecting with nature. Over the past year with the various lockdowns, unfortunately, it’s been hard to get out and about. Organisations need to encourage their employees to go for a walk during lunchtime (whether at home or in the office), stretch their legs and get fresh air. Not only is it good for them and encouraging exercise but having some reflection time in green spaces can bring a sense of calmness. This is ideal for those with stressful jobs.

Don’t forget to check out our training courses on stress management for both managers and employees. Keep an eye out on the site for our upcoming mental health courses.

NEW RISK ASSESSMENT: Home Working

The COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected how we live and work – including creating an army of remote workers.

Our new risk assessment tool on Home Working, accessible through our Astute eLearning platform, is designed to make the transition from office to home easier. Focusing on the three core areas of your home workspace (environmental factors such as DSE set up, electrical safety and lighting/temperature), working design (equipment, policies and performance expectations) and taking care of yourself (workload, working hours and connections), the risk assessment provides an overview of the home working experience. It includes a section for workers with people management responsibilities.

The home working risk assessment flags up any difficulties with the home working situation. These can then be discussed with managers to make sure the process runs smoothly for everybody.

In this new reality that we’re all facing, adaptability is key. Asking employees to complete this risk assessment enables them to raise any issues they may have with the new working arrangements and makes sure nobody is facing health and safety risks.

Designed specifically with the COVID-19 situation in mind, the risk assessment can be used at any time for home workers and will still provide a useful resource once the crisis has subsided.

Get in touch with us at [email protected] and visit this page to find out more.

5 Benefits of eLearning You Haven’t Thought About

Thinking of trying out eLearning in your business? The main benefits of eLearning are well-known, which is why so many companies are making the switch every year. Others are embracing the compromise solution of blended learning, which includes some elements of eLearning and some of traditional training, capturing the benefits of each approach.

eLearning is very flexible and, often, much more cost-effective. Learning and training administrators can sample the courses in advance of roll-out and can introduce new material to all their staff at once or split them into more specific groups to target their individual learning needs.

The benefits of eLearning don’t end there, however. Here are five you might not have considered:

Friendly Competition

The biggest challenge to a successful training program can often be summed up in one word: engagement.

With a great selection of challenge-based eLearning courses available, courses are more “gamified” than ever. This can tap into learners’ good-natured competitive side, allowing them to compare their scores against those of their co-workers. It’s even been known for people to repeat the courses twice to get the best score possible – a good outcome, as their knowledge of the subject is even more likely to stick this way.

Better for the Environment

One of the greatest developments of recent years is that people, and organisations, are becoming more aware of our duty towards the environment. Sustainability and green concerns are no longer fringe issues but are increasingly at the heart of many businesses’ future planning.

In this regard, eLearning provides many benefits. With eLearning, you can deliver the benefits of training to employees without increasing your carbon footprint unnecessarily. It reduces the need for travel that classroom training requires, either from the trainer or the people attending.

Consistency Across Sites

Organisations come in all shapes and sizes. Increasingly, they’re spread across various countries and consist of a mixture of office-based and remote workers. Since the employer’s duty to protect employees’ health and safety applies equally to all of them, regardless of where they’re based, it’s important to make sure they’re all receiving the same level of training.

The benefits of training to employees are therefore spread evenly. Everybody has the same opportunity to learn from the materials and everyone receives the same standard of training. Well-designed eLearning takes into account different learning styles and tastes.

Regular Updates

There’s no point in repeating the same eLearning courses year after year – just as there would be no point in repeating the same traditional course. However, refresher training is very important. Because both of these things are true, eLearning companies regularly update their material and add new courses to their catalogues, so the various topics are covered in more detail and in different ways.

Refreshing eLearning

With the advances in technology of recent years, the ability of eLearning to meet different needs across organisations is growing all the time. Research on information retention and how different people learn has progressed and eLearning has moved along with it.

Whether you prefer immersive, scenario-led solutions or more traditional informational courses, there’s eLearning for you.

DeltaNet International Christmas Opening Hours

Happy Holidays from everyone at DeltaNet International!

Thank you for a fantastic 2019. It’s been jam-packed, with many new and updated courses and a major upgrade to our Astute platform.

Christmas Opening Hours

We’re closing for the Christmas break at 5pm on 24th December 2019. We’ll return at 9am on 2nd January 2020.

Any enquiries sent during the festive period will be responded to once we return after New Year.

Best wishes for 2020!

The DeltaNet International team

It’s Here: New Astute

Our Astute learning platform has relaunched with a major upgrade – and a cutting-edge new look to match. Whilst retaining the features that have made it so popular with our clients, it now has extra functionality.

When shopping online, streaming music or watching films, it’s expected that the software will be responsive to your choices. With Astute, this is a reality for eLearning too. Harnessing Experience API (xAPI) and AI, each learner receives personalised suggestions for their next learning activities, tailored to their skill set and interests. Whether you want to brush up on an existing skill or prepare for a completely new role, Astute provides you with the best options – without the need to browse through a huge course library.

The platform’s interface has been redesigned. User-friendly and intuitive, it’s perfect for learning “on the go”, as effective on mobile devices as it is on desktops. Your eLearning is ready when you are.

READ MORE ABOUT ASTUTE.

Why Choose an LXP?

eLearning is a fast-moving industry. With regular developments in course design and learning technology, the way you deliver your organisation’s learning and development is changing all the time.

Many of these changes are “behind the scenes” upgrades that improve usability in subtle ways. However, the development of the Learning Experience Platform (LXP) as an alternative to the traditional Learning Management System (LMS) is a major change that can revolutionise a company’s learning and training offering.

Modern Delivery

When browsing for gifts, listening to music or binge-watching TV shows, we expect to be automatically shown relevant suggestions for what to buy or consume next. We’re used to choosing content from a curated selection based on our preferences and what we’ve chosen before.

LXPs bring eLearning experiences into the modern age by echoing these interfaces. Learners’ behavioural data is analysed using the Experience API (xAPI) and AI to make smart suggestions, personalised for each user. Often these are presented in categories such as “New Courses”, “Other Courses in this Topic” and “Popular Courses at Your Company”.

This saves time and effort on two fronts. Firstly, it helps the learners, who are saved from the potentially time-consuming process of trawling through course libraries to find relevant content. Learning and development administrators save time too, as they don’t have to spend it enrolling staff in the courses on a linear training path. The process is automated.

As is often the case with AI, the more learners interact with the system, the more it will get to know their preferences – and the learning activities it offers will become ever more relevant.

Learning to Fit Your Schedule

Gone are the days when everyone completed their eLearning sat at a desk in their offices. Learning “on the go” on mobile devices is increasingly common, and people need an eLearning platform and courses that reflect this. Learning isn’t relegated to a few hours here and there when workload allows; it’s a continuous process, seamlessly integrated into the workload itself.

The LXP’s versatility doesn’t stop there. The smart content suggestions and user-friendly interface allow learners to follow their own path, choosing the content that suits them. One person might want to learn a completely new skill; another might be preparing for a change in their job’s duties. A good learning solution needs to differentiate between people’s career priorities as well as the needs of workers in different roles – a customer service rep wanting to advance will likely have very different suggestions to an engineer who wants to expand their knowledge in the area they already work in, for example.

With an LXP, the courses are ready when you are.