Berlin/Vienna. The Institute for School and Media of the German Federal State of Berlin-Brandenburg is implementing the blended learning certification "OTA" (Online Tutoring Accreditation) for a group of its teachers and teacher trainers. The programme is being conducted by common sense and was developed in parnership with e-LISA academy and Danube University.

Vienna. What is Blended Learning? How to design Blended Learning processes? Which elements can be combined? How to evaluate Blended Learning programs? These were some of the questions discussed at a workshop for Raiffeisen International Training and Development Managers. The workshop was facilitated by Julia Jaeger and Andreas Hoerfurter of common sense.

Frankfurt/Vienna. Star Alliance, the world's first and largest airline alliance is training partner airline staff around the globe on the possibilities and use of the Star Alliance intranet. common sense produced instructional screencasts to introduce users to the tools. In cooperation with mp Group GmbH.

Moshi, Tanzania/Vienna. The limited available resources for orthopedic technologist training in Africa make the creation of media based training modules a vital task for regional experts. A team of trainers and facilitators from TATCOT, the Tanzania Training Center for Orthopedic Technologists, have taken on this task, supported by consultants from common sense. A workshop in January was the kick-off for the development of additional course programmes. The project is funded by InWEnt, Capacity Building International.

Hanoi/Vienna. Members of Ministries, NGO and Patent offices from throughout Southeast Asia participated in the final workshop of the "TRIPS Flexibilities" Programme. The project informs all involved parties on WTO granted flexibilities concerning pharmaceutical patent rights for developing countries. The workshop was the final phase of a 5-month long Blended Learning course program, developed by common sense on behalf of InWEnt, Capacity Building International, in cooperation with UNCTAT and GTZ.

Hanoi/Vienna. common sense supported GTZ - German Technical Cooperation, in setting up an Open Source technology website for TVET projects in Vietnam. The task included technical consultancy, training of a local team of administrators and editors and site design.

Baku, Tiblisi, Yerevan/Vienna. Individuals and staff of educational organizations from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia were awarded the "Caucasus eLearning Specialist" Certificate at the conclusion of three workshops in November 2009. The teams had successfully developed eLearning pilot projects for their organizations. The project "Human Resource Development and Capacity Building for eLearning in the Caucasus" is targeting educational institutions in the three republics and is financed by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation (BMZ) through InWEnt, Capacity Building International.

Nairobi/Vienna. Arndt Bubenzer of common sense conducted a workshop for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi on eLearning quality assurance measures and survey/evaluation tools. The workshop was part of the ongoing eLearning / MENTOR implementation process at UNEP. The training resource platform MENTOR will serve as a tool for the mainstreaming of environmental education.

Krems/Vienna. How to plan for eLearning? How to motivate learners? How to design an interactive learning environment for nurses and hospital staff?

Such and similar questions were part of the blended learning training course “eLearning & eTeaching (moodle)” at Danube University Krems. Together with enthusiastic educators from the health profession, Julia Jäger from common sense explored possibilities and boundaries of eLearning in the nursing vocation.

Vienna. Ten years ago, Arndt Bubenzer and Daniela Gachago (formerly Giannini) started out into the eLearning business with common sense. Because of this remarkable anniversary, we invited clients, partners, collegues and friends to our birthday party. It was a wonderful and joyful and long celebration. We thank everybody for the good wishes and for joyning the relaxed party.

Vienna. EMS staff who wish to not only work as volunteers but as professionals have to successfully complete of a professional training module. This module provides information on employment law, the Austrian Health System and EMS procedures. Together with common sense, the Austrian Red Cross developed an eLearning module to prepare their learners for the exam.

Nuremberg/Vienna. common sense updated four of computer based learning programmes for tax accountants for DATEV eG. These tutorials explain the use of various software tools for payroll accounting in a interactive way. Learners execute accountancy examples directly in a simulated tool environment. DATEV is one of the biggest companies in Europe for data processing, service and software for tax consultants, accountants, lawyers and their clients.

Baku, Jerevan, Tbilisi. common sense conducts, on behalf of InWEnt Bonn, a programme for the introduction of eLearning in educational institutions in the three Southcaucasian countries Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. During a blended-Learning training, the participants work on their own institutional eLearning pilot projects. In parallel, the experts of common sense support the decision-makers of the educational institutions in the development of strategy and management of eLearning projects.

Rostock. During the "eLearning Baltics" conference in Rostock Andreas Hörfurter organised a course of lectures with the topic "measures of motivation in eLearning projects". In the beginning he presented the measures of motivation during different project phases and areas of responsibility in the introduction of eLearning in educational institutions in Central Asia. After further speeches the workshop ended in intensive discussions between all attendants. Because of its success common sense will organise another workshop on the eLearning Baltics 2009.

Vienna. The common sense eLearning specialists in Vienna support client teams worldwide in the implementation of eLearning with the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). For this purpose common sense assembled a special "FOSS Toolkit CD". On this CD eLearning authors find a wide outline of all tools needed for content production. During the conference "eLearning Africa 2009" in Dakar, the Toolkit CD-ROM created high interest. It allows institutions to develop content when and where needed, with their own in-house resources. Locally developed content usually matches local and regional demands much better.

Vienna. The first edition of the CD-ROM "Basic Knowledge Logistics" for Africa was a big success. On behalf of InWEnt Bonn common sense produced a revised version for Central Asia. The CD-ROM contains six computer based training modules in English and Russian. The modules impart basic knowledge to all necessary logisitc topics related to the region of Central Asia.

Vienna. The industry development organisation UNIDO plans to introduce eLearning for their employees worldwide. common sense supported the development of the strategy and the definition of the field of application for eLearning. Through interviews and a workshop, the goals and preconditions for the use of eLearning could be cleared.

Vienna. Our successful work reflects in increasing numbers of clients and orders. Therefore, our coreteam is expanding and we have created new working space. We are enjoying our newly arranged office :-)

Beijing/Bonn. On behalf of the division for health of InWEnt, Bonn common sense gave a two and a half day face to face seminar for online tutors of the HIV/AIDS prevention online course. New as well as experienced tutors were able to gain practical tips for their work and develop a tutoring guideline for their course.

Vienna. This year the team of common sense met in Vienna for the annual team event. The team has grown and we came up with new business areas. Additional IT-Know How expands our eLearning consulting and service range. At the same time, we reconstruct our internal workflow and knowledge - management. The team event 2009 was concise, productive and concrete .  Fortunately, we also had enough time together for cooking, eating and chatting.

Bonn/Vienna/Manila/Nairobi/Loja. It is done! The fourth eLDI (eLearning Develoment and Implementation) and IDeL (Implementación y Desarrollo del eLearning) course program of InWEnt is now successfully closed.

Three final workshops were held in Los Banos, Philippines, Nyeri, Kenya and Loja, Ecuador to finalise the projects, participants developed through out the 7 months online phase of this course. Participants, regional managers for eLearning, have now completed pilot eLearning courses for their institutions.

common sense is happy to have trained around 100 eLearning experts after four years and that now Alumnis take over the course concept and deliver the eLDI/IDeL themselves in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Vienna. The Austrian red Cross is training in-house "eLearning Profis", with modules and online tutors from common sense. In a blended approach, modules like content development, online tutoring and instructional design are being trained.

Nairobi/Kenya. common sense and NoLNET Namibia organised the workshop "Rapid Development with Institutional eLearning Templates". The participants - alumnis of eLDI, eLIP and eSkills courses - came from seven different Kenyan educational institutions. They had concrete training needs for their eLearning production using open source tools. Supported by common sense they designed styleguides and templates for their institutions as well as their first pilot modules.

Almaty /Bonn.  Up to now only the citizens of large cities in Central  Asia benefit from education initiatives. In order to increase educational opportunities outside the main cities, members of seven educational instiutions of Kasachstan, Kirgistan and Tadschikistan have been trained for the implementation of eLearning. On behalf of InWEnt the consultants of common sense carried out the project „eLearning Applications Skills Transfer“ (eAST), financed by the German Federal Foreign Office.

Berlin. With the presentation of a UN-wide survey on eLearning activities, common sense kicked off the Pre-Conference on „Technology Supported Learning within the UN System“ at Online Educa in Berlin, 2008. Participants from more than 15 different UN organisations and units shared experiences and agreed on networking activities. Since 2007, common sense supports UNEP, which initiated the Berlin Pre-Conference, in the implementation of eLearning.

Vienna/Linz. Together with e-LISA and the Danube University Krems, common sense developed a training for online tutors in Austria and started with the first implementation in autumn 2008. This common initiative of further training of teachers, university and economy lead to a fruitful cooperation.
The training consists of four components: a start-up face-to-face training, an online phase with interactive exercises and a final examination and an internship, during which the learners give their knowledge a practical try out.

Villach. At the international ICL Conference in Villach, Austria, common sense director Arndt Bubenzer presented opportunities and processes for professional eLearning content development with Open Source software tools. A common sense project from the health sector was used for illustration of results and possibilities.

Bonn/Vienna. In cooperation with UNCTAD and contracted by InWEnt - Capacity Building International, common sense is currently producing a training program on the WTO TRIPS Agreement. The course will offer information to pharmaceutical companies, ministries and civil scociety groups on how to utilise flexibilities of the TRIPS agreement for regional pharmaceutical production. The course is produced with the Berlin TRIPS expert, Dr. Sandy Harnisch, and will be available through InWEnt from November 2008.

Rostock/Vienna. common sense presented simple and license free forms of eLearning content production at the eLearning Baltic, one of Germany's northernmost eLearning conferences. "Teacher learn eTeaching" was the motto of Andreas' Hörfurter's presentation, in which he outlined the steps of a successful eLearning Intergration and content development process.

Almaty/Vienna. eLearning Implementation and institution Building is the objective of eAST, the eLearning Application Skills Training conducted by common sense on behalf of InWEnt and financed by the German Foreign Office. Several educational institutions from the central asian region participate in this program, conducted in Russian and English, training individual capacity and builing their institutions.

Accra/Vienna. The third eLearning Africa conference took place in Accra Ghana. common sense presented within the UNEP panel "Mainstreaming eLearning in Environment".

Bonn/Vienna. It's the fouth time for common sense to implement the training of trainer and institution building program eLDI (eLearning Development and Implementation) and it's Spanish-language sister project IDeL("Implementacion y Desarrollo del eLearning") on behlf of InWEnt, Capacity Building International. The bulk of the management tasks now lies with regional experts and tutors, all alumni of earlier program implementations. Regional kick-off workshops took place in Accra, Ghana and Manila (Philippines) as well as in Equador.

Idolsberg/Vienna. A four day team event for the usually dispersed common sense team took place in the "Old School" in Idolsberg. The way forward for the next year was paved, totgether with our canadian/swiss coach Katharina Jost. Of course joint cooking, sauna and many walks in the beautiful surroundings were also catering to our bodies and souls.

Kigali/Vienna. common sense conducted the second part of the eLearning program "KIST eLearning Specialist" at the Kigali Institute of Technology in the capital of Rwanda on behalf of GTZ. Approx. 30 participants were certified during a public project presenattion at the end of the workshop. They had developed pilot modules that will be offered on the institutes LMS site.

Eschborn/Vienna. The question "eLearning - is it for us?" is often asked by decision makers in companies and training institutions. A WBT especially for this target group has now been produced and published by common sense on behalf of GTZ. The module answers the most important questions that arise in eLearning implementation phases.

Bonn/Vienna. common sense will implement the 2008 version of the "eLDI" - eLearning Development und Implementation Programme on behalf of InWEnt. This is the fifth implementation in a row, this year with major organisational re-structuring, with African and Asian partner organisations. The seven month long programme will be offered in English and Spanisch, and starts with workshops in May, 2008, in Africa, Asia and South America.

Moshi/Vienna. After a successful pilot phase, the eLearning project at the Tanzania Traininig Centre for Orthopedic Technologies (TATCOT) will be rolled out. common sense has supported the pilot phase on behalf of InWEnt through consultancy and training. Now the cs team will be available for coaching during the roll-out phase. Three new modules (Pathology, Anatomy, Material Technology) are being offered since March 2008. In addition, the TATCOT eLearning Team was extended by new staff.

Kigali/Vienna. In a region of East Africa that was shaken by civil war and genocide just a little more than 10 years ago, institutions are now actively assessing the possibilities of eLearning. One of these organisations is the Kigali Institute of Technology (KIST). One of the objectives is the development of Rwanda to an IT Hub in the centre of East Africa. common sense supports the eLearning development in Rwanda through training and consultancy on behalf of GTZ.

Moshi/Vienna. At the foot of Africa's hightest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, common sense assessed the pilot phase of the Spinal Orthotics eLearning programme at the Tanzania Training Centre for Orthopedic Technologies (TATCOT). The programme is the first of its kind in the field of Orthopedic Technologies in Africa and was supported by InWEnt. The piot phase ended with a face-to-face workshop with approx. 20 participants in Moshi, Tanzania.

Berlin/Vienna. UNEP team members Gerry Cunningham and MariaEugenia Arreola presented, along with common sense director Arndt Bubenzer, the results of the first UNEP eLearning pilot projects. In only 8 month, the UNEP team, supported by common sense, has set up an eLearning team, created and implemented the first modules. In the UN-Panel of Online Educa 2007, several UN agencies prsented their eLearning projects..

Windhoek/Lima/Manila/Vienna. This November, common sense is conducting three parallel workshops on three continents in two languages. 75 participants of the InWEnt Programs eLearning Development & Implementation (eLDI) and Implementacion y Desarollo del eLearning (IDeL) are coached during the production of course pilots for their own institutions. The regional workshops took place in Windhoek (Namibia), Lima (Peru) and Manila (Philippines).

Nairobi/Vienna. The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) eLearning project enters a new phase. Starting 5th of November, UNEP offers their first tutor supported eLearning pilot courses on their new eLearning platform. Course content and structure was developed by the UNEP eLearning team in co-operation with common sense as part of the "midwife" project. The UNEP eLearning project is part of MENTOR, a portal that strives to mainstream environmental information through IT.

Bonn/Vienna. From today onwards, 39 health professionals take part in the Internet-based course program “Management of Medicines in International Health”. The course aims at introducing the rational management of medicines in public health services and is hosted by InWEnt gGmbH in cooperation with the University of Leeds and the European Network for Education in International Health (tropEd). The facilitator from common sense supports participants and expert tutors. common sense is also responsible for course management, administration of the course workspace and course evaluation.

Bishkek/Almaty/Bonn/Vienna. On the basis of the results of the Central Asia fact finding mission, common sense developed - on behalf of InWEnt - a new eLearning package "eLiP - eLearning in Practice". The practical program, with many examples and checklists, will guide course managers, instructional designers, content developers and tutors in their work. Universities and training institutions from different central asian countries participate in the eight-week long blended learning program with workshops in Bishkek.

Nuremberg/Vienna. common sense upgrades the CBTs "Personal-Managementsystem classic - PMS" and LOBE of DATEV. DATEV is the indisputable number 1 in Europe for data processing, service and software for tax consultants, accountants, lawyers and their clients. In Germany more than two thirds of all companies use DATEV Accounting through
their tax consultants; monthly wages and salaries are calculated for every fourth employee using DATEV systems, making it the standard in German
industry and commerce.

Nairobi/Bonn/Wien. Bereits zum zweiten mal führt common sense das Blended Learning-Programm "HIV & AIDS: Benchmarks for Health Professionals in Africa" im Auftrag der Abteilung Gesundheit von InWEnt durch. Das Programm wird intensiv online begleitet und zusätzlich von einer Expertenrunde vom Institute of Tropical Medicines, Antwerp betreut. Im Dezember 2007 findet der abschließende Workshop in Nairobi statt.

Bishkek/Vienna. On behalf of InWEnt and financed by the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswaertiges Amt), Julia Jaeger (common sense) participated as eLearning consultant in a Fact Finding Mission in Central Asia. Members of the InWEnt elearning team and Julia visited several education institutions in three countries (Kyrgystan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan). Objective: assessing the potential for future eLearning cooperation for InWEnt in the region.

Nairobi/Vienna. The educational and technical experts of the United Nation Environment Programme were trained in the use of open Source Software for content production in an intensive workshop in Nairobi. Objective: the UNEP staff will develop environmental eLearning content for its new MENTOR eLearning project. Mo Daschuetz and Arndt Bubenzer introduced several tools from the common sense Open Source Toolkit.

Nairobi/Vienna. common sense used the platform of the only international eLearning conference on the African continent, "eLearning Africa" for networking with former participants, educational institutions and government representatives on issues related to media-based learning. The three members of the common sense team from Germany, Austria and Scotland were extremely busy for three days, discussing project ideas and delivering information on common sense in eLearning.

Moshi/Vienna. At the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the town of Moshi and its Hospital KCMC, with one of the very few training centres for orthopedic technologies in the country. common sense supports a team of instructors in the development of an eLearning/blended learning program on "Spinal Orthotics". InWEnt, Dept. of Health is project partner of TATCOT and contracts common sense for this project.

Bogota/Vienna. The first longterm Spanish-language program IDeL - "Implementation y Desarollo del eLearning" concludes with a workshop in Bogota at the begining of May, 2007. Sven Aden of the common sense team for Latin- and South America conducts this successful workshop on behalf of InWEnt.

Oberleis/Vienna. "common sense - we make the road by walking" - this could be the motto of this years' team event conducted in Lower Austria. This retreat assists the common sense team every spring to focus on the tasks ahead, to integrate new team members or to discover new avenues. The team was supported by the Canadian-Swiss coach Katharina Jost from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, who accompanies the development of common sense since 2003.

Pretoria/Vienna. The eLDI "eLearning Development and Implementation" Program, carried out by common sense on behalf of InWEnt, is offered in a "new and improved" version in 2007. The eight months long blended learning project has been streamlined and many additional features were added. Participants work with the common sense Open Source Toolkit, sort of a digital toolbox for eLearning course production. The initial workshop took place in Pretoria, directed by Julia Jäger, with support from NOLnet, Namibia's Open Learning Network.

Manila/Vienna. In parallel to the eLDI Kick-off in Africa, a similar workshop took place for participants from Aisa. Arndt Bubenzer facilitated this workshop jointly with Pilippine tutor Juvy Gervacio in Manila, also on behalf of InWEnt.

Lima/Vienna. And while workshops were being conducted in Asia and Arica, the common sense team for Latin- and South America (Alexandra Hefner and Sven Aden) facilitated a Spanish language "taller" for the IDeL (also "new and improved") in Lima on behalf of InWEnt.

Nuremberg/Vienna. common sense updated the DATEV CBT "ANLAG". DATEV is the indisputable number 1 in Europe for data processing, service and software for tax consultants, accountants, lawyers and their clients. In Germany more than two thirds of all companies use DATEV Accounting through
their tax consultants; monthly wages and salaries are calculated for every fourth employee using DATEV systems, making it the standard in German
industry and commerce.

Johannesburg/Vienna. common sense assists the development of three new online courses from the enviromental sector. The courses are being developed with experts from Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mocambique and South Africa and deal with "Coastal Zone Management", "Cleaner Production" und "Landuse/GIS". All modules will have a strong Disaster Risk Management component and are being developed on behalf of InWEnt.

Nairobi/Vienna. A three-day eLearning strategy workshop in Nairobi was the official kick-off for UNEP eLearning project. In the future, UNEP will offer continuing education and training using WBT and blended learning approaches through their eLearning portal MENTOR, especially from the field of "Early Warning" and "Environmental Assessment". common sense supports the UNEP eLearning project through a "Midwifing"-process, enabling the team in Nairobi to independently develop their own eLearning content.

Karlsruhe/Vienna. Very satisfied with this years' LEARNTEC was the team of common sense. Fair and congress were conducted at very professional new venue at the "Neue Messe" for the first time. common sense will continue to support the LEARNTEC in the future as official Austrian partner.

Karlsruhe/Vienna. Just before the start of the LEARNTEC 2007, common sense presents the relaunch of its website and newly designed flyers.

Nairobi/Vienna. The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) eLearning implementation project starts with Arndt Bubenzer's presentation of eLearning models and their introduction into the training organisation. common sense will work in this project as eLearning expert.

Washington/Berlin/Vienna. common sense acts as consultant for the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) during the implementation of their eLearning platform MENTOR and the creation of pilot courses. In cooperation with InWEnt Berlin, common sense participates in the first stakeholder meeting in Washington in December 2006.

Bremen/Vienna. common sense trains logistics experts in the didactic and technical application of the open source authoring tool eXeLearning. Experts create specific content for the CD-ROM "Logistics. Basic Knowledge" and get support from common sense with the eLearning side of their project. The publisher of this CD-ROM is InWEnt Bonn; it is to be distributed in the regions SADC and EAC in Southern Africa.

The five modules of the CD-ROM include the topics transport management, logistics areas, planning of logistics systems, quality management, controlling and logistics marketing.

Windhoek/Vienna. Together with the stakeholders of NoLNET (Namibia Open Learning Network - public and private educational institutions in Namibia, Southern Africa), common sense develops an eLearning Strategy and trains eduational staff for the implementation of eLearning. This process will lead to the operation of a Namibian eLearning Center (eLC), supported by InWEnt. common sense has so far conducted trainings and strategy workshops in Gaborone, Botswana, and Windhoek, Namibia.

Vienna/Essen/Berlin. common sense develops a web-based training module for eLearning decision-makers. In cooperation with MMB Institute for Media- and Competency Research common sense produces the WBT "Guide for eLearning Decision Makers". Basis for the WBT: a printed manual of the LERNET project.

LERNET is part of the action program „Innovation and Jobs in the Information Society of the 21st Century,“ and stands for the development of web-based learning solutions for mid-sized enterprises and public administration. LERNET is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour in Berlin.

The WBT will be available free of charge from the LERNET Website (http://www.lernet.info) as of August 2005 in German and English. The WBT will also be used in international trainings at InWEnt.

Bonn/Vienna. common sense signs a frame contract with InWEnt's eLearning Center in Bonn for the coaching of partner organisations during eLearning implementation and production activities worldwide.

Vienna/ Cape Town. common sense evaluates an extensive blended learning course in the field of Groundwater Ressources and GIS (Geographic Information Systems), conducted by InWEnt on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation. The participants of this program come mainly from West- and East Africa. The evaluation is carried out as extensive online survey, combined with in-depth interviews with participants at a face-to-face workshop in Cape Town, South Africa.

Vienna. Cocktails und conversation were the ingredients of the first circle3 network event, organised by common sense on the 21st of October in the beautiful Vienna bar "Halbestadt" by Austria's well-known Barkeeper Erich Wassicek. The lively little group of participants was comprised of HR- and training specialists from the telecommunication field, from medical technology, foods, paper production, university and NGOs. Objective: close networking and exchange between experts in HR and training in Austrias' top organisations.

Pretoria/Vienna/Gaborone. common sense is carrying out an eLearning feasibility study for the South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. The objective of the feasibility study is to answer the question if the implementation of eLearning for the highly distributed staff of the Chief Directorate Forestry is sensible and sustainable.

Bonn/Vienna. For the first time, the Web-based Training courses "eLearning Content Development" and "Tutoring & Support of Virtual Learning Communities" are being offered to education and training specialists worldwide. common sense manages both courses on behalf of InWEnt, Bonn. The online course "eLearning Content Development" was developed in close cooperation with the tele-akademie in Germany. Participants from more than ten countries around the globe participate in these courses, which are being offered on InWEnt's Global Campus 21.

Gaborone/Vienna. common sense supports the first conference of the Southern African Network for Training and Research on the Environment (SANTREN) in Botswana by providing input on eLearning course evaluation. Arndt Bubenzer presented the results of an online evaluation of approximately 100 participants of the first four SANTREN online courses on behalf of InWEnt. These courses were produced in the SADC region, outlining environmental problem areas native to the region.

Bremen/Vienna. common sense was awarded with an eLearning contract by the Government of Bremen, Germany. The Government of the federal state of Bremen seeks to enhance eLearning knowledge among companies and enterprises located there. In 2004, common sense will offer three 2-day long trainings for decision-makers and key eductaional staff on eLearning implementations in companies.