Friedrichsdorf (GER), July 2015 - The city of Offenbach is counting on eLearning to develop the computer skills of its approximately 1000 administrative staff members. The city has now been using M.I.T's SITOS learning-management system for over five years to provide all municipal offices with tutorials for Microsoft Office and Microsoft operating systems. Whether working in the office or from home, civil servants can access their SITOS learning environment by clicking a desktop icon.
The learning environment offers the choice among basic, intermediate, and advanced tutorials for Microsoft Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. These tutorials, which M.I.T supplies with the learning system, help employees get up to speed or remain current with Office applications as well as find answers to any questions they may have. On the use of eLearning, Anja Uhlig, Offenbach's administrator of the learning system says, "Using M.I.T's learning system and tutorials has proven successful, so we can also expect to switch to more Microsoft Office packages with tutorials in the future."
Before migrating to a new Microsoft Office package, the city carefully checks whether the new Office version seamlessly supports the IT-supported specialized procedures in place. Only then does it proceed to an incremental switch to the new version, one department at a time. Information and training are provided to all civil servants during the rollout, both in the form of workshops and as eLearning courses. They are optional, but Offenbach has so far had positive experiences with them. This may be because the study time is during the city's work hours, so learning and knowledge maintenance at work is approved.
