Online Business and Technical Training Courses for Singapore Workers Looking to Upgrade Skill Sets

StarHub Internet Launches Effective Learning Tools to Enhance Class-Based Education

Singapore, 15 October 2001 – StarHub Internet today announced that business and technical courses will be available online for Singapore workers looking to upgrade or enhance their knowledge and skill base. For an inexpensive monthly subscription, customers will have access to almost 600 lessons that range from general topics like financial planning, business development and office skills, to complex programmes such as an approved Microsoftâ Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) course.

"In these difficult times, where Singapore workers need to upgrade or train themselves up in order to stay competitive, this is a cost-effective way to support their future career and personal growth," said Mr Kyong Yu, general manager for StarHub Internet. "These courses – which promote the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s (IDA’s) 4Es of e-learning, e-entertainment, e-communications and e-transactions - encourage Singaporeans to pick up the e-learning habit through a medium that is both credible and highly-available."

Added Mr Yu, "StarHub Internet’s online education initiative furthers our goal of substantially enriching the value of the Internet, as well as delivering quality Internet access service for which we are already well-known for. By creating value, we hope to make it easier and more conducive for our customers to adopt an Internet lifestyle of their own."

About the courses

These courses, which can be accessed through StarHub Internet’s new online education website at http://learning.starhub.net.sg from 15 October 2001, include:

• Home/Small Business – provides lessons on how to run a small business and how to use Money 98, Quicken or QuickBooks for financial planning in the family. Courses will include estate planning, budgeting and saving, and SAT preparation;
• Business Skills Development – helps students with basic and advance business skills and knowledge in order for them to excel in their individual careers. Lessons would include business management, customer service skills, negotiation and time management;
• Desktop Computing – equips students with a range of skills on desktop applications that are widely used, such as Word, Access, Spreadsheets, Project 98/2000, E-mail, Lotus Notes and SAP R/3;
• Technical MCSE – provides students with an affordable MCSE course approved by Microsoftâ . Lessons include Exchange, SQL, TCP/IP, Windows 2000 and NT;
• Technical General – equips students with a range of technical skills on widely used industry platforms from Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sybase. Students will also learn about UNIX and Visual Basic;
• Technical Web Development– teaches students web skills such as how to programme in HTML, JAVA and XML, how to use applications such as FrontPage and how to plan for e-commerce.

All these courses will feature:

• Skill Assessment Tests – Students will save time by taking a pre-test before they undertake the course. The results of the test will advise them on the courses that they need to take in order to upgrade themselves. A post-test is also available to measure how well the student has mastered the material;
• Hands-On Exercises – Students will have hands-on experience using the actual software application they are studying;
• Questions – Students will be asked questions during the course to ensure that they are engaged in the learning process;
• Simulations – Students will also gain hands-on experience through the use of unique task-based simulations. Using the free and widely-used Shockwave plug-in students will be able to run animated sequences that instruct them on important how-to functions;
• Sample Files – For all coding courses, students will get sample files that they can cut and paste into a compiler which they can use to practice their programming skills. In addition, they may use these codes to create their own programme.

All content is provided by MindLeaders, a US-based developer of customised computer-based training. With the advent of emerging technologies, MindLeaders has evolved into a world leader in the information systems training market with an extensive library of top-quality, ready-to-use computer-based training (CBT) and self-study products.

The courses are available to both StarHub Internet and non-StarHub Internet customers. Monthly subscriptions are as follows -

*  refers to StarHub Internet Mail/Access Plan customers.
** refers to Non-StarHub Internet Mail/Access Plan customers.

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