Central e-learning site for federal workers takes shape

A Transportation Department Web site will be transformed into a one-stop e-learning portal for workers throughout the federal government, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

The Transportation Virtual University site will be recast as the National Learning Center, and will offer a host of courses to federal workers. These will include mandatory training in such areas as ethics and sexual harassment; managerial training in such topics as interviewing techniques; and computer courses in such areas as database management and Web development.

"You can call it a portal, a one-stop shop for online training," OPM Chief Information Officer Janet Barnes told Government Executive.

The e-training site is one of 24 e-government projects that the Bush administration is trying to complete by the end of 2003. Mark Forman, associate director for information technology and e-government at the Office of Management and Budget, is coordinating the projects, which also include a federal electronic recruiting portal, a centralized online rulemaking system and a one-stop federal grants site. The Chief Information Officers Council is helping to coordinate the projects.

Transportation Virtual University is run by the agency's Administrative Service Center. The center has pooled the services of about 60 e-learning companies on the site, including Nashua, N.H.-based SkillSoft and Naperville, Ill.-based NetG.

In addition to Transportation employees, employees from other agencies, including the Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Veterans Affairs departments have taken courses at the Transportation Virtual University.

Several free courses are already available to employees across government via the National Learning Center prototype site, including courses in project management, Microsoft Office, sexual harassment and personal development.