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- Online training and certification delivers savings of up to $1,200 per student in expense reimbursements -

Dublin, Ireland - June 8th, 2009 - WBT Systems, (www.wbtsystems.com) a leading provider of enterprise e-Learning solutions, has announced today that the New York State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) is using its award winning TopClass Learning Management System to manage training and certification for more than 1,200 real property assessors. Using TopClass, New York ORPS has the potential to save up to $1,200 per student and they expect a return on investment from the system within three years.

The New York State Office of Real Property Services is tasked with providing training and managing certifications for the State’s real property assessors. To achieve certification, students must take a total of 6 courses, each 3-6 days in duration, followed by an examination. Students can either self study or, in the majority of cases, opt for classroom training. Classroom training requires them to travel to a training centre and spend extended periods away from home, completing the courses and examinations to achieve certification. New York ORPS is responsible for reimbursing tuition expenses as well as the cost of travel, accommodation and food.

To offer students an alternative to classroom training and to reduce reimbursement costs, ORPS introduced online learning using WBT’s TopClass Learning Management System. New York ORPS was concerned that moving to online learning would result in a loss of informal learning and interaction that happens in the classroom. However, TopClass has excellent online collaboration features like discussion threads that facilitate peer-to-peer and student-to-mentor real time interaction, which have proved highly popular with students and teachers alike.

Today ORPS offers half its training courses via the web using TopClass. Online courses include many of the basics such as ‘The Fundamentals of Data Collection’, ‘Assessment Administration’, ‘Mass Appraisal and Sales Data Management.’ Students view the training schedule online, via the TopClass system, register for either web-based or classroom courses and sign up for examinations. The process is efficient, cost effective and convenient. The results and savings have been impressive and New York ORPS has estimated that $1,200 per student in expense reimbursements can be saved, if a student takes all the online courses available for certification. This is significant when you consider the volume of certifications they manage. They also have estimated that TopClass will pay for itself within three years.

In addition to the financial benefits, ORPS has seen the pass rate for students that take online training via TopClass rise to 98.5%. They’ve also noticed that the number of students choosing the self study option has fallen steadily with web-based training proving more popular. As the volume of online courses grow, ORPS benefits from reduced administration effort and costs associated with printing, packaging and mailing manuals to students.

Commenting from WBT Systems, Paul Dooley, CEO, says, “ORPS is a great example of how an organization can benefit from real and measurable cost savings with e-Learning -- the results speak for themselves. TopClass was selected because of its robust feature set including its rich collaboration and communication tools and fast implementation. We’re very pleased that TopClass has proved so successful at the New York State Office of Real Property Services.”

About New York Office of Real Property Services
The New York State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS), an agency within the Executive Department, is responsible for overseeing the local administration of real property assessments and establishing a multitude of rates and ratios that allow for the equitable apportionment of local property taxes and State aid between and within municipalities throughout the State. Visit www.orps.state.ny.us for more information.

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