A new way of learning

• By SMILEY ANDERS
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

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In days past, learning involved a classroom in which students sat at desks and listened to a teacher in the front of the room, usually standing in front of a blackboard.

With the emergence of computers and new learning techniques, this kind of teaching seems positively quaint.

A small Baton Rouge company has gained national attention, and national customers, by refining the learning process for companies who want to instruct their employees quickly and efficiently.

Learning Sciences Corp. Chief Executive Officer Peter J. Ranzino, a native of Baton Rouge, said the firm, only some 18 months old, has already attracted clients such as the Fox Network Group, NBC Universal, the Sports Production Safety Group, the HEI hotel management company, PCS Nitrogen in Geismar and Louisiana state government agencies.

The company specializes in “the creation of electronic learning environments for corporate and government clients to build staff knowledge in the delivery of work force development needs.”

For Fox a program instructing employees on OSHA-mandated hearing safety practices was set up, as well as an office ergonomics e-learning course for several thousand employees.

NBC Universal has contracted with Learning Sciences to convert the California Wildfire Safety e-learning course for use by camera operators and other production staff covering wildfires.

The Sports Production Safety Group, a consortium of Turner Broadcasting, ABC, CBS, CBS Sports, NBC Universal, Fox Network Group, SPEED and ESPN, chose the Baton Rouge company to develop a hearing conservation course for use by all major U.S. sports production companies.

For HEI Hotels and Resorts, instructions on financial management of its hotels was presented to employees in these areas of the business.

PCS Nitrogen had Learning Sciences set up a “rapid development” learning management system.

And state agencies have used the local firm to set up training for state workers on how to meet state and federal mandates. “Rapid” and “cost-efficient” are two words often used in company literature.

“E-learning,” as the computer classes are called, can instruct employees in weeks rather than the months required by traditional teaching methods

In the mid-1990s Ranzino was a partner in the local video production company H20 TV Productions, which was producing a water sports travel show for Prime Sports and Fox Sports.