In the Field: Fire-Rescue Med 2010 Recap

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CentreLearn Solutions attended Fire Rescue International in Chicago. Jusup Lowry and Katie Farmer met with new prospects and shared feature updates with existing clients. After FRI Katie reported:

Although attendance has been down at many trade shows and conferences recently that was not the case at the IAFC Fire Rescue International 2010 show in Chicago. I was glad to be an exhibitor showing many departments, large and small, the many advantages of using CentreLearn to Train Better and Spend Less.

Over and over I heard from departments that have done their training strictly in-house or through the local community colleges that they are now looking for their own online learning management system to save money and make training easier. Training officers want to be able to easily create and upload their own training content, track completion of online and classroom training, and have a single record keeping solutions.

A highlight of Friday morning for me was several visits to the

booth by an Illinois Urban Search and Rescue task force team member and his German Shepherd Dog. The dog loved to play tug and dragged me across the booth several times. View more photos and connect with us at Facebook.com/CentreLearn.

On Saturday morning I was proud to run in the annual Fit to Fight 5k race! Waking up early I joined a couple hundred other conference attendees from the Fire and EMS industry to share our love for fitness and helping others. The 5k race raised money for scholarships for our future fire service leaders.

Even with the wonderful weather for summer in Chicago, I was anxious to get back to the office to reach out to all of the departments that requested more information and are now exploring online training with CentreLearn for their department. If you missed visiting with us at Fire Rescue you can connect with me on LinkedIn.com or by calling 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn.

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face.

In the Field: Vital Signs Conference 2010 Recap

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CentreLearn Solutions divided up last weekend to be at both Fire Rescue International in Chicago and the Vital Signs EMS conference in New York city. Sonia Misajlovski and Kira Hills attended Vital Signs which was Kira's first EMS Conference. After Vital Signs Kira reported:

The Vital Signs 2010 Show was buzzing with activity this past weekend. Fire and EMS organizations as well as exhibitors on the cutting edge of services for the EMS world were in attendance, including CentreLearn Solutions. Over 1300 EMT’s, Paramedics and Firefighters from New York City and surrounding areas flocked to the show for training and to find out about the latest products and services on the market.

The show, which began Friday August 27th and ended Sunday the 29th, gave account manager Sonia Misajlovski and I the opportunity to speak to prospective clients about the many benefits CentreLearn has to offer them and their organizations. In addition to speaking to lots of new prospects, we also visited with several of our current clients who raved about the CentreLearn Learning Content Management System and how excited they are to use it. One customer came up and shook our hands, smiled and simply said, “Thank you for offering such a great product.”

Amidst all of the amazing shopping and high energy in the City, I met some of the most wonderful people in this industry over the weekend but as Sonia said “You can only expect them to be wonderful people…look at what they do for a living.”

My first tradeshow, Vital Signs 2010, was an amazing experience. We want to thank New York City and everyone we talked to for their wonderful hospitality.

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face. You can also call 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn.

In the Field: Spectacular Ocean View

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EMTs, Paramedics, and Firefighters can access CentreLearn's library of continuing education lessons 24-7 and training officers can automate compliance reports to run in the middle of the night. While the Learning Content Management System is always running CentreLearn staff require rest and recreation to recharge, imagine new system improvements, and refresh with the hobbies that nurture our creativity.

CentreLearn President Jason Paluck captured this photograph on his summer vacation.

How do you recharge your creativity energy? Where do you go to get away from it all?

Social ELearning in Action

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Social learning is an emerging trend in elearning that I am trying to wrap my head around how it is defined, how it is applicable to Fire and EMS educators, and how it might look/feel inside the CentreLearn Learning Management System.

I wanted to share a social elearning experience I had recently. On the Articulate.com user community an elearning developer asked about stock video of dominoes falling. This inspired me to create a proof of concept animation with PowerPoint. I could then use Articulate Presenter PowerPoint add-on to publish the animation to Flash and then use it inside a Presenter movie (how most CentreLearn continuing education lesson are published).

This screen cast is an explanation of my proof of concept. I also challenge other designers to improve and/or offer other suggestions. Can't see the video, click here.



After watching my screen cast another designer, @slhice, took the challenge and made a significant improvement on my proof of concept of dominoes falling. Watch and listen to her outstanding explanation.



What makes this social elearning:

1. My proof of concept screen cast was shared with other elearning designers through social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
2. Other designers were able to see/hear my process through online media, a screen cast, without having to share time or space with me.
3. Other designers were able to share their own concepts through social networks and with each share exponentially increased the audience and potential for audience response and engagement.

Have you seen elearning leverage social networks and social media tools?

How can the CentreLearn LMS facilitate social elearning?

Webinar: Participant Feedback

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Yesterday Jim Eastham, CentreLearn CEO, and Ken Sternig, Milwaukee County EMS Program Director, presented a webinar titled: How to Improve Training Quality, Increase Accountability, and Reduce Costs with a Learning Management System.

The session was enthusiastically received by a large audience of department chiefs, program directors, and training officers. Many participants asked questions about the implementation of an LMS, balancing classroom and online training, and costs and savings associated with using off-the-shelf content versus developing their own content. Jim and Ken answered many participant questions during the session and are emailing responses to many additional questions.

We were pleased to receive this feedback from Rich Obertots, Managing Director of RED Bike Medical Technologies, immediately after the webinar. Rich wrote:

Jim and Ken, I wanted to thank you for the outstanding webinar today. You focused on key requirements and provided more than sufficient justification to help those that are seeking to implement a LCMS. I have been in EMS / Air Med for 31 years. I am now devoting my efforts to transfer what has worked for me and my compliant clients to a LCMS.

You really helped me frame many essential matters that will be in the minds and emotional centers of individuals and organizations that must determine how to justify their commitment of their extremely limited (and becoming more limited) resources. Thanks! I am inspired to keep plugging away.

Richard M. Obertots, MBA, NREMT-P (ret)
Managing Director
RED BIKE medical technologies

We are planning an encore presentation of this webinar. Watch Blog.CentreLearn.com or Facebook.com/CentreLearn for details.

Webinar Today: Still Time to Register

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Webinar: How to Improve Training Quality, Increase Accountability and Reduce Costs with a Learning Management System.

There is still time to register for today's webinar. Learn more about helping your organization make smarter decisions about training in an idea-packed live webinar, "How to Improve Training Quality, Increase Accountability and Reduce Costs with a Learning Management System," on Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM EDT.

Reserve your Webinar seat now.

If you are not able to attend the webinar make sure to subscribe the the CentreLearn Blog RSS Feed and join us at Facebook.com/CentreLearn to receive future special event announcements.

In the Field: Fire Rescue International

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CentreLearn will be exhibiting at Fire Rescue International in Chicago. The FRI Expo, August 27-28, is your one-stop-shop when it comes to purchasing, saving, and checking out what’s hot in the fire service. CentreLearn will be exhibiting in booth 4711 showing attendees first hand our robust learning management system and endless continuing education content options.

Visit the booth to ask account managers, Katie Farmer and Jusup Lowry, about using CentreLearn to Train Better and Spend Less with solutions for tracking certifications, as well as assigning content in topic areas like Fire, HazMat, ALS medical, BLS medical, and workplace safety. You can also share your ideas with and get your questions answered about developing your own elearning content with Greg Friese, Director of Education.

Enjoy a free pass to the Fire Rescue International show courtesy CentreLearn Solutions, LLC. Register now for a savings of $50.

If you are coming to FRI connect with us on Facebook.com and let us know to expect your visit.

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face. You can also call 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn.

Screencast: Accessing CE Lesson Lecture Notes

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Short screencast demonstrates how CentreLearn Continuing Education lesson users can access the lecture notes before beginning the Flash multimedia lesson movie.

Unable to see the screencast, Click Here.

CentreLearn on Facebook.

In the Field: Vital Signs Conference 2010

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Join EMS Professionals from around the United States and CentreLearn Solutions Account Manager Sonia Misajlovski at the Vital Signs 2010 Conference in the greatest city in the world, New York City. If you are attending the August 26-29 conference make sure to visit Sonia at booth #100 to ask her how your agency can use the CentreLearn learning management system to "Train Better and Spend Less."

This year's Vital Signs 2010 Conference is offering more CME hours than ever before! Plus enjoy the amazing entertainment and shopping options only available in New York City. After the Vital Signs trade show continue your education the CentreLearn online training solution which delivers online training, certification record tracking, and automated recertification processes.

Learn more at Vital Signs 2010 Conference website.

Connect with Sonia on LinkedIn.com.

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face. You can also call 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn.

Webinar: How to Improve Training Quality, Increase Accountability and Reduce Costs with a Learning Management System

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Can online learning help EMS and fire organizations improve training quality, increase accountability and reduce costs?

If you’ve got 45 minutes to invest in helping your organization make smarter decisions about training, we’d like to invite you to join us for an idea-packed live webinar, "How to Improve Training Quality, Increase Accountability and Reduce Costs with a Learning Management System," on Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM EDT. Reserve your Webinar seat now.

Featuring online learning pioneer James Eastham, ScD, and Milwaukee County EMS program director Ken Sternig, this webinar will give you clear, easy-to-understand information about the state of online learning for emergency responders—and show you what the future holds. You’ll learn:

• The difference between online learning models, from basic course delivery to full-fledged, highly supported systems—and how to determine which approach is right for your organization
• How to integrate online learning with classroom and hands-on sessions—and still keep track of it all
• How a learning management system can help you deliver standardized, verifiable training to all of your personnel
• How one county EMS organization used online learning to eliminate more than $400,000 in training costs in a single year
• The biggest online learning mistakes emergency services make—and how to avoid them
• How to use online learning systems to protect the integrity of your training and recertification process
• How to evaluate an online learning vendor’s course catalogue
• How to tap into the network of other agencies using online learning—and vastly expand the materials available to your personnel
• How online learning technology of the future will integrate with regional and state systems
• And more

Bonus: All webinar registrants will receive a complimentary research brief summarizing the key benefits experienced by EMS and fire departments using 15 different online learning vendors.

Who should attend?

• Training officers
• Chief officers and deputy chiefs
• System and operations directors involved with training or compliance
• Human resources managers
• Regional EMS authorities
• Educators and training program directors
• Quality managers
• Medical directors
• IT directors

Title: How to Improve Training Quality, Increase Accountability and Reduce Costs with a Learning Management System

Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Time: 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM EDT

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/637134449

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Presented by: National Emergency Services Institute and CentreLearn Solutions, LLC

In the Field: Pinnacle 2010 Recap

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Jusup Lowry, Western Region Account Manager for CentreLearn Solutions, just returned from the Pinnacle EMS 2010 conference in San Diego. Jusup reports, "Pinnacle offered me tremendous opportunities to meet with EMS Leaders from all over the country."

He continues, "I really enjoyed meeting in person with existing clients of CentreLearn and hearing how these clients are already seeing the benefit of subscribing to our service after a short time, and how much time and money our Client Services team is saving them when it comes to building training content."

Fire and EMS Training Officers have traditionally built continuing education content in-house. Now with the CentreLearn Complete Package they no longer have to put limited time or financial resources toward the assembly and delivery of their own custom Fire and EMS training content.

Jusup is scheduling online and in-person demonstrations with many of the EMS leaders he met at Pinnacle to show them how they can use CentreLearn's training and compliance tracking solutions.

Train Better and Spend Less with CentreLearn.

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face. You can also call 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn with Jusup, Katie, or Sonia.

Student Feedback on Fire and Safety Continuing Education Lessons

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At the end of each firefighter continuing education lesson users complete a lesson evaluation. We appreciate all of the user comments, good and bad, that help us improve our existing CE lessons and plan future lesson development.

These are some of the comments we received in July from users of our Fire Continuing Education Lessons:

F203 Overview of Firefighter Injuries and Fatalities

"Good Course. Nice that you can go back into the course to finish. It is hard working to finish a course in entirety at times."

One of the top rated CentreLearn features is the ability to stop a lesson and resume where you left off.

F303 Leadership and Ethics

"Good training."

F313 Technical Rescue Incidents

"Good information."

F316 How to Read a Building

"Very informative."

F320 Hazardous Materials Response

"Good refresher on HazMat response."

F329 Ethics

"Scenarios presented were great."

B303 Respiratory Protection and Tuberculosis

"Excellent information"

View the complete Fire Continuing Education lesson catalog.

Student Feedback on BLS Continuing Education Lessons

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At the end of each EMT continuing education lesson users complete a lesson evaluation - a requirement for receiving CECBEMS continuing education credit. We appreciate all of the user comments, good and bad, that help us improve our existing CE lessons and plan future lesson development.

These are some of the comments we received in July from users of our BLS Continuing Education Lessons:

B201 Pelvic Injury Stabilization

"Good section to improve my skills and my assessment"

B202 Disease Conditions of Chronic Alcoholism

"Good information"

B211 Fetal Trauma

"This course was a good refresher for me! It also gave me a better insight about fetal trauma."

"Good Presentation"

B221 Pediatric Assessment

"Good information for pediatric assessment"

B222 C-Spine Injuries in Athletics

"The course was helpful"

B224 Methamphetamine Use and Hazards

"Excellent overview!"

B226 Over the Counter Drug Overdoses

"Courses like this give better understanding for examples you see in the field. I learned a lot. Thanks!"

B233 basic 12 Lead Operation and Interpretation

"Very good course for understanding EKGs."

"This training video, content, and narrator were EXCELLENT. The anatomical information was accurate and the methods for allowing simple 12-lead EKG interpretation were fantastic."

B236 Medical Staffing at Large Events

"I have worked a few endurance events and have been a racer in more. It seems that all race directors should have to take this course to make things easier for the race director and EMS."

"Great idea to include this topic as there is a need for this."

B239 Emergency Childbirth

"Very informative."

B245 Patient Care Report Essentials

"Excellent class."

B250 Asthma

"I would highly recommend this course."

B252 Detailed Physical Exam

"Great refresher"

B271 Shock and Shock Management

"This was a very good program."

B286 Burn Injury Assessment

"Great course. I get a lot more info from it than just a lecture."

B295 Introduction to Capnography

"Amazing course. I'd like to see more of these! Very informative and interesting. Great for use by EMTs!"

B299 Hypothermia Assessment and Treatment

"Challenging Exam! Thanks!"

B337 Sports Medicine for EMS

"I now see the difference in sports medicine trainers and EMS. What's expected of both and how differently they go about handling injuries and treating them."

"Excellent lessons. Plus working in the field it reminds all of us to check our ego at the door and learn from the experts."

View the complete BLS Continuing Education lesson catalog.

Student Feedback on ALS Continuing Education Lessons

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At the end of each Paramedic continuing education lesson users complete a lesson evaluation - a requirement for receiving CECBEMS continuing education credit. I appreciate all of the user comments, good and bad, that help us improve our existing CE lessons and plan future lesson development.

These are some of the comments we received in July from users of our ALS Continuing Education Lessons:

A202 Disease Conditions of Chronic Alcoholism

"Loved this course. The pictures and narration were excellent."

A210 Drug Seeking Behavior

"Very interesting course."

A216 Low Back Pain

"Easy to digest and delivered in a reasonable amount of time."

A219 Recognition and Treatment of Heat Emergencies

"Got pulled away from the course to take care of patients. Otherwise would have finished in one sitting. Very good course!"

Note users can leave a CentreLearn CE lesson and resume where they left off. This is a great feature for users training on-duty.

A234 Demystifying the Central Line

"Good information."

A236 Medical Staffing at Large Events

"I have done triathlons for the past 16 years - sprint to full Ironman. It was really cool to see an EMS lecture on the sport!"

A243 Allergic Reaction Management

"Really liked the course. Great material and presented well."

A250 Asthma Part 1

"Really enjoyed this course. It had good material and improved my knowledge."

A250 Asthma Part 2

"Very good material"

A261 TCA Overdose

"One of the more informative courses and a great refresher."

A280 Snowmobile Trauma

"Good info on snowmobile accidents, but I live in south Texas. How about CE on Personal Water Craft."

Thanks for the suggestion of a lesson on PWC and traumatic injury. Should we add this lesson to our production schedule? Tell us why in the comments to this post or add your own lesson suggestions.

A293 Poisons and Toxins

"Good information."

A295 Introduction to Capnography

"Very good course."

"I have had a big fear learning this material. Now I feel like I got a basic explanation that helps me understand the material."

View the complete ALS Continuing Education lesson catalog.

Change the Way You Think About Training

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The newest CentreLearn brochure is a tri-fold design - download, print, and share options below. The cover page is the right panel of page 1 and the back page is the middle panel of page 1.

We will gladly mail you a copy of this brochure or you are welcome to print. We will also be handing this brochure out along with course catalogs at upcoming Fall trade shows such as Pinnacle, Fire Rescue International, Vital Signs, EMS Expo, and the NAEMSE Symposium. We hope to see you in the field soon to help your organization Train Better and Spend Less.

CentreLearn Train Better Spend Less Brochure

In the Field: Firehouse Expo Recap

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Last week I attended the Firehouse Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. My day was packed with face-to-face meetings with CentreLearn users, visiting exhibit hall booths to see the latest in fire and EMS training products and patient care equipment, and enjoying time with some of my great social media connections. A few of the highlights:

Meeting Joe Clark author of My Ambulance Education. Joe's biographical book is an incredible chronicle of how his experience as an NYC EMT as a college student set him on a path to research the assessment and management of stroke. Joe is doing some amazing research to develop hardware and software products to detect the presence of cerebral edema in the field that will help guide patient transport decisions. Visit Joe's blog for more information on My Ambulance Education and his research.

The Firegeezer booth was a focal point for many visitors to the expo hall. The Firegeezer.com is a leading Firefighter news blog. The Firegeezer booth was shared by another leading Fire Blogger Dave Statter from the Statter911.com blog. I am a long-time reader of both blogs and it was great to meet these fine gentlemen face-to-face.

The Firegeezer was kind enough to make room for the co-hosts of the FirefighterNetCast podcast, Rhett Fleitz (to my right) and John Mitchell (to my left). I am not sure if they invited me on the air or I invited myself, but I jumped in the middle of the conversation to talk with Rhett and John about trends in EMS education and what I look for at Fire/EMS conferences. Look for our segment to air soon at FirefighterNetCast.com.

You can connect with Rhett at his blog FireCritic.com and John at his blog FireDaily.com.

In the Field: Pinnacle

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CentreLearn President, Jason Paluck, and Western Region Account Manager, Jusup Lowry are attending the Pinnacle conference this week in San Diego, California. Pinnacle is an "exclusive and unparalleled leadership forum for EMS experts and executives." The Pinnacle program features a series of Power Seminars and Workshops led by the "most experienced and knowledgeable faculty on the topics presented."

Jason and Jusup will be meeting with EMS leaders to explore how the CentreLearn Learning Management System can serve the online education needs of EMS and Fire agencies that want to Train Better and Spend Less.

Learn more about pinnacle-ems.com/home

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face. You can also call 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn.

CentreLearn Feature Update: Content Sharing Network

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CentreLearn invites clients to work together and share content. CentreLearn Complete clients are able to network with other clients via Education Program Sharing. This provides the ability for one organization to link their entire course library with any other organization. The Content Sharing Network allows training officers to exchange individual courses with other training officers. Organizations can voluntarily share their own content with one another through a Content Sharing Network.

Content Sharing Network features:

1. Voluntary participation
2. Share content between organizations
3. Email communication between participating training officers
4. Notification of new content from CentreLearn

Content Sharing Network in Action
A training officer wants to add lessons on the topics of bloodborne pathogens, CPAP, HIPAA, and landing zone safety. The training officer now can browse the available content in the content sharing network for lessons on these topics. Available lessons will be made accessible in a shared Portfolio and can then be assigned to the training officer’s users.

More Information
If you would like more information about the Content Sharing Network or other CentreLearn features like Compliance Guard™, call 877-435-9309 or email CentreLearn to schedule a demo.

In the Field: New England Fire, Rescue, EMS 2010 Recap

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Sonia Misajlovski, Northeast Region Account Manager for CentreLearn Solutions, just returned from the New England Fire, Rescue and EMS 2010 conference. The turnout was great. Sonia reports, "I had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of the attendees and vendors. Most conferences have a strong turn out one or two days. This conference was busy with attendees all three days, right up until the very last hour."

One question that Sonia was asked over and over at this conference was “Can CentreLearn save us money?” Everyone seemed to be looking for ways to make their organizations run smoother. Sonia's response to that frequent question was, "CentreLearn can save you money by reducing overtime, lowering travel costs and saving time by automating the process of recertification."

Sonia is having many conversations after New England Fire, Rescue, EMS with organizations that are interested in learning more about our solution to Train Better and Spend Less. Sonia is looking forward to being a part of this show in 2011.

Connect with Sonia on LinkedIn.com.

If you are planning a conference make sure to send exhibitor and presenter information to CentreLearn. We are always seeking opportunities to connect with our clients face to face. You can also call 877-435-9309 to schedule an online demonstration of CentreLearn.

CentreLearn Feature Update: Portfolio for Managing Courses

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Portfolio, one of the newest features added to CentreLearn, organizes many online EMT and Paramedic education courses into a collection. For example, all CE lessons from the ALS Course Catalog are organized into an ALS Portfolio.

The Portfolio feature allows users to more easily search for courses and concentrate on one course at a time. For administrators, the assignment of courses to a Portfolio will be much easier as each individual course can be assigned as a whole, including all course components.
The Learn tab, inside the CentreLearn Learning Management System, lists current courses a student is working to complete. Each course is listed individually.


With Portfolio students also have the option to view a collection of individual courses by clicking on “Show All Courses” on the right drop down menu, clicking the name of the Portfolio such as “Show All ALS CE Courses”, or by using the search box to search for a term or phrase such as “Airway” or “Sepsis”.

To find out more about Portfolio, Regional, Compliance Guard™ and other CentreLearn features, call 877-435-9309 or email info@centrelearn.com