If you are responsible for the training initiatives within your organization, you’ve sure got a lot of choices. Videotape, DVD, CD-ROM and lecture/reading classes are all the older choices you can make — and, while one can make a case for the first three, the fourth (lecture/reading) is so far removed from today’s learning culture that you do your organization a disservice by even offering that approach. However, if you are going...
So you want to buy a training program from one of a cadre of vendors. What could be easier! Just pick out an appropriate title in a catalog or on some courseware vendor’s website — and, order it. Piece of cake! Really?!? Is that the way to make your informed choice? Not likely! Assumptions are being made here that may cost you much bigger bucks than the money you spend to buy...
Instructional Design has a long and successful history with media training. First with videotape — then with Laser Interactive Videodisc — and followed by CD-ROM production, designers effectively utilized all the powerful learning components afforded by media into the most effective learning lessons the world had ever known. Payback was amazing. Trainees learned faster and more successfully than at any time since the days of “ol’ Charlie” with his one-on-one hands-on instruction....
This month I attended the “Solutions 2.0” Conference in Bonita Springs, Florida. That event took me back in time — to almost two decades ago — when Maintenance personnel regularly gathered together to discuss Maintenance challenges and solutions. “Solutions 2.0” featured “Reliability” issues, a term I believe has evolved from the “Predictive Maintenance” and “Preventive Maintenance” terms of earlier times. Regardless, “Reliability” is one of the critical components in manufacturing and process...
Don’t pretend there is a better training choice than multi-sensory instruction! There isn’t! Multi-sensory learning, with an emphasis on full motion video, is the best way to train — hands down! If you want your trainees to learn necessary skills and, even better, retain that learning for a longer time, full motion video is the “winner and still champion!” Why? Because the learning culture for the past half-century has evolved around the...
Too often, training expenditures are made as a reaction to some internal operating problem: repeated packing failures; increasing waste; lubrication errors, etc. Reactive training is not the way to address most training issues. It is often piece-meal and is a “horse is already out of the barn” solution. The key to successful training is to make it an integral part of an organization’s business objectives. Up-front planning helps ensure that your investment...
Much is being written these days about the workforce that America will need in order to compete in the 21st Century. Apparently, the jobs of today and tomorrow will require a workforce that is better educated and better trained than the workforce of the 20th Century. No doubt, that’s all true. However, it will be a gigantic mistake to ignore the basic knowledge skills required of every worker. That mistake will be...
Training offers you many options today — from traditional classroom instruction, with hands-on practice, to the latest in technology-based training. But, which method is best for your situation? Let’s examine some of the pros and cons. For training a large number of students in a relatively short amount of time, the better training method may be one that can be administered to a large group. If cost is no issue, classroom instruction...
Skills training is the antithesis of the memorization techniques incorporated in education and information conveyance. Skills training demands “doing” — whether it be: a) hands-on , or b) vicarious (videotape or film), or c) simulation (IVD, CD-ROM or knowledgeably designed e-Learning) We memorize to learn new information. But, we practice by “doing” — if we want to acquire, or enhance, a skill. It’s also worth noting the history of reading-based (with a...
If you’re connected with Training or Education in any way, you’ve been inundated with the hype surrounding E-Learning. If one chooses to believe everything one hears and reads, E-Learning is the learning technology of choice. You may think you know what that term, E-Learning, means — but, I would ask you to think again. Courses that run successfully over the Web may, or MAY NOT, be effective training/education for your trainees/students. In...
To read about the training industry today one would think that it has become a synonym for E-Learning. More and more is being written about the growing acceptance of E-Learning. And, in terms of future potential, these writers are correct. However — and, this is a big “However” — as a learning tool, current E-Learning courseware misses the mark! It has certain cost and availability advantages — but, fails to deliver on...
Training . . . It sure ain’t what it used to be! Nope — we’ve come a long way down the technology trail in the past three decades. The training challenges for our industrial workforce have been immense. And, the trade-offs involving instructional design, production values, plus cost and efficiency issues have complicated the entire process. However, the heart of the matter has not changed. Learning values have always been balanced against...
“Education always trails Training by ten years or more when it comes to adopting new learning innovations.” That generalization has been around for several decades — and, for good reason. Education is so institutionalized that it arrogantly believes that, “What was good for us before is good enough today.” Consequently, they expect their students to adapt to “their way” instead of adapting themselves to the changes in the learning culture that have...
Do your training initiatives pass muster? Or, do you too often implement some new training program without, first, running it through a critical evaluation? If so, take the time to review the following examination questions that each of your training initiatives should pass before implementation. It will save you several headaches and it will save your company much time and money. • Have your training initiatives been directly tied to your company’s...