Reminder: Call for Papers SIGIR'95
"Scott W. Paisley 303-497-7691" <paisley@boulder.nist.gov> Fri, 09 December 1994 02:24 UTC
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From: "Scott W. Paisley 303-497-7691" <paisley@boulder.nist.gov>
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Subject: Reminder: Call for Papers SIGIR'95
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Jill, I said I would forward you the information about the computer-training list, and here it is! (for real, eh?) Liked the talk in the trainmat about surgery over the net. Very interesting. BTW, I'm very interested in training issues, and will probably be able to assist in this area. I'll work on sending you info about the current trainmat doc, but keep me in mind for other things you might have in the future. CHeers, -Scott Paisley (paisley@boulder.nist.gov) ================================================================ You have been added to list computer-training@bilbo.isu.edu. The system has recorded your address as paisley@boulder.nist.gov and in order for your messages to get posted (if the list accepts postings), you will have to send them from this address, unless the list does not require subscription for posting. If a message is ever rejected, please contact the list's owner: computer_training@masie.com [... my password deleted ... swp] This system may accept Internet TCP/IP connections for processing of live requests, and the password will be used to give you subscriber privileges. For more information, send a 'help live' request to listproc@bilbo.isu.edu. For information on this service and how to use it, send the following request in the body of a mail message to listproc@bilbo.isu.edu: HELP All requests should be addressed to listproc@bilbo.isu.edu. Welcome & a First Reading: Every day or two, you will receive a DIGEST of news and messages about the Computer Training field. These will be contributed by The MASIE Center, Key Software Publishers, Training Professionals and other publications. This is a MODERATED and INTERACTIVE medium. We will attempt to keep the focus professional and the traffic level appropriate, so that you do not tire of endless messages of low value. When you want to CONTRIBUTE a message, send it to: Computer-Training@Bilbo.Isu.Edu One of our editors will review and digest the messages. If you would like to communicate with Elliott Masie, just send a message directly to: emasie@masie.com The Mailing List is a service of: The MASIE Center, a think tank in the fields of computer training and technology learning. Elliott Masie, President, 1-800-98-MASIE. Server and facilitation services donated by: Simplot Decision Support Center, Idaho State University, Corey Schou, Director ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the first article that was sent out to the entire group. It is a think piece that will get you started on the Computer Training Mailing List Dialogue: The Future of Computer Training and Learning Technology Learning and Competency Trends & Opportunities By Elliott Masie, President, The MASIE Center The incredible rate of change in the world of technology creates an even greater rate of change in the field of computer training. Each change to a person's workplace technology results in a direct need for them to learn. Think about this rate of change. Each time you read 100 pages of magazines' articles about new technology, there are a hundred unwritten pages of stories about the struggle of workers to cope with these unending changes to their workplace environment. Every release of a new software package, every upgrade to a suite, every migration to a new form of database access, every expansion of networking capacity, every consideration of a new operating system and every shift from mainframe to desktop focus yields a need for workers to LEARN new skills, procedures and even attitudes. Some of these workers will be fortunate enough to be able to attend a formal training course at their company. Some will be handed a manual or computer based training disk to assist them in learning. Many will use the help desk as a personal and very expensive tutor. A large majority will interrupt their daily work tasks (and those of their colleagues in the next cubicle or office) to cope with the changes in an informal On-The-Job learning method. One way or another, the nation's organizations will be paying an additional cost for each new piece and version of technology that enters the workplace. This is the foundation of the computer training and learning industry and field. We have seen the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs, and thousands of businesses, products and services to support the technology learning needs of our society. These same forces of change are also direct challenges to those jobs, businesses, products and services. The past two decades have been the Wonder Bread years for the computer training industry. The growth of mainframe end-user computing and then the launch of the personal computer created an immediate need for training and support services and birthed our new field. Many of the first players in the computer training field got their by accident. If you had one weeks more experience with Visicalc, the first spreadsheet, you could open the doors of a new training center. If you were able to explain how to send a PROFS e-mail message, you were designated as the in-house guru and trainer. Software publishers launched the first Authorized Training Centers as a way of assuring organizations that there were actual people available to teach them to use these new and daunting technologies. We have come a long way in these past two decades. As technology evolves into an everyday reality in our offices, homes and even briefcases, computer training is evolving to a more mature and diverse field. 1) Good-bye Mom and Pop: The days of the corner Mom and Pop Computer Learning Center are almost numbered. In order to operate a full service training classroom, one needs high-end computers, with loads of memory, a high-speed network and instructors skilled with a depth of knowledge about various configurations and combinations of technology. The capital required to maintain these classrooms and market effectively to major corporations is changing the landscape of the computer training industry. Each week I hear of at least two training companies that have merged, been acquired or joined a national franchise operation. Expect to see larger players entering the training and support business. Watch for the Baby Bells to develop help desk and support outsourcing businesses in the next 18 months. 2) Outsourcing Rampant: The forces of re-engineering and downsizing are driving a large percentage of computer training out of the corporate organizational chart. Large scale and segment specific outsourcing of computer training is in vogue. We have witnessed a shrinking of the number of full-time trainers on the headcount of major corporations. It is not uncommon to see a computer training department servicing 10,000 users with a staff of only 3 or 4 people, primarily involved in the contracting and scheduling of training. Much of this outsourcing is happening right on the property of major organizations. Corporate classrooms are more likely to have an external trainer at the overhead projector and some classrooms are even being leased out to external training centers for total management. 3) Can I See Your Certification Please?: The days of self-certification are over. Software publishers, following the strong lead of Novell, have taken to the certification bandwagon. Every major software publisher has created or is about to launch a testing and certification program aimed at the technical population of their user community. Certification of support staff, trainers, developers, programmers and even end-users is a goal of the software industry, in order to protect the image of their product. If you have a problem with our database or network and can't get good support from your MIS department, you might end up blaming the product. Certification programs are aiming to develop an envelope of competency and support surrounding each major system and application suite. Expect to see more tests and greater emphasis on career track testing (eg. Client Server Certified Programmer). 4) Planned Expenditures: This point is based more on hope and need than a perceived trend. One of the my major frustrations is the lack of reality budgeting for computer training. Most companies do not link the acquisition of technology with the totally certain need for increased computer training and support. The majority of training requests are triggered by immediate needs, rather than a planned approach to technology skill investment. A perfect example is the upcoming release of Microsoft's Windows 95. The MASIE Center has been surveying planning for this upgrade, which will be the largest single upgrade in the history of automation. Fewer than 1% of organizations surveyed in August 1994 have made any plans for the training and support of this product scheduled for release in early 1995. It does not live in the budgets of computer training departments, help desks or the business units that await its ship date. Can you imagine an airline awaiting the arrival of a new model plane from Boeing and not budgeting for the retraining of their pilots? Organizations must face the reality that the full cost of each new technology includes the cost of formal and informal computer learning and support. As planning for learning is added to the technology migration process it will allow for longer-term deals with training vendors and will also lead to more strategic decisions about investing in employee skills. 5) I Want It NOW and I Want it HERE! A good percentage of computer training comes at the wrong time. It is either scheduled for two months after an employee starts. Or, it is on the calendar for 6 weeks before they have a real need for the application. Another large percentage of computer training takes place at the wrong location. Workers away from the home office receive less training then their colleagues back at headquarters. Night shift workers are rarely on the rolls for computer classes. And, mobile and commissioned sales staff are the most frequent no-shows in computer training programs. "I want my workers to be able to sit at their desks and learn what they need to do their jobs today. Tomorrow, let them learn what they need tomorrow. I can't afford to have my people going to training every time a new package hits the network." That sentiment was expressed recently by a manager of 35 banking professionals. She wants her people to learn the new technology, but only when they need the information and with as few trips to classroom as possible. Here are some of the trends that are emerging to meet this demand. Just-In-Time Training: Upgrades will be taught in shorter classes, perhaps only a one-hour live session with a take away CBT learning disk. One training vendor now has a one-day Microsoft Suite class, where they teach how to self-learn 4 or 5 products in six hours. The trainer is just providing the motivation, context and overview, with the focus on the learner doing the bulk of work on their own back at their desktop. Integrating Computer Training & Job Training: Most companies still have separate offerings for computer training and job functions. Bank officers go to one training department to learn how to approve loans and then go to the technology education center to learn how to use Excel or 1-2-3. The melding of these two learning tasks is underway in corporate America. Progressive training departments of melding the curriculum from the Human Resource and Technical Training departments to provide single offerings that will teach someone how to issue a loan and use the spreadsheet as a work tool. Courseware developers are stepping up to this task with new technology that allow customers to edit, re-sequence and integrate computer courses with internal content. The Wandering Trainer: Organizations are starting to place trainers in the workplace rather than the front of the classroom. By spending their day working at the desktop with users they can often deliver the critical element of training that is needed to keep them productive. One company dispatched their trainers to provide "Sneaker Based Learning", with each teacher spending two days a week in the workplace. In addition to holding impromptu classes, they also were able to tweak the configurations of worker's computers and write a couple of simple but value macros to simplify a task. When these wandering trainers returned to the classroom they often dramatically changed the focus of their classes to match workplace reality. Scheduled Help Desk Based Training: Some applications can be taught by phone through a scheduled training event. When I hooked up our organization to the Internet, I was given a time to call the help desk, along with a set of reading materials. The technician broke from his stream of assistance calls to spend 90 minutes walking me through a complex set of new programs. It was a perfect and very cost-effective way to get me up and running. Blend that with a computer-based training or demo and it becomes a viable alternative to classroom training for certain users and applications. Just the Disk, Mamm: The thirst is growing for great computer based training. The growth of the CD ROM technology, the exposure to children's software and the increased bundling of CBT with applications has pre-conditioned the marketplace for this category of product. Watch for an explosion of new CBT and learning products in 1995. The open question will be their effectiveness and full acceptance by users. The simple porting of a curriculum from classroom training to disk will not be acceptable. Developers will need to hear the desire of users for these features in computer based training: * Freedom of sequence, segment and style. Users want to be able to skip the stuff they know, bypass the stuff they don't want to know and learn without having to answer a test question on every screen. They don't want to take the worst parts of a classroom and migrate it to the desktop. They want to make CBT into Personal Learning, with choice and freedom. * Real work examples. Users want to work with examples from their workplace rather than the ACME Company. Developers will need to provide an ability for easy local customization. * Linkage to classroom learning. Users will often use CBT before, during and after attending a class. Organizations want to be able to purchase a training process that will integrate desktop learning with classroom offerings. The use of in-class CBT for information transfer and remedial assistance can allow for larger and more cost-effective courses. Prediction: Watch for new players in the business CBT industry. Educational software and entertainment groups have been eyeing the business market as a natural extension for their artists, authors and marketers. Over the Net: Distance learning is here! The amazing spread of the Internet is yielding a new medium for delivering learning. I recently offered a pilot course on Training Skills for Teaching New Technology via the Internet. I asked for a few interested folks to help us experiment with delivering content modules to their desktops via Internet delivered E-Mail. A response of a few dozens would have been delightful. We had over 4,000 people apply. The economics are intriguing, as it really costs us just a few cents a student to distribute the content modules. Several dozen technology organizations are monitoring this course to adapt the approach to their continuing education offerings. As additional tools for network learning are developed and disseminated, watch for the rise of in-house and externally offered on-line courses. In Your Face: Desktop video-conferencing is about to hit in a big way. The cost of live two-way desktop video will be dropping to under $1,000 a desktop by the start of 1995. ISDN capacity is blooming in most organizations and even in the home. The ability to conduct a class with a live instructor at one site and the learners in many sites, with full instructor access to each desktop is currently available. Organizations like Picture-Tel, AT&T and Intel are leading the way with the enabling technology. The computer training industry will need to quickly adapt to this new channel of information. Imagine a Pay Per View computer training course, delivered to your desktop via the cable with an ability to dialogue with live instructors during the discussion section. It's coming! * Scattered Computer Training Buying: We have watched a shift in the point of purchase of training materials and services from a central office to the business units of organizations. Many corporations are giving their business units the ability to buy training from any source, including the internal training department. There are more people, in more scattered locations, involved in computer training decisions and purchases. * Charge Back Confusion: Companies are also struggling to develop models for assessing and recovering the costs of training and support. Thinking of these charges as a form of taxation yields some intriguing alternatives. Why charge for learning and give support for free? Or, perhaps provide an incentive for business units that develop a lower dependency on help desk services. * Employee Pay Thy Way: A number of corporations are working on the concept of sharing the cost of learning investment with the employee. One beverage company requires all workers to have WordPerfect skills the day they start their employment. They can attend free classes in the learning center, but must be able to pass the competency test before the report to work. This shifts the salary costs of learning to the employee. Other groups are considering employee contributions to CNE certification as an recognition of the impact on the worker's future earning and career potential. * Taxes at Work in Learning Labs: The push on retraining is leading to proposals for tax dollar support for computer training. This is reflected in proposed legislation before Congress and in local efforts to use community college training services as part of their economic development strategy to attract and support business growth. * Bundled Models for Training Services: Training vendors are also continuing their development of models for pricing classes and services. Watch for all-you-can-learn pricing plans as well as national contracts to provide complete training services on a per desktop annual cost. The economics of the computer training business will evolve as the maturity of the field increases and as learning is recognized as a perpetual portion of the technology expense budget. Summary: Change! Computer training is not a field for the weak hearted or stability focused person or business. In many ways, computer training is a change adaptation mechanism. We have our jobs, we have our training centers and we have our learning products because technology has changed and people have to adapt to those changes. To survive in the computer training field, as a corporate learning specialist, a freelance trainer or the manager of a applications training center, you will need to stay abreast of every change possible, experiment with every new technology and be an early and critical adapter of new models for providing learning to our workforce. Fasten your seat belt, we are in for an exciting ride. The following article was adapted from the 2nd Edition of The Computer Training Handbook, by Elliott Masie. For ordering information: 800-707-7769
- Reminder: Call for Papers SIGIR'95 Jill Foster
- Reminder: Call for Papers SIGIR'95 Scott W. Paisley 303-497-7691