November 30, 2015 Price — not, Value — is what is driving far too many e-Learning purchases today. That’s backwards! You need to examine the program content and it’s multiple-mediia aspects first — be it by requesting a demo or a link to the vendor’s demo portal. When you are “test-driving” that course you should be looking for the following: Are the work and safety practices correctly portrayed at all times?
November 23, 2015 “Passively-viewed video is not an inherently valuable learning tool, especially if the player features are skewed towards media and entertainment, marketing, or advertising. Finding ways to engage the student within a video is another matter. Facilitating and measuring student comprehension — the holy grail of eLearning in general — must apply to the interactive video learning experience as well.” (“What is Interactive Video Learning” by John Parsons in eLEARNING...
November 18, 2015 Something different today! In the past ten days, I’ve been fortunate in my reading to discover several good comments and observations relating to the three broad subject areas this blog has always addressed. Hope they stimulate your thinking, too! RELIABILITY & MAINTENANCE (industrial skills training) “Maintenance is considered an action; it is more of a joint responsibility than a function. Maintenance starts with selecting equipment and follows with installation....
November 16, 2015 “The key to troubleshooting industrial equipment lies beyond the process itself. A prerequisite to troubleshooting is the knowledge and understanding of the equipment. Knowing how the equipment functions, what each component installed on the equipment is, what the component does, how the component does what it should, and how the components interact are essential in applying any troubleshooting methodology or process.” (MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY, “Troubleshooting Skills Can Be Learned” by...
November 11, 2015 “Technology can be a boon to pedagogy, but it is not without its perils. Before jumping headlong into the rushing tide of PowerPoint presentations, consider these cautions and criticisms about this popular teaching tool: 1) It’s Inflexible . . . 2) It’s Risky . . . 3) It’s a Crutch . . . 4) It’s Boring . . . 5) It’s Style without Substance” (“THE PERILS OF POWERPOINT” by...
November 9, 2015 Is there any way you can make a better selection than multi-sensory instruction? No! You can’t! Not lectures — not textbooks — not equipment manufacturers’ written operating instructions — not computer-based training (CBT) — not reading-based e-Learning (i.e., repurposed PowerPoints) — not even hands-on with “Ol’ Charlie! Nope! Multi-sensory learning, with an emphasis on full motion video (or animations), is the best way to train — hands down! If...
November 4, 2015 The headline in the NEW YORK TIMES last week said it all: “Obama Administration Calls for Limits on Testing in Schools.” Theodore Sizer would have been pleased. In a long career, Dr. Sizer (now deceased) was, among other appointments, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Chairman of Brown University’s education department. Dr. Sizer’s view of education reform — “with a premium on classroom creativity, bottom-up innovation...
November 2, 2015 The results of effective training are as important to your organization as almost any initiative your company undertakes. Yet, to be successful, training must be integral. Do it the right way! Assume nothing! Victory comes to those who analyze and plan before they implement. Thinking ahead while presuming little are the most important traits of a successful trainer. New equipment, with its technological improvements (and, its unique training challenges),...