The final review-subject should be “The Customer Support Review” —an activity that many of you don’t realize is even possible. After all, customer support shows its pretty or ugly head sometime after the sale.

And, in many ways, that’s true. Some vendors regard their customer support activities only from a cost control standpoint. They believe that a customer support function is nothing but an expense item. So, they try to put roadblocks between them and the customer in order to delay the inevitable as long as possible in the hope that it will “just go away.”

Unfortunately, far too many training vendors put a “Contact Us” on their website, BUT only provide an e-Mail method of contact — no phone number!

Other vendors place the caller into a voice mail activity, bypassing the customer’s need to get immediate service even though that customer may have a class of learners waiting without a solid internet connection to the purchased courseware.

What can you do during your review process in order to minimize your chances of ending up with one of those non-customer oriented vendors?

Well, you should ask your salesperson for a “number to call” in the event of a problem and an e-Mail address to contact whenever you’re experiencing problems.

Now, run a test. Call the number provided and time how long it takes for them to get back with you. Ditto with the e-Mail address. The answer to those two tests will tell you a lot about the future problems you are going to encounter with that particular vendor.

We all know that technology is not perfect. There will always be hiccups. And, most of us know enough not to expect perfection.

But, it is not too much to expect vendors to treat those imperfections with the care and concern you, their customer, deserve.

Some vendors are truly customer oriented. Find one of those. It will save you a lot of grief.

More on Tuesday – - -

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

The third step in your buying process should be “The Review of the Media Used.”

Confucius is credited with the following:

 “I hear and I forget,

I see and I remember,

I do and I understand.”

 So it is with modern media training.  While the “doing” is mostly vicarious, the learning results are close to ideal.

But, only if the programs you are evaluating for purchase are based on multisensory media (full-motion video and optional word-for-word audio) — with a minimum emphasis on the written word!  (And, as you know by now, the written word will mostly fail to communicate with almost half of your workforce.)  Other positive components can include animations, brilliantly designed graphics and stills in order to emphasize the “doing” part of the training.

All of this is designed to facilitate the “do” in learning.  It’s what we mean when we discuss effective skills training.  Education may teach us theory, facts, opinions and intellectual understanding.  Training makes it possible for us to do things better and to acquire new skills.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, “What we learn to do, we learn by doing.”

Of course, you also need to examine the instructional design behind any courseware you are considering.  You should require the following elements:

1)  Navigation through the course is simple, consistent and intuitive.  In other words, are the screens user-friendly and obvious to the learner?

2)  The instruction is both meaningful and interactive.  In other words, are the individual units of instruction performance based and require meaningful responses from the learner?  In addition, knowledgeable instructional design will segment the course into very small units of instruction, each tied directly to a performance objective.

3)  Adult learning characteristics are accommodated.  In other words, are the designed communication techniques consistent with the learning culture of the individuals to be trained.

4)  Administrative management requirements are satisfied.  In other words, the test results, time spent, etc. are readily incorporated into your LMS.

5)   The media used is appropriately integrated into the learning experience.  In other words, the full-motion video, graphics, stills and animations are directly appropriate to the subject being taught.

Step four on Thursday – - -

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

The second step in the buying process should be a “Readability Review.”

Ever hear of the Flesch-Kincaid readability tests?

There are two of them: The Flesch Reading Easiness and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level tests. They use the same core measures: word length and sentence length. It’s the latter test that should concern you when making a training purchase decision.

National studies agree that close to half of our workforce does not read above a 4th Grade level. And, even more disturbing is the fact that only slightly more than one-third of our high school graduates can comprehend and form opinions from what they read today.

Here’s an illustrative story. Some time ago the CEO of a major automobile manufacturer did a study and discovered that the written communications and procedures being used by his corporation were the cause of many plant accidents and inefficiencies. He found out that the problem was a result of two things: a) those written communications were being written, for the most part, by college graduates and b) many of his employees had difficulty in reading comprehension.

So, he ordered that every document in his corporation be re-written to a 6th Grade reading level. Only after this project failed to make much improvement in plant efficiencies did he publicly state that he should have required a 4th Grade reading level.

What does all this mean to you? Well, when making your training purchase decisions it would serve you well to ask the vendor what Grade Level Test had been applied to his products. Unfortunately, I would bet that he’ll give you a blank stare.

“Never heard of such a thing,” he’ll likely say.

Well, that will tell you all you really need to know. That vendor understands very little about the Learning process. He’s only in the business of taking your money. His products are not designed to improve the quality of life for your workforce nor to add to your company’s bottom line.

Knowledgeable corporations and the U.S. Department of Defense require either the Reading Easiness test or the Grade Level test before purchasing any written training material. So should you!

Step three on Tuesday – - -

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

One of the problems in blog-writing is that some of the most important ideas are written about once and then never seen again. Such is the case with our “buying process” discussion, which first appeared three years ago. So, because it is such an important subject — and, because I will be out of the country for the next two weeks, here are the salient steps (with up-to-date revisions) you should undertake in “The Buying Process” — once again.

More “live to regret it” decisions are made during the buying process than you can probably imagine. Worse, the wasted money that your company will spend — and, the wasted time your workers will invest in ineffective training initiatives — will do far more harm than good.

Let’s start with the previewing process. A process that is routine with almost all training purchases — whether it involves preview portal access with E-Learning or sample demo CD-ROM or text products.

During this initial step in the buying process, one of the biggest of all mistakes is made. And, it’s made time and time again — because the decision makers do not thoroughly grasp the ultimate goal of training initiatives: “To bring less-skilled workers to greater proficiency levels or to cross-train workers who need to move from ‘little knowledge’ to ‘proficiency skills’.”

To accomplish the above objective you need to understand the ideal “previewing committee” process: “Individuals in your organization who understand Learning, plus one content expert should evaluate the previews you are considering.”

Unfortunately, many preview evaluations are seldom performed this ideal way. For a lack of understanding of “The Learning Process,” committees composed exclusively of content experts are given the task of selecting the “best” preview product. A guaranteed way to continually make the wrong choice!

Content experts, too often, get excited about learning something from the preview that they, themselves, did not already know — totally forgetting the objective of the preview evaluation. And then — mistakenly — endorsing that preview as their number one choice.

Oops! The less-skilled or unskilled workers are going to suffer because of those misguided choices made by that content experts committee.

What you need is a committee of individuals who: 1) understand Learning; 2) the skill level of the workers to be trained; and 3) the skills required for the tasks they will be expected to perform on-the-job. Plus, one content expert to validate the information presented.

Previews should never be evaluated by an exclusive team of content experts simply because those individuals are looking at “information knowledge” and not at “basic skills training requirements for the less-skilled.”

You would be wise to think through your own situation to determine what voices will serve you well. Remember, we’re not playing “Jeopardy” here. We’re attempting to increase skills in order for your workforce to become more contributive to your organization. You will successfully do that only if your selection committee can recognize the difference between Skills Training (the simulated “Doing” of a task) and non-applicable Information Knowledge that, often, cannot be transferred to the actual job.

Step two on Thursday – - -

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

Occasionally, within a short span of time, one encounters both encouraging and discouraging news — almost simultaneously. And so, within the past week, it has been with me.

The “good” was very, very good, as it addresses most positive results in increased reading activity — an activity that normally does not supply us with much good news these days.

Cecilia Kang’s recent article in The Washington Post, “Survey finds e-reader devices fuel book consumption overall”, offers some very encouraging news:

. . . All those devices (tablets and e-readers) are turning some consumers into super readers, according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. E-book readers plowed through an average of 24 titles in the past year, compared with an average of 15 for readers of physical books.

“Those who have taken the plunge into reading e-books stand out in almost every way from other kinds of readers . . . They are avid readers of books in all formats,” said Lee Rainie, director of research at Pew.

Curiously, e-reading somehow sparks a love of books in any format. Even as e-readers are downloading books on computers, tablets and smartphones, they are also checking out more books at libraries and buying more at bookstores and online. About nine in 10 e-book readers said they have also read printed books in the past year, Pew reported in its survey of about 3,000 people 16 and older. . . .

A few days later, Jay Mathews column in The Washington Post, “Congress says ‘no’ to kids seeking a challenge”, was a lot more discouraging:

It is easier to interfere with instruction when no one is looking, as happened in December when Congress sharply reduced funds to pay Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test fees for low-income students. . . .

We have plenty of data showing that taking an $87 three-hour AP test is one of the most cost-effective ways to prepare for college. Studies of hundreds of thousands of students by Linda Hargrove, Donn Godin and Barbara Dodd in Texas and Paul Geiser and Veronica Santelices in California show that students with passing scores on AP do better in college than students who don’t take the test. . . .

AP and IB were both designed for students from affluent families and demanding high schools. But in the past 30 years, teachers have discovered the power of the courses and exams to change the lives of poor children. Last year, according to the College Board, 375,439 low-income students took 615,315 AP exams — 23 percent of the total taken.

. . . the potential for low-income students to succeed when given enough time and encouragement to learn has been obvious. But Congress cut the subsidies anyway because the victims were too young and powerless to complain.

AP and IB will continue to grow since so many teachers believe in them. In time Congress will get that, but for now, many disadvantaged students are being told they can’t take a test that will help them do well in college unless they can find the money.

Kang’s report should make us all feel good. The more reading one does, the more one learns and the more critical thinking skills one acquires. But, even that encouraging article excludes most disadvantaged youngsters whose parents are in no position to buy tablets or e-readers for their children.

Growing up in a small South Dakota town with sparse financial means (my mother was left in significant debt after my father died), equality-of-opportunity was not a major problem. My friends and I believed that if you “worked hard” and applied yourself, all possibilities were open. With the major exception of the children of minorities and young girls — we, boys, saw “The American Dream” as a reality.

Well, that’s not as true in the American twenty-first century! Without doubt, money matters much more today. Securing an equal opportunity-to-succeed with limited financial resources is much more difficult than it was six decades ago when I was growing up.

We must never forget that education and opportunities-for-learning are the bedrock of both freedom and democracy. Our country needs to return to an equal opportunity environment. Balancing a budget on the backs of the poor will never prove to be a responsible (nor a democratic) solution. America is better than that!

More on Tuesday – - –

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

Bringing technology training to those families that cannot afford home computers and/or internet access should be a goal for all communities.  The success-example that I am most familiar with is the program pioneered by the DeKalb County (Georgia) School System more than a decade ago.  The success of their Family Technology Resource Centers (FTRC’s) is unparalleled and has even gotten the attention of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Family Technology Resource Centers were designed to train, re-train, educate and re-educate family members through a commitment to video-based learning.  These FTRC’s:

a) Offered instruction, via state-of-the-art technology, in academic (basic skills, GED, reading and math), vocational, and technical areas

 b) Expanded the hours of school to evenings and weekends to accommodate the family educational needs

 c) Provided instruction for preschool through adult needs

 d) Offered free child care services by a licensed child care provider

 e) Utilized the existing hardware and courseware in the schools, as well as additional resources

 f) Prepared parents for productive employment in the world of work

 g) Increased student achievement by providing parents an opportunity to improve academic, vocational, and/or technical skills while encouraging parent-child learning and increasing time-on-task for all students

 Over forty years of research has shown that parental involvement in a child’s education does more to positively impact achievement than either parental income or education.  In their early years the DeKalb County School System witnessed the following results:

 77% increase in student school attendance

95% of the students increased their GPA

 80% increase in completion of homework assignments

 80% reduction in student fighting

 PTA attendance increased by 70%

 Parental volunteer services increased up to 100% in all FTRC locations

 More than two-thirds of the participating parents either gained employment or upgraded their existing positions

 I have long discussed the dramatic benefits that can be attained in business and industry through the use of technology training.  As you can see, our individual communities can also benefit in a variety of ways.  The “video learning culture” is firmly entrenched in our society.  The quicker we make use of video-based courseware — in both education and training — the more rapid will be our increase in learning.

More on Thursday – - -

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

John D. Sutter, a CNN communication technologist as well as a science and innovation contributor, has posted: “Sir Ken Robinson says that our education system works like a factory. It is based on models of mass production and conformity that actually prevent kids from finding their passions and succeeding. . . . Instead of trying to mass-produce children who are good at taking tests and memorizing things, schools should emphasize personal development. Not all kids are good at the same things, and the education system shouldn’t pretend they should all turn out the same.” (Robinson is the author of “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything,” a New York Times best seller, and more recently, “Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative.”)

These remarks bring echoes of the great American mythologist, Joseph Campbell, who challenged us all to, “Follow your bliss!” and, America’s greatest educator, Robert Maynard Hutchins, who advocated an education inspired by the reading of “the world’s Great Books.”

My own background includes a year of high school teaching and eighteen years on the faculties of several excellent universities where I found, in example after example, young people who prospered when their passions were electric and were disinterested when they were not personally involved.

Education used to be about either of two things: liberal arts emersion or trade school preparation. Each served a very useful and important purpose. Today, sadly, only the latter has emerged as still-important. Even our finest universities are, too often, forgetting their liberal arts history in order to push students into job-specific memorization and preparation. Consequently, far too many graduates of many of America’s finest universities have an incomplete view of thought and a great preparation for a particular profession’s skill set.

With the memorization/testing requirements foisted upon our youth by “No Child Left Behind,” fewer of our children are stimulated to think cogently and to be challenged by the diversity of thought one finds in encountering “The Great Books” and “The Great Ideas.” Their excitement for learning and their natural curiosities have been dulled.

We need to, once again, exalt the diversity of our children — their passions for living and their inherent desire to learn to think creatively! As Robinson has written, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

An anti-learning reliance on memorization and testing is neither the answer, nor a true measure of a child’s potential. What’s more — it is the antithesis of creative thinking!

More on Tuesday – - –

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

In the Winter 2010 issue of “Training Industry Quarterly,” an article entitled, “2010’s Top Training Technology Trends” by David Mallon discussed the next decade of the E-Learning evolution. His ideas remain as prescient today as they did eighteen months ago.

“The lengthy page-turner is out. In its place is a next generation of e-learning, including: short video vignettes or audio podcasts followed by interactive assessments; pre-recorded virtual classroom sessions; scenario-based learning, 3-D simulations and serious games; e-books, articles and abstracts; and content delivered to mobile devices.”

With one exception, his predictions are already taking place! We can see in recent SALT (Society for Applied Learning Technology) Conferences — the best place to take a peek at learning’s future — more and more emphasis is being placed on content developed for PDAs and exciting new gaming simulations. If only the demise of the lengthy page-turner would accelerate. (There are still far too many adapted PowerPoint and converted written procedures masquerading as E-Learning.)

Taking training technology to the plant floor has so many financial benefits that it has proven to be a windfall for those organizations wise enough to participate. The “just-in-time” crowd could not ask for a better application. The worker doesn’t have to leave the floor to either research by computer or PDA in order to remind herself of the steps-to-be-performed.

No! As long as we can get full audio and full-motion video to our workforce, “just-in-time” will mean more than an academic phrase. It will become reality for everyone — including the 40% of our workforce who cannot read above a 4th Grade level.

Simulations and Gaming are also gaining momentum in the learning world. Again, you can see it coming through recent SALT Conference tracks. And full-motion video (combined with optional word-for-word audio) in E-Learning will continue to gain greater and greater prominence.

Technology learning will continue to lead the advances being made in education and training. The future for better learning is very bright indeed!

More on Thursday – - –

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Tuesdays & Thursdays)
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”