November 29, 2012
E-Learning has hastened the development of a new business model and the results contain the seeds for more profitability in business and industry — potentially! Instead of formal classroom instruction and formal learning labs, with their prescribed media courseware curriculum, e-Learning has allowed a demand-based approach that has effectively replaced the “everyone takes everything at the same time” regimen. Combined with the cost savings inherent in on-line skills assessment tests, the rapid...
November 27, 2012
Teachers and trainers seldom take the time to distinguish the difference between “education” and “training.” There is a big difference and, unfortunately, with the introduction of e-Learning, many trainers have forgotten both the meaning and purpose of “training.” Information-only programs are beginning to blur the lines. And, sadly, the real losers are those employees who need to learn-through-training — both for themselves and for their organizations. Too many trainers have lost sight...
November 15, 2012
In 2009, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released a document that indicated a modest rise in achievement for 12th-graders since 2005. However, the key finding in that report indicated that, “The scores mean that 38 percent of seniors demonstrated proficiency in reading and 26 percent reached that level in math.” That report almost mirrored an earlier NAEP study which reported that only 25 percent of our fourth graders are able...
November 13, 2012
Today, most of our e-Learning designers are coming out of colleges and universities with degrees in Instructional Design. As a former university instructor (Speech and Theatre) for eighteen years, I will tell you that is not necessarily a good thing. Too often, majors in the humanities have adopted the preachings of “the Enlightenment.” And, while that movement successfully propelled science and mathematics into the advancements we enjoy today, it does not work...
November 8, 2012
Many interesting things have begun to surface in education recently — some encouraging and some questionable. Let’s take a look: THE FUTURE??? From a Washington Post article by Nick Anderson, “Elite Education for the Masses“: “Brian Caffo teaches a public-health course at Johns Hopkins University that he calls a “mathematical biostatistics boot camp.” It typically draws a few dozen graduate students. Never more than 70. This fall, Caffo was swarmed. He had...
November 6, 2012
Teaching troubleshooting skills should be your paramount priority as a trainer! The ultimate test for instrument technicians, electricians and electronic technicians, as well as mechanics and millwrights will be their troubleshooting skills. While most maintenance tasks in a plant are routine, knowing how to systematically think through a problem is vital to a plant’s operating efficiency. And, troubleshooting skills are best acquired through hands-on practice, as well as multi-sensory training programs that...
