We must start planning better training and education tracks for both our workforce and for the thought leaders needed in our subject-matter disciplines. Instead of sending everyone into the same college track, we must recognize that interests, talents and innate skills vary from individual to individual. It’s that recognition that must guide us. With that in mind, let’s first examine the most forgotten members of our population — our emerging, and most...
As practiced today, e-Learning, too often, fails to meet current and evolving business considerations. Why? Four major reasons. First, because of the re-purposed PowerPoints being passed off as e-Learning. These pseudo courses are never even completed by two-thirds of the trainees assigned to take them. They are full of lots of words and information — but have little training value. Consequently, the skills needed for the shop floor are not readily acquired....
I was encouraged a couple of years ago to discover an article in the OMAHA WORLD-HERALD by Janice Podsada, “Community Colleges, Local Unions Offer Apprenticeships, Programs to Train for Jobs Increasingly in Demand.” Here’s an excerpt: “ . . . The demand for skilled tradespeople — from plumbers to electricians to diesel mechanics to auto mechanics and welders — is on the rise. An older generation of skilled workers is retiring and,...
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 I try to revise and reprint every few years. So, because it is such an important subject, here are the salient steps (with revisions) you should undertake in “The Buying Process.” More “live to regret it” decisions are made...
We’ve touched on this topic before but, unfortunately, the movement is growing. And it’s becoming scary as our nation is beginning to lose sight of the traditional intent of a university education and, instead, perverting that purpose toward a job-skills bent. Don’t get me wrong. Community Colleges already exist for just such a reason and I strongly applaud them. But, I am interested in the universities that provide majors that introduce our...
I have had multiple careers in business, training and education while successfully living through the many societal changes that have occurred. But, the change that bothers me most is the current over-emphasis parents place on their children’s grades — an emphasis they mistakenly pair with success. Unfortunately, what those parents mean by success is almost always equatable with money. “Make straight ‘A’s’ in school so that you will be admitted to a...
More and more is being written about the growing importance of e-Learning. And, in terms of future potential, those opinions are essentially correct. At this moment in training’s continuum, however, much that passes for e-Learning has little actual training value. That is because much of e-Learning today is either PowerPoint adaptations or written procedure adaptations – neither of which teaches anyone much of anything. At best they are examples of e-Information! The...
A few times each year this blog is used to introduce you to a variety of interesting/informative articles I’ve recently encountered and that you might like to read. Since we’re now close to the Memorial Day weekend, it seems like a good time to do just that. “BETSY IS AT IT AGAIN” : (“Betsy DeVos knows little about public education. And she doesn’t want to learn” by Helaine Olen, The Washington Post)...
A leading e-Learning authoring system provider lists four reasons for using their authoring tool. Here are three of those reasons: “Save time creating courses” – “Scale your learning program quickly” – “Everybody can create e-Learning now (this one makes me cringe).” Did you notice? None of the three have anything to do with learning! All three have to do only with time and money. Shame! There are, however, many important factors that...
So, why do you invest time in training your company’s workforce? And, for that matter, why does your organization commit dollars to training initiatives? Those answers seem obvious, don’t they? “Our workers will acquire the skills necessary for improved performance and that will result in a better bottom line for our company?’ In a perfect world, those answers are completely valid. ‘nuff said. But, it’s not a perfect world and...
In case one hasn’t been paying attention, there are big changes taking place in industrial skills training today. One significant trend is toward competency and accountability. Clearly competency-based courseware with integrated measuring capabilities will be recognized and used as tools for reaching those goals. Another change is the impending fall of the wall between business and education. That wall has separated the two sectors for many years, but the pressure of...
Some time ago, I received two newsletters advocating the same thing: On-The-Job (OTJ) Training. One newsletter pointed out, “. . . you can learn about forklift safety, but eventually learners will need to drive one before true learning takes place.” The other observed, “. . . when you ask a dozen workers in almost any organization about how they learned their job – most will point to On The Job Training.” I...
Now is the time to recognize all the many advantages media-based online learning offers you, your trainees and your organization! Yes! We’ve come a long way down the technology trail in the past four decades. The training challenges for our industrial workforce have been immense. And, the trade-offs involving instructional design and production values, combined with cost and efficiency issues, have complicated the entire process. Maintenance and Operations training for our workforce...
The majority of your workforce learns very little from reading the printed words. They are part of the growing majority that learns best from the multiple media they engage every day on their smart phones, tablets and computers. And PowerPoint is a prime contributor to their disconnect. “ . . . Funny enough, it seems like most elearning courses can be traced back to PowerPoint in some capacity. Heck, most of them...