Richard Oertle

When is ILT the best form of learning and when is e-learning the best? In general the more that a class is a series of procedures, rather than a concept, then e=learning is best. This is reversed for ILT, where concepts and processes are best explained by another human. One of the difficulties of e-learning is that a topic is not understood, the only alternative is to replay the session. There is no alternative explanation and no ability to break it down into a series of simpler explanations. The student does not know what or why he does not understand, only that he is lost. An instructor does break down the concept into smaller chunks and does apply it to that individual’s real world situation. If a person is simply doing routine work, than memorizing procedures are fine. However when a deeper understanding of the underlying process is needed, then an instructor is almost mandatory to convert the process into something the student can follow. The main area where concepts and processes need to be understood is in maintaining and especially troubleshooting. As a process or concept extends beyond the immediate machine or the personal tool (Word), then the ability of e-learning to transfer knowledge diminishes. If the choice of procedures the student will do depends on understanding the process or requires a grasp of the concept of what is actually happening, then an instructor is almost mandatory if any real learning is to take place. This is particularly true of networks and servers because of their complexity and the myriad of things that can happen depending on what button is pushed and in what order. In effect as the complexity of the system increases, the need for a human instructor increases. When this complexity of concepts or processes exceeds about 25% of the course, then the failure to grasp that portion of the training means that the rest of the knowledge will not “stick” and the rest of the trainings lost. Then the cost of the course is only a minor portion of the loss, when compared to the wasted time away from work and the income of the student.

            An instructor is simply a coach and the students are the team. The coach enforces standards of behavior, and trains the athlete because they cannot train themselves. If professionals who make millions of dollars a year in salary still need a coach to help them, then the short term hiring of a professional coach to provide professional training on the ..The athlete knows what to do, but cannot train themselves. Business hire consultants to gain an outside perspective on their processes and procedures, even though there are many books on what to do. ILT training is simply that. The only question is cost effectiveness. In essence is it better to spend a little amount to get a little training or do ILT to actually transfer knowledge that is retained and immediately applicable to their work environment. ILT training is effectively immersion training. This is the way foreign languages are best learned. A series of short sessions is difficult to connect with other short sessions, and knot the whole into an understanding of a concept or a process. Some things can only be understood when studied as a whole, not broken up into bite sized chunks based on the amount of time a study has shown is best for learning.

            Buying e-learning for technical training is simply passing the buck to the employee, and telling them to do the training on their own time. Very few individuals have them discipline to meet a schedule or the will power to avoid the myriad other temptations that distract from learning at home. Companies that buy e-learning packages simply appease their own conscious and have a rebuttal when upper management asks about it. Ask them to have their children learn their lessons on their own by sitting in front of a computer screen. How many will tell you their children learn better if they sit with them and help.

            When would a company effectively outsource to New Horizons, rather than doing their own internal training, either ILT of OLA?

1.      Our instructors remain current, not simply by reading, but by continuous preparation and qualification testing.

2.      Our instructors see a much broader picture of product usage, opportunities and problems. They then apply this knowledge to each new class, continuing to grow with each class they interact with.

3.      Out courses material can be customized to meet the actual needs of a company. The list of individual modules can be combined to make whatever course length the client needs. This customization does not cost extra. Each module has a full and complete set of labs and exercise. The Power point slides and instructors guide will be adapted to match the chosen material.

4.      This customization can be for technical as well as desktop training. If the client wants we could do a beginning class on Word, Access and Excel all the same day, or any combination over a time span of their choice.

5.      We are subject to evaluation on a class by class basis. An outsourced training environment is going to be more honest and open than an internal class.

6.      We have all of the licensing for all the software by all of the vendors.

7.      Because we teach all the different products from all of the different vendors, we are familiar with the integration of one product with another. Our instructors can combine training on integration and troubleshooting of various products that interact with each other. Our combined expertise and real world knowledge is probably greater than all but the largest companies.

8.      Our instructors are experts in knowledge transfer. They do not just teach, they demonstrate, and help students understand the underlying concepts.
They recognize the systems when someone does not comprehend, and easily restate the information and demonstrations until the student fully understands.

9.      Our facility is designed for training. Our staff handles all details, including tracking, registration, and follow- up.

After all I can buy a book and learn on my own, that saves money and time.

Does it?

On the Job Training typically involves grabbing free time on a catch-as-catch-can basis. You may promise to do so to yourself, but with todays demanding work schedule and the backload of projects to complete, more important things are always there, pressing in. I’m certain that your company has plenty of IT support staff, allowing you the free time to study as needed. Besides where best to learn but on the very equipment and software that the company relies on daily. Ok, maybe that’s not such a good idea, and besides there is no time at work. That’s it! I’ll study at home! Maybe you are more disciplined than me, but I am as overworked at home as I am at work, besides I need some free time to relax and center myself. Having the book doesn’t do me any good if I read something and don’t understand it. Reading it a second or a third time isn’t going to change what I know about it. Only when I’m with an instructor in a lab can I have that Eureka moment.

Well that covers time, but what about cost? The first thing is that time taken at work to study is the same as being gone to training as far as payroll is concerned. You’re not working on business, even though you’re there. If it takes you 40 hours of class time to learn a product in an optimized learning environment with prepared live equipment, then how long will it take to learn in an unstructured, random fashion with random equipment? Most importantly…OJT training only teaches procedures, of which there are thousands. Formal training teaches the concepts of what is happening, shrinking procedures to only dozens, with a dozen variants each. Last, formal training teaches troubleshooting, which is what you are really around for at work. You need to see the error on live equipment, in real time, with an experienced guide, at least once if you are going to be fully capable of fixing it under the same conditions at work. Ask anyone who has been in a disaster about the difference preparedness makes.

It might amuse you, but I take formal training, and it costs me to go to Seattle, not earning that week, paying for trip expenses, and I get the books for free. I can set up a lab at work, but suffer the same multiple interruptions at work that you do.

Richard

Yesterday, Microsoft put their security professionals on overtime with their largest patch for Windows ever. On Tue, Oct 13, they posted in their Security Bulletin that 32 security vulenrabilities were addressed; of which, 12 that were less threatening. Among them were exploits for Active Template Library and Server Message Block v2 (SMB protocol). Some users even had a vulnerability to Microsoft File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The Graphics Device Interface (GDI) was vulnerable to hackers embedding malware and other miscellanious exploits in a veriety of images.

Microsoft researchers said they found no common thread between the various vulnerabilities, that they all just happened close to the same time.

Before setting up a physical server to host Hyper-V Role, download, read and understand information included in the white paper “Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2008“

• Avoid Overloading the Server
• Ensure High Speed Access to Storage
• Avoid Mixing Virtual Machines that can and cannot use Integration Services
• Configure Anti-Virus to Bypass Hyper-V Processes and Directories
• Avoid Storing System Files on Drives used for Hyper-V Storage
• Monitor Performance to Optimize and Manage Server LoadingFull Story At Source