Traditional technology training is notoriously ineffective. The inability of "techies" to communicate their knowledge, skill, and enthusiasm to ordinary people is one of the key causes of the productivity paradox. Effective technology trainers demonstrate an understanding of and empathy for adult students, including the social situations, cognitive resources, and emotional support necessary for motivation and learning. Adult educators with a background in learning theory, program planning, and small group facilitation can do a great deal to make technology training more humane, more fun, and more effective.
The productivity paradox is the well-documented fact that massive investments in information technology over the last 20-30 years have not produced commensurate gains in productivity. Poor training is just one of many possible causes of this complex economic phemonenon. For a detailed discussion, see:
Landauer, T.K. (1995). The trouble with computers: Usefulness, usability, and productivity. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
- Public-sector continuing and vocational education
- Universities, colleges and technical schools all offer credit and non-credit technology training. These programs need instructors, coordinators, and administrators.
- Private-sector training
- In major metropolitan areas, the computer training market is often highly competitive and may be dominated by private training firms. Such firms usually offer a well-advertised schedule of non-credit workshops, but may generate most of their revenue through contract training for organizations.
- Human resource development
- Many large corporations and organizations maintain a staff to support in-house technology training. In addition to program planning and delivery, their activities may include computer support and "just in time" training for individual computer users.
- An interest in and enjoyment of new technology
- The ability to empathize and communicate with adults who are learning technological skills
- The ability to communicate with and learn from technical experts
- The ability to learn new technology by reading, asking questions, trial-and-error, and exploration
- The ability to negotiate conflicting interests in planning organzational training programs
- The ability to write simple, well-organized training materials
- The ability to identify and describe important learning goals
- The ability to plan and sequence hands-on activities to achieve these goals
- The ability to evaluate the transfer of training to work practices and to adapt goals and activities accordingly
Be a critical consumer of technology. Gain exposure to unfamilar systems and software. When you find a program you like, learn to use it well. When you encounter technology that is hard to use, ask yourself why. Read a variety of periodicals to understand what systems and software command the largest market shares. Participate in technology training and think about why it worked or didn't work. Help friends solve problems. Teach a non-credit class.
Academic training in computer science, management information systems, instructional technology, etc., can be valuable, but is not essential. Many technology trainers -- and for that matter many computer professionals -- do not have technology-related degrees. Practical experience is usually more persuasive than eduational credentials.
The most important skill you can cultivate is the ability to learn new systems and software. This skill increases each time you work with an unfamiliar technology.
Read the work of John Carroll (The Nurnberg Funnel), Donald Norman (Things That Make Us Smart), Shoshanna Zuboff (In the Age of the Smart Machine), and other researchers who have studied and thought about technology, learning, and organizations.
- Client/server enterprise computing, the Internet, and the World-Wide Web
- Interactive multimedia (CD-ROMs, game systems, "video on demand")
- Portable and wireless computing
- Object-oriented, hardware-independent operating systems
- Software components vs. applications
Brad Cahoon's home page
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Last revised: Tue, Jun 30, 1998, 8:29:08 AM
URL: http://www.arches.uga.edu/~cahoonb/techtraining.html