What happended to traditional classroom Technical Training?

Having survived through the global economic crisis so far, many organizations are still cutting back on operating expenses as I’m sure you can directly relate! One of the first to go was non-essential travel for the non-executive, especially if that travel is related to a technical resource spending non-billable time sitting in a multi-day technical training course. As nice as it is in the fall and winter months to spend a week in the US Southwest or US Southeast, you will most likely have a hard time justifying the travel, hotel, car, meals and training course expenses. I’m sure you’ve done the calculations. If you haven’t, check with your finance group because you can be certain they have.

With that fairly lengthy introduction and if the majority of you (our partners and customers) are faced with this challenge then how do you get the training required to do your job effectively? You still need to gain the knowledge and skills right? Isn’t technical training best delivered in a classroom setting? How can you possibly learn anything unless you can physically be in the same location? All great questions and we are here to help! We have modified our delivery approach over the past 24 months and now offer a couple of great alternatives and delivery methods to supplement traditional classroom training. It’s important to note that we do still offer classroom based courses but only in select regions so it’s important to check the schedule.

1. Virtual Classroom. There are many different names for it; Virtual classroom, Instructor online, Instructor web conference, etc… Bottom line, this is the most effective approach to bring the classroom experience to your browser and phone without the travel and related expenses. The tool we use is a proven and market leading web conference tool that has training functionality built in:

• Interact and ask questions of the Instructor as you would in class
• View the Instructor presentation and demo of a particular product function or lab exercise
• Follow along in the training manual and related materials
• Log on to an actual virtual machine instance of the software for that invaluable hands-on practice
• To access our current schedule of available Instructor delivered courses, including Virtual Classroom, go to http://www.opentext.com/2/global/services-home/ls-learning-services-home/ls-offering-captaris.htm

2. eLearning. Again, many different names; online learning, self-paced, web-based training, etc. This training is available to you on your schedule and at your pace. We manage a growing library of content that includes online courses, video instruction, downloadable materials, interactive simulations and online testing. Again, the benefit here is that it’s available to you now and at no cost!

• To access our eLearning library of courses go to www.opentextlearning.com

We are committed to developing learning content that is relevant for what you need today and delivering it in a way that will make the most impact at the lowest cost! We’re always open to your ideas and feedback and your input is greatly appreciated!

Great Learning!