Training
Training sessions are also a valuable tool in change management. Potential users are often reluctant to use a new technology because they do not know how it works and don’t have the time to figure it out for themselves. A brief training session or online tutorials can go a long way toward solving this problem. Users are more likely to embrace the repository once they see it in action and learn how they can make use of the repository resources to enhance their teaching.
Some institutions have discovered benefits in offering training to communities of potential users from a specific discipline. This allows the group to discuss resources and strategies particular to that discipline when incorporating digital resources into their teaching. Other groups have found it productive to off training to instructors from a cross-section of disciplines. Another training strategy is to emphasize teaching effectiveness, rather than focusing on technology as a workshop or training topic. Some institutions create institutes or programs that ask faculty to identify and work on projects that related to authentic questions arising from their teaching experiences. Online tools and resources that resolve some of these teaching and learning issues become more valuable when viewed in this context. To encourage collaboration and sharing, training can also be viewed as a form of community building. To learn more about training as community building, visit: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/299/653
Training also serves a marketing function, as people learn about the repository during the training activities. One key to a successful training plan is to ensure that the training is accessible to as many people as possible. There are several different ways to deliver the training:
- face-to-face sessions
- live on-line sessions
- recorded on-line tutorials that users can access anytime.
When planning training activities, you will want to consider how to maximize your resources, as well as what will be most effective in reaching your target audience. You may want to use a combination of training strategies to maximize your training efforts. Interactions can occur in asynchronous formats like online discussion forums and email. Others can occur synchronously via telephone, videoconferences, or via audiographic conferencing tools such as Elluminate or Centra Horizon. Still others can take advantage of face-to-face events, such as conferences and institutional meetings, to gather community members together.
For example, The Orange Grove planned for both online and instructor-led training to demonstrate how easily learning resources can be used in everyday instruction. Face-to-face training has been incorporated into existing opportunities (e.g., in-service, meetings, conferences), to help illustrate to faculty that The Orange Grove provides a range of instructional materials to promote effective student learning and engagement, and that the repository can be accessed and used with very little effort on their part. Training has been conducted by members of The Orange Grove staff, as well as by stakeholder institutions. Each institution is expected to support the training effort by sponsoring and leading local training sessions based on materials developed by the Repository Project.
These training sessions have provided an excellent opportunity to engage in two-way communication with stakeholders and users. They’ve served to both increase the use of the Repository by Florida’s educators, and to begin changing awareness of how the teaching/learning process can be altered to improve student learning. Presentations by faculty at these training sessions have been especially successful; faculty talking with faculty about how they use a learning resource with their students and its impact. Learning how other instructors have created and/or implemented digital content to improve student performance has generated high interest and enthusiasm among Orange Grove participants. It is suggested that you reserve time in each meeting to allow for debriefing of training sessions, for the purpose of improvement, as well as to share problems and potential solutions among users and stakeholders.
In May, 2008, SREB consultants presented training which will be re-focused for delivery in Florida in the fall of 2008 at each institution by staff that are recognized and accepted by faculty at an institution. Some portions of this training will also be developed for storage and delivery online.
The Orange Grove staff has also offered training via online conferencing tools. The Florida Distance Learning Consortium has a license for 65 concurrent seats for Elluminate. This software allows for a real-time training, demonstration, and collaboration environment through dial-up modem or high-speed LAN. It enables the delivery of live, video-capable, online learning, training, coaching, mentoring, and meetings. Participants can talk over the Internet through 2-way audio, chat online, and share whiteboards and applications. This option offers an excellent option for conducting live training sessions without the added cost of travel and the need to find training facilities to accommodate the group. Sessions can be archived and edited, to become additional training resources accessible at any time.
Finally, the Orange Grove staff has also developed online training materials, which allow users with moderate technical skills to learn how to use the repository without traveling to a training class or requiring a trainer to be present. These tutorials are stored in The Orange Grove and can be accessed from the repository web site: http://www.theorangegrove.org/tutorials.asp.
