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Pros and Cons of Self-Paced IT TrainingBy Natalie Aranda |
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Educational computer courseware has come a long way in recent years. In many ways, it has changed the whole face of education. The idea of self-paced and distant learning has met with some resistance from traditional educators in the past but this is slowly being overcome. The development of courseware has had much to do with this development. Courseware can be defined as software that presents a particular subject matter arranged in a logical teaching method. It might be said that courseware allows your PC to become the instructor.
Is self-paced IT training good for everyone? The answer to this is no. There are some students that have become so used to a structured type of learning environment that they do not do well on their own. These students began in kindergarten to depend on a teacher to guide their learning process and find it hard to do without one. Most schools have recognized this and the increased use of PCs in schools and at home will produce new generations of students that have become used to self-paced and computer aided training. However, this time has not yet arrived and the needs of instructor orientated students must still be met.
The advantage of self paced training is that it is self paced. This translates to a minimum amount of disturbance to a students preexisting schedule. The training time can be fitted into the student’s free time. He does not have to miss work or travel to a distant classroom. The cost of computer training courseware is generally much less than the travel time, lost work hours, and tuition of an instructor-led course.
Training courseware is not perfect. The human brain is a very complex thing and a human’s capacity for confusion can never be underestimated. No matter how detailed the courseware or how complete the FAQ section, questions can arise that are not covered or even anticipated. This is the advantage of the human instructor. There are some skeptics that hold that if a person can not learn everything they need to know from a computer, they do not belong in the field of Information Technology in the first place. This idea goes against one of the basic premises of training. It has always been said that the only stupid question is the question that is not asked. This principle has guided training for a long time and it may not be time to change this to saying the only stupid question is the question not covered in the FAQ section. |
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About the Author |
| Natalie Aranda writes about training technology. Educational computer courseware has come a long way in recent years. In many ways, it has changed the whole face of education. The idea of self-paced and distant learning has met with some resistance from traditional educators in the past but this is slowly being overcome. The development of courseware has had much to do with this development. Courseware can be defined as software that presents a particular subject matter arranged in a logical teaching method. It might be said that courseware allows your PC to become the instructor. |
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