User Training for Busy Programmers E-Book

William Rice

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 94

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2005

Beschreibung

If you need to write a successful software training course and are unsure of how to start, then this book gets right to the point with clear, concise directions for developing an end-user software course. This step-by-step job aid walks you through the process of developing a successful, instructor-led software class. There are many good books on training theory. This book takes a more practical, condensed approach for when you don't have time to learn training theory. It is based on fifteen years of technical writing and training experience. In under 100 pages, the book guides you through the process of developing an end-user software course using a method that is tested, proven, and based upon sound instructional theory.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

User Training for Busy Programmers

Credits

About the Author

Preface

What This Book Covers

Conventions

Reader Feedback

Customer Support

Errata

Questions

1. Introduction

Misconceptions about Training

Myth: Your Software Training Class should be about the Software

Myth: Your Students Want or Need to Know It All

Myth: In a Training Class, the Instructor Must Answer All of the Students’ Questions

Myth: When Teaching Software, You Should Begin at the Beginning

Haven’t we Solved these Problems with IDS?

The Checklist

Step 1: The Setup

Set Criteria and Get Buy-In

Step 2: Develop In-class Exercises

Test and Revise Exercise Files

Step 3: Develop Lectures

Step 4: Develop the Demo

Step 5: Package the Course

The Student Guide

The Instructor Guide

Step 6: Set Up and Test Run

Test the Room Setup

Practice Run

Revise the Course

Develop Follow-up Materials

Step 7: Deliver the Course

Summary

2. The Setup

Who Needs to be Trained?

Action

Audience (Select One)

Type of Information to Cover for this Audience (Select All that are Applicable)

Write the Learning Objectives

Checkpoint

Action

Is This a Need that a Training Class Can or Should Fulfill?

Checkpoint

Action

What Scenario will give your Clients the Most Realistic Experience in the Classroom?

Define the Process

One Process or Several?

Checkpoint

Action

Develop a Training Scenario

What is a Training Scenario?

A Special Case: Software Toolkits

The Scenario

Checkpoint

Action

Write an Exercise Description for Each Learning Objective

Examples of Learning Objectives and Exercise Descriptions

Example 1

Objective

Exercise Description

Example 2

Objective

Exercise Description

Checkpoint

Action

Set the Criteria for Success

Action: Write Criteria for Success

Checkpoint

Get Buy-in from Sponsors

Summary

3. Develop In-class Exercises

Prepare Software for the Exercises

Checkpoint

Action

Write the Directions

Save a Version of the Data after Each Exercise

Extended Example of Exercise Directions

Writing Style for Directions

Sentence Structure: Put Conditional Phrases First

Start Each Numbered Step with an Action

State the Result of Each Action

Use the Second Person

Differentiate Button Pushes, Menu Items, and the Text Displayed on Screen

Separate Nested Menu Items

Action

Test and Revise the Exercise Files

Return the Training Files and Development Workstation to its Pre-Class Condition

Step Through the Exercise Directions

Checkpoint

Action

Summary

4. Develop Lectures

Develop Lectures Around the Exercises

A Structured Approach to Developing Lectures

List of Suggested Slides

Unit Title

Purpose

When is This Procedure Performed?

Who Performs this Procedure?

What Information is Entered During this Procedure?

What Processing does the System Perform on the Data Entered During this Procedure?

What is the Result of this Procedure?

Special Fields

Demonstration

Exercise

Review

Questions?

Checkpoint

Action

Summary

5. Develop the Demo

Write the Demo Instructions

Use Unique Data for the Demo

Developing a Demo — Key Steps

Write the Demo Speaking Points

How to Write Demo Speaking Points

Example of Demo Directions with Speaking Points

Checkpoint

Action

Summary

6. Package the Course

The Student Guide

Table of Contents

Introduction

State the Goals of the Course

Describe the Intended Audience

List Prerequisites

Duration and Class Size

Training Group Contact Information

Printouts of the Slides

Directions for the In-class Exercises

Resources and Contacts

The Instructor Guide

Table of Contents

Introduction

Printouts of the Slides

Directions for the In-class Exercises

Resources and Contacts

Slide Show Files

Checkpoint

Action

Summary

7. Setup and Test Run

Test the Room Setup

Practice Run

Action

Develop Follow-up Materials

Example of a Follow-up Course Evaluation

Checkpoint

Action

Summary

8. Deliver the Course

Presenting your Course

Summary

9. A Final Note

Index

User Training for Busy Programmers

Develop effective software training classes quickly and easily

William Rice

User Training for Busy Programmers

Develop effective software training classes quickly and easily

Copyright © 2005 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, Packt Publishing, nor its dealers or distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused either directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First edition: May 2005

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

32 Lincoln Road

Olton

Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.

ISBN: 1-904811-45-0

www.packtpub.com

Cover Design by www.visionwt.com

Credits

Author

William Rice

Commissioning Editor

David Barnes

Technical Editor

Nanda Padmanabhan

Layout

Nanda Padmanabhan

Indexer

Ashutosh Pande

Proofreader

Chris Smith

Cover Designer

Helen Wood

About the Author

William Rice develops software-training courses, user documentation, and knowledge management solutions. He lives and works in New York City. During his 15-year career he has worked with a variety of Fortune 500 clients. He specializes in training and knowledge solutions for software that supports business processes. This is his first book for Packt Publishing. He can be reached via his website at williamrice.com.

This first book is for you, Lisa. Thank you for encouraging me to stick with it.

Preface

Training users is an essential part of software development but it’s rarely a skill that comes naturally to developers. Even more rarely is it a skill that developers feel a personal drive to possess.

User Training for Busy Programmers focuses on results. Instead of teaching educational theory and leaving you to apply the theory for yourself, this book provides a framework for developing your courses. It’s based on sound educational theory, but won’t bother you with that. You will simply follow the guidance in the book, and end up with a well-designed training course that leaves your students equipped to use the software in their jobs.

No document can completely take the place of a qualified, experienced consultant. If you think that your training needs are beyond the scope of this document and your abilities, consider engaging the services of a professional trainer/course designer. On the other hand if you’ve found yourself with "software training" on your to-do list then this book is just right for you!

What This Book Covers

This book takes you step by step through the process of creating a software-training course. At each stage, the book focuses on deliverables that will feed into the next stage. Your course will take shape as you make the decisions and carry out the actions described in each chapter.

Chapter 1 discusses briefly the characteristics of good software training, and dispels some common myths and misconceptions about training. It then gives an overview of the processes we will follow throughout the book.

In Chapters 2 - 7 we develop our course. Each chapter will guide you through a different aspect of developing your course. By the end of Chapter 7 you will have:

Developed an audience analysis that tells you who needs to be trainedWritten the learning objectives, which consist mostly of tasks the students must masterFor each learning objective, developed one or more measurable criteria for successDeveloped a business scenario that will give your clients a realistic experience in the classroomFor each learning objective, written an exercise that will teach that objective; one exercise may be used to teach several closely related objectivesFor each exercise, written an electronic slide show that includes many or all of the suggested slides; each slide show/exercise combination is now called a unit or chapterFor each unit, developed a demo with detailed directions and speaking points for the instructorWritten and packaged the Student GuideWritten and packaged the Instructor GuidePackaged the slide show in a format that will play on the instructor’s computerTested the room setupDelivered the course to a small test group, or even an empty room; while doing so, you will have stepped through the exercises yourself

If all this seems daunting then prepare to be surprised. Developing successful training does require effort, but in this book I’ll give you all the advice you need to make good decisions without stressful dilemmas.

Chapter 8 gives you some brief tips on course delivery, while Chapter 9 draws the book to a close with a reminder of the key principle of software training: it’s not about software, it’s about helping users to get the job done — leaving them with easier and more productive working lives.

Conventions

In this book you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meanings.

Code words in text are shown as follows: "Microsoft PowerPoint has a Pack and Go function that will package the slide show player with a slide show."

New terms and important words are introduced in an italic-type font. Words that you see on the screen — in menus or dialog boxes, for example — appear in the text as follows: Click the Company Name field.

Note

Tips, suggestions, or important notes appear in a box like this

Reader Feedback

Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book, what you liked, or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply drop an e-mail to <[email protected]>, making sure to mention the book title in the subject of your message.

If there is a book that you need and would like to see us publish, please send us a note in the Suggest a title form on www.packtpub.com or e-mail <[email protected]>.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

Customer Support

Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.

Errata

Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our contents, mistakes do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books — maybe a mistake in text or code — we would be grateful if you would report this to us. By doing this you can save other readers from frustration, and also help to improve subsequent versions of this book.

If you find any errata, report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.com/support, selecting your book, clicking on the Submit Errata link, and entering the details of your errata. Once your errata have been verified, your submission will be accepted and the errata added to the list of existing errata. The existing errata can be viewed by selecting your title from http://www.packtpub.com/support.

Questions

You can contact us at <[email protected]> if you are having a problem with some aspect of the book, and we will do our best to address it.