Interweb training/tech support
As part of my job I give about two in-house training seminars a month. Thos past month, I've used an online meeting service to host 'virtual' sessions. So far, this has worked pretty well- a few courageous coworkers signed up for it and I've received positive feedback.
Because GIS is so complex visually, one of the thongs I was concerned about was the quality of the presentation. In all honesty, the screen in the presentation is better than the projected image at the classroom- it's not going to a 2-year old, getting slightly burnt out portable projector not quite placed properly for display.
What I've liked:
• Easily adds seats without additional training hours- the room I do most of my training in only holds 8 people at a time and is away from our primary office building (working for a parks agency leads to a lot of off-sites). This provides a painless way to add class capacity and provide access to staff who can't make it to the training location.
• Screen control. The normal setup I've used is to have a set of machines for students to use as we go through the exercise and I project my screen. While this gives interaction time, the class slows down as I take numerous breaks to make sure everyoneis on the same page. The online people can follow along if the want independently, but most of them look at my screen; I can structure breaks for user interaction into the class.
• Nearly foolproof recording. The service Ive been using records the audio and video with a couple of clicks. I like to record my classes so that the students can refrence them and so I (or my bosses) can review and find ways to improve.
• Insta-meeting for tech support. Half the time on a phone call, I'm having to imagine the user's screen to describe what to do. We use VNC in the office, but not all the machines have it and getting the user to find their IP or machine name can be difficult. I can send them an e-mail *much* more quickly, and then flip the presentation to their screen.
What needs improvement:
• Log-in process. Maybe it's a good thing for the users to be apprehensive to install the client software- a sign that training has paid off. Still, I consistently hear users balk at "which e-mail do I use" to sign into the session. Ideally, a client could be designed to work off of directory if it detects a local network and use the current log-in credentials.
• Class structure. The online format requires some tweaking to build in user interaction, as opposed to allowing it to happen by following instructions.
• Equipment. This is a bit obvious, but to effectively host physical and online sessions simultaneously, make sure the room can function as a conference room. I had to scramble for a pair of speakers. Also, I was surprised at how many of my coworkers don't have computer headsets (yes, I'm a relatively young techie).
Because GIS is so complex visually, one of the thongs I was concerned about was the quality of the presentation. In all honesty, the screen in the presentation is better than the projected image at the classroom- it's not going to a 2-year old, getting slightly burnt out portable projector not quite placed properly for display.
What I've liked:
• Easily adds seats without additional training hours- the room I do most of my training in only holds 8 people at a time and is away from our primary office building (working for a parks agency leads to a lot of off-sites). This provides a painless way to add class capacity and provide access to staff who can't make it to the training location.
• Screen control. The normal setup I've used is to have a set of machines for students to use as we go through the exercise and I project my screen. While this gives interaction time, the class slows down as I take numerous breaks to make sure everyoneis on the same page. The online people can follow along if the want independently, but most of them look at my screen; I can structure breaks for user interaction into the class.
• Nearly foolproof recording. The service Ive been using records the audio and video with a couple of clicks. I like to record my classes so that the students can refrence them and so I (or my bosses) can review and find ways to improve.
• Insta-meeting for tech support. Half the time on a phone call, I'm having to imagine the user's screen to describe what to do. We use VNC in the office, but not all the machines have it and getting the user to find their IP or machine name can be difficult. I can send them an e-mail *much* more quickly, and then flip the presentation to their screen.
What needs improvement:
• Log-in process. Maybe it's a good thing for the users to be apprehensive to install the client software- a sign that training has paid off. Still, I consistently hear users balk at "which e-mail do I use" to sign into the session. Ideally, a client could be designed to work off of directory if it detects a local network and use the current log-in credentials.
• Class structure. The online format requires some tweaking to build in user interaction, as opposed to allowing it to happen by following instructions.
• Equipment. This is a bit obvious, but to effectively host physical and online sessions simultaneously, make sure the room can function as a conference room. I had to scramble for a pair of speakers. Also, I was surprised at how many of my coworkers don't have computer headsets (yes, I'm a relatively young techie).
posted by James Tedrick at
2:35 PM
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