Re: CBT vs. Stand up

[Damien Braniff <Damien_Braniff -at- PAC -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

As several people have said it all depends on the type of person you're
teaching.  We design and manufacture access control systems and they tend
(by and large) to consist of TWO main components:

   The hardware - door controllers, locks etc.  Now while I see it is
   perfectly feasible to produce a CBT product that would simulate the
   engineers wiring the kit etc it is NOT the best way.  By and large
   engineers want to LOOK and FEEL.  Are connectors easy to get at, space
   not too "tight" for cables etc.  This is often as important to them as
   simply knowing which wires go where.

   The administration system.  For small systems this is often a keypad on
   the controller but all the larger systems are PC based.  The breadth of
   users is huge from the total PC novice to expert users.  We are
   currently looking at CBT as a means of providing supplementary training
   in this area, that is, providing a CD that they can take away with them
   and use later as a "refresher".  As some of those trained didn't know
   what a mouse was I don't see CBT as being especially helpful to them.
   Plus, due to the complexity of the porduct, there is always lots of
   questions and CBT can't cater for them all.

Like everything else we use, CBT is a tool.  It's a very good tool but,
like every tool, only effective if used correctly.

Damien Braniff
Technical Author
PAC International