In February, Penn State University Libraries migrated to Oracle Calendar after a coordinated planning effort with members from Libraries and ITS. This effort included various training and communication efforts as well as a post-assessment in March.
The Survey
Take a look at the survey data. In this survey (one month after training and migration), staff members were asked to describe how well they knew Oracle. Additionally, they were asked what training methods they opted to use to prepare for the migration. These methods included:
Technology Updates - monthly live presentations/Webcasts over MediaSite (similar to a session over Breeze/Adobe Connect for those of you outsiders) we do on various technology initiatives in the Libraries.
Tech Tips Blog - a blog with a variety weekly posted tips; we tried to mix in Oracle every few weeks.
Interview Newsletter - a weekly Libraries' newsletter in PDF form, distributed to Libraries' staff via email and Web
Email - Susan Walker, one of our key migration project members, sent periodic email reminders about the migration which increased in frequency as we entered "countdown" mode.
Training - We offered several face-to-face opportunities at in the Paterno Library for Libraries' staff at University Park, Eastern and Western face-to-face training sessions, and a session over Media Site.
The Trend
If you look at the chart to the right, you'll notice a trend:
Those who described themselves as having a poor understanding of Oracle Calendar after the migration cited fewer methods to prepare themselves than those who stated that they knew Oracle well.
Also, respondents with poor knowledge of Oracle Calendar were more likely to rely heavily upon email and traditional training than the other training and communication methods.
Two Possible Conclusions
Based on the survey data, as well as feedback I have been getting my first phase of training needs assessment at the Libraries, I see two possible conclusions:
- People who are comfortable using a variety of methods of training and communication (like the blogs, MediaSite, etc.) are naturally more inclined to learn new things and the first place.
- Providing a variety of training and communications materials increases the probability that participants will learn. (See my related post here.)
I tend to think both conclusions are true. Learning and accepting one application paves the way for learning another. If you can't operate a computer, how will you learn via Breeze session?
Additionally, we need to remind ourselves that while there is no substitute for having someone there to show us, and nothing scales as well as a face-to-face room full of us being shown by someone, sometimes we need to offer other opportunities to replace or simply supplement the face-to-face sessions.
Face-to-face training is useful, but sometimes we need to offer opportunities that:
- have fewer time constraints,
- can be retrieved if forgotten and needed later, or
- are more relevant to the individual participant.
When was the last time you could get everyone who wanted to take a class in one room together? When was the last time you could make time in your calendar for a all the sessions you wanted to take? Did you ever wish you could just get the answers to your training question right when you need it rather than scheduling something that is months from now?
Have you ever wished you could just hit a "rewind button" to the day you had the training to go back and retrieve what you've forgotten?
Did you ever sit through a two hour session and find that after subtracting what you already knew and/or what was way over your head and easily forgotten, you had about 5-10 minutes of good information to take back with you?
In my own experience as a tech trainer, I can say that timing and relevance are definitely key. Most of the time, you want to schedule your training for just the people that need it as close as possible to the time it's needed. And I agree you need multiple methods of and interfaces for delivery in order to reach the broadest range of learners. In the coming year, I'm hoping to supplement my own (hopefully) timely and relevant face to face training with textual documentation on our internal wiki as well as screencasts done using Jing, an open-source, cross-platform screen and voice recording tool that I've fallen in love with. The Jing part will be new for me.