UNHCE Information Technology & Distance Education Blog

Thanks to everyone who responded to our on-line Training Needs Assessment Survey. We received 67 responses, which was more than we had hoped for.

Here are some of the highlights:

Respondents would like to receive training on the following applications (in order from highest preference): Access, PowerPoint, PictureTel, PhotoShop, Excel, Windows XP, PageMaker, Word, Acrobat.

Respondents feel the following characteristics of training are important (from most important to least): Instructor present, cost, time involved, customized content.

Based on these data and our past experiences, we've decided to take a new approach to training in the coming year, that we call the "roll-your-own" method.

Here's how it works:

An office or other group decides they would like training in a particular subject (see list below). They contact the appropriate ITDE team member (see list below) and schedule a time, place, and topics for training. There needs to be a minimum of five people committed to participate in the training, and it may be opened up to wider participation if space and resources are available.

We have used this technique several times in the past year, and find that by tailoring the training to a particular group's needs and scheduling at a time and location convenient to the group (like the county office), the training is much more effective and efficient.

To further tailor training to the particular group's needs, it's our intention that the instructor-led training be more task-oriented, to equip Extension staff with the skills they need to perform their jobs.

The following is a partial listing of subjects and contacts:

Faye Cragin: Advanced PowerPoint, PhotoShop, and PageMaker / InDesign
David Foote: PictureTel
Stephen Judd: Access, Excel, and any topic not specified here
Michael Toepfer: WordPerfect and "How to Get the Most from the Windows Operating System"
Barbara Wright: Word