User Training for Busy Programmers

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