A Study Of Training Content And Activities: Learning Plan, Resources, Essay. (70 Characters)

Training/Learning Plan

Discuss about the A study of training content and activities.

Training or learning plan is an organized set of descriptions of all resources and activities that is used to assist and guide a group toward learning or mastering certain specific objectives (Wandersman, Chien and Katz 2012).

Training Goal: To train the clients with the basic aspects of Digital Literacy.

Learning Objectives: The prime objective of this training program is to spread awareness about the importance of computer and internet knowledge, to survive the modern hi-tech generation (Crowley and Heyer 2015). Clients will get to learn the basics of Internet surfing. The use of tools like MS Word, MS Excel and more shall also be learnt by the clients to fulfill their documentation and other computation requirements.

Training activities: Conduct a survey among all the clients involved in the training, hence gathering complete information of their digital knowledge. Give training of Microsoft productivity suits to the Windows users. These would include MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and MS Visio training. Furthermore, the clients shall be assisted about the right use of internet and the e-mail services through Outlook.

Documentation: A hardcopy of the survey conducted shall be maintained for analysis. Provide online and hardcopy materials for better guidance in the course. A course grade-card shall be produced and provided to each client after the training process is completed. Each client should also provide their feedback in a well documented format.

Evaluation: The grades produced after proper evaluation of the tutor’s feedback. The tutor shall document weekly improvement details of each client. This will help to provide a real-time knowledge check and would thus help to boost or strengthen the process. The training procedure shall also be evaluated as per the feedbacks from the clients. Each client shall be provided with feedback forms at the end of the training program. They will be providing their feedback alongside their identity details. They will also have the opportunity to mention what they have learned in the training process. The manager shall also be handed a sign off form before concluding the process as a whole. The form shall succeed in drawing out the manager’s response to the improvement of his employees after the training program.

Digital literacy is not just about the ability to operate a digital device or to use software products; it also consists of a large domain of cognitive, emotional and logical skills that a person must have in order to use or access digital environments properly (Microsoft.com, 2018).

Training Resources

There is an urgent need to identify the right resources, necessary for the complete training process. As the process includes both one-to-one and online training, a wide range of resources and materials must be researched and used. Firstly, the resources necessary for the one-to-one training procedure shall be discussed, followed by the necessities for online training.

One-to-one training is the medium of providing knowledge to the client by meeting with them in person. These meetings must take care of every aspect of the program with keen attention to the practical tasks related to it. The necessary resources required to conduct the one-to-one digital literacy-training program are:

• Hardware Resource Requirements:
  • One Personal Computer per trainee.
  • 3^rd Generation Processors or newer.
  • 4 GB RAM or higher.
  • Internet connection.
• Software Resource Requirements:
  • Windows 7 Operating System or higher.
  • Microsoft Office 2010 or higher.
  • Google Chrome, Firefox or any other equivalent internet browser.
• Materials Required
  • Quality books that describe the ethical uses of internet.
  • Proclaimed Digital Literacy books like those written by Paul Gilster, Digital Literacies: Concepts, Policies and Practices (New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies) by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel and so on.
  • A detailed documentation of all the training classes conducted.
  • Provision to maintain feedbacks from both the trainer and the clients.

Distance or e-learning training procedures are also known as online training. This encourages self-practice and understanding of the concepts that the training conveys. This is a more challenging way of learning for the trainee. Therefore, the choice of resources shall be very appropriate and easily understandable.

• Hardware Resource Requirements
  • Suitable PC systems with the previously mentioned configurations.
  • A stable internet connection.
  • Web cam is a necessary resource for interacting with the trainer over the internet.
• Software Resource Requirements
  • A website or portal to conduct the training.
  • Windows OS installed.
  • Licensed Microsoft Office tools installed.
  • Latest versions of internet browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox.
  • The updated Adobe Flash plug-in to allow seamless streaming of training videos or live sessions.
• Materials Required
  • Various online resources that are available on the internet like https://www.ictliteracy.info/, https://www.customguide.com/microsoft-office-training and many more.
  • Training materials, guidelines and documents.
  • Review documentation from online data analysis. 

The training would be conducted in the asynchronous learning format. In this style of training, the trainees are allowed to take self-paced courses on the Internet. They are required to download materials from the company portal or from mails as provided by the trainer. Further, this mode of training also allows Q&A sessions via the portal or mail services.

A learner-to-instructor mode of training is to be conducted. Here, the learner will directly communicate with the instructor, whether be it one-to-one or via mails and mortal queries on the internet, online.

As for the technology, online materials are to be provided for training on the portal and through mails. In addition, videos are to be uploaded and sent to the clients. One-to-one mode of training would require the clients to sit with the trainer and learn the basics of Microsoft tools and other internet and system installation basics. Video conference via live streaming would also be available for online training purposes.

As for Sally, she needs to adapt herself to most of the required tools and techniques needed. She barely has a firm knowledge of computers and internet usage. She must be trained to use the Microsoft tools like Word, Excel, and Visio and so on for daily official tasks. Further, she must be trained on how to use Microsoft Outlook to send and receive email. Proper knowledge of internet is also necessary. She must be made aware of the world of internet beyond the social networking sites (Ng 2012). Browsing, researching and ethically using the internet is the first and foremost necessity.

According to the survey report, Billy is quite smart with computers. He is already aware of using the internet in the right way. He is aware of availing the internet for necessary problem solving purposes through forums and browsing. He must be provided with adequate Excel and MS Visio training. Apart from that, he shall also be made aware of the use of Outlook for the company purposes.

Having completed the ECDL course, Borris can be considered well adapted and educated about digital literacy. However, as it is stated in the survey, he is not much habituated with the Office tools. Therefore, he too must learn the use of the appropriate MS Office tools as mentioned earlier. Using webmail is not what the company needs and therefore, he must learn the use of Outlook for e-mail transactions.

However, each of the clients must be given thorough training about the installation of network components and the management of the operating system. They must have proper knowledge about how to install, modify and work with different software modules that are necessary for their working purposes. They must also be taught to handle minor system or software failures. They should all be made aware of the security measures involved in the digital society (Park 2013).

A typical assessment plan would include:

• The ability of the clients to access the internet, send emails and work with the Office tools must be assessed.
• These outcomes must be assessed after every week of the training is completed.
• The trainer is required to rate the learning outcomes of the trainees and provide feedback via emails. Hardcopy documentation shall also be maintained.
• The trainees shall be required to produce there practical skills of all that they have learned before the trainer in a one-to-one session. The outcomes shall be stored in the online portal as well.
• The trainers in charge shall be in charge of collecting the results and assessing them accordingly.

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References

Crowley, D. and Heyer, P., 2015. Communication in history: Technology, culture, society. Routledge.

Ko, S. and Rossen, S., 2017. Teaching online: A practical guide. Taylor & Francis.

Meyer, K.A. and Murrell, V., 2014. A national study of training content and activities for faculty development for online teaching. Online Learning, 18(1).

Meyers, E.M., Erickson, I. and Small, R.V., 2013. Digital literacy and informal learning environments: an introduction. Learning, media and technology, 38(4), pp.355-367.

Microsoft.com. (2018). Digital Literacy Overview. [online] Available at: https://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/citizenship/giving/programs/up/digitalliteracy/default.mspx [Accessed 9 Jan. 2018].

Ng, W., 2012. Can we teach digital natives digital literacy?. Computers & Education, 59(3), pp.1065-1078.

Park, Y.J., 2013. Digital literacy and privacy behavior online. Communication Research, 40(2), pp.215-236.

Wandersman, A., Chien, V.H. and Katz, J., 2012. Toward an Evidence?Based System for Innovation Support for Implementing Innovations with Quality: Tools, Training, Technical Assistance, and Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement. American journal of community psychology, 50(3-4), pp.445-459.