Colin Steed

It's the duty of every Training Manager of any organisation to ensure that the quality of all of its training is performed, assessed and monitored to the recognised National Standards on the National Qualifications Framework, that the learners actually acquire a sound learning experience and that the learning acquired is able to be applied to the learner’s workplace. Additionally, the organisation must ensure that the training is delivered and maintained to the highest level and that it is consistent across the organisation.

To facilitate this, it is imperative that each trainer is assessed in a live environment on a regular basis and that each assessment conforms to nationally-recognised standards, is maintained and governed externally and independently, and is then linked to each candidate’s continual professional development. This also can, and should, be linked to the individual’s Appraisal process.

I strongly believe that in the past organisations have relied on trainers attending train the trainer courses and obtaining a certification to feel comfortable that their training staff are performing to quality standards.

But I contend that this is not a true way to judge quality of performance - the only way to do that is to see the trainer in the workplace through a regular, live, indepently governed assessment.

In this way, the Training Manager can ensure that every one of its training professionals:

·        Facilitates/delivers learning to the National Standards benchmark

·        Receives objective guidance on potential improvement and developmental activity which should link to individual’s appraisals

·        Receives an objective benchmark to monitor the performance and quality of all trainers and the learning for all employees.

·        Achieves a nationally-recognised, portable, Level 3 qualification on the National Qualificatons Framework

·        Achieves professional membership of the Institute of IT Training with designatory letters after their name.

1. There is less time for training

Organisations are facing increasing time pressures. Managers are finding it more difficult to release their people for training, and rainers and managers have less time for preparation too. Shorter courses are increasing in popularity.

Research* shows:

· 61% of organisations expect to do more very short courses (one hour or less)

· 52% of organisations expect to do more half-day courses

· 28% of organisations expect full-day courses to decline.

2. The way that people work is changing

There is more remote working, more flexible working, more project working and more outsourcing. People and teams are often split across multiple locations, with an increasing reliance on communication via email. Online tools are being exploited for information sharing, including for learning.

Research* shows:

· 75% of organisations want to share their learning materials with their people online.

3. Technology is changing

The incredible growth of social networking websites, such as Facebook and video sharing sites such as YouTube is transforming our behaviour online. Many people now stream and share video content with their friends as part of their everyday lives. When transferred into a business context, these changes help to open up many opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. It is now easy to stream and share the rich video content that was so lacking in the first generation of e-learning.

· YouTube has 9.9 million UK users (84% year-on-year growth at Oct 2007)**

· Facebook has 7.8 million UK users (up from just 0.5 million a year ago)**

· 76% of organisations want to stream video content to their learners.*

4. The learner is changing

Learner expectations are changing. One size no longer fits all. Learners are demanding more relevant and individual learning that more closely matches their needs. They are also asking for more choice over the way that they learn, with more demand for self-study and coaching, as well as online learning. Classroom learning is still important, but learners expect more support than before.

Research* shows:

· 95% of organisations want to pick and mix the learning messages they need, online, in order to develop more relevant training

· 86% of organisations want to use online video clips to enhance pre and post course support

· 75% of organisations predict further growth in coaching.

5. Budgets are under pressure

Organisations need to demonstrate more than ever that they are spending their learning budgets effectively. They have to develop learning content that can be used and adapted in many different ways, and closely monitor results.

Research* shows:

· 83% of organisations believe strongly in using formal measures to evaluate the effects of training

· Measures can include any of the following: skill levels, organisational efficiency, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, organisational targets, sales targets, operating profits, productivity and staff turnover.

*Source: Research carried out on behalf of Video Arts from May-June 2006. The sample was 200 people who are responsible for training within UK organisations. They took part in a detailed telephone survey.

My former boss at the NCC Michael Gough passed this on to me and it had a great impact on me (as he did - he is a very spiritual person and taught me a lot).

Perhaps we are all too wrapped up in our own work and our own lives that we are missing the real point.

So here is a short Powerpoint sequence Paradox Times. I know you will enjoy it and hope that you will learn from it, as I did.

Live well, laugh much, love often.

Colin

A couple of years ago at the IITT National Conference presenter Clive Shepherd asked the audience whether they thought that social networking sites like Facebook and Youtube would be an aid for learning. Although the audience was 60-40 in the affirmative, I was definitely in the negative.

The reason, mostly, was that I considered these sites to be unstructured, for the under 20s and almost anarchaic judging by some of the things I had seen on the sites. I had seen videos of joyriders, people doing the most ridiculous things, as well as some frankly disgusting examples of modern society - and mainly all taken on low quality mobile phones.

Fast forward 2 years. I recently purchased a pro-level video editing piece of software (the excellent Sony Vegas Pro 8) and could not find any courses on the subject. There were a couple of DVDs available but as the software version (8) had just been released there were no professional instructional DVDs available.

I was looking through Youtube for some music videos when I just did a search for Sony Vegas Pro 8 instruction - and was amazed at the list of short (2-5 min) clips available. These were mainly uploaded by young (pre 20 year old) US students who obviously loved teaching. 

Although most were of questionable quality and use, I did find some outstanding examples and have downloaded around 15 of these. One in particular, a young lad from Canada, is a natural trainer and through the use of Camtasia Studio (check that out trainers!) had produced some quality instructional videos.

I am now, after a couple of months, pretty conversant and skillful with the software.

So, Clive, I have changed my mind. Cut through the bad bits of Youtube and you can find some excellent training resource.

The challenge is for trainers - download a free trial copy of Camtasia Studio and have a go at producing some short instructional videos.

Let me know if you take up the challenge - I would love to see your work and would be happy to publicise these on this blog and to my 3500 Institute Members. 

Watching the daily news I am often these days saying to myself "this can't be true, surely" - or words to that effect. But today I am absolutely lost for words after reading one particular article on the Daily Telegraph's website.

According to the article, school pupils as young as 10 are sitting on interview panels and rating teachers on their lessons as part of Government plans to give them a "voice" in schools.

Can I hear you say "this cannot be true surely" too?

Teachers have complained of "the lunatics taking over the asylum" as children in thousands of primary and secondary schools have been drafted in to interview new staff. Teachers' lessons are also being rated by specially trained pupils who monitor teaching quality. The children are encouraged to give feedback on the classes.

Unions will this week condemn the trend as a "dangerous" attack on the status of the profession. "The balance of power is bound to be altered if pupils are allowed to go around judging staff," said Chris Keates, the general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers. "It is an abuse of the concept of 'student voice' and will undermine the relationship between pupils and teachers. Staff are coming to us who have had 15-year-olds sitting at the back of the class and told them afterwards that the 'pace of the lesson was not quick enough'."

One case reported to the NASUWT involved a teacher who was offered a post after being interviewed by a panel which included a pupil. Some weeks later, when she reprimanded the child in class, he said: "Don't forget I interviewed you. You got the job because of me."

Here is the rest of the article:

Schools Council UK, an independent charity which promotes children's participation in school decision-making, estimates that 40 per cent of secondary and primary schools involve children in part of the interview process. It is common for candidates to teach a lesson and for pupils to give feedback to the headteacher. In some schools pupils actually sit in on the interview, while in others prospective teachers will be questioned separately by pupils. About one in 20 schools allows pupils to rate lessons but the trend is growing. At George Mitchell School, in Leyton, east London, a group of pupils has been appointed as "consultants" who observe teachers at work, attend departmental meetings and advise on classroom seating and displays. Children observe lessons in pairs every few weeks, producing lists of teachers' strengths and weaknesses.

Giving pupils a greater say in how schools are run is part of the Government's Every Child Matters agenda. Ofsted inspectors expect all schools to have some form of student council and schools must consult pupils on issues such as behaviour policies. Advocates argue that involving children in decision-making will improve their behaviour and motivation. Jessica Gold, the chief executive of Schools Council UK, which has trained pupils in a number of schools to observe lessons, defended the trend. "Teachers value the feedback they get from pupils," she said. "It is not about inspection-style observations, it is very much a co-operative process. It allows pupils to take a more mature perspective of the lesson. "Teachers can sit down with pupils and say, 'How am I responding to gender, do I give you enough time to answer?' and this can inform how they teach." However, a recent discussion on a teachers' forum revealed that many are far from enthusiastic. One said: "Children need to know who the authority figures are, for their own good, not have the boundaries blurred further." Another teacher said: "There are no circumstances that would make me agree to be interviewed for a post by pupils. The lunatics have taken over the asylum."

I really have heard it all now. Just checking that it is not April 1st!