Article Written By: BonnieLoggins
These days you can choose between many different types of training to update your IT software skills. There are books, CDs, online courses, classroom based and combined courses available. You can learn on week days, weekends, daytime or evening. The choices are vast but are they all as effective as they need to be?Buying a book or learning CD has the advantage that you can learn at your own pace and whenever you want – even the middle of the night if you feel like it! The disadvantages are that you may put it off until a better time (which never comes) and you could have little or no support if you come to something that you don t understand and this puts a stop to your learning progress until resolved.Online learning is the next step along from a book or CD. Again, the advantage is that you can learn at your own pace and at a time to suit you but yet again one of the disadvantages is that you may put off learning 'until another day and although there is likely to be more support, this will likely be at certain times and you may have to wait which could put a stop to your learning progress until your issue or question has been resolved – which can interrupt the flow and your motivation.By far the most effective way to learn or improve your IT skills is to attend an instructor-led, classroom based training course . Choosing a course with a small class size means that you have the instructor or trainer s attention but you will still have people in the same position as yourself to discuss and bounce your new ideas around with at break times and lunch (if you want to). There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says "Tell me, I ll forget. Show me, I ll remember. Involve me, I ll understand" and this is what attending a classroom based course will do – involve you. This is also exactly how a classroom based training course works. Each delegate (or student) works at their own PC or laptop and completes a short exercise after each demonstration/lecture to consolidate and cement the learning. The trainer will also ensure that everyone understands the concepts before moving along to the next topic. A good training organisation will also give each delegate/student a comprehensive course manual (preferably with screen shots) to refer back to afterwards along with the trainer s email address for any follow up questions to be replied to personally. There will always be a place of home study, books and CDs but not everyone has the motivation or time – for those that don t, a classroom based course is very often the most successful way to learn.
This Article Has Been Published on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 and Read 62 Times