IT Training Videos Get You Up to Speed

Have you ever done this? You need a business or design tool, so you buy the software package, load it on your computer and start poking around the menus to get up and running. Does this work? You bet it does. Is it efficient? That’s debatable. Do you really master the features of your application? Ha! That’s not the point.

What is the point? The point is that we’re all time-starved and probably lack a bit in the patience department as well. We need to get up to speed quickly and, hopefully, with a minimum amount of pain. Unfortunately, this need for speed leaves us only nibbling around the edges of what any sophisticated program can do. If you are like most of us, you probably learn just enough to use the features you absolutely need and never bother to dig in any deeper. When you need to do something you haven’t done before, you poke around in the menus again until you discover or stumble upon the commands you need.

I think we’ve all felt like we’re missing out on the real power of programs like Microsoft Office, or Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop. How about Web design using CSS and HTML? Oh, yeah. Those subjects are a mile deep and we just scratch around the surface.

Well, why not take a course? Not a bad idea if you enjoy classwork and have, say, six months to really get into a subject. That worked great when we were students instead of, you know, business people with, you know, obligations. There are always the manuals to peruse. Poke around at Barnes & Noble some Saturday and you’ll come out lugging enough books to curve your spine. Will you read them? Fat chance. You might start, but after passing out in an hour or two, you’ll go back to looking things up as you need them. It’s always easier to interrupt a knowledgeable colleague with “just one more little question.” If you are especially lucky, they won’t spin their head around with that Exorcist face and snarl, “RTFM!” That’s “Read The Fine Manual”, for you uninitiated. Or, something like that.

Oh, yes, there is the help function that is built into every program these days. It’s there so the manufacturers can avoid the publishing expense of all those fine manuals and also claim that help is just a click away. Right. Has anyone actually been helped by a help tab in the last 20 years? I’ve found that Internet searches come up with real help a lot faster and more thorough than a program help function. Even so, if you can’t find something quickly and have to plow through the forums, it’s going to be awhile before you get the answer.

Is there anything better? How about being shown how things work instead of just reading print on the page? That’s the idea behind LearniTAnytime. What they’ve done is create a library of video modules for a wide variety of design subjects and software applications that you’re likely to use. Each topic in the video module takes 3 to 8 minutes. The entire module takes a couple of hours to complete including “try it yourself” time interspersed with the instruction. You can even make a course of study out of these by doing the suggested homework assignments.

I tried one of their sample videos on Dreamweaver, the gold standard for web page design. As I suspected, I knew only just the rudiments of even creating links using this program. In a matter of minutes, I saw several different approaches to link building that were more efficient that just hacking away at it, my default methodology. Admittedly, this is a pretty simple example. You should pick a few of the sample videos and see if you like the style and actually learn something.

What if you find that this is a lot better approach than what you’ve been doing for years? Then the thing to do is subscribe by the month to have access to the entire online video library. There are no DVDs or CD-ROMs to load in your computer. This is more like watching YouTube without the dramatic chipmunks or keyboard cats. It’s priced about what you pay for one of those premium movie channels and you might actually pick up enough skills for a better job by watching this. Interested? learn more and watch sample IT training videos now.

Internet Soothes The Savage Beasts

How do you get a bunch of unruly teenagers on a school bus to behave themselves on the trip to and from school? Have the driver scream threats? Hire a pro wrestler to intimidate them? Put in a spy camera and give the troublemakers detentions? Nope. The answer is much easier. Just give those kids access to WiFi Internet and you won’t hear a peep out of them.

That’s what Vail, Arizona has done to one of its busses. Reports are that once the WiFi router was installed, rowdy behavior simply disappeared. What’s more, there is more homework is getting done that ever before. Can you find a better return on your school district dollar than this?

Of course, not all of those students are likely writing term papers. Some are tweeting about their teachers, some are sending amorous emails to classmates, some are reading computer and science news sites, and I’ll bet a bunch are playing online games. It really doesn’t matter. The problem was discipline. The Internet was made available. Afterwards, no discipline problem.

I suspect there is a wider lesson to be learned here. We’re constantly hearing about those computer or gaming addicted kids who just won’t go outdoors and play. Yeah? Well, those are also the kids who aren’t tagging buildings with spray paint, stealing other kids’ lunch money, or terrorizing the neighborhood. Perhaps the solution to both childhood and adult behavioral problems is more Internet, not less.

There’s and old saying: “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” That’s as true today as it ever was. For some kids, the under-supervision problem is severe, with parents absorbed by careers and social lives. A lot of adults fare no better. They’ve been trained through childhood and schooling to do what their teachers and then their bosses order. But with unemployment rampant, there is no boss anymore and they find themselves both directionless and squeezed financially.

What’s that got to do with the Internet? I think there’s a case to be made that universal Internet access is at least as important as universal telephone service or public libraries. The information world has changed dramatically in the last couple of decades. Everything is moving online, including communications, reference and research materials of all sorts, newspapers, job postings, magazines, games, and a lot of socializing and support. If you aren’t connected, you are more than disconnected. You are disadvantaged.

There’s something online for everyone. Whether you want to solve a puzzle, read up on what’s going on in the world, do your homework, look for a job, or even make your own job using your computer. Every profession, every trade, every hobby, every political action, and every interest is represented online. It’s even possible to go to college and get a degree online.

So, here’s something to roll around. How much could we reduce our juvenile delinquency and adult crime problems by making the Internet not only available, but mandatory? We need to insist on broadband everywhere as being as important as electricity and indoor plumbing everywhere. The “one laptop per child” project isn’t just important in Africa. It a crying need in the United States. Instead of turning kids into hunchbacks with backpacks loaded down with heavy and non-interactive textbooks, why not get those lessons online and accessible through the tablet or laptop computer every child gets from school day #1?

Yes, the vast majority of kids are going to use those computers for a lot more than grinding out rote homework assignments. They’ll be exploring all sorts of web sites, playing games, sending each other messages and whatever else they find interesting. We should be thankful that happens naturally. It’s curiosity, exploration and self-teaching that is going to be as important to their success as any assignments they’ll ever receive.