[senit] Re: [sld-forum] auditing staff skills in Clicker, WWS, Powerpoint

A  slightly different way of looking at training is to consider what 
you're staff need to use a program in your particular circumstances.
What they want to achieve from its use, and how best to enable them to 
do so.

It does get you out of a rather mechanistic list of procedures or skills 
which really only relate to the internal operation of the program itself.

It is difficult to list a hierarchy of skills unless you know the 
purpose for which it's being used,
for example in my setting it is  important to be able to add sounds and 
pictures to symbolic documents so these would be in the starting skills 
list.

So with PowerPoint I have been more successful in training for a purpose 
(talking books/ animation/music) rather than going through a task 
analysis type checklist. I also find it rather more exciting.

There are also some common procedures that need to be familiar with 
operating the computer (loading, saving, filling and finding things on 
your hard disc and so on) that are operational and not program specific, 
yet are essential for working with computers.

Widgit and Crick have both produced useful training guides on their 
software that you could use.

Richard Walter
Meldreth Manor School