Chapter 5: Developing Training Content

After you have developed your training objectives and designed the curriculum based on your needs assessment and task analysis, the next step is to develop your training content. Chapter 5 deals with how and where to find information that will help you lend credibility to your training objectives, as well as examples of how to organize the content. Developing training content with credible and pertinent information is important because it validates the necessity of the training. Taking the time to research sources thoroughly enhances the integrity of the training as well as the trainer. In this chapter, the book discusses several sources of training material, how to process training material, and closes with samples of training content outlines. There are a wealth of places to begin searching for information for your training topic that include experimental sources, library sources, internet sources, professional training organizations, subject matter experts (SMEs), and commercial sources. Experimental sources are experiences that the trainer has had or what knowledge they possess about a certain subject. For example, if your training topic is teaching students how to navigate Blackboard you as the trainer would ask yourself questions like “What do I know about navigating Blackboard?” “What problems have I encountered?” “What shortcuts have I found work best?”. If you have personal experience with the training topic, it adds credibility to the training and makes you feel more confident when you deliver it. Libraries provide many avenues to locate materials for training content. Not only are they physical locations, but their resources can also be retrieved online. Books, periodicals, internet databases, newspapers, reference materials (i.e. dictionaries, almanacs), and government documents are available in a wide variety of topics. Internet sources have fast become a much-used way of finding and researching different subjects. In addition to the library, information from public and corporate websites, training websites, commercial websites, and government websites can also be accessed. However, unlike books or periodicals not all of the information found on the internet is as reliable. It is important to evaluate the information on each site such as the author of the site, the last time it was updated, the type of site. The trainer should use the following steps when evaluating websites: 1) accountability – who “owns” the site and to whom are they accountable 2) accuracy – is the information reliable and is it true 3) objectivity – is the information biased or objective, does the author have ties to any products that may influence their opinion 4) date – is the information current, is the website maintained on a regular basis 5) usability – is the information presented in a way that is easy to access. Since anyone can post anything on the internet, it is important for the trainer to keep these steps in mind to ensure their training content is as flawless as possible. Professional training organization such as the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) can be instrumental in developing training content because they provide their members with online information, news, and networking opportunities. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can also be useful to the trainer because if the training topic is in their field, they have firsthand knowledge of the content. Commercial sources can be found in bookstores and training business, and offer training packets they may aid in developing training content. These materials are prepared in advance, organized, available for immediate use. However, some drawbacks of using this method is with pre-packaged materials it may be difficult for the trainer to incorporate it into their presentation and they have to be purchased which would affect the trainer’s budget. Once you have compiled the research materials, it is important to evaluate the information collected. There are important factors to consider when assembling training content. First, the trainer must ensure that the materials are relevant to the training topic. Just because the information is interesting does not mean it is relevant to the task the trainer hopes to accomplish. Second, the trainer needs to identify the sources of the materials used and make sure trainee’s needs are met by the content. Third, the trainer should be aware of the time they have allotted and scale their content accordingly. However, the trainer should still make sure that the most important information is included. Fourth, trainer needs to cater their content to the different cultures and backgrounds of the trainees. Lastly, the content needs to cover all learning styles so that all of the trainees are able to understand and follow along with the information being presented. In addition, it is the trainer’s responsibility to cite sources correctly and make sure they are not using copyrighted materials in their content. Disregarding either will have a negative effect on the training and cast doubt on the trainer’s integrity. After all of the materials have been assembled, the trainer has to determine the order they should be presented. It is always a good idea to research other training modules, and tailor what was successful to your training outline. Not everything will work with the topic and/or goals of your training, but it could provide you with a starting point when compiling your data. The book provides some basic examples of training content outlines to give you an idea of how they can be composed. Whatever method you choose, it is always important to remember that the needs of the trainees should be your main priority. Please read the following article: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/can-one-tell-information-credible-20211.html By: Crystal Sullivan

Chapter 4: Developing Objectives and Designing a Curriculum

In this chapter you will learn that in training and development you must start off with one key element in order to have an efficient and successful training course, this being a training objective. The training objective is the seed to which from this creates your training goals and curriculum for actually training each individual. Without this objective, you would have no direction in which to follow to create the training curriculum, the text states a great example on understanding just how important these training objectives are. With a group of people take a moment from reading and all point which way each person believes is north. You should get a variation of answers. The point of that activity is to show you that if you do not know where you are headed, you will not likely get there. Organizing your training content and designing the general structure of your training will help build your training curriculum. Although a training objective is as simple as a one single statement that will describe what the trainees should be able to do when they complete the training, it consists of 5 specific steps. Step one is to identify the training skill outcomes; this is achieved by looking back over your task analysis and needs-assessment of the trainees. This needs to be done because everything revolves around the specific needs of the trainee. After identifying the specific training outcomes the next part, step 2, is to make your objectives observable. You need to recognize one type of behavior you can observe the trainee doing at the end of the course. Next is step 3, with this you should assess the measurable side of your training objective. You will need to be able to evaluate how effectively the behavior was performed. Step 4 states that the objectives need to be attainable. This is meaning that given the trainees background, these objectives should be achievable. Lastly, you have step 5. This is the final part in writing your training objective and making it specific. In this step you make sure to have a verb such as “feel”, “understand”, “know”, and identify precise actions that you expect the trainee to perform. As stated earlier, with this training objective and course outcome developed, you are now able to start creating your core curriculum. This curriculum is essentially the content of your training program with organization and the teaching skills of the information needing to be used in this training session. With designing a curriculum, you as the trainer need to understand a few things about training yourself. First is teaching information, whether it being technological or simple leadership skills, it needs to always be in chronological order. In doing so, make sure you are teaching and helping the trainees understand the more simple skills before moving into the more complex skills when it comes to dealing with students during advising. The next principle with it comes to designing a curriculum is showing the trainees each problem identification and then each problem solution. By showing them each problem and then addressing the problem solution you are presenting that trainee with specific skills on how to better diagnose the students issues and questions. This principle has helped the trainees in bettering their knowledge of problem-centered and has practical inferences for improving work productivity and effectiveness. Once you have organized your training curriculum principles you can now move into the physical part of the curriculum, training methods. These training methods are procedures you use to show information and establish actions you want the trainees to use. There are several different training methods such as group participation, role plays, discussions, and more. Out of all training methods, you still only have one goal, and that is to teach a skill. Whether you pick group participation or role play as a training method there will always be 5 simple steps in structuring your effective skill training. (1) Tell them what you want to do, what skills you want them to develop, and what your goals of the training are. (2) Show the steps on how to perform the certain skill by seeing that skill done, also known as behavior modeling. (3) Invite those trainees to perform each skill you have taught them by practicing it in role playing by providing the scenarios, case study simulations, and many more. (4) Encourage the trainees by coaching them to perform each new skill they have learned right away. You do this by providing feedback, point out what they are doing correctly, along with incorrectly, and possibly ask the trainee themselves what they feel are doing correctly. (5) Correct the trainees in what it is they are doing wrong by structuring this feedback, all while making sure to remain positive. Please Review this Article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/12/19/the-1-reason-leadership-development-fails/ By: Anna Brockley