A NEW APPROACH to TRAINING COMPUTER USERS

 

          (c)A NEW  APPROACH to TRAINING COMPUTER USERS

                              by Jerome Laulicht; Phd

                                                                          

                                        and

                                  Lois B. Laulicht

 

            Computer          Consumer           Consultants      of     WV.

                                    Valley Head, WV.

                              

                                     304- 339 -2172

A  New  Approach to Training Computer Users

Very recently a few prominent computer columnists commented upon the problems of lack of 

training for computer users. That these columns all appeared within a very short

time frame is in itself interesting. That their articles were contrary to

conventional computer wisdom is even more extraordinary.  For some time we have

been  trying to get a handle on this very difficult chicken-egg problem.

Implicit in its definition are a wide variety of very basic industry beliefs

and industry values.

                      Just as the failed Russian coup of several

                      weeks back changed our world forever

                      so has the advent of the cheap 9600 baud modem.

The focus of the articles were the lacks, the gaps, and the weakneses of what

purports to be training. There were also some comments about new Windows

language tools which 'open, just a crack the door to programming for everyone."

The inherent difficulties of training for any discipline charged with the

conventional wisdom of simultaneosly being  'good at math', super with detail,

being very smart ,having an excellent memory and a good typist to boot, is very

scarey to novice users. It is also apparent that only a handful of people view

lack of solid training as an issue or an industry concern. The numbers drop even

further when one discusses the need for serious changes or training innovations.

As we started developing our approaches these last months, many of our

assumptions had to be  scrapped and we had to invent some rather non-traditional

approaches for training as well as new assumptions about the perceived need for

training.  The tiny cascade of  brief comments and reports alluding to training

people to use PC's make us feel somewhat less isiolated. Clearly the new

language tools are being seen as rather important to warrant the competitions

and reports. Clearly informal consensus has occured or is being formed as it

relates to the perceived ability of competent but ordinary computer users to

learn to program in one of a variety of Windows basic languages.

Something  is happening--if the judges are judges of anything - -and it may well

be a change for the better.  Even making big allowances for the fact that

company development teams are not reliable guides to ease of learning and use,

it is clear that  the programming scene has already changed.  The spurt of

available new work for creating Windows programs has given new life to the old

hope--well, the hope of some--that many sophisticated computer users can learn

to develop programming skills.  It is not a question of secretaries using Object

Vision to develop complex front ends for data bases. Few could, given how little most secretaries or most other

computer users know about computers, data base programs, etc.  Rather it is a

question of whether there are methods, languages, and tools available so that

moxey computer users can do more than quickies  or fun and games programs.  Some

of the commentary and advertising about tools like Visual Basic, Realizer and

especially Toolbook suggest this possibility.  We think that the door can be

pushed open much wider than most people presently recognize. It is within this

context that we are attempting to initiate a dialog with you and others. As

usual,  what happens is partly a function of what people believe can happen and

want to see happen.

The fact is that there is not much effective training demand and whatever

limited demand exists is largely for cheap and quick training in limited skills.

The call is primarily for training in specific applications and in techniques

and tools which hopefully avoid the need to understand the operating system. The

irony is that this limited training, costs as much as it does, but this is

another matter. The computer training, which is offered, is too bound by

conventional restraints and interests which sharply limit effectiveness and

increase costs and frustration.  This is so even when sophisticated students are

being taught sophisticated language tools. A  striking example is a seminar for

programmers, offered by a very respectable company selling the tool, which

largely covers the same topics as the manual and tutorial which came with the

tool.

Whatever else has been said, it is simply not just a case of new tools which are

easier to learn and use.  Of equal and perhaps greater importance is that the

industry now has access to the largest pool of computer literate users that  has

ever existed.  However, none of the changing elements in the equation  begin to

deal with problems of motivation for training  and how  the desire to learn is

translated into time, money and opportunity for working adults to learn

difficult skills..

Products that are being priced to make them attractive to these 'amateurs'--even

if they are billed as temporary special prices for special people, do not

provide the knowledge to access sources for assistance to get beyond baby steps.

Unfortunately even seasoned and literate users have difficulty in framing the

correct question or even knowing what the correct question is to ask. We're not

discussing the quick fix that tech support people do fairly well but rather

helping people develop a frame of reference that is translatable from tool to

tool.

The second important 'shove' comes from cheap memory, open stocked computer

parts, and  the most significant and relavent hardware change of all,  --the

cheap 9600 baud modem to access the world of the BBS and information.  Anyone

who frequents their local BBS tied to a national network can learn to build a

PC, upgrade a PC and stay on top of the new and emerging technologies. Where to

buy it, how to modify it, and when to junk it! The variety of subjects are

endless....even a few good tutorials.  The conferences provide people to

exchange with and argue with along with gurus and others who have little

patience with the novice bbser. New people are lurkers and their mistakes in

ettiquette and form are barely tolerated.  The image of the bloated super market

security guard comes roiling in and indeed these folks are protecting turf.

The network conferences are dominated by industry middle management

professionals with their own agendas, careers and status at risk. There is,

however, the more fundamental problem oflearning to get on with a modem, finding

one's way around a board, and then developing the skill and confidence to take

advantage of this marvelous invention to grow and develop. As the sheer numbers

of people increase to access these boards, (and they are and will in even

greater numbers than we can imagine) the problems of information access to

create individual opportunites is going to run up against the biases, styles,

assumptions, and norms of the industry which dominate this public forum.

It is here where it is most loudly articulated and where we are encountering a

set of inter-linked assumptioms, beliefs and behaviors which determine the

conclusion: only professionals  can learn to use, for example, Visual Basic  and

presumably all similar tools, and that there are too few exceptions to this rule

to matter.  The best alternative view is that so few people both want to and can

learn that the question is unimportant.  This complex web makes it difficult to

talk or write tersely about our ideas. And yet, we  are seeing contradictory

cues and getting some interesting mixed messages as we discuss this with people

heavily involved in several of the companies which create the tools. Essentially,

we are getting the complex gavotte approach-avoidance messages.  We are also

encountering a lack of understanding  on some key issues in the proposal

resulting in a 'no' but a worried 'no'. Are people  fearful of ignoring a change

and ideas  which might be important. Or would many people agree with Peter Coffey

that the question about the new language tools must be--who is the intended user

and who wonders aloud whether the software bottleneck will be broken, by making

every one their own programmer.

Little or no effort is made in developing these tools to consistently construct

them so that they ARE much easier to use. Toolbook is the most striking

exception but outfits like Within Technology (Realizer) have moved partially in

the direction of the 'amateur'. It is hard to tell this from talking with them,

reading their ads, or looking at their pricing policy. Why the mixed cues?  Is

it simply the business thing to do to try to put out feelers to all categories

of potential customers while maintaining the high status, even snob appeal, of

the product.  Would most programmers  refuse a product  which targets 'amateurs'

Does anyone make a serious effort to beta test their tools  with amateurs, more

precisely programming illiterate users and revise it partly based upon their

reactions and criticisms?

Yet the contradictions abound, suggesting there is flexibility. Borland creates

ObjectVision which certainly is not difficult to learn. Here is a high powered

language tool developer which also develops a rather difficult tool in Pascal

for Windows.  Clipper has been around for awhile..Alpha and RBase have data base

programs which they insist can be used by amateurs to create customomized,

complex approaches  without using difficult  Dbase languages. And many seem to

take at least brief hard stares at the brave new world in which many more of us

could write complex programs. Ambivalence abounds and we partly ensure that we

get self-fulfilling prophecies.

None of this is an either-or proposition.  There are arguments on both sides.

Despite the history that Basic is a simple language, VB is not an easy way to

construct programs.  Realizer probably is not either despite the implications of

some of the comments written about it.

We make some fundamental errors, I think, if one of our goals is programming for

amateurs. The failure to take the issue into account in designing Beta tests and

choosing the testers is one key.  Even more fundamental is what we have been

doing here--dividing the universe into two groups.  Ridiculous--we know this is

a phony dichotomy and that there is far too much specialization. We know, for

example, that we will never get many good computer based programs  geared for

elementary and high school agendas  until programmers learn more about education,

AND more classroom teachers really understand computers. Further, there are

other areas where this is equally true. For example, do we have any

understanding of why kids catch on quickly with video games and love them but

are often bored silly in school with  computer based training.  So what do we

do, how do we do it, and where do we place the steps toward change.?

                  A minor revolution has been happening

                  under our noses, with the crucial events

                  occurring over time and the consequences

                  still unplanned and certainly unclear!

The industry does sponsor  a limited number of training events for computer

professionals. These are the paying customers who will develop the third party

tools and write the new software. One cannot  really argue about their focus

except to assert that it doesn't make any business sense at all over the long

haul.  One can take the hard headed stance that one shouldn'targue with sucess.

However, we've all become painfully aware that even the big boys can get into

trouble and lose more than their market share. It is really necessary to restate

the worn out cliche that looking ahead and planning ahead is really worthwhile

if either corporations or individuals want to stay in the game.

The "University" run by Microsoft and the 4-5 day seminars offered by outfits

like Whitewater can only meet the needs of a few people.  Thinking that

Community or Junior colleges are places where many people,  including new users

getting computers for home and home office use, could get quality training in

the use of computers is a hope which has little relation to the realities of

daily existence and the missions at most schools. As for training in language

tools, this seems hopeless. It is doubtful that such places could do more than

partial training, albeit at relatively low cost, in a few major applications.

Few could do at all well in giving quality training in using operating systems/

environments or in applications which are not widely used. When looking just at

how these schools recruit and pay instructors-- they do depend largely on

part-time instructors, often harried and underpaid graduate students--quickly

disabuses one of much optimism. The situation is even worse if we think of the

adult education programs at most American High schools. It is almost a sick joke

to think anything with a semblance of real quality is possible at places where

many teachers barely understand computers and those teachers who do have

knowledge speak computereeze.

  

At any rate, many who need help with computers cannot use such places given that

the rigidities in scheduling conflict with the bread and butter demands for many

busy adults. How do adults with jobs, mates, parents and children (all of whom

can make unscheduled demands) cope with the uncompromising time schedule of a

class or keep up when they miss a crucial session. Of course it's possible but

it is far from the most desirable model.  Within the context of our developing

plans, would busy adults feel they would best learn in a somewhat unconventional

way and setting? The set-up for learning we envision will be much more

accessible and certainly more flexible for working adults.

As for the sellers of hardware and software providing training, it is difficult

to envision them as much of a source of training for several reasons. Few know

enough or care enough to be able to select good teachers and monitor them.  Few

would know whether a course has merit, and finally they would care mostly about

classes which generate profits or sell more hardware. I  for one am not

encouraged when I read of a retailer being able to get $175 and

up for teacherless classes with only $12 in out-of pocket costs per student

after buying the training program.  It may be a multi- media

show/tutorial and bully for the profit! Why worry about what is being taught and

learned ,or if the customer will come back again. The dollars now  demand which

permeates the industry as well as the greater society is taking us into the

rather scary waters of a society divided by information access for those

computer educated sufficiently to take advantage of its rewards.

Some Very Silly Ideas

  

Perhaps Beta testers  should not be chosen because they are programmers but

because they want to program. By any definition they are very computer literate

users. They could criticize efforts of tool developers from this perspective.

Maybe we should seriously consider two versions of many language tools.  Not a

professional and an amateur but a harder and easier one to use with maximum

effort to give both versions almost identical power.

Maybe a conference/meeting seriously tackling this subject-- really crazy. Byte

or PC Mag or PC Week orone or several of the BBSes sponsor it so that it has

enough status and cachet for the assumption of quality.  We just might start

getting real honest and blunt when we begin an open dialogue of enormous

consequence.

Naively, we did not realize we probably had to prove our contention when we

wrote our proposal.  We were wrong to think it obvious to 'all' that there was

a big enough demand out there or money to be made as a result of this latent

market.

A  Not So Silly Idea  *

* This idea was proposed having VisualBasic in mind. The notion is, however,

quite generic.

          Draft Proposal: Online Training for Programming in VisualBasic

The following represents a developing  approach to teach people how to use

Visual Basic  in  order to  learn to create programs for Windows. This approach

is neither a book or manual,  an individual tutorial  on disk,  an interactive

BBS conference or a conventional college classroom.  Rather, it will use or

share some of the valuable characteristics of each of these methods to help

people learn a technique of programming  which is both quite old--or basic--and

rather newish--object  oriented programming.

Hopefully, we should be able to combine  many of the strengths of each of these

programming methods into a different way of teaching and learning--a way  which

can be useful and valuable to many people who want to learn  to program for

Windows.  The goal is be able to offer classes both to  programming novices and

hackers,  as well as to  programmers looking for a new and much  less difficult

language tool for Windows.  For the second group, we will have to pay

attention to the sharp differences among programmers in their experience with

and knowledge of previous DOS versions of Basic.  We should  be able to offer

help to  those  who do  not  know Basic at all well  but who are attracted to VB

as a tool,  and to others who are rather conversant with  one of the other

versions of  Basic.  Finally, we have to be concerned about using an approach

which provides training at a reasonable cost so that it can be taken advantage

of by both non-professionals and  programmers .

We want to offer a BBS sponsored course on programming with Visual Basic.We want

to do this not once but a number of times, assuming there is enough interest and

that we can establish contact with many potential students. We have started the

process of establishing contact with  a number of people who might be potential

instructors to teach parts or modules of such courses. We do not want to compete

with  or duplicate what Universities do but want to provide training for people

who already have most of the intellectual skills and interests to learn a

specific programming discipline.  We want to train "adults" without the

rigidities, customs, usual practices, and rather high costs of the college

classroom.

As 486 prices continue to decline and 586 based computers start arriving in

numbers, corporate America will be forced to re-evaluate its expensive

commitment to mainframes. Windows was a faint hope for years but MS persisted in

producing an OS at a reasonable cost,  useful to  large numbers of people, and

with a fair amount of backward compatibility.  All  of these  attributes apply

to VB .  As the word gets out to the Basic of all flavors programming community

that this language makes programming in the Windows environment something that

can be done with much less pain., whatever interest that has already been

generated will increase  with the knowledge that one can build upon previously

acquired skills.  Like Windows, VB  represents a real challenge and opportunity

for many people.  There is a demand  to be a part of  and   growing motivation

to take advantage of  the Windows phenomena.  In addition, there is also the

interesting challenge of training up non-programming computer users.

                                                                              

Dr. Jerome Laulicht, Emeritus,University of Pittsburgh , will organize the

teaching and get commitments from the "visiting" experts. We have tentatively

settled on the general approach of creating teaching modules-- one or perhaps

two people will be responsible for each module. The instructor will provide BOTH

real time training, and also place small tutorials, exercises, assignments, etc.,

on-line for students to pick up for independent learning.  Thus, there will be

scheduled times for the class to assemble with the instructor (almost surely,

each  module will have to be scheduled more than once for a class to accommodate

varied schedules of students)and discretionary efforts for individuals, etc.-

-i.e.,  the learner will have to decide whether and when to do it.  Thus, the

instructor will have to provide some feed-back to individuals---answering

questions during "class meetings", responding  to questions left for him on the

bulletin board outside of sessions, and  in commenting on assignments.

We will also have to decide whether it makes sense to encourage and provide

opportunities for students to join  in relevant  gabfests (conferences) without

the instructor.  It is not obvious that people would welcome and use such an

option in this context. There probably should  also be an analogy to office hours-

- times when students know that the instructor is available on line for chats by

appointment.

The instructors will be recruited from among the people who have worked on tools

for  VB, perhaps one or two people from Microsoft who worked on VB,  people who

have written several applications in VB, and hopefully even a few people with

extensive programming experience (say with games) who are in the midst of

learning VB to write for Windows .  We would also hope we can usefully

consult  with those responsible for creating the on-line help system, tutorial

and manuals for VB.  It will be made clear to everyone that their work might

also be used for a  disk/book combo.  Their contributions  would obviously

remain their work--as in any publication with an editor and  contributors. The

teachers, then, would get paid for the development and teaching, along with

other fringes like  publicity of name and product.

If the project is successful,  teachers would end up offering their modules much

more than one time, so that there is ample pay-off for the development and

preparation efforts.  The size of classes would have to be limited to no more

than 30  people to allow for discussions by the group with adequate opportunity

for participation. However, an instructor could conceivablly give his course

simultaneously on an endless number of cooperating boards with the proviso of

time for interactive exchange.

Windows Online of the San Francisco area has agreed to provide the electronic

home for(c)Learning Online. Its sysop Frank Mahaney has contributed to the

evolution of this notion from almost the very beginning. We are presently

getting agreement from other computer professionals to act as resource people

and mentors.

We need your expertise in general terms about the proposal as it might  impact

upon your client community, whether you are a VB developer, programmer, Sysop,

or writer.  Our goal is to develop a series of Windows related tutorials that

are interesting, fun, valuable, and most of all understandable.  Written and

spoken in English as opposed to computereeze!

The question of developing a course of study for computer literate but

programming illiterate  users is a rather challenging problem.  It is this

notion, we believe, that will continue to generate interest in this idea.

People are brinking on a fuller appreciation of the unlimited possibilities

provided by the PC. Windows3 brings the potential home 'graphically' with the

built in security  of being able to continue to utilize the machine as before.

The notion of creating online training in a variety of adjunct

areas is quite obvious. We have barely scratched the surface and

are continually defining areas where one can do a credible job

using the approach of online training.

Many thanks for  your time and interest.  We look forward to your comments.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please forward comments to Lois Laulicht: PCRELAY:Chan1

                        Jerome Laulicht : CIS72540,215

Requests for info:      Computer Consumer Consultants

          Conley Run Rd.

                              Valley Head, WV 26294

                                 304-339-2172