The Blog

Not the Happiest of Campers

I recently finished an on-line class from another company and I have to tell you, I wasn't impressed. No, it wasn't a quality related class. That wouldn't be considered ethical or unbiased. However, it was management related and offered by a big name company.

The course was okay. I can't and wouldn't say I didn't learn anything. If that had been the case, I would have requested a refund. I have a personal test I use for courses and seminars. I call it the "aha'' test. If I don't get two or three "aha"s at least, I pretty much feel I've wasted my time.

Who was the author of the course?

I had the feeling the course was developed and written by an academic. I felt like I was back in high school and reading a class textbook. Now, if that turns you on drop me an email and I'll give you their website URL. To send me an email click here. I've had 40+ years in business and can tell when a person has worked with the subject in the real world. Or, was simply instructed in how to give the course and then couldn't relate any real life situations or examples to the course materials. The course outline didn't say who the author was.

So, that’s my first tip: Find out who wrote the course. Our trainers develop all of our courses in-house.

Cost and payment

The only payment option for their course was by credit card. Many companies don't have credit cards for some their people and some only allow credit card charges for travel expenses. Some people don't own a credit card. I get the “evil eye” look from my wife when I use a credit card. It doesn't seem right to deny someone the opportunity to expand their knowledge and opportunities because they don't have a credit card. Of course, I used a credit card and suffered the look.

Second tip: A customer focused course provider should have optional payment methods. We offer options for checks, purchase orders and credit cards. We are working on debit card acceptance for the near future.

Course book and exams

The course "study guide", their phrase, and exams were all online. I expected that since it was an online class. The end of each section of the guide there was an exam/quiz. When I answered a question incorrectly, I couldn't go back and check the study guide to see what it said.

There wasn't an option to print the pages, either. I don't know how you feel but if I get something wrong, I want to know why. What is it I didn't understand or missed in the study guide? Now I know what you’re thinking, "He could have printed the guide from my browser's print function." And, that's true; however, they obviously didn't want people to do that because there wasn't a print option offered on the screen-shots of the guide or exams. Therefore, I didn't do it.

I wanted a transcript of the exams and my answers to review. I emailed the course provider four times and called once asking for the transcript. The phone call was answered by voice mail. I've never received a response or an acknowledgement of my requests.

Third tip: You should be able to print or download the course materials. After all, you paid for them. When you enroll in our e-Classes, you get the course book and exams emailed to you. You can print the book. You can keep a copy on your notebook computer and your desktop. Or, put a copy on your work computer and one on your home computer.

All I ask is that you don't give a copy to anyone or put the course materials on your company's network for everyone to use. I make my living from these courses so it would be nice if each person actually enrolled and paid. It's the honor system. Of course, if we find out its being abused we'll put it all on the web site like everyone else. I believe the greatest majority of people are honest. Don't make me lose my faith!

Knowledge retention

Retention is another problem. I read somewhere (see what I mean about retention) a person retains about 75% of learned material for 3 - 4 days. If the learning isn't put into immediate action at the end of 1 week, that retention drops to 50%, after 2 weeks to 25 % or less. I wish I could have had a printed copy of the study guide to refer to when I want it. Instead, I had to lay out some additional cash to buy a couple of books from Amazon® that were similar but not exact. I forget stuff. I need reference materials. Bless you if you have a photographic memory.:-)

Fourth: Same as third tip.

Course up-to-date

The other thing to look for is how current are the course materials. This email from one of our recent E-Class students:

"I need to know if your ISO 14001 Introduction E-Class is for the 2004 revision. I'm asking because I just requested a refund from another online company because the course was based on the 1996 revision. I don't understand why they would continue to have a course about a 3-year-old expired standard. Thank you, T. Roberts"

Fifth tip: Oh! Come on. It's way obvious. :-) Our courses are current with the applicable standard. If a course becomes obsolete, it is removed from our e-Class list. It will return to the web site after updating, proofreading and testing.

e-Classes

It makes absolutely no difference how many or how famous the companies' names are they list as customers. I have had people from Fortune 50 companies in my classes. That doesn't mean the famous named company endorses the courses or the provider.

It simply means someone who worked at the company took the course. I have had people from Alcoa, General Motors, Honda, Ford, General Electric, Matsushita, Dana, and Paragon Medical and on and on and on.

What does matter is what the people say that attended the class or took the e-Class.

I decided there had to be a better way to deliver online training. I mentioned earlier in tip # 3 that my method uses the honor system. That may turn out to be its downfall. I sincerely hope not because the e-Class method is a much better way to deliver courses to you.

Study anytime, anywhere you want. You don't need to be at a computer. Use the exams to reinforce the information in the course book. When you’re ready - complete the exam and email it to us. We'll score it and send it back to you.

Ten reasons why e-Classes and online learning are the way to increase your knowledge and paycheck.

Currently available e-Classes

The on-line classes currently available include Six Sigma Green Belt Certification, Six Sigma Black Belt Certification, Six Sigma Introduction and Overview, Introduction to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 Understanding and Implementing and Auditing to ISO 9001.

Coming soon

I'll be adding these classes as fast as humanly possible:

• Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
• ISO 14001 Management Overview (executive summary)
• ISO 14001 Orientation and Awareness (all employees)
• ISO 14001 Internal Auditing
• ISO 9001 Internal Auditing
• ISO/TS 16949 Internal Auditing
• ISO 13485 Internal Auditing

I can't promise a date when each one will be available. I'll try a get them up and running as quickly as possible. If you would like to have a specific course available before the others, let me know and I'll tell you where it is in the schedule.

Nothing to lose

My online training classes are terrific. You study when and where you want. You will have the course materials available anytime and anywhere you choose. I'm going to send the course e-book to you to keep. Take up to 3 months to complete the course.  Here's what some other students have to say.

Keep a copy of the e-book on your computer at work and at home. You can print the book if you want. The only thing I ask from you is you don't allow others to have a copy or to place the course e-book on your company's network. I give discounts if three or more people sign-up at the same time for the same course. Contact me

Personal coaching

The online courses deliver the knowledge and information needed for you to quickly get-up and running. All of the online classes come with personal coaching, if you want. No one else offers this benefit with their online training.

In-plant training

We can present the training classes in-plant. We can provide pre and post testing. Contact me and tell me what you need. We promise to answer your questions and help you with your training and consulting needs.  If we can't, we will help you find someone that can.