Planning for Training

"I would not start from here" is a quirky Irish response to requests for directions. In many ways it applies to education as well. Often I find students hoping to improve their skills dramatically with an education. While going to a destination may prove easy enough, of course, steps or instructions to take and where you start from will affect how complicated these directions.

Like everything else get to where we want to be a building block, we can use to step up to the next level. Just as beginners in a new language begin with simple structure that they can build expressions around is education based on how much of the "language" you already know. So before embarking on any training there are a few things to consider.

Know where you are.

It is perhaps a little obvious, but it dictates everything else. We tend not to be too good for the most part because it is often difficult to be objective. Moreover, students often attempt to reassure themselves that they have a reasonable amount of knowledge on the subject. You may also find that you do not know what it is you do not know, and it is very useful to consider this before you take any training.

Be realistic about your expectations.

What do you want to influence what you can learn. If this is the first time you are learning about a new topic, you can expect that it is a bit slower while you are trying to understand the ideas and language. Do not be influenced by promises of instant success. Learning is strongly influenced by lots and lots of repetition and of course time.

Take a very close look at what you really need to learn.

Often what users have to learn can be dictated by employment needs. The language of this are usually pretty vague. When you go to research, a huge list of search items as you find just adds to the feeling that you need to learn everything. While this may be true over a longer period, a closer scrutiny of the results will reveal a lot of repetitions and links to other sites with the same information.

For most ordinary users much of what they really need to learn is the number of common tasks they are expected to perform. More specialized tasks can be solved by a special education and research.

Ultimately, several users think about their own needs and knowledge the easier it is for a trainer to prepare courses that best suits them.