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Technical Training – Face to face or on line?

I’m in Seattle for a couple of weeks to attend some technical training events.  Next week, I’m on a course to learn all of the ins and outs of the next release of Exchange 12 so that I can redeliver the sessions in the UK in a few months time.  This week however, I’m in downtown Seattle on an internal training course, a TechEd or IT Forum type event for internal staff.  It’s in Seattle so that as many as possible of the Executives can deliver  sessions and get direct feedback from the field and sales staff.  Anyone who couldn’t attend this set of training can receive the sessions streamed live via Live Meeting, so they can get the benefits of hearing the sessions without having to physically attend.  So this has started me thinking about whether face to face training is better in some ways than remote or online training.  I mean I wouldn’t have had to travel here, I could have received the training from the comfort of my desk or my office at home, and I’d have had the chance to hear all about the relevant technology that’s round the corner, and our roadmap plans for the next “wave” of products.  I could get all of the “hands on” experience I need from the virtual lab environment online. 

Well why should I actually attend then?  I believe that for me, these technical training seminars give me much more than just technical content.  I have the opportunity to meet and network with my peers, talk face to face with the presenters, or the product team, and spend time with other subject matter experts.  But if your budget is tight and your management can’t let you spend the time away from your work, would you like to receive this type of content using an online mechanism – a Virtual TechEd or IT Forum streamed to your desk.  Would it work?  Mail me  and let me know your thoughts.

 

Published Tuesday, January 10, 2006 11:00 PM by Eileen_Brown
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Comments

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 6:06 AM by Adam Field

# re: Technical Training – Face to face or on line?

Eileen

Much of this content is already provided by the TechNet events team and can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/events/listing.mspx

Most of these sessions are derived from ones delivered at TechEd, IT Forum, MMS and the like and are re-made into a format suitable for webcast delivery.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:27 AM by Mark

# re: Technical Training – Face to face or on line?

I agree with you that the interaction with peers and the ability to talk with the presenters after the formal talks is invaluable. Also, the opportunity to focus on the new information being presented without the outside distractions of either work or home drives the information home.
I have "attended" several online seminars and, without a doubt, they are valuable and certainly cost effective. However, I don't feel I get nearly as much out of them simply because I'm watching and listening with one eye and one ear toward the work phone and email. I guess if one could be in an isolated environment for the duration of the online seminar and have the opportunity to IM the presenter during and/or after, it might come close.
Thursday, January 12, 2006 4:37 AM by Philip Colmer

# re: Technical Training – Face to face or on line?

I am lucky enough to be able to attend TechEd and whilst I *could* get the same material through online means, I would really struggle to find the time to do so. Getting out of the office & attending TechEd or a training course means that my time is dedicated to that and not being distracted by work.
Thursday, January 12, 2006 5:25 PM by Nick Gillott

# re: Technical Training – Face to face or on line?

Thoughts FOR the idea of online

Faster:

No travelling time to venue which may be in a different country

Greatly reduced dead time (travelling, hotels etc)

Greatly reduced costs (travel, hotels, food, beer)

Greatly reduced time out of the office (increased productivity)

Ability to interact with luminaries (an E12 online training session could mean I see valuable input on subjects I’ve not thought about / been aware of from other MVPs)



Thoughts FOR the idea of face to face

Networking both in and out of classroom:

Someone waving, pointing and drawing pictures is worth a great deal and makes a huge difference to what is taken away from a training course

Non specific training / increase in knowledge of areas of interest

Networking ability out of hours

Just generally gets / feels more in depth with a read/write feeling where the online seems more read only



Purely from the point of view of my ability to get out of the office and especially the likelihood of budgetary approval, online would generally mean I get training, face to face generally means I would miss out. But all things being equal, face to face just works better for me.

That’s the view from London anyway.
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