I am very pleased to be able to turn over today’s blog to one of our top applications instructors here at New Horizons of the Ohio Valley, Walter Riker. Walter is one of the most prolific bloggers that I have ever met and is one of the primary reasons that I started to blog (so now you know you who blame). Walter gives everyone an insight on what it is to be an instructor.
One of the difficult positions of a software or tech instructor is to know the future potential of what one can do with the software he/she is teaching and get that excitement over to the student. You have to know where the student is as well as have an idea of where they want to (or have to) go. You are a mentor/coach/teacher as well as analyst/psychologist and part entertainer.
One of the difficulties that I have is with the word “Trainer” is that a “Trainer” by definition teaches someone (or something) a “skill”, which says to do a repetitive event and learning it so well that one can do it without thinking and that is not the job that a software or tech instructor. We are not “trainers”, as I said we are teachers, instructors, mentors, coaches, but not “trainers’.
Training does not always bring in the concepts, theories, and potential applications so that the student can begin to visualize additional ways to put this tool to use or use it to solve problems.
Pavlov was a trainer - we are not that.
We present a tool that each person in the classroom could potentially use in a different way. Some are learning and are not sure of what they will be called on in the future to do with these tools. They need to learn basics however they also need to know where or what they could potentially use this for. We do not train people; you "train" horses, you train athletes’, we explain, show, and guide people on using a product in many different ways. By teaching we impart knowledge to somebody. We try to make the student understand something with the objective being that they can go back to their workspace and translate what they have learned into a useful application in their own environment with their own creative abilities.
When teaching Word I have students who are there to learn how to put a report together for the stockholders. I have students who are there to learn how to write a book, a business letter or a resume. Some need to know how to do a Table of Contents; others just need to know how format paragraphs. It is our job to expose them to all these things as it expands their knowledge for future possibilities.
One of the definitions of Teaching was; to bring understanding of something to somebody, especially through experience. I think that when people begin to understand something then they can apply that in many different ways. This is a very important part of the job.
One note: I said in the first paragraph that teachers/instructors are part entertainers. If the learning experience is not pleasant it may not succeed. You do not have to be a comedian but you have to be knowledgeable, pleasant (as in smiling) and open to questions. In other words you have to welcome people, not be afraid of them. Be positive, be enthusiastic, be concerned, be open, be there and be aware. Each class is different and our ability to adjust is important.
The Leader in Network Knowledge
