Tech Bytes

As I have advanced through my career, I have seen jobs, the economy, and technology change. For businesses to continue to be competitive, their employees’ skills must grow and change. Technology offers many ways to improve employee skills. The traditional face to face training is still beneficial but can be greatly enhanced through multimedia presentations that incorporate all aspects of the job through video, animation, print, and hands on experiences. In addition to this type of training, emerging technologies have created more options for training. Businesses now have the option to include webcasts (can be produced, for example, once a month to share updates and new skills with employees), webinars (a web-based seminar with the key feature of allowing the presenter to interact with the participants), and instructional videos for specific skills. Learning modules are another great learning tool. With an objective or learning goal, a learning module can be designed. Modules include te...

As a technology professional, I find myself quite often researching the meaning of new technology terms. Like the technology itself, the vocabulary of technology is always changing. I remember when people started discussing Web 2.0. I had no idea what they were talking about. As I began to research the vocabulary I began to realize what a major impact Web 2.0 could have on training. Web 2.0 was introduced to technology vocabulary in 2004. I was so used to software versions that when I first heard the term, I thought it was something one must install to have access to. Boy was I wrong. Web 2.0 actually refers to technological improvements and changes to the web experience. Since 2004, there have been major changes to our web experiences. Web 2.0 technologies include: wikis, social networking, blogs, and web applications. Web 2.0 tools can be extremely beneficial to business. The tools can be used for sharing and gathering information, training employees, and public relations. Web 2.0 al...

In our Informational Society, we are presented with information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have access to the information but do we use the information to increase our knowledge? Albert Einstein is quoted as saying "Information is not knowledge". This is a true statement of our current society. We listen to the news, we read articles online, our smart phones give us instant access to the world, yet the information we have is extremely shallow. Society has lost the art of delving deeper into a topic and discovering the truth. As a teacher, my goal has not been to impart information to passive students but to lead students to find the answers to their questions. Society must recapture the art of finding true knowledge, to look underneath, not believe it because someone said it, but to actively search and find the truth for themselves.