ABIS Infor - 2015-03
Virtual Classroom: the best of both worlds?
Abstract
Over recent months RSM's Virtual Classroom Environment, delivering training over the web both in the UK and worldwide, has become increasingly popular. By looking at a couple of case studies of recent virtual course presentations this article hopes to discover the reasons why, and to share those reasons with customers who may have not considered this exciting way of accessing RSM's highly regarded instructor-led training.
Case study 1
A customer had two new joiners who needed to get up to speed as quickly as possible. The z/OS Foundation Skills - Boot Camp was selected as the best way to achieve this. However, as there were only the two people who needed it, the option of running it exclusively on-site wouldn't have been a cost-effective option. So how about the two people attending a public presentation of the course (RSM runs the course regularly at its High Wycombe training centre)? Even if the currently scheduled dates had been inconvenient, RSM's Dynamic Scheduling Option would allow a public course to be scheduled on dates of the customer's choice. Unfortunately these options failed as well - there was no budget for travel!
Solution
So we proposed delivering the training over the web, no travel expenses, no hotel expenses and the flexibility to choose dates. The Boot Camp went ahead and went very well. Result? Trained new joiners and a happy customer (and a happy accounts department!).
Case study 2
A customer had several small groups of people to train, not just in different offices and countries, but on different continents - the USA in North America, Panama in Central America and Brazil in South America!
Solution
Delivery over the web was the only viable option. To make it even better for the students, RSM arranged for the courses to be taught not at UK times, but at the students' local time.
So?
As these examples show, course presentation over the web is a very powerful, flexible and cost effective way to deliver training. Attending an RSM Virtual Classroom course has nearly all the benefits of physically attending a course. You still get a hard copy of the notes, you still get membership of the RSM Professional Portal, you still have hands-on exercises and you still get face-to-face interaction with an industry-expert trainer. The only thing we can't deliver over the web is coffee and biscuits!
Some of the subject areas that have been covered by virtual courses recently include:
- Parallel sysplex
- Mainframe Data Storage
- CICS
- IMS
- Networking
- RACF
- z/OS facilities
By using a combination of technologies we are able to replicate the classroom experience, resulting in effective and enjoyable training, with students spending no time or money on travel and not staying away from home. As well as offering the Virtual Classroom Environment (VCE) option to customers for exclusive, one-company courses, RSM currently schedules a variety of VCE courses publicly, allowing customers to book on them just as if they were a usual public course.
What do I need for a Virtual Classroom course?
The technical requirements are minimal:
• a PC with an Internet connection
• headphones with a microphone
• a webcam
that's it!
Want to know more?
To find out more call our partner ABIS at +32 (0)16-245610 or email training@abis.be, they will be happy to help.