Tutoring Services
|
|
The Problem with Pre-Scheduled 9-5 Training
As you read this, somewhere a corporate software engineer named Freda is minding her own business when she's suddenly tasked with modifying an existing program—or developing a new one—to add some critical new features—ASAP! Although she already learned the basics of the relevant programming language in an intensive public class some time back (for example, Perl Programming), she hasn't yet taken the next class in the series (Intermediate Perl Programming), which would have prepared her for this project.Now she's got a problem, because she can't wait a month for the next scheduled Intermediate Perl Programming class, given that her annual review is in 3 weeks and she's been urged to complete the new task well before then!
Fundamentally, Freda's problem is that
Manfred's in the same boat; he can't wait for that next public class either, because his weekly schedule of (lengthy!) telephone conferences is incompatible with a training schedule of consecutive 9am-5pm days—especially when the class is off-site!
How to get Your Training when You Want it! |
|
How is Tutoring Different?
Tutoring is different because it can be more highly personalized to the needs of the individual (or as many as three individuals with highly similar backgrounds and learning goals). Specifically, through this service we can provide any of our standard courses to one person (or more) on the chosen day, at the chosen time, at the chosen (job or home) location.So consider joining organizations such as VMware, IBM, the City of Seattle, International Paper, AT&T, Boeing, and Research in Motion in using our increasingly popular tutoring service!
How does Tutoring Work?
Generally, the Tutor (one of our regular expert instructors) presents the standard course material to the Student(s), the Student completes the standard set of lab exercises, and (if all goes well) the standard certificate documenting course completion is awarded.However, tutoring is a personalized service, so we look for ways to maximize its benefits to the Student. For example, the Tutor will spend less time on the topics that the Student grasps readily, to save more time for topics that turn out to be more challenging.
Other customizations can also be arranged, such as using actual data sets from the Student's own work projects in the lab exercises. This makes the training more practical by focusing it on the job-specific issues the Student will have to deal with. In many cases, the Student will leave the class armed with a functioning prototype of a custom software tool that has already been proven to work with the company's data structures!
Scheduling
We are flexible about scheduling, and willing to work with the Student's desires and constraints.A typical arrangement is for the Tutor and Student to meet for one 4-hour work session per day, followed by the Student spending a few hours doing the prescribed lab assignments, with occasional support from the Tutor as needed via email, phone, or webconference. Then the next Face-to-Face (or webcam-to-webcam) meeting would occur as mutually agreed.
For example, the tutoring sessions of a 3-day course designed for daytime hours at the student's work location might run from 8am-Noon on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with the Student doing the lab exercises on the afternoons of those days.
If the student prefers to have the training on weekend nights from home, the webconferencing sessions might run from 7pm-11pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the Student doing the lab exercises early on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Many other arrangements are possible, although we find that it's best to avoid gaps between sessions of longer than two days to ensure effective learning.
Pricing and Payment
We process the paperwork for tutoring services exactly as we do for a public class on the same topic and we charge the same standard fee. This makes our tutoring services compatible with normal corporate procedures for approval and payment of public training classes.However, for Face-to-Face classes outside our home base of Seattle WA, there is naturally an additional charge for the Tutor's travel and expenses.
Facility Requirements
Face-to-Face tutoring requires a reasonably private space where the Tutor and Student can meet together, and work without interruptions. A computer projector or a large monitor (to which the Tutor can hook his laptop) should be provided, along with a computer for the Student to use. Most corporate offices have rooms that can meet these requirements, but if necessary, we can furnish the necessary A/V and computer equipment.For webconferencing-based classes, all the student needs is a quiet office environment (at work or home) with a reliable Internet connection, and appropriate webconferencing software loaded on a computer (as specified by the instructor).
|
A former student says:
|
Chuck Orr, Call Routing Specialist, AT&T Wireless Services Attended: Perl Programming plus Modules |