Book Image

User Training for Busy Programmers

By : William Rice, William Rice
Book Image

User Training for Busy Programmers

By: William Rice, William Rice

Overview of this book

If you need to write a successful software training course and are unsure of how to start, then this book gets right to the point with clear, concise directions for developing an end-user software course. This step-by-step job aid walks you through the process of developing a successful, instructor-led software class. There are many good books on training theory. This book takes a more practical, condensed approach for when you don't have time to learn training theory. It is based on fifteen years of technical writing and training experience. In under 100 pages, the book guides you through the process of developing an end-user software course using a method that is tested, proven, and based upon sound instructional theory.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

Write the Directions


At this point, you will write directions for each of the exercises. This requires you to use the same software that your clients will use in class, log into it with the same privileges, and start with the same data files. You then step through the detailed description for each exercise, in order. You will write each step as you complete it.

Save a Version of the Data after Each Exercise

If you are developing end-user training, the exercises are progressive, and build upon each other. That is, the output of the exercise for Unit 1 will be the input for the exercise in Unit 2. If you’re developing training for a toolkit instead of an end-user application, you might make each exercise stand on its own. Since end-user training is more common, we’ll proceed from that assumption.

Save a version of the data after each exercise while writing the exercises. For example, suppose your database is called customer.db. After you develop Exercise 1, you would:

  1. 1. Save customer.db

  2. 2. Make...