By Dennis Fox


All successful companies make sure that their employees are highly skilled and similarly, all successful people know that they need to learn new skills and sharpen their existing ones all the time. Skills are acquired by means of training and that is why most large corporations spend a lot of money on training programs. Training needs to be relevant, however and it must satisfy the current and future needs of both the student and the employer. With a competent developer instructional design curriculum this can be achieved.

Designing curricula and courses is a highly skilled profession. Far too much money is spent on training that is of no use to the student or his employer. Course designers can make sure that the needs of companies and their employees are fully satisfied in custom designed training courses. They employ the principles of educational technology in order to maintain a scientific approach to the process.

Courses need to be designed with full cognizance of all the factors that will have an influence on the eventual training. This may include restrictions such as the budget for presenting the course and the maximum length of time students can be freed for training, for example. Other factors such as the availability of technological aids and facilities also need to be kept in mind. These factors form a framework within which the course is designed.

The next step is to conduct a target group analysis. There are many decisions to be made when design a course and there are many issues involved. Making these decisions can only be done if the exact nature of the target group for who the course is intended is known. Their ages, geographic spread, previous experience, qualifications and numerous other factors will have a decided influence on the course.

Performing a training needs analysis is arguably the most important step when designing a course. It is vital to determine both the immediate and the future needs of the company in terms of skills development. Course designers use a combination of techniques in order to come up with a list of skills and knowledge that should be covered by the intended course.

The next step is to refine the course content into measurable objectives. Training objectives need to be exact and they must specify what exactly it is that the student must learn or master, to which standard it must be done and the time limit within it must be done. This is the only way in which students can assess their own progress and in which those delivering the course can know what it is that they must teach.

Evaluation forms an important part of any course. Students, instructors or other delivery systems and the course itself need to be subjected to evaluation. It is the only way in which to make sure that they course have been successful and whether changes need to be made. When training, certain outcomes are expected and the only way in which to determine whether those outcomes have been achieved is through evaluation.

There can be absolutely no doubt that money spent on training is a good investment. This is only true, however, if the training is relevant and if it satisfies the needs of both the student and the employer. This is where professional course designers can play a very important role.




About the Author:



Axact

Money Making

I am passionate about educating university students about money and careers, and have been doing so since 2007. I see the same confusion and mistakes being replicated every year. The way I help is through Save the Student. I'm always on the look out for new contributors, so get in touch if you're wanting to get involved! Aside from the site, my main interests are travelling, writing, photography, webdesign, sailing, football and cycling.

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