Already offering classes in Fortran, Java and Pascal, Warwick’s Training Resource Group will soon expand its course offerings to include another language – Spanish. Classes will feature Spanish-speaking instructors and manuals written in Spanish for computer programs executed in English.
”We’re going to be offering classes to the Spanish-speaking community,” said Susan Sullivan, owner of Training Resource Group (TRG). “And as far as I know, there are no other training companies in the area who do this.”
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Sullivan opened TRG in Warwick in September 1999 after four years of coordinating computer training for area businesses out of her home.
Why Warwick?
”Warwick is centrally located in the state, because as we all know, people in Rhode Island don’t like to travel too far,” laughed Sullivan.
The Sun training center in Burlington, Massachusetts is otherwise the closest authorized Sun training facility to Rhode Island; TRG is a satellite of that office, Sullivan said.
TRG’s clientele includes interested individuals and corporate groups seeking instruction in office applications as well as certifications in Solaris System Administration and Sun Authorized Java Programming. Sun Microsystems developed Java, which is widely used in programming on the World Wide Web.
An entire room at TRG – with 12 Sparc stations – is dedicated to Sun training. TRG has worked with area organizations including Fleet, Citizens Bank and Brown University to train Solaris system administrators and programmers.
It is TRG’s classes in end-user applications that see the most participants, however; word processing and other office applications have proved the most popular.
”I would say that Intro to PCs would be the most requested,” said Sullivan.
Computers are quickly making their presence in the workplace felt, but not everyone welcomes the changes that come along with it.
”I still see tons of people who are afraid,” Sullivan said. “They don’t own a computer or have just gotten one and they’re not comfortable yet.”
Overcoming a new computer user’s initial apprehension is something Sullivan feels is most effectively dealt with in a group setting.
”Adult learners are different than children,” she said. “In a class, you’re exposed to people with different questions. I think classroom training is much more beneficial than computer-based training, all by yourself.”
”People are afraid because they’ve put some information [into the computer] and lost it – but only because they didn’t save it,” Sullivan said. “Once they come into the classroom, they realize they don’t have to be intimidated. If they hit the wrong button, nothing is going to happen that’s not fixable.”
With only one permanent full time employee (Sullivan’s assistant), TRG hires trainers to teach classes on an as-needed basis.
Sullivan credits computer technology with redefining the workplace – quickly.
”A lot of people didn’t even have e-mail four years ago,” she said. “The Internet has changed the way we think, do business, everything.”
According to Sullivan, the revolution is just beginning.
”E-commerce is in its infancy,” she said. “A lot of people buy computers thinking they’re just going to surf the Internet. Eventually, they get bored and decide to learn how to really use them. Computers can be used for budgeting, record keeping, accounting. That’s what we’re trying to teach them.”
Not only is Sullivan educating people to cope with the demands of e-commerce, she’s participating in it.
”People can go to our Web site and register for any class,” she said.
After only five years in business, already Sullivan can see changes in the male-dominated world of computer technology.
”I’m starting to see more women,” she said. “When I started, it was more males, and now there seem to be equal numbers of men and women.”
This summer, TRG plans to offer four to five StarOffice classes each week, and was recently designated as the area’s preferred vendor for instruction in that suite of programs.
”We want to continue building more Sun business,” Sullivan said. “We hope to be offering A+ soon.”
