Whether it means learning a word processing program or becoming Microsoft certified, computer training – with the current shift to e-commerce – is an integral part of today’s workplace. “People are being forced to learn computers because computers have taken over the business climate right now,” said Scott Darling, owner of Computer Learning Exchange. Darling’s Barrington company brokers out computer training to businesses both large and small.
“E-business has forced CEOs to get up to speed,” said Darling, adding that he has seen companies with senior business partners being mentored by computer experts young enough to be their children.
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Susan Sullivan is the owner of Training Resource Group in Warwick, which also provides computer instruction to individuals and groups, and is Rhode Island’s only Sun Microsystems training center.
“The Internet has actually changed people’s conversations,” said Sullivan. “Now, it’s the first research tool you go to, usually. It’s changed our language.”
These changes are forcing businesses – from tiny mom-and-pop operations to large corporations – to seek the training that will keep their employees current. Most workers are willing, but many can be fearful.
”Younger people – in their 20s, 30s – are much more involved and active,” Sullivan said. “It’s the middle-aged, fifty-ish group that is still afraid.”
However, that can change with exposure to equipment and to others who are also new computer users.
“Once they come into the classroom, they realize they don’t have to be intimidated,” Sullivan said. “If they hit the wrong button, nothing is going to happen that is not fixable.”
According to both Sullivan and Darling, office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint are the most popular requests when businesses ask for training. Darling stressed the importance of a customized training program.
“Training is more than teaching somebody to use a computer,” he said. “It’s customizing the training to fit whatever the person’s needs are. It could be someone who wants to learn a word processing program or a grandmother who wants to get on the Internet. The way you teach those people depends on age and experience.”
Some people require one-on-one sessions with a private instructor; most companies opt for a classroom setting.
Darling said he prefers a task-oriented class where everyone is an active participant.
“With adults it has to be hands on,” he said. “Adults learn differently than kids.”
Sullivan concurs.
“In a class, you’re exposed to people with different questions,” she said. “I think classroom training is much more beneficial than computer-based training, all by yourself.”
For the more advanced student, Bryant College offers programs in Microsoft Certification and Client/Server applications.
“We have a mix of individuals who are sent by their companies, or who come in on their own,” said Paul Dacey, program manager of the technology training programs within Bryant’s Executive Development Center.
Bryant provides training for official Microsoft examinations and is also a certified Microsoft testing center.
Dacey estimated that 35-40 percent of students enrolled in the programs are career changers, with the balance composed of individuals who are the computer “go-to” people at their companies or who are more heavily into the industry and are seeking to upgrade themselves.
“The people who are coming to us want to retain the marketability they have created already – they want to be tech-savvy,” Dacey said. “Many people who take one class enroll for other certifications to increase their marketability.”
The classes are taught not by Bryant faculty, but by IT professionals who work at the college on a contract basis.
“Because the program is cutting edge, the instructors need to be the same way,” Dacey said. “Our training programs must be adapted on a regular basis. We’re always upgrading things. It’s a cycle that’s unending.”
Dia Montville is the senior operations analyst in electronic banking at Fleet Bank in Providence. A graduate of Bryant’s accounting program, Montville recently returned to Bryant as a student in their Client/Server program.
“I was interested in Client/Server because at Fleet we use Access and Excel,” said Montville. “I wanted to take existing accounting software and create a tool that would enable me to create customized reports.”
Eventually, Montville hopes to open her own accounting business, but the class has helped her in her current position as well.
“The class also helped me to understand some of the tools we use here at Fleet,” she said.
A former file clerk who moved from data entry to accounting, Montville never had time to be scared of computers.
“I’ve never been intimidated by a computer – they’ve always been exciting to me,” she said.
Even so, at first Montville had reservations about Bryant’s Client/Server:
“When I took this class, I was intrigued by it, but felt intimidated by it – to me it was like a foreign language.”
Montville offered words of encouragement to people for whom computers represent the frightening unknown:
“You use computers all the time – ATM machines, calculators – you just don’t realize it. You know more than you think you do. You’d be surprised how much you already know.”
