Software Testing e-learning

One of the best ways to stretch your training dollars - whether you are paying for training personally or from corporate accounts - is to consider e-learning.

Not only does e-learning cost less than live public or in-house training, it is a great solution for people who don't have the time to devote 7 or 8 hours (or 2 - 5 days) for training.

Studies have shown that e-learning is just as effective in getting the information across as live training. I think it may be even more effective because you can repeat material as needed. You can't do that in a live class.

It's also a great way to make sure everyone gets the same training no matter where they live.

And...for those training managers concerned about any trainer behavior (jokes, comments, etc.), e-learning is safe. No profanity, no inappropriate remarks, etc.

I have found that the key for effective e-learning is to interact with the instructor. That's why I offer teleconference sessions for my e-learning participants. You get the chance to ask questions and interact with me. Of course, I am always reachable by e-mail and try my best to answer questions by phone.

These are just a few of the benefits of e-learning. If you want to learn more about my e-learning courses (I have 13 of them now, including an ISTQB foundation level course), just visit http://www.riceconsulting.com/training/e-learning.htm.

To experience free demos of any of my courses, just visit http://www.softwaretestingtrainingonline.com/moodle and select the demo section. You can login as a guest.

To buy a course, just visit www.mysoftwaretesting.com. We have a sale on right now!

COTS Testing Course is Now Online

I'm excited to announce the launch of my 14th e-learning course, Testing Commercial Off-the-shelf (COTS) Applications. This online course gives you the approaches you need to test commercial software. Many organizations, especially government, have been building systems comprised of commercial software. However, problems arise when people try to integrate the products to work together. Many people work under the misconception that all you have to do is buy the software, install it, maybe configure a few things and then start using it. Unfortunately, the truth is that there are a lot of things the vendors can't test. This course will lead you through a process of testing COTS products all the way from selection through maintenance.

To see a free demo of this course, just visit http://softwaretestingtrainingonline.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=45. To buy a registration, go to https://www.mysoftwaretesting.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=COTS101.

To see all the details about my e-learning courses and how they can help you build your skills on your own schedule, visit http://www.riceconsulting.com/training/e-learning.htm.

Thanks!

Making Software Testing Training Green

It's tough sometimes to break out of a mold. That's where we seem to be where training is concerned. Traditional classroom testing has the opportunity to be engaging, but too often it isn't. You have to work at it.

So when I start talking about e-learning, people get concerned about the interaction aspects. And interaction is important! It can be achieved with e-learning.

There are other considerations, such as environmental concerns. With e-learning:

• You eliminate travel, therefore reducing fuel used in airplanes and cars


• You eliminate the big books, therefore reducing the amount of trees used for paper


• You reduce or eliminate the need for a physical facility to heat or cool for a class of 15 or more peopleBut even above the environmental impact, you can save big money and get training that is just as effective as live training!

Then, there are time and cost concerns. E-learning can be scaled up much faster and broader that live on-site training. For example, with my e-learning courses, it is possible to train you entire worldwide test organization in one week for a small fraction of live in-person training.

I like the time-shifted approach. In fact, I believe on-demand content is essential to make e-learning effective. It's just too difficult to co-ordinate everyone's schedule to be connected at the same time. Plus, you eliminate many of the concurreny and performance issues of having many people accessing the same content at the same time. (On the launch of Oprah's new online training event with author Eckhart Tolle, author of "The New Earth", 500,000 people tried to access the event. "Tried" is the key word.)

While you won't have this type of load, you can still have problems with load.

My entire attitude toward training changed after 9/11. It was tough for anyone in the training business for some time because so many people were on travel restrictions. Many conferences were cancelled.

If fuel costs continue to soar, travel costs will also rise. E-learning just makes sense on a variety of levels.

If you want to learn more, check out my e-learning offerings in software testing, IEEE standards and user requiremnts here.

Speaking of green, here is my favorite fishing spot.
It is Bear Lake, close to Cuchara, Colorado.

That's why I say that a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work!