Re: Education vs manuals

The problem with training courses is that you usually come off the course knowing how to do what was taught, not what you need to do.

I find the best way is to acquire the software, and then devise and implement a set of scenarios related to what you want to do (and your role).

On courses, I've commonly found the tutor is a professional trainer rather than e.g. Oracle expert with all the advantages and disadvantages that implies.

The big disadvantage of the approach I use is that it takes self-discipline to do and it requires time away from day-to-day activities that your employer may be reluctant to provide.

Daniel A. Morgan <damorgan_at_exesolutions.com> wrote in message news:3C4713F1.DA891268_at_exesolutions.com...
> As I teach Oracle at a university I can tell you what my experience is
> with my students ... basically those that already have the basics learn
> well from books and CBT. Those that are trying to get an initial
> understanding learn better from classes. But to a great extent ... it
> depends on the individual. The problem with books and CBT ... is that you
> can't ask for clarifications or restatements.
>
> Daniel Morgan
>
>
> John Russell wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 17 Jan 2002 16:27:39 -0000, "George Barbour"
> > <gbarbour_at_csc.com> wrote:
> > >Oracle is a good and essential product.
> > ...
> > >It has a very large and successful education and training arm.
> >
> > Yes, that's an interesting division, with sharp people spread all over
> > the world.
> >
> > I'm curious how the cost/benefit analysis works for enrolling in a
> > course or purchasing an online training product as opposed to
> > purchasing a manual. What are the advantages people find that make
> > the extra cost worthwhile? Some possibilities I can imagine are:
> >
> > - Availability of pre-tested systems to work through exercises.
> > - Tutorial (step-by-step) nature of material.
> > - Access to instructor to answer questions.
> > - Better focus or completeness of code examples.
> >
> > I'm also curious about the differences in purchasing and
> > authorization:
> >
> > - Are course enrollments usually funnelled through a company's
> > education coordinator, while manuals are purchased by individual
> > employees?
> > - Is it easier to sign up for a course because that money comes from
> > an education budget, while the cost of a manual might come out of a
> > department's budget?
> > - Is it standard practice to run everyone in a department through the
> > same CD-based self-study course, while a manual on the same topic sits
> > on one person's bookshelf?
> >
> > John
> > --
> > Got an Oracle database question?
> > Try the search engine for the database docs at:
> > http://tahiti.oracle.com/
>
Received on Fri Jan 18 2002 - 15:17:00 CST