High Anxiety: The Trainer's Changing Role

» achoden - Changing role

Is your role changing from classroom trainer to online course developer or facilitator?

If so, how did you make the transition? What advice would you give others who are in this situation?

Audrey

-- posted by achoden

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» jguitard - Re: Changing role

In response to message posted by achoden:

My role went the other way around. I started out as a CBT/multimedia course developer, then gradually shifted to classroom training. Now, I'm doing neither, and I am thinking about going back to courseware development.

The transition was easy. Instead of working on computer-based courses, I simply started working on "traditional" training documentation. Then I moved out of CBT development completely, and went to a job where I was in charge of training for large software system implementation. That was an easy change because I was computer-literate and had an instructional systems design background. I was also a bit of a "people person" so it was nice to get out from behind the computer and actually interact with people.

The hardest part of the transition was *not* teaching the course content for the software system (accounts payable, inventory control, purchasing, etc.) - it was trying to appear credible to the audience. Many people in the audience had done those functions for years, and then here I was teaching them how to do it differently. It was a very strange experience!

-- posted by jguitard

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» achoden - Re: Re: Changing role

In response to message posted by jguitard:

Thanks for joining the discussion.

When you say that you shifted to classroom training, did you mean development only or development and delivery? If you delivered the training, what did you do to prepare yourself for your role as a trainer/facilitator?

You mentioned the issue of credibility. Trainers have been struggling with that for a long time. Many have gained credibility by defining their role as a facilitator of learning rather than as a teacher. "I'm here to help you learn" makes more sense in this case (and is less threatening) than "I'm here to teach you how to do your job differently."

Audrey

-- posted by achoden

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