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To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Wireless Networking Handbook
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Jim Geier
ISBN: 156205631x
Publication Date: 09/01/96
The following describes each of the training elements you need to create:
- Lessons. Lessons describe what the instructor should teach. Each lesson should correspond to the first or second level of the course outline. Like a chapter of a book, lessons should contain related items. There should be a combination of lessons comprising each course that consists of the following:
- Lesson overview identifying learning objectives.
- Concepts and procedures the instructor should explain and demonstrate.
- Expected level of skill the students should acquire.
- Method of instruction.
The method of instruction should be one or more of the following:
Lecture. A lecture is primarily a one-way information flow from the instructor to the students and is efficient for conveying information to large groups. Lectures are quite familiarit is the primary form of instruction from elementary school through college. Lecture is the most common form of instruction. If used alone, however, it is the least effective.
Discussion. Discussion is a uniform information flow among students and the instructor. A well-managed discussion within the classroom is good for exchanging ideas among a small group, especially if some students have experience in the subject area. Incorporate discussions in the course, if possible, to add variety.
Exercises. In doing exercises, the student actually uses the application or performs some procedure. Generally, the instructor should give some background and demonstrate the procedure before having the students perform the exercise. Exercises are the most effective form of learning in a classroom. People always retain more information if they perform as they learn.
TIP:
Be sure to utilize a good balance of instruction types throughout the course. A lecture-only course will generally put students to sleep. Add some discussions and exercises to liven things up.
- Exercises. As previously mentioned, exercises add much value to training courses. When developing exercises, be sure to tie them to learning objectives and write clear instructions for students to follow. It is always a good idea for the course developer to have someone practice the exercises before administering them to the students.
- Visual Aids. Visual aids are items students see that enhance the delivery of the course. Examples of visual aids include transparencies, 35mm slides, pictures, screen shots, and videotapes. People will grasp concepts much easier by observing good visual aids (a picture is worth a thousand words). For transparencies, use concise bullet statements (preferably five words or less each), avoid more than four or five bullets per slide, and use a font style and size that is easy to read when projected on the screen. The use of different colors and graphics can enhance the charts, but be careful of overdoing it.
- Precourse Materials. If you need to compress the length of the courses, consider the use of precourse materials, such as articles or books the students should read before attending the course.
- Instructor Guide. An instructor guide explains how to teach a particular course. This is especially useful if the instructors are people who were not involved in the course development. You can create an instructor guide by clearly describing the lessons in a standard format. Figure 9.2 identifies the main elements of an instructor guide.
Figure 9.2 The main elements of an instructor guide.
- Student course books. Student course books should include useful items the students need during class or reference material they can use after attending the course. The books should contain background information, procedures, exercises, glossary, and a place for all handouts.
- Initial pilot offering. A pilot offering of a newly developed course is good to smooth out wrinkles. The pilot offering is also a good time to introduce the course to future instructors. Be sure to include enough time after the pilot offering to make necessary course modifications before offering the course again.
System Administration
If the system you are deploying consists of a network operating system or applications requiring system administration, you need to assign someone to be the system administrator. For smaller implementations (less than 30 users), this person could act part-time as the administrator and perform other tasks as well. Larger networks usually require a full-time administrator. In either case, be certain the administrator either has experience in the applicable systems or that he will be fully trained.
After you have identified a system administrator, prepare to incorporate the new system by doing the following:
- 1. Assign user names and passwords.
- 2. Assign access rights.
- 3. Plan directory structures.
Assigning User Names and Passwords
You should identify who the initial users of the network will be and determine their account names and initial passwords. You can obtain the names of users from the definition of requirements or by obtaining employee listings from human resources. Be sure to standardize user account names to increase efficiency in assigning user names. This simplifies the association between the user name and the actual user. For instance, establish user names with first and second initials followed by the last name. If two users have similar names, one of the user names could be followed by a number.
For example:
- John C. Jones becomes JCJONES
- Jack A. Roberts becomes JAROBERTS
- Julie A. Roberts becomes JAROBERTS2
- Santa Claus becomes SCLAUS
Assign an initial password to each user (such as their user name) and then insist the users change the password immediately after logging in to the system for the first time. The length and format of passwords should satisfy all security requirements and applicable regulations and policies. Typically, the length of the password should be at least six characters long, and the format ought to consist of alphanumeric characters. The system administrator should make certain users change their password periodically to avoid compromising password security.
Also think about associating sets of related users as groups. All users within Accounting, for example, could be given the group name ACCOUNT. This makes it easier to assign common rights to particular departments.
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