Training Options (Part 3 of 4), Hibernate Courseware and ASP.NET Courseware, Managing in Turbulent Times (Part 2 of 2), Top Selling Courseware

Training Options (Part 3 of 4), Hibernate Courseware and ASP.NET Courseware, Managing in Turbulent Times (Part 2 of 2), Top Selling Courseware

Here's our final issue for 2008. In this issue, we have:

• An article on Training Options for the IT Professional: Sorting Choices and Weighing Best Options (Part 3 of 4)
• Hibernate Courseware and ASP.NET Courseware
• Managing in Turbulent Times (Part 2 of 2)
• Top Selling Java Courseware and .NET Courseware

Best Wishes as You Finish 2008,
Dan McCabe
Director of Training Sales
Intertech

Training Options for the IT Professional: Sorting Choices and Weighing Best Options

This article is the third in a four part series

Companies also appreciate the opportunity for employees to perform multiple tasks during training. Even if students are not working while in class, they are not far removed from the office setting giving them the opportunity to keep in touch with the office and participate in unforeseen needs more readily in virtual training. This can also be a distraction.

Sometimes, virtual training attracts more students since the offering can be made to everyone in the company. And many administrators/training managers report that virtual training is less of a logistical hassle. They perceive that they have less work to do to coordinate for a classroom, such as setting up systems, arranging for student or instructor travel and generally managing a regular training “event.”

Separating Hype from Reality
Many times, however, the perceived benefits of virtual training are less tangible in reality. While administrators and training managers believe there is less work to do with virtual training, in reality students and organizations frequently are unable to manage system setups that allow employees to actively engage in virtual training labs. The reality is that the majority of employees are not self-directed learners.

To be successful, virtual training requires different execution than standard, instructor-led training. According to the WebNet Journal, “a key reason for the under-performing of many distance learning programs is because they are modeled too closely on the traditional classroom courses.”

Other challenges with virtual learning include the casual environment and inherent anonymity, which frequently results in students behaving in less courteous ways that distracts from learning. Examples include “students” participating in a group meeting during training, open complaints and disagreements with instructors and other students, dogs barking and children crying in the background.

Moreover, virtual training can lack interactivity that is required to keep the attention of virtual classroom students. A Forrester Research study on virtual training found that “more than half of the people enrolled in e-learning programs in general failed to complete them because of „lack of interactivity.‟”

In addition, many virtual training courses include too much content on the assumption that students will work on learning the material in their own time – in addition to the time spent “in class.” Again, reality is often a different story for time-pressed IT professionals who are busy juggling heavy professional and personal commitments. As a corollary to the “too much content” issue, training that seeks to teach many of the foundational technologies with poor content and in too short of time compounds the issues described here and result in poor return on the training investment.

Perhaps this is why a Learning Tree study of e-learning drop out rates found that “in a multi-part, 25-hour-e-track, 72 percent completed the first three-our course, but only 52 percent completed two courses, and just 19 percent (not even a fifth) completed the full 25 hours. Participants cited „distractions, interruptions and conflicting priorities‟ as main reasons for the poor results.”





Hibernate Courseware | ASP.NET Courseware

Hibernate Courseware

Hibernate has been described as the “open source darling ” that is gaining in popularity to solve Java object persistence in many applications. What is persistence or object persistence? Why is persisting objects so difficult and why would a technology like Hibernate help? In this chapter, these questions are addressed along with the general topic of object relational mapping. Whole companies have been built around solving the object relational mapping problem. From caching to associations to HQL, this course offers comprehensive coverage of Hibernate.


ASP.NET Courseware

With the release of .NET 2.0, ASP.NET has received numerous enhancements (and a few breaking changes). Intertech's Complete ASP.NET 2.0 provides in-depth coverage of ASP.NET 2.0 for both C# 2005 and Visual Basic 2005 developers. The course begins by examining the core programming models (single file and code file) used to build *.aspx pages, the role of web controls, server side event handling and how to make use of both IIS and the new development web server (webdev.webserver.exe) to host web content. After covering the basics, attendees will come to understand the internal composition of the Page type and the details of building custom user controls and custom web controls. As well, we will examine the issue of state management under ASP.NET (out-of-proc sessions, built-in caching features, etc) the role of Web.config files and the new ASP.NET Web Configuration applet. The class also examines the new site map provider (and the related navigation controls), master pages and the role of themes and *.skin files. As well, the ADO.NET 2.0 enhanced databinding engine wil be examined in detail. Here, attendees will know the role of 'declarative' ADO.NET, connection string management, data source components and the new GridView web control. Attendees will also examine a number of additional ASP.NET 2.0 technologies such as the profile management API, the personalization infrastructure (including an introduction to web-parts technology), the membership API and each of the new security controls. Finally, the relationship between IIS and ASP.NET will be exposed to present a clear understanding of the entire request processing pipeline. Here, attendees wil learn when and how to use HttpHandlers, HttpModules, and HttpApplications to extend the request processing pipeline to meet your own application's requirements. The class materials also include several appendixes which will be covered if time permits (or per client request). Throughout the course you will complete several practical hands-on exercises that demonstrate how to apply ASP.NET technologies in the real world. Lab solutions are provided in both C# 2005 and Visual Basic 2005.

ASP.NET Courseware Information...

Business basics for difficult times: Don’t ignore key principles

This is the second of a two part series.

2. Keep Your Eyes on the Ball. Why did it seem that the economic freefall started almost out of nowhere? Why was the government surprised when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made his desperate plea for an unprecedented governmental bailout? It’s my theory that too many people were intoxicated with the dazzling amounts of money being made in the economic run-up and that no one was paying attention to key economic indicators that would have told them — many months in advance — that the economy’s foundation was getting weaker.

At my company, for example, we know that if, three months out, at least 70 percent of our staff is allotted to client work we’re going to have a strong quarter. We watch staff allotment percentage and if the number starts slipping downward we ramp up our sales efforts before the negative trend gets a chance to take hold.

It’s a lot harder to fix a problem after it actually occurs because you have fewer options when you’re in survival mode. Make tough choices before things get bad, like letting some people go or stopping an expansion project. Your prudence today may mean you’ll be in the position to pick up the bargains when competitors are fighting just to stay in business tomorrow.

3. Communication is Key. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, but if some brave soul could have sounded a warning bell a year ago, today’s recession might have been a mere economic bump in the road. Communication is vital — in good times and, perhaps even more importantly, in bad times. I’ve found in my business that it’s impossible to overcommunicate, which means listening to others as well as sharing information myself.

4. A Fish Rots from the Head Down. As business leaders, it’s our job to take responsibility for problems and to do something about them, from keeping everyone focused on the firm’s core values and yearly priorities to remaining calm and solution-focused. In times like these, adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it.



.NET Courseware and Java Courseware Top Titles

The top-selling courses purchased by training firms throughout North America and Europe.


.NET Courseware
1. C# Courseware
2. WPF Courseware
3. VB.NET Courseware
4. WPF Courseware
5. Silverlight Courseware



Java Courseware
1. JSP Courseware
2. Java Courseware
3. Java Web Services Courseware
4. iBATIS Courseware using RAD
5. iBATIS Courseware using Eclipse





www.IntertechCourseware.com info@intertech.com 800-866-9884 +23