COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING BENEFITS

CBT has many positive features and effects, many of which are particularly important to small and mid-sized companies.

CBT is cost effective:

• While customized computer-based training programs can be very expensive, off-the shelf and "customizable" programs can run as little as $20 to $100, and enrolling employees in computer-based learning labs may cost only $30 to $50 per credit hour.
• After initial costs, you have a 24 hour per day trainer. Using CBT, a trainer can teach any number of trainees at the same time. By customizing CBT programs to focus only on what trainees need to learn, training time and costs can be significantly reduced.
• Because CBT may enable you to reduce or eliminate travel for trainees, your total training costs can also be lessened.

CBT works with an adult population:

• The trainee feels in control.
• The computer is non-judgmental and non-threatening. It provides a privacy factor that reduces learners' embarrassment about taking "remedial" classes or making mistakes while answering questions in the training materials.
• The computer actively engages the trainee in the training process, providing increased trainee satisfaction.

CBT is self-paced, flexible, and individualized:

• Trainees work at their own pace.
• CBT can sequence training to match the trainee's needs. The computer can always match the trainee's schedule. CBT can reach trainees outside the traditional classroom, providing instruction on the job or at home.
• CBT provides immediate feedback to trainees on their progress. CBT does not have to be delivered to all employees at the same time, thus allowing the company to maintain coverage of critical positions.

CBT is tireless:

• It never needs a break.
• It is always there.
• It can train greater numbers of students in a given time frame compared to other methods.
• It meets the need for round-the-clock (continuous) training.

CBT gives trainers increased control over training activities:

• It provides management systems for tracking trainees' progress and location.
• It provides on-line testing to match a trainee with needed training. It provides consistency of training in terms of quality and information presented.
• It provides standardization of training when training occurs in several work locations simultaneously.

CBT can reduce resource requirements:

• You can have a higher trainee-to-trainer ratio, where the instructor serves as facilitator, assisting trainees as needed.
• There is less need for a centralized training facility. Facilitators can serve more than one company with a CBT program, lessening the investment each company would have to make.

CBT can improve job performance:

• It trains people in specific skills for specific performance.
• It trains people in general skills that broadly affect general performance.
• It provides increased access to information tools for decision making.

CBT can be a change agent:

• CBT may be the catalyst for a paradigm shift to new training approaches within an organization. Companies might begin to look beyond traditional classroom instruction to meet their training needs.
• CBT can provide computer literacy skills to employees, resulting in improved personal and organizational productivity.

Computer-based training is not, however, the answer to every training need. It is more appropriate -- effective and cost efficient -- in some situations than others. The material in this guide will help you determine when it can effectively meet your training needs.

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Questions? Contact Brett Bixler.