Christie Patterson is an accounting manager for a law firm. The accounting department is implementing a new system that will streamline their accounting functions, reduce the amount of time it takes to reimburse employees for their travel expenses and ensure that client billing is accurate and timely.

The new accounting software is an off-the-shelf package. Chris' company decided to also purchase a one-day training workshop: "How to Make the Most of your New Streamline Accounting Software". When Christie is finished with her class, she is supposed to come back and train her staff how to use the software.

During the class, Christie blinked and stared at the computer then looked up once again at the image displayed on the screen for the whole class to see. She furiously took notes in the packet of course materials so that she would remember how to enter a Non-Order Invoice when she got back to the office. Christie figured that even though the examples were from a video rental store, she could transfer the information on her own and make it relevant for a law firm.

The instructor continued on the next couple of hours going through each field on each screen and explaining each of the options on the drop-down menus on the tool bar and in the various windows. This new software package seemed to have new name of each of her old accounting processes.

As the day progressed, Christie's hand grew cramped from note taking and she had a splitting headache from looking up and down at the projected image and trying to mimic it on her own PC. When the time came to complete some hands-on exercises, Christie became frustrated as she tried to remember how to do a Journal Entry, let alone on a new piece of software. After 15 minutes the instructor handed out the solution sheet and moved on to the next topic.

What was going on? Christie was not new to accounting and she could whiz through computer programs faster than anyone on her team. But, she knew that her brain was absolutely fried after this training session and she felt that she was totally unprepared to go back to her office and train the rest of her staff. She decided to approach the instructor and tell him how she felt; perhaps the rest of the class also experienced some of the same feelings.

Jennifer Herrod
IT5990 Distance Learning and the Web
December 1, 2000
jennifer@jchconsulting.com