group training
ComTutors training fees are per trainer per hour.
We don't charge anything per person we teach.
We don't charge "course fees".
So, group learning with a shared trainer or tutor can be a cost effective way to learn.
But it can also be inefficient, bad for learning and even destructive in other ways.
Here's how to ensure that you find a good balance that works well.
content
Group learning is effective only when all people in the group need to learn the same material, or at least almost the same.
Otherwise, people sit around and wait for others.
That means lost time that people could be putting into other things.
It also means frustration. People who are sitting around waiting for the relevance to resume know that their time and energy are being wasted.
Similarly, people in a group who are learning similar material, for similar purposes, learn better together than people who are learning it for purposes that are significantly different.
People who are not a good match should not attempt to learn together, but should have their training in smaller groups or even individually.
speed
Group learning works only if all people in the group will naturally learn at about the same speed.
People's learning speeds can be surprisingly hard to guess in advance.
Some people you would expect to be quick learners turn out to take a bit longer. That's not necessarily because they're lacking intelligence. Highly intelligent creative people are sometimes relatively slow learners.
You may know the famous story about Albert Einstein visiting a school. One of the students picked up a piece of chalk to write something on a blackboard to show him. Einstein asked the student to write slowly, "because I don't think quickly".
Unfortunately, many people have never had training that took them through things in a logical sequence that they could understand, at a speed that suited them, and they have been left with the feeling that they are not good learners.
It's always good to see people realise that with good training they can learn well and even pick things up relatively quickly.
Sometimes the best way to find out whether particular people will learn at about the same speed is to give it a go and see what happens, and be ready to rearrange if necessary.
computers
Trying to share a computer for learning results in wasted time and ineffective learning.
It also means at least some continuing interdependence and underconfidence among learners, rather than solid individual learning that provides them with the skills they need to work independently and confidently.
For that reason, ComTutors will teach people in a group only if every learner has a separate computer to use.
group size and learning time
Because of the trainer’s attention being shared, group learning takes longer than one person learning the same material.
That factor becomes more significant as group size increases.
People attempting to learn in a group that’s too big get relatively poor learning results, combined with frustration and bad feeling.
The important thing is to maintain personal tuition, and avoid the session becoming anything like a lecture.
To maintain individual attention and learning effectiveness, ComTutors limits group size to a maximum of 4 people.
Even that is too many in some cases.
if a group doesn't work out
You need to be prepared to split any group of people who turn out not to learn well together.
if someone misses a group session
For anyone who misses a session, or a significant part of one, you have several options, including -
With ComTutors you have the flexibility to easily accommodate such additions and changes to your training arrangements.
cost effectiveness
Overall cost effectiveness of group training depends on many factors.
For many businesses, the most significant factor is not the cost of having a trainer or tutor present, but the cost to the business of having too many people out of circulation and unavailable to the business at the same time because they're all in a training session together.
With tuition on your own premises, anyone who is needed can leave the session, but whether anyone does that will depend on a quick decision about the relative importance of the need and the extra training cost if an extra session is needed as a result of staying out for more than just a short time.
In some businesses, group training is impractical, and the people and the business are all better off if people have individual training at times and places that suit them and on content that they need.
It all depends on individual training needs and availability times and the relative values of people's time and availability to the business.
what about the cost?
Because ComTutors charges per tutor per hour, not per person taught, you may be wondering whether we're trying to put you off group training so we can charge more for training your people. (Barbados does look nice.)
Sure, the initial cost of training in small groups, or even individually, may be higher than for having just one trainer for one larger group.
But the reality is that, in the end, training in groups of appropriate sizes for your needs will cost you much less and bring you much more.
Then, your training will be done properly the first time round, for everyone.
getting advice
ComTutors can give you all the advice you need on organising group learning that gets good results all round.
Give us a call on your local number below to discuss your group computer training needs.
ComTutors training fees are per trainer per hour.
We don't charge anything per person we teach.
We don't charge "course fees".
So, group learning with a shared trainer or tutor can be a cost effective way to learn.
But it can also be inefficient, bad for learning and even destructive in other ways.
Here's how to ensure that you find a good balance that works well.
content
Group learning is effective only when all people in the group need to learn the same material, or at least almost the same.
Otherwise, people sit around and wait for others.
That means lost time that people could be putting into other things.
It also means frustration. People who are sitting around waiting for the relevance to resume know that their time and energy are being wasted.
Similarly, people in a group who are learning similar material, for similar purposes, learn better together than people who are learning it for purposes that are significantly different.
People who are not a good match should not attempt to learn together, but should have their training in smaller groups or even individually.
speed
Group learning works only if all people in the group will naturally learn at about the same speed.
People's learning speeds can be surprisingly hard to guess in advance.
Some people you would expect to be quick learners turn out to take a bit longer. That's not necessarily because they're lacking intelligence. Highly intelligent creative people are sometimes relatively slow learners.
You may know the famous story about Albert Einstein visiting a school. One of the students picked up a piece of chalk to write something on a blackboard to show him. Einstein asked the student to write slowly, "because I don't think quickly".
Unfortunately, many people have never had training that took them through things in a logical sequence that they could understand, at a speed that suited them, and they have been left with the feeling that they are not good learners.
It's always good to see people realise that with good training they can learn well and even pick things up relatively quickly.
Sometimes the best way to find out whether particular people will learn at about the same speed is to give it a go and see what happens, and be ready to rearrange if necessary.
computers
Trying to share a computer for learning results in wasted time and ineffective learning.
It also means at least some continuing interdependence and underconfidence among learners, rather than solid individual learning that provides them with the skills they need to work independently and confidently.
For that reason, ComTutors will teach people in a group only if every learner has a separate computer to use.
group size and learning time
Because of the trainer’s attention being shared, group learning takes longer than one person learning the same material.
That factor becomes more significant as group size increases.
People attempting to learn in a group that’s too big get relatively poor learning results, combined with frustration and bad feeling.
The important thing is to maintain personal tuition, and avoid the session becoming anything like a lecture.
To maintain individual attention and learning effectiveness, ComTutors limits group size to a maximum of 4 people.
Even that is too many in some cases.
if a group doesn't work out
You need to be prepared to split any group of people who turn out not to learn well together.
if someone misses a group session
For anyone who misses a session, or a significant part of one, you have several options, including -
- a catchup training session before the next group session, to resume at the same point as the others in the group;
- continue with individual sessions, separate from the group;
- move to another group which is learning the same things and has not yet started on the missed material.
With ComTutors you have the flexibility to easily accommodate such additions and changes to your training arrangements.
cost effectiveness
Overall cost effectiveness of group training depends on many factors.
For many businesses, the most significant factor is not the cost of having a trainer or tutor present, but the cost to the business of having too many people out of circulation and unavailable to the business at the same time because they're all in a training session together.
With tuition on your own premises, anyone who is needed can leave the session, but whether anyone does that will depend on a quick decision about the relative importance of the need and the extra training cost if an extra session is needed as a result of staying out for more than just a short time.
In some businesses, group training is impractical, and the people and the business are all better off if people have individual training at times and places that suit them and on content that they need.
It all depends on individual training needs and availability times and the relative values of people's time and availability to the business.
what about the cost?
Because ComTutors charges per tutor per hour, not per person taught, you may be wondering whether we're trying to put you off group training so we can charge more for training your people. (Barbados does look nice.)
Sure, the initial cost of training in small groups, or even individually, may be higher than for having just one trainer for one larger group.
But the reality is that, in the end, training in groups of appropriate sizes for your needs will cost you much less and bring you much more.
Then, your training will be done properly the first time round, for everyone.
getting advice
ComTutors can give you all the advice you need on organising group learning that gets good results all round.
Give us a call on your local number below to discuss your group computer training needs.