Progressive Distributor - Digital Education

Digital education

NAHAD goes online to provide distribution-specific training

by Richard Vurva

An industry long accused of being old-fashioned is taking a decidedly new approach to training and education. The National Association of Hose and Accessories Distributors (NAHAD) plans to go digital with a new interactive training curriculum utilizing the Internet. NAHAD will unveil the education initiative at its annual convention in April in Monterey, Calif.

NAHAD is the first distribution association to offer interactive Internet training to its members. The program is a joint effort between NAHAD, Corporate Strategies Inc. of Atlanta and Purdue University and will be offered as part of the association’s NAHAD Institute.

What is streaming audio?
Streaming audio eliminates waiting for a file to download before you can hear it. The sound plays as it is delivered. It gives users control over the audio stream. They can pause, move back or forward, or stop at any time. The user also doesn’t have to worry about the file taking up valuable disk space.

It requires no sophisticated computer hardware. Streaming audio works on any modem over 29K, using the Windows Media Player 6.1 or higher, which can be downloaded for free.

The mission is to provide a comprehensive curriculum of basic distribution- specific education. The curriculum is organized according to position level and functional area. For example, the management curriculum consists of 21 course blocks on topics ranging from recruiting, interviewing, problem-solving, customer service, activity-based management, inventory management, distributor technology and negotiation skills.

“Our association is excited to include Web-based distribution management courses that will offer members a cost-effective, convenient method for educating their workforce,” says executive vice president Joseph Thompson.

“Coupled with our current association training resources and our University of Industrial Distribution program, the NAHAD Institute will provide a variety of top-level educational services to meet our members’ training needs.”

Streaming audio technology
The program utilizes streaming audio technology. After logging on at NAHAD’s Web site, the student listens to a lecture while viewing an outline that looks much like a Microsoft PowerPoint software presentation. When the student reaches the end of a section, the program quizzes him or her on the material. If the program receives the correct answers, it moves on to the next section. If not, it sends the student into a remediation loop to review the same material.

After completing an entire segment, the student takes a test, which is immediately graded.

“The program asks if he or she wishes to accept that grade,” says Chuck Holmes, president of Corporate Strategies. “The student has the opportunity to take the test up to two more times. After the student accepts the grade, it is e-mailed to that person’s manager, to make the employee’s supervisor aware of the employee’s progress.”

Course participants earn continuing education units from Purdue’s Midwestern Center for Advanced Technology Education.

The Internet as a teaching tool
The Internet caught on as a communications vehicle faster than any other medium. It took television 13 years and radio 38 years to reach 50 million users. The Internet achieved this milestone in just five years.

But will it catch on as a teaching tool? Researchers say yes.

Research on adult learning over the last 30 years indicates learning effectiveness is increased when:

Learners use more than one sense.

The learner is engaged through
interactivity.

There are remedial learning
opportunities.

“The NAHAD interactive training program includes all of these tools for enhanced learning,” says Chuck Holmes of Corporate Strategies Inc. “Streaming audio supported by graphics provide a multi-sensory learning experience. The learner is engaged through frequent opportunities to test his or her understanding, and if the learner does not demonstrate understanding of a concept, additional information is provided in the remediation loop.”

The program is currently being field-tested by NAHAD companies.

“Research conducted by Corporate Strategies over the last several years indicates most distributors value education and training, but have a number of difficulties implementing it,” Holmes says.

The key problem areas were planning for training, finding appropriate training materials and, to a lesser extent, cost of training.

“This Internet training solves those problems for distributors,” he says. “It groups training according to position level and functional area and it puts materials literally at the learner’s fingertips. Course materials are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever the learner has a modem and Internet access.”