Concrete Experience
A young, dark-haired woman who loudly introduces herself as Nicola arrives to begin my computer-based training program -- CROSSFIRE -- the central student database, scheduled for 3 o'clock, at the university. I introduce myself, as well, accepting the training guide she proffers. Nicola, once again in the same loud tone, tells me that we will get started once she logs me in. Her loud volume has me wondering whether she is experiencing nerves or not. After having organized a couple of chairs, I feel rather disappointed when the trainer decides to take the driver's chair. I feel I should be able to log myself on and know how the screens look. I've lost the opportunity to point that out, however, since she's logged in already, and has taken off like a jet. After reclaiming the manual, she attempts to show me two extra pages of information, while her hands go flying in all directions over the keyboard. She informs me that F8 is for clearing the screen, and F4 moving forward to the next screen.
"F6 is to exit and F9 ... don't fret over these things for now," she says. Finally, I understand that the added information comprises instructions regarding reports and forms 'for Uldreg, Zoaster, Zoonit, and things like that' according to Nicola. I am clueless about what those terms stand for and everything is moving overly fast. At a certain basic level, I feel I'm seriously lacking something -- maybe a pre-knowledge I must be possessing has escaped me. She pulls me out of my thoughts by booming in my ear "You look rather worried." What with her jargon and the pace she is going at, as well as an inward concern that I'm being secretly trained on some pilot program for goodness knows what, my internal critic has begun arguing with me about having high expectations (a constant, common theme). My lighter side tells me she is quite approachable and friendly. I settle on small talk. Being posed the question "Does CROSSFIRE signify something?" her face goes blank; there is a significant break in her bodily and verbal communications. I press further, asking her whether it's an acronym. "I have no clue. Nobody's ever asked something like that before," she says. Her cellphone rings and she effectively cuts off our conversation to answer it. This...
Concern and dismay get replaced by annoyance regarding poor structure, basic courtesy, and inadequate facilitation (Hailstone, 2008).
Reflective Observation
When I think back to the training session on CROSSFIRE, I understand that apart from the informal and impromptu nature of training as well as inappropriate application of jargon, added obstacles were also present for trainee as well as trainer. These involved the university IT Department's negligence in installing a couple of connected, additional software programs, in addition to inaccessibility of a LAN (Local Area Network) printer. The session was rendered much less-than-perfect due to these issues, since important information could neither be printed nor modified; furthermore, it wasn't possible to carry out practical exercises. The added hassle of an extraneous phone call along with the trainer's tendency to speak in loud volumes, made the session look unprofessional, disjointed, and ineffective. While the overall duration of the session was an hour and a half, subject matter covered and knowledge gained constituted not even 50% of allocated timeframe. Therefore, by the time the session concluded, dismay with regard to format and style was replaced by derision regarding the university. I was stunned that such a high-profile, public organization, which explicitly calls itself an 'organization for learning' (for both students and staff) could fare so poorly. Moreover, since the session was clearly for instrumental learning, the trainer opting for the driver's seat while deciding upon not instructing me had me baffled. Likewise, I couldn't fathom why there was no system overview included at the start, or at least, in the provided manual. With the boundaries between this program and another widely employed university student database already mixed up in my brain, the lack of this overview hindered my learning experience right from the start.
Abstract Conceptualization
The above learning experience posed two key issues: voice modulation's import as an element in facilitation and lack of compliance with an organizational learning model. Workplace learning is explained by the ANTA (Australian National Training Authority) as…
