Training Tips – Top 10 Tools for IT Trainers
Tips for Trainers on Essential Training Equipment
Sep 28, 2009
Experienced IT or software trainers usually carry a bag of vital training equipment with them. They have learned, from years of experience, to expect a variety of challenges, particularly when most of their training is delivered in facilities provided by their clients'.
The items carried will vary from trainer to trainer. These training tips are a list of the ten most common pieces of IT training equipment that many have in their briefcase, just in case they need them.
Essential Training Equipment
Marker pens – most trainers use white boards or flip-charts, or both. Experience shows that many training rooms contain a selection of pens that do not work very well, or they are all the same colour. The experienced trainer will have learned to carry their own set so they do not have to worry about pens being available at the venue.
Breath freshener – it is embarrassing to turn up to deliver training with the realization that the garlic from last night's dinner might be making its presence known. IT trainers might be able to keep their distance from the class for much of the training, but they will probably give some one-to-one support during hands-on exercises. That is when a breath of minty freshness is particularly appropriate.
Penknife or pocket-knife – this has a host of uses as a piece of training equipment, particularly if it comes with multiple tools. It is handy for slicing through the binding on boxes of training manuals or for removing screws from a projector to change the bulb. It also comes in handy for peeling fruit at lunchtime
Recommended Training Equipment
Games, quizzes and toys for light relief – because there is more to a training class than just learning. There needs to some humour and fun to break up the sessions and to help encourage dialogue between learners. A couple of quizzes are great to get people talking, or a novelty toy can help to break the ice.
Cleaning cloth – it is not unusual for a trainer to arrive in a room where the white boards are still covered in notes from a previous meeting. Cleaning materials are not always immediately to hand, so the wise trainer carries their own with them.
Blu-tack – training courses often generate sheets of flip-chart notes that need to be hung around a training room. Blu-tack comes in very useful in these situations, but it also has other functions. Trainers often have to use their initiative to perform minor repairs to equipment such as digital projects or flip-chart stands blu-tack often has a part to play in these.
Highlighting pens – a trainer is constantly being presented with new pieces of paper - lists of attendees, course agendas, training timetables, course descriptions, training manuals and more. They quickly learn how to skim through these, picking out the information they need to do their job well. Highlighting pens are extremely useful for marking key facts, helping the trainer to retain the information and making it easier to find if they need to refer to it again.
Other Useful Training Tools
List of key contacts – most trainers will carry a list of their key business contacts. But when they give a course they also need to know who to call if the computers fail, or if the bulb on the digital projector needs replacing, or if lunch fails to show up. With this information to hand the trainer can maximize the amount of time they spend delivering training even if problems occur with the course infrastructure.
Extending or laser pointer – these devices are very useful when directing the attention of learners' to a specific part of a display in IT training. Whether it is a manual or extending pointer or a laser device is down the trainer's preference
AA batteries - many training courses now use digital projectors, which in turn have remote controls. These are usually powered by AA batteries. Spare are not usually left lying around in training rooms because AA batteries are used in a wide variety of equipment and have a habit of disappearing if unattended to too long. A trainer who carries their own avoids the risk of another delay while someone sources new batteries, should those in the remote, or other equipment, run out of power.
This list of suggestions is based on over five years of experience as an trainer delivering classes in different environments and different countries. Over time all IT trainers will develop their own toolkit of essential items, tailored to their needs and shaped by their experience.
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