5 of the Best IT Training Tools

One of the major concerns of business managers accepting new employees into today”s workforce, centers on information technology. There simply aren”t any businesses left that do not, to some extent, depend on IT. Classroom instruction is all well-and-good, but there”s no substitute for real-world experience, which most new entrants do not have.

Today”s workplace has become almost as much of a learning center, or postgraduate educational institution, as a place of business. This makes sense, of course; more well-informed employees make better employees, especially when hands-on instruction takes front-and-center. The question every company has to ask is how efficiently can they accomplish this, without diminishing productivity in the short-term as new employees get up to speed?

Social Media Resources

The ubiquity of the web has effectively moved the brick-and-mortar library to cyberspace; now, people can access almost any topic without worrying about geographical limitations. Experts abound, with entire websites run by communities of academics who are leaders in their fields. According to Christine Hall a Xerox contributor, social media offers the workplace a great deal of useful information – and much of it is in real-time.

In the same vein as this, there are company-supported use-net groups that revolve around information technology, delivering timely and relevant news on all aspects a new applicant can expect to encounter. Resources like these are practically limitless, because they”re ongoing as new topics are created.

Established Training Centers

Although the federal government has instituted such centers specifically for training in electronic health record implementation, this idea is extensible to other industries. There are technical institutes in many regions, with the aim of helping people shore up their knowledge of technology as applies to their jobs. Company managers can even incorporate voluntary attendance into a part of the job package for particular employees.

YouTube Resources

Although not usually considered a real-time source of IT training, Google”s premier video-upload website is a valuable trove of education. Employees can subscribe to capable presenters; which means they”re notified when new videos are uploaded for their consumption. The message-boards right beneath the videos can be as valuable as the videos themselves, when experts argue or enhance points made up above. Locating video tutorials requires a keyword search – but it should be noted that YouTube is less professional than other IT training tools, because amateurs and hobbyists can promote their videos to show up in search over legitimate experts.

Professional Video Training Courses

This option is the professional version of the above; where true, certified teachers have compiled complete and accessible lectures. As a more trustworthy source of instruction, video training courses of these kinds are often recommended by tech leaders of industry, from such companies like Microsoft and Cisco. The fields being taught are comprehensive, and intended to provide a working knowledge of topics ranging from network security and web development, to project management and database manipulation.

The Advanced Degree Option

Finally, there”s always the traditional method of delaying the career and pursuing higher education at an institution. After all, this is how most of the tech-leaders did it. Of course, today, it”s easier to take courses while also working, but that”s not always practical with most advanced degrees. Hands-on work experience will always remain the barometer by which IT knowledge is measured.