Online Training Coming To The Hog Industry
By Don Lidster, DNL Farms Ltd.
Let’s look over the fence and see what is going on in the world around us. Kids take online classes in school; community colleges offer online courses for people who are too busy to take classes in person and there are complete online universities. Machinery dealers now offer online (or on DVD) orientation to help new owners understand the complexities of their new equipment. So why would the most progressive part of the agriculture industry, hog production, be far behind?
The fact that students are learning on line says the next generation will expect to learn that way. They have come to like the convenience of taking a lecture from the comfort of their own home (or office), when it fits into their schedule any time 24/7/365. They like the convenience of being able to stop a lecture or course to ponder on a point, answer the phone or even research the point being made in the lecturer or course without inconveniencing anyone else. Online connections allow us to access training from anywhere. Once the material is in cyberspace, it can be delivered to the other side of the world.
Cost is never far from the CFO’s mind when training is being considered. Given the cost of travel today, “sending” someone to an online seminar is much more cost effective than paying out a training budget for travel, accommodations and meals. Besides, your employee’s time is better spent on learning rather than driving down the road for hours. The cost of the equipment required to download online training is reducing just as the price of basic computers is coming down. If you happen to be out of the reach of local cable or wireless high speed internet you could now buy the hardware for satellite service for under $500 with a monthly service of under $50. Neither one of those numbers would buy much gas for travel or employee time to do the traveling.
Online training can be as current as two minutes before the lecturer steps to the podium to beam up the broadcast. The delivery of that kind of current information is what drives an industry forward. The material can be updated quickly and easily which beats having a stack of outdated course material on CDs or DVDs scattered around the office.
How can the informal learning we get at a seminar we attend in person be replaced? We sometimes learn more at coffee time than in the seminar. Though nothing beats being there, online discussion forums, blogs and wikis give the online trainees an opportunity to get other opinions and express their own. Online, the timid trainee is less likely to be intimidated by others present.
To me, the clincher is the ease with which you could make your own online training today. Given the tools available, the presenter for your next online course could be one of your own staff members who excels in their area of work and speaks the language your trainees understand.
Online libraries with courses on safety, management and human resources already exist. Pig production courses are on the way. You just pick the time the place and the topic and the training can be delivered to you, online. I don’t think this is a fad.
DNL Farms Ltd. is a consulting company from White Fox Saskatchewan that focuses on staff training. After completing their degrees in Agriculture, brief careers in industry and 20 years in the pig business, the principals, Don & Nancy Lidster have produced numerous training videos for their clientele as well as done extensive work with low stress pig handling. They can be contacted at dnlfarms@xplornet.com or (306) 276-5761.
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