The training/TW debate (includes summary) - long

["Comeau, Lisa" <ComeauL -at- MOHYF-MX1 -dot- MOHDEV -dot- GOV -dot- ON -dot- CA>]

Couldn't help but put my 2 cents in here, seeing as how I am both a
technical trainer AND a technical writer. (I'm also several other things,
but these two are the main focus of my present position).

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are my own, and if you respect
someone, you must respect their opinion. If you do not respect me, do me a
favour, and forget flaming me - I only pay attention to constructive
criticism.

That said, for those of you who have missed this thread, here's a brief
summary so far:

************************SUMMARY STARTS

GIL Yaker "Do you think that tech trainers are taking over the role of tech
writers in today's arena for custom apps?"
He mentioned that the trainer leads the proiject while the writer follows,
and said that trainers tend to make more money. He also said, "Any ideas why
that is?  Seems to me, all things being equal, both jobs are similar in
their complexity and challenge."
I was getting the feeling from the thread that people were saying "if you
are a good technical trainer, then you can be a good technical writer."
 Each of the two I'd think requires its own specializations which aren't too
easily
transferable, unless you're just that talented.
Of the few times I've been a student in training courses, the trainer has
proven him or herself pretty useless. He or she is usually experienced in
the product that is being explained, but there's nothing they can do that
good documentation can't (for the way that my mind learns.  guess I'm
showing my bias here :).

WAYNE Douglas said(in a nutshell)
Writers write better than trainers, and trainers tend to write a manual as
it fits the classroom setting - as classroom materials rather than manuals.
...the trainers were primarily interested in *pedagogy* as defined by some
accepted training approach ...the trainer worries more about explicit
behavioral objectives, feedback loops ,and measurements of what is learned
(insofar as it can be determined).
A rational approach to training would suggest that the course materials
should be based on the manuals, freeing the the trainers to concentrate on
pedagogy instead of technical accuracy. In fact, the trainers typically
rewrote the manuals in their Student Guides and produced a generally
inferior version of the same material.

STEPHEN Owens said
Different formats serve different purposes.  The course structure doesn't
(and sometimes can't) mirror the manual structure.

*************************SUMMARY ENDS

LISA Comeau SAYS Where do I start?

Let's begin with a short rant. As both a trainer and technical documentor, I
think we need to define what you guys are talking about when you say
"training", because it sounds completely unlike any training I have
attended, or taught. How is it possible for an applications trainer to use
the manuals that come with software to train a class? It isn't (as Stephen
so astutely pointed out.)
So what the heck is the argument here? I would never even dream of using the
Windows 95 Resource Kit to train new users on Win 95, and I wouldn't expect
a technical writer to write "Dick and Jane" manuals if Resource Kits is what
they do.

It is quite obvious to me that being a trainer is different from being a
technical writer in many ways. Background, or education, or interests, and
certainly job description. But there is overlap here, and I think we need to
embrace and address it, instead of throwing rocks at it and hoping it will
go away.

Let's address Gil's queries first.
*Nope, don't think trainers are taking over, they're just overlapping the
thin red line.

*And no, just because you're good at technical training, you may not be a
good TW. But then again, you may be a great TW. Here's a newsflash - you
just might be good at several things depending on GASP! who you are!

*No offense intended, and leave me alone with the flames, I am citing
results of studies (which I can furnish if you give me some time to find
'em) and personal experiences, as well as some opinions from trainers AND
techwriters here... trainers make more money because their job is considered
more stressful than *almost* any other job in the IT feild. Also, if a
trainer is creating manuals, why *shouldn't* they get more money if they're
doing 2 jobs?

*And I guess I'm just *that* talented - although I will readily admit that I
will need a great deal of experience, and some more knowledge before I write
a Resource Kit for Windows, but I can kick the crap out of educational,
procedural and standardization documents.

*Last, but not least, "nothing a trainer can do that good documentation
can't"... at the risk of giving myself a heart attack, I'm NOT going to lose
my composure. I am just going to say (through gritted teeth) 'I am sorry
that you have  had bad experiences with trainers in the past. I have had bad
experiences with men in the past - that doesn't mean I lump them all
together (except in jest) and say that every one of them is useless.'

*I will also say that the day a manual can explain something in detail AND
actually -speak- to a user AND reassure them that the floppy disc with the
exercises on it does NOT contain a virus AND hold the attention of an ADD
student AND tell anecdotes AND use analogies that work for -every- student
AND keep the student focused AND a variety of other things a trainer does,
THEN we can talk about this.

Let's address Wayne's comments next.
*I get the feeling Wayne hasn't trained in a contract sense where the plan
is to get the mark's money, and teach them Win95 basics. No feedback loops,
no quizzes, no behavioral study, just stand in front of a class, point, and
talk. (And a host of other things I'll leave out for now).
Not that I'm saying all contract trainers are like that, nor am I saying
that trainers don't want to take behavioral studies into account, we just
can't sometimes. "The MAN" won't let us, and if we want to eat, we do as HE
says.

*Maybe Student Guides and trainer-authored manuals are inferior from a
writing point of view, but which manual/student guide was better understood
by the user? I think this is a more important point to dwell on (since we
have to dwell...) ;) Which one was more helpful to the *average* user during
the class? After?

*Yes, writers often write better than trainers, and trainers often train
better than writers or manuals. But this doesn't give us the right to say
that trainers are crappy writers, and bad at their 'real' jobs to boot.

Let's look at the gist of it.

*While I can see everyone's point, and even agree with some of them to a
certain extent, I think that if we're going to talk about ability of
trainers to write manuals, we need to be realistic about _why_ they're
writing manuals, and how we can help them. If it's true that trainers are
becoming techwriters, don't they have a responsibility to learn how to
become _good_ techwriters? I think so, and that's why I joined this list,
and started taking courses.

*Maybe we just all need to learn to live in harmony and realize that most
techwriters aren't trainers, and most trainers aren't techwriters, but with
a little work on either side, we can start ourselves down the opposite path
with good results.

*I, for one, am proud to be good (maybe not great) at both, and to focus on
ONLY that role I am playing at the time. When I am a TW, I am a writer with
all the tools of the trade, and the concentration, etc. I need to do this
job. When I am a trainer, I train and concentrate on my student(s) and their
needs. When I am writing user manuals, I am both a trainer AND a TW, using
my experience and insight to create a manual that -may- be better than one
written by a TW with no training experience, then again, it is probably not
as gramatically perfect or style-guide compatible as a TW would make it.

*Yes, you can be both, but something is _probably_ going to suffer. Fact of
life. I think what's most important in either profession is the user, and
so, ultimately, learn to be the best at what you do so that the quality
doesn't suffer. Jobs, cash, experience, and confidence will follow, not
necessarily in that order.

Om Mani Padme Hum
Lisa Comeau

"As the flames climbed high into the night, to light the sacrificial
rite..."
_American Pie_
-Don MacLean


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