Custom Guides™ Free Offer
Take advantage of a month of free, "no-strings-attached" training from Custom Guides. This offer includes online tutorials and the ability to print computer software study sheets.
There are a number of resources including:
- Printable Study Guides
- Printable posters advertising your training program
- Printable Reminders that can be places on monitors in a computer lab
- Printable postcards that advertise your training to parents and community members
You do have to sign up for the month of free access, so, you might like to sign up for the online tutorials test site that Classroom Toolkit set up. Then, sign up for your own site later in November so that you can take advantage of the training when you or on vacation.
Full Access to Quality Training
You have full access to all Online Software Training and Skills Assessments – and you can create your own custom courses.
The price for a single user is $95.00 per year, a bargain if you actually want to study software applications from Microsoft™.
Other costs are on a sliding scale. Price points include: $3,000 for 50 concurrent users ($60.00 each), and $15,000 for 500 users ($30.00 each).
However, the Custom Guides Quick Reference Cards are free. Just download and print them.
These Quick Reference Cards are available for:
- MS™ Access 2003 & 2007
- MS™ Excel 2003 & 2007
- MS™ Outlook 2003 & 2007
- MS™ PowerPoint 2003 and 2007
- MS™ Project 2003 & 2007
- MS™ Word 2003 & 2007
- MS™ Windows Xp
- MS™ Windows Vista
And the Quick References are automatically branded with your Logo and the link to the tutorial site that the Custom Guide software sets up for your users.
And you can customize the available posters with your own Logo and district contact information.
The Software Only Training Problem
Classroom Toolkit identifies software only training, in lieu of curriculum-based technology professional development as one of the distractions that contributed to the failed Technology Integration Movement.
So, we are not recommending wholesale use of this online training tool as legitimate professional development.
However, the training is high quality and extensive (extensive means 140 or more modules). The training is narrated, and responses are required to proceed from lesson to lesson.
The other side of using these lessons is that teachers know how to do a lot of the operations that are in the training program. This makes the beginning lessons boring.
So, a teacher with a moderate level of sophistication might start somewhere in the middle of the software course, or might only choose items from the tutorial that he or she wants to learn about.
Timing is Everything
You can receive 30 days of free online training, but you don't have the time, now. If you wait until the end of November, you might get some of the 30 days to use the training during the winter holidays.
However, if you wait until the end of November, Custom Guide may not renew the promotion, and you might not get any free training.
Of course, teachers seldom have free time, and holiday time is best dedicated to family and friends.
So, take advantage of this free training offer whenever you can.
Check out the Quality of this Training
Click Here to see what Online Learning could be created for your campus or school district.
Click here to set up a learning access site of your own.
Other Uses for the Training
School districts could leverage the investment in these training resources by using the software for computer applications classes during the day, and for GED and Community Education classes in the evening.
In this way, the GED and Community Education class fees might subsidize the use of the software for the daytime classes.
