Sold on MODL: Solartech Trainers and Students Embrace Distance Learning

Victor Liang likes to stay on top of any new trends in training. As chief executive officer (CEO) of Solartech, a New York City–area, Microsoft-managed, Gold Certified Partner Training Center, Liang has seen many training approaches come and go over the decade-long history of his business.

After learning about Microsoft Official Distance Learning (MODL) in late 2006, he knew that something distinctly new had arrived. He immediately liked what he saw in the blended, instructor-led, “day-in-the-life” training experience. Liang signed up one of his most experienced instructors, Richard North, for training on the new distance learning program. North eventually earned the distinction of being one of the first instructors to receive MODL authorization.

Within months of North’s achievement, Solartech had two more instructors authorized on the program, and the company itself had become the first MODL-authorized Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions (CPLS) to launch MODL. As of July 2007, Solartech has used MODL to teach 60 students in three programs: Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2003.

Solartech has successfully deployed MODL for training employees at many enterprise corporations, including Merck, Konica/Minolta, ADP, and the State of New York. “We’re committed to MODL,” says Liang. “This is the next evolution in training—a crucial upgrade to the e-learning and classroom training programs we’re familiar with. MODL provides 24x7 access to scenarios and labs, enabling a higher level of learning retention.”

Solartech continues to offer traditional classroom training as well as LivE, a live, instructor-led distance learning program developed in house. The company teaches more than 130 courses on Microsoft’s products, delivering 40 percent of those programs in a LivE distance learning format. More than 90 percent of Solartech’s clients are corporate clients, the great majority of which are located in the New York City metropolitan area.

A CEO Assesses MODL’s Strengths

So, what sold Liang on MODL? First and foremost, he likes the Gather, Expand, Apply, and Review (GEAR) instructional methodology. During the synchronous Gather portion, trainers facilitate the class in an engaging two-hour session using live demonstrations and many other highly interactive exercises. The methodology is designed to draw the learner into the process through active participation.

The next phase, Expand, gives students a chance to review and enhance what they learned in the Gather session through Official Microsoft E-Learning content and other study materials. The Apply phase then offers a host of “day-in-the-life,” scenario-based lab exercises that replicate real-world Information Technology (IT) departments. And finally, students take a brief module assessment in the Review phase, which provides insights and assessment on where they need work and shows whether their knowledge is progressing appropriately.

“The GEAR instructional design closes the loop on learning, from discovery to practice to review,” Liang says. 

The other advantage of GEAR is derived from students’ ability to take the Expand, Apply, and Review phases in their own time. They may not have the option of being in class all day, says Liang, so after a Gather session, they’ll have a couple of days to finish those sections. Many courses feature as many as 10 different Gather sessions.

Liang likes many of MODL’s other features, as well, such as the flexibility of having trainers deliver the classes through Microsoft Office Live Meeting without having to travel to a client’s offices or have students come to Solartech’s New York or New Jersey training sites. 

Liang sees that many students, especially younger workers, enjoy the game-like exercises featuring avatars built into MODL. The interactivity inherent in the experience “helps encourage a higher level of the attention of students, resulting in better comprehension and retention,” Liang says. “It has a much higher level of interactivity than most training programs I’ve seen.”

The classes can be taught at various times during the day. Some corporate clients on the West Coast prefer early afternoon, while others on the East Coast like the morning. If a client has tight deadlines, Solartech adapts MODL to fit the client’s scheduling needs, says Liang.

Office Live Meeting is a perfect match for distance learning, because instructors get a feel for which members of the class understand the material and which don’t through team-based interactive responses and polling, which reveal each student’s level of comprehension— something difficult to gauge in a classroom.

The Trainer’s Perspective

Initially skeptical and worried that the process would be too complicated for a trainer and students, North now finds himself a convert to the MODL style of teaching and learning. He praises how the smaller, more manageable amounts of information in each GEAR module are reinforced by real-time class activities, self-study, and the scenario-based labs.

“From the training perspective, I can tell you I like the chunking, the small amounts of information MODL delivers, and the reinforcement through interactions and games,” he says. “I see this as the next revolution of instruction and e-learning.”

North points to polling as a central component of the MODL foundation. With polling, class participants answer questions every few minutes based on the material they have learned. Students can immediately see what they have absorbed and the areas in which they need practice. MODL’s different GEAR sections have plenty of material students can read and absorb on their own, North says, along with the avatar-based “day-in-the-life” scenarios.

The polling and other interactive activities also push students to pay attention and learn rather than drift off to answer e-mail, watch television, or become distracted—a constant problem in traditional e-learning environments, North notes.

Each module within a course builds on knowledge offered in the previous one, and the scenarios are fresh. The demonstrations in MODL are excellent and far more plentiful than the average instructor-led class, says North. If students struggle with certain topics, he provides one-on-one coaching for them after the Gather session and asks them to re-focus on the module before the class moves on to the next cycle. 

Students have access to class recordings and play them back “on their own time” to sharpen their skills, North adds. If several students have struggled with comprehension for a particular topic of a module, North can provide the class with more case studies that he has developed to augment the standard MODL content.

“If there is one piece of advice I would offer, it is to have the instructor remember to use demonstrations when the class does not understand something,” he says. “In those circumstances, I would rather use demonstrations, because I know how they flow, I have the scripts and commands set up ahead of the class.”

The scenarios in the Apply phase give students a chance to practice what they have learned in a live environment with real software and servers, not simulations. The scenarios are challenging and fun, and they move training beyond simple memorization into the realm of workplace reality. Nothing imprints learning better than practicing in a real environment close to what students will face back at work, North says. 

And, finally, the Review phase gives the trainers an opportunity to assess students’ understanding of each module. At this point, North has an opportunity to encourage participants who are struggling to engage again in one of the other three sections before moving on to the next GEAR cycle. 

North feels that MODL is a breakthrough training program. “It’s very engaging and, really, everything you want learning to be. It is convenient—you can take MODL from your desktop; it has scenarios with hands-on labs; and you get assessments of everything you’ve learned. As MODL becomes more and more available, I think trainers will come to see how effective it is. It will grow in the future.”


Student Feedback

The polling and scenarios, combined with live online classroom instruction, have led to a better result for MODL than standard classroom-based teaching. Liang reports that Microsoft’s Metrics That Matter (MTM) evaluations have come back uniformly positive—the average score falling between 8 and 9 (out of 9). The students universally say that they would recommend MODL to colleagues and others. 

“It’s very encouraging for me to hear how much they love this new training format,” says Liang. “Every student loves the scenario-based labs. One student told me during a phone conversation that the lab is realistic, easy to follow, and not complicated.” 

Too often, classroom time is taken up during IT training by instructors troubleshooting the equipment they use to deliver courses, a situation never encountered when offering instruction in MODL. “MODL has been designed, developed, and packaged for a seamless training experience,” Liang says. 

Students told Liang that they did not “miss anything compared to a classroom setting” and that they liked the ability to view and hear in real time what the instructor was saying and doing on their desktop monitors. In a classroom, they would switch between watching an instructor and looking at their monitors. “They say it was easier to stay focused by only having to look at one computer screen and not look up and down,” he says. 

Liang says the scenarios and embedded tips within them help students improve their performance and comprehension. Students can read a tip and try it out, he says, within the labs. And the scenarios stay open day and night without limitation. Moreover, students can use the labs for 90 days during and after they have completed their courses—another appealing feature of MODL. 

North has heard the same things from students. “Retention is 85 percent better than a regular class with the same material,” he says. “I get feedback from students who, after the first scenarios, come back and say they’ve enjoyed themselves. That’s never happened before.” 

	At A Glance Company: Solartech Country or Region: New York City and New Jersey Industry: Microsoft Certified Training Center Customer Profile Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey-based Solartech trains information technology workers at many Fortune 500 companies, as well as smaller firms, in the New Jersey and New York region. In 2007 it became the first training center in the nation to receive certification on Microsoft Official Distance Learning (MODL). Business Challenge The company teaches more than 130 classroom courses and has developed its own in-house e-learning system called “LivE.” CEO Victor Liang wanted to offer clients an even more extensive blended-distance learning experience with considerable online resources and feedback. Solution Solartech has three MODL-certified trainers who teach several MODL courses. Using Live Meeting, the trainers can teach students where they work or live. Results from Microsoft’s Metrics That Matter (MTM) showed MODL had a highly favorable impact on students. Trainers have adapted to MODL and now endorse it. Benefits Trainers do not have to leave Solartech’s headquarters to teach classes. The program can be modified to any number of start times during the day.  > The structured Gather, Expand, Apply, Review (GEAR) methodology helped move students through the material quickly.   > Students do not have to attend classroom instruction at all to participate in classes. > Students have opportunities to ask instructors questions while pursuing self-directed areas on their own. > Students could apply learning on their own IT systems after class time. > MODL’s scenario-based labs offered reality-like situations in which students could hone their skills