By KIMBERLY DEMUCHA
demucha@newsroom.byu.edu
Free computer-based training is now available to BYU students, staff and faculty through Route Y.
Fifty-six courses are being offered, and classes can be taken from a personal computer.
According to a news release, BYU, via the Office of Information Technology, is participating with other LDS Church entities in a site license with a company called SmartForce.
A site license is an agreement between two companies that allows the organization obtaining the license to make use of the software in a large way within their organization, said Bill Holman, BYU Enterprise project manager and a information systems professor.
SmartForce designs, develops and delivers interactive educational software.
Computer-based training, also known as CBT, is a cost effective and flexible alternative to many of the traditional classroom-based training, Holman said. Additionally, the CBTs provide a reusable training and reference source.
The CBTs are interactive tutorials that can help users learn software applications, according to the news release.
The CBTs focus mainly on technical topics, which will help provide training for technical support personnel. Training is also available for the more basic and widely used programs, according to the news release.
'If for example, someone were weak in Microsoft Excel or Word, they could take these courses and get up to speed,' said Paul Hardin, director of IT training.
Even more universally, teachers could incorporate the CBTs into their classes.
'Instructors could also use CBTs to get more taught in a semester by letting students work through the tutorial outside of the classroom,' Hardin said.
Obtaining the computer-based training is another step in an effort to keep BYU technologically up to date.
'CBTs are another step we have taken to make BYU one of the country's most wired campuses and we hope that students will take advantage of this training pool,' said Brad Stone, director of IT customer relations.
A link to the training is available on the Route Y Interchange Web page where the CBT icon is located.