On line training…

This crap is becoming more and more the ‘rage’/requirement to keep one’s job with the CEs, CEUs and whatever else they are calling this stuff…

So I’m trying in my ‘spare’ time to get through this online course, finally get the ##$%@ thing done, and have to take a test (like I sat and did this all in one sitting NOT!)…

So I take the test and miss one question… Okay, I can live with that…

But you have to pass with 100% to get credit…

There is supposed to be a ‘remediation’ block that takes one to the area requiring ‘further study’… Except it refuses to open!

So being the good little studi that I am, I go back to where I figure I screwed it up, and print the entire @#$%# lesson (all 72 slides) out…

Hit take the test again, get a new question, right?  Yep, go find the answer in the 72 slides; select the answer and submit and don… Oh, I ‘missed’ the question again… Say WHUT???

Nope, answer is right there in the page, yep that is what I selected, howinthehell is is wrong???

Called the online help desk, “Your wait time will be 8-18 minutes”… Crap…

Fine, put the phone on hold, go to the bathroom, go get a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette and come back to, “Your wait time is 3 minutes”!

Finally get the dweebette on the phone, run through the who am I, where am I, what is the problem, and get put on hold… and on hold…

And she finally comes back, “Oh the problem with the ‘remediation’ block was written up before, but it won’t be fixed until the update the test. And I really can’t help you with the answer to the question, you have to document the issue and send it in for review, but if you miss the question again, you will have to retake the course!”

YGTBSM!

Sooooo, if I send it in for review, how long before I can get an answer?

“Oh two maybe three weeks before an instructor can get around to looking at it and getting an answer back to you, but I see you only have 12 days to complete the course. Would you like an extension?”

You bet your bippy lady, and I want an answer back and credit for the correct answer!

“Well, THAT is not in my purview.” (like she even knew what the word meant)…

Screen caps, email, and now hurry up and wait, and I’ll probably get timed out and have to retake the whole pile of crap again…

Yep, that on line learning is really great… sigh…

Comments

On line training… — 17 Comments

  1. So was the platform Moodle or Blackboard? I ran a “hybrid” class of classroom and online components. It sucked out loud and off key! I feel ya, and I had much the same issues with the course content that I did not create.

  2. Been there with one of my clients. Problem? Of the four possible answers, all were wrong. Was told to pick the “least wrong”. WTF? Tried selecting all four answers, hit “Enter”, and the answer(s) were accepted as correct.

  3. The training manager who decides that “on-line” is the way to go should be drawn, quartered, hung, burned, and ground into tiny bits.

    Have I mentioned I don’t care for ‘on-line’ training?

  4. Keads- A form of Blackboard…

    WSF- Yeah, this one was about that stupid…

    Rev- Understood and agreed!!!

  5. Just out of curiosity, did you learn anything from the training? I’ve wasted my time on a number of those type courses and walked away dumber than when I sat down…

    • Learn anything from the on line training? You’re kidding, right? None of it is designed to teach anything, it’s all intended to show compliance with some regulation or law.

      Actually it’s intended to funnel money to some politicians friend.

  6. Tim- Only that it will give you carpal tunnel paging through 72 slides per lesson…

    Old AF- Yep…

  7. You have my sympathy on that sort of nonsense, trust me.

    Given how much CME I have to do on a yearly basis to keep my license, as well as how much (in addition to that) I have to do on a q5 and q10 year basis to keep my board certifications (2 of them) current, I run into things like that frequently.

    I’ve lost track of the number of online classes or tests that I’ve taken that haven’t completed or registered the completion. Some I’ve had to redo 3 and 4 times. And no one is willing to admit that the fault is on -their- end.

  8. Pedi- Yep… PITA does NOT begin to describe it…

    NSA- Fix it!!! 😛

    Brighid- That would assume I could dance in the first place… 🙁

  9. Ahh, the world of Computer Based Training and Testing. I love the ones where the wording of the questions and answers is so ambiguous that the answer is exactly opposite of what it should be.

    And you are PAYING for the opportunity to take said exam.

  10. The first time I ever took an online exam was back in the bad old days. I’m a programmer analyst (now out of work) and for compliance reasons I had to take a typing test. I know, I know, but the silly bitch in charge of the front desk could only repeat that ‘everyone had to take one’. The testing software was written in an interpreted language, meaning that if it somehow crapped out an enterprising individual could list out the source code and modify it.

    Yes, I passed the typing test.

    40 slides is ridiculous and the actual test is guaran-damn-teed to be written by someone who knows little to nothing about the subject.

  11. Spike- Yeah, the ‘least’ wrong answer… sigh

    MJ- Concur with all, and now days they don’t even KNOW who wrote it…

  12. I had a college class like that. You had to pass this class in order to prove that you knew how to operate Word and Excel. The course taught how to insert a blank page at least three times, and each time was a different way.

    When you got to the test, there was no way of telling which one of the three ways was the one that question actually wanted.

  13. I won’t name which federal agency I’m associated with, but we get periodic “required training” that we need to maintain our active status.

    We found that by opening multiple windows we could view the slides and take the test at the same time.

    Management is happy that we have a near 100% average on the tests.

    We’re happy that we don’t actually have to waste 3-4 hours per class as laid out in the outline.

    The agency is happy that everyone is in compliance.

    The taxpayers probably wouldn’t be happy if they knew about this circus and how much it costs them (us) every year.