How detrimental is the ridiculous amount of web-based training to the new generation of "Soldier"?

2016-08-17T09:18:48-04:00

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2016 9:21 AM

2016-08-17T09:21:21-04:00

A Soldier would have an Associates by the time they hit PFC if all those online certs were worth credits...

Response by MAJ Ralph Barnes made Aug 17 at 2016 10:21 AM

2016-08-17T10:21:31-04:00

I think its easy to miss the point of the training. The training has been shown to only marginally educate the student. Want proof; Ask your Soldiers the difference between restricted and unrestricted reporting in a sexual assault case. The difference is in the training but does not stick as well.
However, it is a metric. When all the people in the Army have taken that training, the CSA can say that we are all trained. Also, if you ever go to court for something like sexual assault or harassment, do you not think the prosecutor will present your annual training records and say "well he was trained and knew better"? If you really want to understand a subject, teach that subject to your Soldiers. It is how I learned to do it, long before web based training was invented.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2016 10:40 AM

2016-08-17T10:40:35-04:00

Most of it is garbage. Give commanders back the authority to train their Soldiers and then hold them accountable for its failures. Don't make training check the box

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2016 12:23 PM

2016-08-17T12:23:00-04:00

All I can say when I went to a reserve unit back in the 90's we used to actually set our equipment up and train on it, when I retired in 2015, most units spent 60% of their day marking of required training for online stuff. When these units mobilize they have to spend extra time training up because somebody higher up decided that all this other stuff needed to be covered so they can check the box.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 17 at 2016 3:09 PM

2016-08-17T15:09:43-04:00

Web based training isn't ideal, however it is inexpensive and much better than nothing at all. It should also be pointed out that not all web based training is equal, some of the training is "game based" and requires thoughtful interaction with the program.

Response by CPO Mark Lovelace, CSP made Aug 17 at 2016 3:18 PM

2016-08-17T15:18:04-04:00

I've been out of the training and curriculum development loop for a while now, but I'm guessing it is more effective for the troops of today than it is on an old squid like me. My organization uses it and I agree with some of the other comments, that most of it is unqualified garbage. But...if Pokémon go is all the rage on bases across the land who knows....not I.

Response by Maj Marty Hogan made Aug 17 at 2016 8:50 PM

2016-08-17T20:50:00-04:00

How could we not fight a war without 100 hours of SAPR training?

Response by ENS Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2016 12:39 AM

2016-08-18T00:39:17-04:00

If online training is meant to take an hour, it will be clicked through in 3 minutes.. that's the truth. Online training accomplishes NOTHING. Even when you add a "test" at the end, someone will make an answer key and put it on google..

Also, I still don't understand why I need to be told not to rape and not to sell classified information on a biannual (or more often) basis, but then again, I don't understand how morons still end up doing both.. so I guess I just have to sit here with my face in my hands until we can figure out how to fix the problem.. Or at least, sell a good idea to some willing leadership.

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Aug 18 at 2016 11:42 AM

2016-08-18T11:42:12-04:00

Just by the way you ask the question I can tell you aren't exactly a fan of web based training. However, training is essential both in the military and civilian worlds. Having spent most of my military career in the pre web training environment, I can recall many discussions about the ridiculous amount of training we had to sit through, or often go TDY for, to get trained. No amount of lecture training could replace hands on training in those days and the same is true for web based training today. But bottom line, the training must be completed.
Web based training is so much more efficient, cost effective and easy to schedule compared to having a warm body standing there reading a PowerPoint presentation to a room full of troops who had to be pulled from normal duties because this is when the instructor was available. In todays age training is predominantly web based and this is how people entering the service have become accustomed to being trained. In the county where I live high school students are actually required to complete at least one web based class as a graduation requirement. I doubt you are spending any more training time just because the course is web based.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2016 2:04 PM

2016-08-18T14:04:15-04:00

My impression and experience is that the military trains its personnel via a mixture of live, virtual, and simulated settings and chooses those mechanisms according to multiple factors e.g., what is the quickest and most verifiable way to train SAPR so that you can assure Congress that everyone has been exposed to its definition of Sexual harassment and the same best practices for shutting it down? If commanders and other leaders want to give that training personally there is nothing preventing them from doing so... other than training days and locations, proper certifications and expertise, and 100% synchronous availability of the training audience. In my opinion the option to deliver this material in a familiar, asynchronous, emotionally compelling , consistent and precise virtual module makes a lot of sense when you compare it to the cost of alternatives. It's not like service members will stop complaining about this if they get it from a live person in their chain of command giving the training. There is the same opportunity for service members to sit through and ignore or to get differing levels of training in a live setting. I don't mean to entirely dismiss your argument here. Maybe there is a bettter balance to be struck or an innovation to be explored. Like if you get the training live you can go two years between certifications. Or if you watch a documentary and write an OPED on an issue like why the problems of suicide and sexual harassment are still plaguing our profession then you can opt out of the next several courses. Maybe we should produce "after school specials" and put them on Netflix so that personnel are as entertained as they are educated. Anyway thanks for raising the issue. It's clear that there is something wrong here with the way this is coming across to the training audience. So something needs to change.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 18 at 2016 3:50 PM

2016-08-18T15:50:17-04:00

I don't think web based training educated the soldier. It's my experience that when you tell joe he needs to complete an online course the first thing he says is "Who has the answers?" I've been in units where the CSM finds the one private who isn't doing anything, sits him down at the computer with an alpha roster and tells joe he needs to produce a training certificate for every name on the roster. Nobody takes the training seriously. Soldiers aren't getting the training they need delivered in an effective way.