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IT Training “Reassuringly Expensive�?
The late comedienne Linda Smith once joked, “I love Waitrose – it’s that little bit more expensive.�
It’s a funny old world, but until the recent credit crunch, all of us allegedly believed the view that �Price is an indicator of quality�, or “Let’s be honest, cheap equals crap�. Advertisers perpetuated the myth – picture the juicy shots on the M&S ads, with “This is not ordinary food, this is….� At the other extreme, the food shops low cost ranges were devoured by ultra thrifty shoppers but barely noticed by you and me.
In Computer courses, high price colleges (surely they’re the best - if you have the funds - why else would these companies be market leaders?) convinced us that colleges exist who’ll train less expensively but be warned, you get what you pay for…. .
Then lo and behold, we hover on the brink of financial meltdown, and suddenly value becomes our mantra! Many householders abandon Waitrose, and instead choose Aldi and Lidl. City bankers and their fat cat payouts are frowned upon, and we all think again about who we’re buying from.
Why were we so impressed by paying higher prices? Dig a little further into the British Computer training market, and maybe the big boys with their fancy prices are not all they seem. Just because industry’s crying out for an ever increasing number of skilled networking professionals and programmers, should we really be paying over five thousand pounds to be trained in these skills, or are we missing something better? It’s a bit ironic that many IT trainers are preaching one thing whilst practicing another - supplying students with pen and paper methods. Is it reasonable to wade through books when all information can be downloaded onto discs? Why should we drive to training centres, forking out for our accommodation to get teaching we could have online? 24/7 Interactive support should be available for me anywhere – at my convenience, but not at my cost.
With more comprehensive, slicker training options on offer at less than half these prices, maybe it’s time we woke up to the fact that with regard to electronic learning, value means lower cost for higher quality. Things are changing in IT training – in the words used by supermarkets, it’s “Taste the Difference� goods for “Basic� prices. In this changing world of today, I’d say that’s a step in the right direction.
(C) Scott Edwards - www.learninglolly.com. Scott Edwards has been involved in the IT and Training Industry for 30 years.
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