Frequently Asked
Questions
Index of Management Issue
FAQs
Hardware
Issues
Hardware
Requirements
What kind
of hardware is required?
The recommended
computer is a Pentium with MMX. All MMX computers have the required CD-ROM,
sound and MPEG video capability. Older computers can be used but they will
often require an additional program or a peripheral card to play the high-quality
standard bitrate MPEG video featured in all our courses. Runing the
low bitrate versions of our courses on older PCs
eliminates the need for a special MPEG card.
Click here for complete hardware requirements.
Notebook Computers
Can I train
using a notebook computer or a portable?
Yes. The notebook
or portable needs to meet the same minimal hardware requirements as the desktop
system (see question 1). However, system performance generally tends to be
slower on notebook computers, therefore we urge you to only consider using
a notebook that has a Pentium MMX processor or run our low
bitrate versions.
Usability
Issues
Our employees have never used a computer, will this be difficult
for them to learn?
No. Your employees
fit the profile of the vast majority of our customers. Most of the people
trained with our courseware are not computer users.
We’ve designed the
programs with simplicity in mind. The first thing a student sees is an
orientation on how to use and control the course. They have an option of
viewing this orientation every time they take a course. The orientation guides
them through every step.
Learners control the course
with a VCR-like control panel. The control panel has options like pause,
fast forward etc. Everyone will immediately know how to use it if they have
ever used a VCR or Audio CD player. We’ve even designed the training
so the user never has to touch a keyboard. They can get through a
course by pointing and clicking with a mouse or by using a touch screen.
Get a better description.
Visit “How It Works”.
Security
Issues
I’m concerned about lost and damaged CD-ROMs. Can students
take the training without having to handle CD-ROMs?
Yes. We have
two ways of installing the programs so that you and your workers never have
to handle CD-ROMs. No lost discs. No damaged discs.
The first method uses a
CD-ROM jukebox or disc changer. These changers will hold 5, 10, or even more
CD-ROMs. You can pre-load all of the CD-ROMs into the disc changer and your
workers will never have to insert a CD-ROM. It will always be loaded and
ready to go.
The other method we use
is a hard-drive installation. This method is gaining
immensely in popularity because of rapidly falling hard drive prices. It
is very cost justifiable to buy a large hard drive and install 5 or 10 courses
completely to the hard drive and never handle the CD-ROMs again.
I will need systems set
up in unsupervised areas of my site. How can I protect the system from
damage?
Mastery can
provide you with a system that is totally encased in a cabinet. We call it
a Kiosk. It looks similar to a tiny teller machine. The computer and keyboard
are locked away in a cabinet and the only thing showing is a touch screen
monitor. This will prevent people from tampering with the hardware. You have
probably seen similar information Kiosks set up in shopping
malls.
Pricing
Issues
How much does the software cost?
Courses sell
for $695 to $1,995, or you can rent them for as little as $36 a month as
part of a library. If you need more than one copy of a course, you may be
eligible for discounts. Check out our Price List
for more details. In addition, you will also want to purchase the record
keeping and reporting package for $195. If you would like to customize the
courses to feature your own video clips, audio, questions etc., you will
also want to purchase MODIFY™ for $495.
Networking
Issues
Can I deliver the training over my network?
Yes. Just how
you do it depends on the capabilities and the traffic load on your network.
The new low-cost 100 Megabit (Fast Ethernet) adapters and hubs work
great. Even if your existing network is unable to handle the added traffic
of our video streams, you can use our new low bitrate course
versions or we can help you set up a low cost
video-capable LAN that can bridge to your LAN or WAN for maintaining
a centralized learner records database.
Mastery courseware is the
only courseware that allows you to set up your network
in many alternative ways. Certainly, you can network the student records
with minimal effect on your network. However, we’ll have to look a little
closer at your system to determine whether or not you can deliver the VIDEO
training over your network without making special arrangements.
The main factors as to
whether your network can support the video are the bandwidth of your network,
the type of server(s) you have, the volume and nature of normal traffic on
the network, and your expected level of video traffic on the network. Unless
the video data files are our new low bitrate versions,
they are very large and require more network resources than typical
applications.
Refresher
Training Issues
“Testing
Out” of a Lesson
I have people that have been trained in these topics before
or they will be taking the course as an annual refresher. Can they
“test-out” of the courses by proving mastery on a pre-test.
Yes. All of
our courses feature a pre-test option. You can set this option so that it
requires the student to take the pre-test, or makes it optional for the student
to take the pre-test. You can also turn it off so that it is not available.
Only Teach What the Worker Doesn’t Already
Know
Can I make
the course play only the material that relates to questions that the worker
answered incorrectly in the pre-test? In other words, can I only teach what
they don't already know?
Yes. Each topical
area has its own pre-test. If the worker masters the material for a particular
topic, they can bypass that lesson. They still get instruction on the topics
for which they cannot prove mastery on the pre-test. If you are thinking
that this might reduce worker’s boredom over being trained in material
they already know, and if you think it might drastically reduce training
time and costs, you’re right!
Over-Use of the Same Courses
My workers
get tired of seeing the same video tapes every year. Do you have more than
one version of a course to choose from?
Yes. Only
Mastery has several courses to choose from on most topics. For example, we
have 4 different Forklift courses, 4 Lockout/Tagout courses, and 2 Hazcom
courses.
Trade-In Old Courses
Can I trade-in
a Lockout Tagout (or other titles) for a different Lockout Tagout next
year?
Yes. We will
give you a 50% trade-in credit toward the same title if your subscribe to
the Extended Support Plan. For example if you get
tired of one Lockout/Tagout, you can trade it for another for half price.
The same goes for Bloodborne Pathogens, Personal Protective Equipment, Hearing
Protection, Hazcom, or any other topic where we have several titles to choose
from.
Worker
Literacy Issues
Reading
and Comprehension Issues
I have workers
who cannot read very well or can't read at all. Some have difficulty
comprehending what they read. How can I train them with this system?
You are not
alone. Most of our customers say the same thing. To address this problem
we make sure we narrate every menu and every question and the presentation
within the course. The course will be presented to them with audio and video,
and when there are questions or menus, the system will read them to the worker.
This approach not only helps workers with reading and comprehension deficits
get through the training, it also assists them in a subtle way, to learn
to read and improve comprehension.
Multiple Languages at the Worksite
Our workers
speak different languages. Many of our worksites have to accomodate two,
three, and even four different languages. In some cases we provide translators
to go through the training with the workers, at a great cost I might add.
Unfortunately, in other cases we just can’t get the training done because
of the language problems. Do your courses address this problem?
Yes. We’ve
developed a unique method to support any number
of languages on the same computer using the original CD. Our
MODIFY™ system lets you define an unlimited
number of alternate languages. You simply record standard
audio files (.wav) to the hard drive of your system. Your workers are
then able to select their language at the beginning of the course. You can
even replace screen text for questions and glossaries with
MODIFY™.
Worksites in Multiple Countries
We are a
multinational company with locations around the globe—different
languages, different cultures. However, we want our training to be consistent.
We want to teach the same material the same way at every location. Creating,
deploying, and managing several versions of a course in several languages
is costly and complex. How do your courses and systems address this
problem?
This is a complex
problem, however, it can be solved in an elegantly simple way. Our
MODIFY™ system lets you create
alternate versions of our
off-the-shelf courses and any course you develop
using our MODIFY™ Course Shells. An alternate
version can include replacement audio tracks and
altered content to meet the language and cultural
differences of each of your locations. Making changes, even language overdubs,
is amazingly simple and innexpensive.
Courseware
Administration/
Management Issues
Managing
Course Materials
I’m
concerned about managing the training materials. Can I deliver the training
without having to worry about physically managing the CD-ROMs?
Yes. We have
two ways of installing the programs so that you and your workers never have
to handle CD-ROMs. No lost discs. No damaged discs. Course materials are
always where they’re needed, when they’re needed.
The first method uses a
CD-ROM jukebox or disc changer. These changers will hold 5, 10 or even more
CD-ROMs. You can pre-load all of the CD-ROMs into the disc changer and your
workers will never have to insert a CD-ROM. It will always be loaded and
ready to go.
The other method we
use is a hard-drive installation. This
method is gaining immensely in popularity because of rapidly falling hard
drive prices. It is very cost justifiable to buy a large hard drive and install
25 or 50 courses completely to the hard drive and never handle the CD-ROMs
again. You can even connect several machines in a
workgroup network and have potentially hundreds
of courses available online; for peanuts!
Worker’s Time Required to Take the Training
How much
time does the average course require to complete?
About 30 to
40 minutes. (Our competitors courseware requires 2 to 4 hours because of
the complexity of their system.)
Managing Widely Dispersed Training Stations
My plant
is spread out over two miles and I would like systems at several key locations
within the plant. Can I maintain the courses and change course options without
leaving my office?
Yes.
Training Manager allows you to “sign-on”
to your remote training stations without ever leaving your office. When you
“sign-on”, you will see the options for that particular training
station. You can then make changes to the options without ever leaving your
office. No other courseware vendor has this type of capability.
I will need
systems set up in unsupervised areas of my site. How can I protect the system
from damage?
Mastery can
provide you with a system that is totally encased in a cabinet. We call it
a Kiosk. It looks similar to a tiny teller machine. The computer and keyboard
are locked away in a cabinet and the only thing showing is a touch screen
monitor. This will prevent people from tampering with the hardware. You have
probably seen similar information Kiosks set up in shopping malls.
CD-ROM
Handling and Care Issues
I’m concerned about
lost and damaged CD-ROMs. Can students take the training without having to
handle CD-ROMs?
Yes. We have
two ways of installing the programs so that you and your workers never have
to handle CD-ROMs. No lost discs. No damaged discs.
The first method uses
a CD-ROM jukebox or disc changer. These changers will hold 5, 10 or
even more CD-ROMs. You can pre-load all of the CD-ROMs into the disc changer
and your workers will never have to insert a CD-ROM. It will always be loaded
and ready to go.
The other method we
use is a hard-drive installation. This
method is gaining immensely in popularity because of rapidly falling hard
drive prices. It is very cost justifiable to buy a large hard drive and install
25 or 50 courses completely to the hard drive and never handle the CD-ROMs
again. You can even connect several machines in a
workgroup network and have potentially hundreds
of courses available online; for peanuts!
I will need
systems set up in unsupervised areas of my site. How can I protect the system
from damage?
Mastery can
provide you with a system that is totally encased in a cabinet. We call it
a Kiosk. It looks similar to a tiny teller machine. The computer and keyboard
are locked away in a cabinet and the only thing showing is a touch screen
monitor. This will prevent people from tampering with the hardware. You have
probably seen similar information Kiosks set up in shopping malls.
Modification
of Courses
Site-Specific
Requirements
I need to
add site-specific information to several of your courses. Can I do that?
YES!!! Mastery
has the most powerful and flexible customization package available. With
Mastery’s MODIFY™ software you can add
full motion video clips, slides, graphics, scanned pictures to any lesson.
You can also add your own questions and reviews.
Removing Irrelevant Material
I have seen
courses that cover information that doesn’t relate to our operation.
Can I take out material that isn’t relevant to our operation?
YES. With
MODIFY™ you can remove any video, audio or
question that you want. No one else gives you this flexibility.
Interfacing
with other Software
Can I share the student
records with my other software programs?
Most definitely.
Mastery uses Windows ODBC standard data file format. This means that the
majority of your Windows applications can read Mastery student record files
without any programming. Examples include Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel,
dBase, Lotus 1-2-3 and many more.
Compatibility
with other
Vendor's Courses
Can I run other vendors’
courseware on your system?
Yes. Mastery
uses standard Windows hardware and MCI commands so do most other courseware
vendors. This makes the hardware we use compatible with the vast majority
of other courseware vendors.
We even go so far as
giving you a simple way, with our Training Manager
system, to place competitor’s courses on the Mastery Course Listing
which lets your workers launch all your training from one place. Even our
Training Requirements system lets you assign and
track requirements for non-Mastery training.
Update
and Upgrade Policy
Trade-ins
Can I trade-in
a Lockout Tagout (or other titles) for a different Lockout Tagout next
year?
Yes. If you’re
a subscriber to the Extended Service Plan (ESP), we will give you a 50% trade-in
credit toward the same title. For example if you get tired of one Lockout
Tagout, you can trade it for another for half price. The same goes for Bloodborne
Pathogens, Personal Protective Equipment, Hearing Protection, Hazcom or any
other topic where we have several titles to choose from.
The same trade-in provisions
apply to new systems you may buy that replace your current equipment. If
a new technology comes out that obsoletes your current systems,
you can trade-in your old technology-based courses
for the newer ones as they are available.
Cost of Updates
How much
do updates cost?
If you’re
on our Extended Support Plan, the cost of updates
is zero. Many program updates and course updates are
available here on our website for free. Otherwise our average program
update price is less than $100.
Home
| Quick Tour | Big
Picture | Products |
Support | Services |
Equipment | News |
Free
