End-User Training: opening The Internet's bottleneck

by

Pablo Liendo

Networks and Development Foundation (Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo, FUNREDES)

Regional Corresponsal

Daniel Pimienta

Networks and Development Foundation (Fundacion Redes y Desarrollo, FUNREDES)

Head

December 1993

I. INTRODUCTION

The community served was closely related to computer centers, we could therefore presume that it was not so difficult to count the number of users per node. Later on, another sector became eagerly interested in promoting the expansion of the telematic services to be provided: the Communication Industry. It became fashionable to talk about "connectivity", even in a sense rather like an acquired Civil Right. Newer and more traffic-intensive services have been developed and more user communities have seen the potential of networking. The growth indicators became the number and capacity of links, and the degree of inter-networking as a result of the protocols adopted. The number and mix of actual users became progressively harder to figure out.

As the Information Industry comes in to play, there is a natural shift towards the user community as the focus of analysis. At this point in time we are presented with plenty of data compiled over the past, showing a clear-cut tendency to increase both the number of "nodes" and the number of users of The Internet. In fact the tendency is such that by the first quarter of the XXI Century the whole World population would be using the network..! The authors hold the opinion that a variety of barriers will render such forecasting highly unlikely. In order to develop a network, the setting in place of computers and links are necessary requirements to be met, but not sufficient!. We do think that the true development of any network is measured by the number (quantity) of active, effective and efficient (quality) users of Computer Mediated Communication, CMC. Fortunately, many technical barriers have been or are about to be solved. Even financial barriers seem to be creatively addressed with some success. Initially, a significant number of the pioneer users were already familiar with computer and communications specifics.

Quite on the contrary, the overwhelming proportion of people to become users of The Internet are poorly, if at all, literate in these disciplines. Adding this to the increasing amount and diversity (complexity) of resources representing the potential benefit of the network, it seems pretty obvious that the main bottleneck for The Internet to: a) keep growing and b) for its user community to fully exploit its capabilities, is to provide the proper training to the newcomers and indeed to improve the degree of expertise displayed by many current users.

II. SEGMENTATION OF TRAINEES

1. People who have not even heard of Computer Mediated Communication, CMC
2. People who consider The Internet services as non-pertinent to them
3. People whose access is affected by socio-economical barriers
4. People whose access is affected by technical barriers
5. Actual (but unsatisfied) users. Additionally, two other groups were identified: a) people for whom these services do not directly apply, and b) actual users who are fully satisfied. These two groups clearly deserve less, if any, consideration within the scope of this paper. We have enriched the model by including a new group:
6. People whose access is affected by organizational barriers.

The model also considers a variety of actors which, in order to keep the net working, interact either individually or as organizational entities. Some of these actors are :

1. Potential users
2. Actual individual users
3. User groups
4. Information systems personnel (librarians, information brokers, etc.)
5. Educational related personnel (teachers, teaching aids designers, andragogists, etc.)
6. Policy makers (applications, network management, operational requirements, routing, security, transport and services, user services, science and technology organisms, academic authorities, Parliament Members, politicians, etc.)
7. Media specialists (mass media, scientific journalists, mediatic experts, publicists, etc.)
8. Sociologist (impact forecasting, evaluation and interpretation, etc.)
9. Cognitive and social psychologist (Multimedia, virtual reality, etc.)
10. Knowledge engineers (artificial intelligence).
11. Linguists (language translation support, iconic grammar, etc.)
12. Node administrators (management)
13. Network joint management personnel
14. General informatics technical staff (memory and disk management, interfaces, database design and administration, backup, computer resource accounting, etc.)
15. Network specific technical staff (hardware and software computer and communication support)
16. Publishing industry
17. Computer industry (computers, routers, MODEMS, commercial software, etc.)
18. Telecommunication industry (PTTs, fiber optics, satellites links, etc.).

In order to be comprehensive in our analysis we consider the following categories:

Based on type of use and perspective:

1. Actual
   • individuals
   • user groups
2. Potential users

Based on exposure to CMC specifics and motivation:

1. None
2. Some but distorted or not enough to motivate
3. Enough to motivate but not to be proficient
4. Enough for proficiency.

Based on type of barrier:

1. Absolute CMC illiteracy
2. Relative CMC illiteracy
3. Socio-economical barriers
4. Technical barriers
5. Organizational barriers
6. None

Based on participation:

1. End usage of CMC services provided
2. Evaluation and suggestions for improving the system
3. End user informational guidance
4. End user technical support
5. End user organizational support
6. Education of actors about CMC literacy
7. Policy making and enforcement
8. Node or joint administrative management
9. Financing
10. "Non computist type" staff and end user interface development
11. "Computist type" staff and end user interface development
12. Telecommunication infrastructure support
13. Ergonomic, mediatic, linguistic and congnitional value- additions
14. Dissemination of news, proposals, resources available, teaching material, etc.
15. Research and development of new CMC services.

The Cartesian product of the above listed categories gives a total of 1080 combinations! So, although we feel it is a comprehensive and nice segmental approach, for the purposes of this paper: end user training, let us confine ourselves to the following two variables:

Trainee Segment:

1. Potential end users not been exposed to CMC
2. Potential end users partially exposed but not motivated
3. Potential end users motivated
4. Actual users but with not enough proficiency

Informational Content of Training:

1. General presentation of Computer Mediated Communication, CMC, as offered through The Internet
2. Detailed training on basic services, mailing lists and Bulletin Board Services
3. Detailed training in on interactive information delivery systems (Gopher, World Wide Web, Alex), directory services (WHOIS, Netfind, X.500) and indexing services (Archie, WAIS, VERONICA, on-line library catalogues)
4. Detailed training on the alternatives to provide information through The Internet
5. Detailed trainning on how to get organized to run user groups and information services related to The Internet

That leads us to the following final matrix:

                       CMC          Not      Motivated       Not

 

                  Illiterate   motivated   (potential  proficient

 

                  (potential  (potential     user)       (actual

 

                    user)        user)                    user)

 

    Introductory      A1          B1           C1          D1

 

 

  Basic Services     N/A          B2           C2          D2

 

 

        Advanced     N/A        B3, N/A       N/A          D3

 

        Services

 

 

     Information     N/A        B4, N/A       N/A      D4, N/A,+

 

        Offering

 

 

  Organizational     N/A          N/A         N/A      D5, N/A,++

 

          Skills

 

 

 [N/A] = Not applicable

 

   [+] = Pertinent to information providers

 

  [++] = Pertinent to User Groups, Joint Network Management, etc.

 

It is important to state that we are addressing the problem of empowering end users of The Internet through training. This alone is by no means enough. A lot of effort needs to be applied to make some actors sensitive to these themes, in order to ask for their adequate participation to the growth of the network. Some of these efforts include:

• To provide a basic understanding of the implications and needs of the setting in place and operation of this kind of networks, addressed to those people who can alleviate the identified barriers.
• To provide a basic understanding of the impact of CMC on social development, addressed to sociologist, mass media, industrial sector, etc.
• To provide the technical contents needed by the specialists for developing teaching materials on the diverse topics of the CMC
• To negotiate with PPTs to become partners of the integral growth of the network
• To promote the badly needed interaction among actors coming from computer related fields and the rest of users. It should make the former familiar with the justifiable limitations of the later. In some instances it requires going all the way down the details of some manual procedures to explore possible automatic processes as support.
• Particular consideration is required by the financial aspects of the setting in place and operation of networks.
• The prospective analysis of the coming in of the commercial sector is mandatory.
• Much interaction is needed in order to take into consideration so many variables involved in the emergent field of the CMC. It is unquestionable that it represents a true new "Neoculture" not to be taken lightly.

III. CURRICULA PER SEGMENT

• Man as a Cybernetic Action Agent ("goal seeking" system)
• Role of communication (its contribution to the quality of process and of product)
• Human information processing (basics of data, information and knowledge)
• Man - man communication
• Man - machine communication (interface)
• Machine - machine communication (ABC of telematic network infrastructure)
• Characteristics of the "Telematic Neoculture"
• Briefing on the telematic services most commonly used: electronic mail, file transferring (FTP) and remote computer use (Telnet)
• The Internet in a few words, figures and diagrams
• Concrete references to the systems locally available (access, cost, limitations)
• Practical listing of the requirements to become an Internaut
• Human contacts to further pursue the apprenticeship about The Internet
• Bibliography for further reading By definition this core curriculum should be applied to all four trainee segments considered. Next comes the detailed training on basic services provided by the Internet. The following is a list of topics to be addressed at this Basic Curriculum:

• General review of the material covered at the Introductory Level
• Basics of the local operating system (as related to the subject)
• Communication software interaction
• File transferring software interaction
• Message administration software interaction
• Basics of the MODEM (what it is and basic commands)
• Transport network interaction
• Node interaction (user validation, terminal emulation, services selection)
• Electronic mail (characteristics, addressing/routing, aliases, writing, sending, receiving, replying, forwarding, bouncing, saving, printing, deleting)
• Mailing lists (listing of topics and locations, subscribing, reading, writing, listing their members, listing their archives, getting back postings, unsubscribing)
• Bulletin Board Services (listing of topics and locations, reading, writing)
• Bibliography for further reading This basic curriculum should be applied to the potential user and the actual but unskilled user. It should be also considered for those potential users not motivated, providing that the examples have to be carefully tailored based on the interests of the group.

  Next comes the detailed training on interactive information delivery systems, directory services and indexing services provided by The Internet. The following is a list of topics to be mastered at this Advanced Curriculum:

• General review of the material covered at the Introductory and Basic levels
• Gopher (description, locations, navigating, typical interaction)
• World Wide Web,WWW (description, strength and limitations, interaction)
• Alex (description, interaction)
• WHOIS (description, locations, interaction)
• Netfind (description, interaction)
• X500 (general specifications)
• Archie (description, selecting, connecting, variables, searching, reading, saving)
• WAIS (description, selecting, searching)
• VERONICA (description, logical operands, interaction)
• On-line library catalogues (options, listing locations, variety of interactions)
• Foreseeable future implementations (voice and image, AI, artificial assistant)
• Bibliography for further reading This advanced curriculum should be applied to the actual but unskilled user. It should be also considered for those potential users not motivated, providing that the examples been carefully selected for the interests of the group.

  Some specific curriculum is needed for training people to enable them to provide information systems through The Internet. The following is a list of topics to be reviewed at this Information Provider Curriculum:

• General review of the material covered at the Introductory, Basic and Advanced levels
• Different perspectives (source, editor, transcriptor, operator, end user, broker)
• Input load volume and human limitations ("Diabetes informaticus")
• Selective dissemination of information through The Internet
• Briefing on mediatic techniques applied to interfaces Multimedia
• CD-ROM (remote access)
• Briefing on database systems (design, updating, remote access, searching, saving results, printouts)
• Administration techniques (access control, billing, security, integrity, privacy)
• End-user support
• Financing
• Bibliography for further reading This information provider curriculum should be applied to some actual but unskilled user, and it could also be considered for those potential users not motivated, providing that the examples been carefully selected for the interests of the group. Some specific curriculum is also needed for training determined people to enable them to get organized in order to run user groups and information services related to The Internet. The following is a list of topics to be addressed at this Organizational curriculum:

• General review of the material covered at the Introductory, Basic and Advanced levels
• Overview of the actors related to The Internet (listing and roles)
• Definition of organizational coverage of each entity (User Group, Node, National Network, etc.)
• Dealing with The Public
• Dealing with policy makers and authorities
• Dealing with information providers
• Dealing with the mass media
• Dealing with technical staff
• Dealing with International Organizations
• Dealing with other groups and networks
• Financing
• Evaluation techniques
• International Meetings overview This organizational curriculum should be applied to those engaged in activities related to this field but from an organizational entity.

IV. TRAINING METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

• The basics of information as a resource
• The impact of communication on the quality of processes and products
• The nature of the so called "Telematic Neoculture"
• The interaction of the different actors involved.
• The fluent use of the CMC services locally available
• The cost and financing of this powerful tool.

It is important to tailor the curriculum to the objective needs of the prospective user. It is so fascinating (but so extense) the knowlwdge base related to The Internet that a real effort is needed to avoid overwhelming the trainee. Also it is very easy to bias the emphasis on its technical aspects on detriment of its tremendous social, political and economical implications. Almost every country has some kind of organization linked to The Internet. This provides a unique opportunity to share experiences and resources from each other. An innovative and very promissing strategy would be to make that as many proficient users as possible "adopt" one newcomer each, in order to foster their training.

Numerous documents at different levels hace been written on many of the topics listed above. Furthermore, many of those documents are available on line. A critical mass of monographs are already at hand to be used either as textbooks for formal courses or as reference material for self training. Progressively we have witnessed the introduction of distal education techniques for introductory courses about and through The Internet. Some effort should be done to evaluate the relative success of those initiatives and to improve next releases. It is not casual that the vast majority of people not initiated or minimaly benefiting from the CMC as offered by The Internet is not English speaking. Therefore if not for some other reasons a massive effort is to be done in order to provide documentation for training in the prevalent languages of the regions where those people belong. There is a widespread agreement on the promissing potential of the so called "Nintendo Generation". For those luckly enough to receive informal (or formal) training in computer based gadgets, being them for fun or as tools for education, at an early age, are prone to become Internauts without major traumas. For the incorporation of them it seems to be just a matter of time. Quite on the contrary is the case of adult people, already specialized in technical or humanistics fuilds but who have missed the interaction with the above mentioned devices. Not only they lack that joyful experience but the do not have the attitude, the time, or even the intelectual flexibility to embrace a totally new environment.

It is not that easy for a socially differentiated adult to develop a whole Neoculture as the telematic one. It is at all possible but not necesarilly easy. Therefore some techniques borrowed from andragogy (adult education) are imperatives. Particular potential display some techologies such as multimedia in order to develop self administered training with the unequivocal advantage of reinforcing the key issues to be learned and to do so at one's pace. It is invaluable the benefit of simulating a telematic session but without being connected. Thus, one can spend all the time needed in grasping the lessons, without being penalized by connection or remote computer usage charges. Another resource to be applied is the mass media. The level of professionalism achieved by this sector and its coverage makes it specially suited for dissemination of information on these topics. After all, we are talking about an audience which is the size of the World population. No kidding..!

V. CONCLUSIONS

We enphasize the importance of making people aware of the social, political and economical impact of the so called "Telematic Neoculture". Non current users should be informed and motivated about these themas. Non proficient users should receive complementary training. New actors should get more and more involved with the harmnonic development of The Internet: the information providers, the politicians, the comercial and industrial sector, the mass media, the International Organizations, among others. Sharing of experiences and resources, widespread application of distal education, adult educational techniques, multimedia and simulated sessions are some of complementary actions proposed. A promissing strategy is put forward: to make that as many proficient users as possible "adopt" one newcomer each, in order to foster their training. The chalenge resides in the trainee target audience: the whole

 

World population.

 

=================================================================

(Bibliographic references to be inserted)

=================================================================

End of Document