Need to Learn from Your Office? Try Remote Training, On-Site Coaching, or Internet-Delivered Courses
Redlands, California— June 08, 2009 —Organizations that face shrinking travel budgets and no-travel policies can still offer employees high-quality geographic information system (GIS) software training. ESRI trains GIS professionals at their workplaces by providing on-site training, coaching, and video teleconferencing, in addition to self-study classes over the Internet.
"These training choices help ESRI software users keep their skills up-to-date even if their organizations have cut back on travel to off-site training locations," said Ralph Luchs, ESRI training delivery manager.
ESRI recently added two new training options to help GIS professionals who must remain near the office.
Client Coaching Coupled with Client-Site Training/Mobile Lab
ESRI is offering client coaching for all ESRI instructor-led training courses to groups of 12–15 students. Customers who order standard ESRI training classes for a group of employees can purchase additional time with an ESRI instructor to coach the group. The instructor can help with specific team needs, including working with the organization's sample data and reviewing and practicing class concepts that apply to the customer's own workflows. Coaching days will be available immediately preceding or following a Client Site or ESRI private training class.
Organizations also no longer need to worry about having the necessary equipment and software when hosting an instructor-led training class. As an option, ESRI will provide mobile lab equipment for each student, including preconfigured hardware such as laptops, ESRI software, and classroom setup service.
Instructor-Led Remote Classroom Training
Two-way, interactive video conferencing technology lets students attend instructor-led training classes remotely from a local ESRI learning center, an ESRI satellite location, or their own office, as long as it has the necessary equipment.
The classes are broadcast from an ESRI location in the United States to one or two remote locations. Students can see and hear the instructor lecture, speak with other students, ask questions, and share experiences. The instructor can see students' computer screens and take control if necessary to assist them with class exercises. Classes run eight hours per day.
ESRI also offers other Internet-based, instructor-led options for GIS professionals unable to travel to a learning center. Instructor-led Virtual Classroom courses provide convenient training delivered by an experienced ESRI instructor over the Web in real time directly to a student's desktop. Students can listen to lectures, interact with the instructor and classmates, and work on exercises through Web-based desktop conferencing.
"No matter which training option they choose, our customers can be assured they are receiving the highest quality GIS education from expert instructors in the field," said Luchs. "Our ultimate goal is to make sure our customers can receive the training they need, when and where they need it, in order to be successful with ESRI software."
Other ESRI training options that require no travel include
- Virtual Campus Web-based training—GIS training, accessible 24/7, for self-paced, independent study
- Web training seminars—Free hour-long presentations and demonstrations on focused technical topics
- Instructional Series podcasts—Free, short audio recordings on specific software topics
- ESRI Press books—Self-study titles about GIS technology, cartography, and mapping as well as workbooks that teach students how to use ESRI software.
About ESRI Educational Services
With more than 200 courses to choose from, ESRI Educational Services is a recognized leader in geographic information system (GIS) training. Courses cover a variety of topics related to ESRI software, the theory underlying GIS technology, and applying GIS tools to find solutions in particular fields, all while combining hands-on experience, interactivity, and instructional support to create an effective learning environment. Visit www.esri.com/training for more information.
About ESRI
Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.
Contact:
Carla Wheeler
ESRI
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-2448
E-mail: Email Contact