GoTrain.net LLC s Web-based training modules include interactive exercises such as this one on hazardous spills. Web-based training is ideally suited to teaching cognitive skills, such as basic facts, figures, rules and processes, said von Gruenigen. It's not as useful in teaching psycho-motor skills, such as how to golf, or in helping people adopt new attitudes. Web training also has the distinct advantage of being free of geographic and scheduling constraints, she said. Moreover, students can choose approaches best suited to individual learning styles.
Online monitoring lets instructors track each student's progress.
Effective Web-based training does not simply shovel existing materials online, she said. Instead, it makes full use of the Web's interactivity. For instance, one of GoTrain.net's quizzes involves dragging containers of various substances to a storage locker, with interactive explanations of right and wrong decisions. But for a newspaper, which may have hundreds of people driving around on company business, improving skills to reduce accidents is time and money well spent. The program has proved effective in changing behavior behind the wheel, Templeman said, citing a 27 percent reduction in accident frequency and 74 percent decrease in accident costs since the program was launched in 1998.