If your job calls for you to do any sort of a task analysis for the purpose
of using the resulting information to design training, you owe it to yourself
to download and examine the Task Analysis Toolkit. If you're planning to
develop Structured OJT, the latest version of the Task Analysis Toolkit can
save considerable time by producing trainer and trainee manuals for you.
When gathering task analysis information from subject matter experts, whether one-on-one or in a workshop environment, information goes straight into the Task Analysis Toolkit. No Post-It notes on the whiteboard; no piles of scrap-paper notes to transcribe later. And there's no need to wait for data to be entered into other software to produce documents for review; documents for review are instantly available - at any point in the data gathering process.
To learn how to efficiently use a nominal-group or table-top process in conjunction with the Task Analysis Toolkit you can also download and install the Nominal Group Job Task Analysis course. The course takes you through a proven task analysis process, ties the process to the Toolkit, and you'll be ready to start within the day!
Conducting and documenting a job and task analysis is an absolutely critical
step in technical training development. Much, if not most, of the information
recorded in a task analysis becomes the raw input to curriculum and course
design documents.
Now you're not forced to manually sort, group, cut, and paste task analysis
information data as it morphs to become curriculum and course design data.
The Task Analysis Toolkit does those things for you. You'll get the job
done more quickly with much less chance of any task related information falling
through the cracks.
Many who do task analysis can mentally relate to a room with Post-it notes
stuck all over all of the walls and an instructional designer copying and
moving those notes from one place to another. Can you also relate to someone opening
the door and a puff of wind playing havoc with those notes? Not with the
Task Analysis Toolkit! When using the Toolkit is used in a workshop environment the screens are projected on the wall. If the puff of wind upsets that apple cart, you're likely in Florida during a hurricane and should have evacuated hours ago!
For the company, using the Task Analysis Toolkit means more bang for the
training-design buck. For the instructional designer, it's simply an easier
way to maintain congruence between tasks, objectives, content, and assessments.
For the developer, it insures a better road map from which to actually develop
training.
The Task Analysis Toolkit is designed with the concept that jobs can be described
as a set of duties or areas of responsibilities. Duties can be described
and defined as a set of tasks and sub tasks.
When doing a task analysis for the purpose of training design, there are
several items that should be considered and possibly documented for each
task. The Task Analysis Toolkit allows for all of them but does not force any of them. These items include:
1. Standards of Performance
2. Conditions (under which the task is performed)
3. Any notes you wish to enter (Notes can be used for safety concerns or
other information as required.)
4. Steps comprising the task
5. Difficulty
6. Frequency
7. Probability of doing it incorrectly without training
8. Consequence of doing it incorrectly
9. Whether or not this particular task or sub task should be selected for
training
The answer to item 9, of course, depends upon items 5 - 8. The Task Analysis
Toolkit has a built-in algorithm that makes an recommendation for item 9,
based on the data in items 4 - 7. And, since each business is unique as to
how items 5 - 8 should be weighted, you can customize the algorithm to suit
your particular business's need and priorities.
The toolkit also exports (as a standard rich-text, formatted document) reports
that can easily be distributed, read, and approved thus saving report generation
time and optimizing designer time and effort.
After the task analysis is complete, a second export-like operation sends
task information over to curriculum and course side of the product. A second
data base is thus created with tasks becoming training objectives that can
be modified and assigned to different courses as applicable. Regardless of
how an objective is modified, the Task Analysis Toolkit retains a link and
reference to the original task to preclude unintentional omissions and errors.
For each objective, the Task Analysis Toolkit provides a means of documenting:
1. Standards of performance that will be applied to tests given in the training
environment
2. Conditions under which mastery of the objective will be tested
3. Notes relating to the referenced task or objective
4. Testing strategy
5. Practice Strategy
6. Content Delivery Strategy
7. Course to which the objective is assigned.
Items 1 - 3 are automatically copied from the Task data when the tasks are
initially exported. This information can subsequently be altered by the designer
as necessary. Items 4 - 7 are defined by the designer, as applicable, for
each objective. For item 7, you will be able to assign objectives one
at a time to a course, or you can "bulk assign" all of the objectives associated
either with a single duty or with an entire job to a single course. ("Bulk
duty transfers can be made to a single course from multiple duties.)
The Task Analysis Toolkit allows the objectives for any course to be re-sequenced
into the most logical learning sequence. It also allows for additional objectives
to be added when and where necessary.
Like the task oriented information, objective-oriented data can be exported,
as often as necessary, as rich-text, formatted documents. When the process
is complete, these exported documents contain most, if not all, of the
information required in course design documents.
When preparing for development of Structured OJT courses, the Task Analysis
Toolkit can also export objective information directly into Trainer and Trainee
Guides which can be used as-is for training or modified by the user as necessary.
The Task Analysis Toolkit is an extremely powerful and versatile program.
That power and versatility, however, means that it may take an hour or so
to become familiar with all of the features. To help with that, we have preloaded the data bases with
a small, sample task analysis so you can see what one looks like and so you can experiment with the toolkit. (Experiment: That's techno-speak for "play around with.")
We have also included a user guide. More than half of the user guide refers
to the preloaded task analysis and serves as training for the product.
Many of us (notice I said "us" and not "you") like to dive into a product
and try to use it without training. And, you can certainly do this if you
wish, but I can just about guarantee that you will learn more in a much shorter
time if you take the training in the user guide as it was designed. If you need
help or have questions, I'm as close as your email client.
And, just when you thought it could not get any better... We're throwing in a completely revised version of a course we call "Nominal Group Job Task Analysis." Whether you decide to purchase the Toolkit or not, this eight-lesson CBT is yours to keep. The course with over 200 screens of information and interaction not only addresses a way to conduct a job and task analysis using a group of subject matter experts in a workshop environment, it also shows how to integrate that activity with the Toolkit.
But wait! Maybe you won't have to go through all of that material! If you live in the U. S. or Canada, and have high-speed Internet access, I can give you a live demo of the Task Analysis Toolkit and save you a whole lot of time perusing a product that just may not be what you need or want. Based on your interest, a typical demo takes between 15 minutes and a couple of hours. If you have a lot of questions, we'll take as much time as necessary.
When you fill out the form below to get the URL of the Toolkit for download you can indicate whether or not
you would like an on-line demo. (If you want a demo, I will call you and we can set up a time.) If you indicate that you do not want a demo
but later change your mind, you can always send me an email to that effect. My email address is farther down on this page. It as well
as other contact information is on the Contact/Profile page of this web site.
The Task Analysis Toolkit functions in Trial Mode unless and until you decide to purchase it.
In Trial Mode, you'll be able to play around with it as much as you like but it will not store new Job, Duty, or Task information.
This allows you to see if it is really of value to you.
When you first run the program, it generates and displays a nine-digit
"Challenge" code. Each time you start the program from then on, it displays
that same challenge code, and
asks for a 'Response" code. If you to purchase the product, you will need to pay for it
and I'll give you the required Response code.
The current price for the Task Analysis Toolkit Response Code is $389.00 US for individual users. Actually a single user license gives you the right to install the toolkit on three different machines. (You'll probably need it on at least two machines - one in a conference room where you will actually do the task analysis with screens projected on the wall and another copy at your desk.) The third copy can be used by someone else on a network or as a stand alone unit wherever needed.
Contact me by email for more information. (See Contact/Profile page for my email address.)
IMPORTANT #1: The Task Analysis Toolkit includes two data bases,
FEATASK.mdb and FEAOBJ.mdb. The installation program must alter the registry
on your machine to define these data bases as ODBC Data Sources. Depending
upon your security software, you may need assistance from your information
technology (IT) administrator. I suggest you print this item for your
IT administrator's information, just in case you run into a failure of the
program to install properly.
After I receive and verify the information, I will send you the links for the Task Analysis Toolkit and the Nominal Group Job Task Analysis course (TATK.EXE and NGJTA.EXE) so you can download them to your desktop and or install them. BTW, the Toolkit file is about 1.3 megs and the course is about 2.5 megs.
Be sure that your email address is correct so I can get back to you with the links.
If you download the EXE files, be sure to delete them so you don't accidently overwrite the data files later.
IMPORTANT #2: When you install the Toolkit, allow the files go into
the default directories specified by the install program.
IMPORTANT # 3. The first time you start the Task Analysis Toolkit
on your PC, you must be signed on to your PC with administrative rights or
the program will not start. You will also need these administrative
rights if you enter the RESPONSE code received from me. At any other
times, administrative rights are not required.
If you do run into any problems email me at
Pete@PeteBlair.com. - Thanks, Pete
Blair
Please complete the information below so I can send you the link to the trial version
of the Task Analysis Toolkit plus the link to the Nominal Group Job Task Analysis course. I will send the links to the email address you enter. Be aware that because of the method used to send that email to you, your email program may treat it as spam - so if you don't find it in your inbox, look for it in the spam folder.
