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by Tommy Rainey
A recent reader survey
by the Disaster Resource
GUIDE focused on
education: What works,
what doesn’t work, and
how people see their
future educational needs
being addressed.
Over 500 responses from a wide cross
section of private sector and government
organizations give insight into
the future of education for our industry.
Over 60% of the responses are from
readers in larger (1000+) organizations,
20% are from companies or agencies
with 100+ employees, and 20% from
smaller companies. According to this
survey, the primary factors affecting
education preferences are money, time,
flexibility and quality.
Money
Costs are at the center of most education
decisions. 64% of respondents
attend one or more regional or national
conferences per year, with 19% attending
3 or more. The specific expense
mentioned most often was that of travel
and lodging. Travel costs are a concern
when it comes to the national conferences,
and a number of respondents
commented on the difficulty of justifying
the travel expense when other
alternatives are becoming available. Of those who commented on money and
budgets, the majority said their budgets
are shrinking, or flat at best. A few
lucky respondents have over $5,000 per
year available for conferences and seminars,
but most are having to live with
under $2,000, and many must pay part
or all of their own education costs.
Time
Disaster recovery, business continuity
and emergency management professionals
have increasingly demanding
schedules, which makes time a real concern. “I must find ways to fit education
into smaller time slots in my schedule”
is a common theme. Travel time makes
local workshops or seminars attractive
and 82% of respondents take advantage
of opportunities close to home. Many
would like to take advantage of college
courses, but they are rarely available
locally. 69% of those in the survey
rarely or never attend college level
classes. But with the increasing number
of online or distance learning opportunities,
55% are using web-based courses
at least occasionally.
Flexibility
The ability to learn at any convenient
time, from any convenient location is
very important. Of all types of learning
methods mentioned, three stand above
the others. The use of web searches is
the most popular method of gathering
information. 88% of survey participants
use web searches often or very often. The
second most popular information source
is email newsletters, with 70% using
them often or very often. A close third
information source is industry publications,
with 67% choosing this option
often or very often. All of these learning
resources are popular because they are
available at any time. This preference for ‘on-demand’ learning is driving a shift
towards webinars, podcasts and other
online options. Looking towards the
future, 53% of respondents see various
online options becoming more important
in their professional education.
Quality
The issue of quality is expressed in
several ways. Many of the respondents
have been in BC or DR for a number of
years and some are finding educational
options available to be too basic. They
are looking for more advanced best
practices. The ability to select sessions
based on the topic and presenters, and
the networking opportunities, are the
approaches that work best for over
80% of conference attendees. Almost
all of respondents who commented on
the value of face-to-face learning (conferences,
seminars) find that to be a
preferred method. Sharing real experiences
with peers, and networking with
them, is generally considered the best
way to grow professionally. Therefore
a common theme in the responses is
regret that time and money constraints
are forcing the move away from face-toface
and towards online options.
Blogs and web forums are the least
favorite form on online education,
primarily because of quality issues.
Reading poorly written comments and
having to sort through too much material
makes blogs less efficient. 60% of
respondents rarely or never use blogs or
forums. Another quality concern is the
potential for bias. Some webinars are
considered to be more sales pitch than
objective education.
Summary
There is a definite shift away from inperson
education, primarily because of
budget cuts and secondarily because
of time involved. Many respondents
preferred the quality of presentations
and networking opportunities at conferences,
and therefore regret this shift
to web options. People would increase
their use of local educational opportunities,
especially college and university
courses, if they were more available.
Another primary driver in education
choice is the desire for flexibility in
time. This desire makes web searches,
magazines and newsletters popular and
widely used.
About the Author
Tommy Rainey is Executive Publisher of
the Disaster Resource GUIDE. He can be
reached at tommyr@disaster-resource.com.
For the complete survey results, go to
www.disaster-resource.com/2007EducationSurvey.
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