Tips on how to start a training classes

[xtrim]

Hi,

 

I'm a filemaker developer (almost 15 years now).

Everything I learned is by myself or with the help of this great FM community.

 

There are no FM training services in my country (Israel) and I wish to open a company that does Filemaker training and solutions.

 

Any tips of how to start?

Partnerships is also an option.

 

all the best

Eldad T.

[Vaughan]

First thing is: work out what you're going to teach, and how you're going to teach it. This is generally the biggest and hardest part of developing any course IMHO.

 

Generally, for every hour of course time allow at least 1 day to develop the course materials, which include the instructor "script", student handouts and sample files -- don't forget the sample files, people need to be doing interesting work, and you need to have files for each stage, data for people to import, and the finished result for people to see.

 

Generally FMP courses are usually 2 days each, and there is an intro, intermediate and advanced course. That adds up to 8x2x3=48 days of development. It is expensive and time consuming, which is why it's cheaper to buy in courseware, at least at the start (even though it may seem really expensive).

 

I think you need to be a FileMaker Certified Trainer to use the FMI courseware, so you probably cannot use it.

 

After that: find a place to run the training, then get the people to pay.

 

Lastly, IMHO the best experience is to have somebody at the front "leading" the class through the material, and another person at the back "pushing" the class along. By pushing I mean that somebody gets stuck on something, the second person can jump in and fix them up with a quick and quiet 1-to-1 so the whole class is not slowed down. There is nothing worse than the whole group being held up for 10 minutes while the instructor helps somebody who is stuck because they opened the lesson 2 folder instead of lesson 1. This doubles your trainer costs, but the up-side is that you can probably get a couple more people into the class. Generally the "pusher" is a less experienced trainer, and you're getting them up to speed.

[bcooney]

+1 on all Vaughan says. I started my career as a training manager for an Apple, Adobe and Microsoft certified training center. Course material is very time-consuming to create.

 

My advice, work with the local FM rep, and become a certified trainer and use their course materials. I like the idea of a second trainer. There is typically one person that will dominate the class if you let them, and not usually in a good way. Especially in FM classes, where they have a project in mind and will try to use the class as a place for you to develop their project. So, be explicit that you offer one-on-one consulting as well, and that is where you address their specific project-related questions.

[xtrim]

Thank you for your tips

work with the local FM rep

 

there is no Local Fm Rep, just a store that sells the licenses.

 

How do I get FM certified trainer?