Technology Literacy Training--The ACTT Method.

Abstract

Technology Literacy Training--The ACTT Method Computers, automated machines and people, taken together with the factors discussed in this article, equal today's high-tech manufacturing environment. This environment differs radically from that of two or three decades ago. Today, electronics and machines such as computers and robots automate manufacturing tasks; and people control, operate and maintain these machines. The factor crucial to the balancing of this new manufacturing equation is the training or instruction of people to handle today's computer-integrated production. Out of this critical need for instruction in a high-tech learning environment, the Advanced Center for Technology Training (ACTT) was created. Started in 1985, it is a provider for America's training needs, offering to educators and industry and integrated instruction package identified as the Robotics and Automation Literacy Program. The Training Philosophy There have traditionally been two components to training workers--training them for basic skills, and machine-specific training. However, recent experience has shown that each of these areas has its shortcomings. The math and reading fundamentals that we all learned in school have proven insufficient to prepare us for new technologies. And the machine-specific training that vendors give to workers to operate their equipment changes as quickly as do the machines themselves. Apart from these problems, it has been shown that there is a missing link between basic and machine-specific skills. ACTT calls this link literacy. Technology literacy is the mastery of general technology concepts and the use of abstract thinking to solve concrete problems. When a worker is technology-literate, learning to operate a new machine is much simpler; the worker merely applies the general concepts to the task at hand and so gains a better understanding of manufacturing systems. The technology-literate worker knows not only which buttons to push, but also why pushing those buttons leads to the desired result. The worker can approach a new job enlightened and confident instead of confused and frustrated. Productivity and worker happiness are greatly enhanced, and human error becomes an almost negligible factor in production. We now see that there are three components to effective worker training: basic skills, technology literacy and machine-specific instruction. A worker who has learned the prerequisite basic skills is prepared to become technology-literate. A worker who has gained technology literacy is ready to easily assimilate any machine-specific instruction. Each training component in a well-oiled machine. The package includes a curriculum and support materials along with computer hardware, software, interfacing devices, sensors, actuators and numerous industrial simulation devices. The curriculum comprises 93 completely integrated modules, many of which are activity-oriented. The trainer completes the package and must be recruited by the educational institution or industry using it. The trainer undergoes a rigorous methods session and is also instructed in the procedures and activity packages of the curriculum. Training Needs Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) initiated a program in late 1987 to provide training and retraining in high-technology occupations. Impetus for the decision was given by the collapse of the agricultural machinery market served by EICCD, the ensuing loss of some 11,000 manufacturing positions in the agricultural machinery industry, and another loss of 4,000 positions in related industries. Many highly skilled employees accepted transfers and moved from the area. This decrease in the number of skilled workers, plus the tremendous reduction of low-technology production positions, left an unemployed workforce poor in advanced-technology skills. …