Maintaining Quality, Relevance, and Proficiency in RFID Education Is Still a Constant Challenge
By Gene Fedors
The task of efficiently learning a new technology and effectively incorporating that knowledge into one's job can be a time-consuming and cumbersome process if undertaken in a traditional, ad hoc manner. Too often the common approach to developing technology mastery involves an informal process of reading articles, reviewing white papers, sitting through vendor presentations and attending a series of seminars that aim to "pull all the pieces together." In the end, we inevitably ask ourselves "Do I have everything I need? Is there any critical piece I'm missing?" No matter what the answer, some doubt invariably lingers in the back of the mind.
The RFID Education Challenge
Each successive generation of information technology has challenged us as users, integrators, vendors, educators, etc., to get smarter faster and accelerate the progression from learning to seeing to doing. RFID technology has posed a particularly arduous education hurdle as it involves mastery of several disciplines and architectural components to understand the whole solution picture.
The complex, but manageable, nature of RFID requires mastery of several foundation skill sets—not only technology skills, but also business and organizational skills. These requirements for a variety of foundation skills are further complicated by the need for different training profiles for each type of worker role in an organization that is undertaking a unique RFID initiative.
Training a systems engineer to install RFID readers, antennas, and network devices requires a distinctly different education curriculum from a software developer integrating RFID middleware between network edge devices and enterprise applications. The difference in education program content for each job varies even more as the project role shifts from a technical to a business focus.
The Industry Variable in RFID Education
Past generations of technology-centric education programs have taught us that generic profiles of worker role and related skill sets are, by themselves, not sufficient to develop and deliver ideal training programs. A closer look at how RFID solutions are being deployed across various industries clearly points to the need for a training curriculum that incorporates specializations and application-specific modules that have a unique, industry-specific focus.
For example, required skills and knowledge of RFID and logistics in the cold supply chain are distinct from those in the typical warehouse-distribution center-retailer supply chain. Therefore, to facilitate the rapid bridging from "learning" to "seeing" to "doing," an RFID training curriculum must also offer advanced courseware that places fundamental principles and practices in the context of industry specific challenges, opportunities, and solutions.
The scope and complexity of today's RFID education challenge requires a structured, analytical approach to training programs development. To meet this challenge for quality training across worker roles and industry specialties, the RFID Technical Institute (RTI) has standardized its RFID training program design and delivery based on a curriculum framework first published by the International RFID Business Association (RFIDba) in the spring of 2005.
Known as the RFIDba Educational Reference Model(tm), this hierarchical curriculum map defines a framework for a comprehensive, yet specialized, RFID education program to ensure that unique worker roles and industry-specific requirements for RFID solutions are effectively addressed during the RFID training process. At the RFID Technical Institute, we've adopted this framework in our development of industry-specific RFID education and training programs for business and technology professionals.
A Comprehensive Curriculum
The RFIDba Education Reference Model shown below incorporates a layered approach to learning and RFID knowledge development, progressing from broad based essential concepts and components to specialized skills mastery in several required disciplines. This first phase of learning modules, focused on acquiring "basic RFID knowledge," leads to advanced courseware dedicated to building "functional proficiency." Training modules in this second phase emphasize demos, labs, and projects that exercise understanding and developing "hands-on" execution competency.
Phase three training is dedicated to "industry specialization." The broader knowledge skills from previous training sessions are put in context of specific industry needs, challenges, approaches, and solutions. This program phase equips the student to shift from participation in RFID initiatives to driving or managing specific project charters.
RTI collectively defines its approach and layered curriculum structure for RFID education as the "Quality, Relevance, & Proficiency Knowledge Transfer System." The QRP System(tm) is driven by RTI's mission of producing education programs of the highest quality that are directly relevant to the skills and knowledge required in the workplace, in order for workers to gain RFID proficiency in their industry.
Measuring and Promoting RFID Competency
A training program designed according to the RFIDba Education Reference Model, and developed using the RFID Technical Institute's QRP System, provides a valuable roadmap for individuals and organizations to navigate the twisting and turning education highway. Primarily focused on assuring quality of the RFID learning experience, RTI's education programs increasingly incorporate elements of proficiency testing and mastery certification as defined by the RFIDba Education Reference Model (see page 16).
The International RFID Business Association continues to conduct field research under its mission of developing guidelines and standards for RFID education, training, and certification. Much important work still needs to be done in this area, not just for "edge-of-the-network" technical worker skills and roles, but across the whole RFID component solution stack and for all project "end-to-end" job types.
Pending the official release by the RFIDba later this year of its certification and testing program, RTI currently incorporates proficiency testing within its classes based on quality advisory guidelines established by working committees of the RFIDba. In addition, RTI courses are approved and adopted by DeVry University's Center for Corporate Education (CCE). Under this relationship, not only are RTI courses approved for quality and content by a well-known, international university, but students of RTI are eligible to receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from DeVry University CCE. In many corporate circles, CEUs are an important distinction of quality and reliability for a commercial training program.
RTI sees the full evolution of comprehensive RFID open-standards based testing and certification across all major job roles and industry types unfolding over the next two years. To accomplish this goal—with the end point being universal testing and certification programs—the industry must resolve the best approach for defining comprehensive education, training, and certification standards. A key factor in this undertaking will be the research findings and published guidelines of the RFID Business Association that provide broad, end-user requirements to define these standards to best serve the education needs of the individuals and organizations that will ultimately make RFID a useful, practical, and successful part of our everyday lives.
Gene Fedors is Vice President of Education Programs for the RFID Technical Institute (RTI), a global provider of RFID training programs for individuals and organizations including corporations, government agencies, trade associations, and universities. Known as an industry pioneer in RFID education programs design, Mr. Fedors serves as an advisor to the International RFID Business Association (RFIDba) on the development of the RFID Education Reference Model(tm) that guides the planning and design of education curriculum for various industries and worker job classifications.
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