Simuflite, a Texas aviation training company, expected to whip the competition w
ID: 402724 • Letter: S
Question
Simuflite, a Texas aviation training company, expected to whip the competition with FasTrakits computer-based training (CBT) curriculum for corporate pilots. Instead, the new venture sent Simuflite into a nose dive. An analysis revealed that in traditional ground-school training, pilots asked questions and learned from war stories told by classmates and instructors. However, with FasTrak, pilots sat in front of a computer for hours, trying to absorb information. Their only interaction was to tap the computer screen to provide answers to questions, and that novelty wore off quickly. Pilots soon got bored with the CBT ground school; as a result, it soon lost its effectiveness.
Explanation / Answer
Simuflite's experience suggests that the Interactive media must be interesting to the users, it must provide us with new type of knowledge which seems interesting to the users like in the case of class stories and war time stories which provide ample information. But, interacting with the computer gives a monotonic experience which makes them lose interest. CBT is most likely to be useful when the trainees have already interacted with classmates and instructors and they need to know the technical aspects and intricacies.