Easy Access To Online Training For All UGA Employees

It’s not easy telling an average of 14,000 employees at the University of Georgia about new training opportunities — but thanks to lynda.com, Judy James said her job just got a little less challenging.

As of Nov. 1, all University students, faculty and staff will have free access to lynda.com — an online training program featuring about 1,500 videos. Users may access the site by visiting lynda.uga.edu and entering their UGA myID.

James has spent 17 years at the University’s Training and Development Center, which supports all UGA employees — including student workers and part-time staff. At times, the University may have up to 19,000 employees, she said.

“To have job skills training for all those employees is quite a task,” said James, who is a senior human resources manager.

And since technology changes frequently, it’s also tough to keep abreast of the latest software, she said.

“You can’t keep enough (career) instructors ready,” James said. “You need just-in-time training.”

That’s one of the reasons she’s excited that UGA is offering a “new generation of learning” through lynda.com.

When employees ask for software training — such as Adobe products or QuickBooks — James said UGA’s Training and Development Center will point folks to lynda.com.

“This will give us an opportunity to give them something,” she said, while adding that because access to lynda.com is free, University departments don’t have to budget training expenses.

Another reason that James is a fan of lynda.com is its strong multimedia delivery. Each course is taught by industry experts and can be viewed in segments from just a few seconds at a time to several minutes. All together, the online videos in each course provide a comprehensive lesson on specific software and business skills.

“When you’re looking for a technology skill, you don’t just want an overview, but someone going in depth,” James said.

By using lynda.com, employees may be cross-trained in their departments, she said. Employees can also advance their career development by learning new skills and earning certificates for completing each course on lynda.com.

As an advocate of career development, James said she encourages employees to take the initiative to learn new job skills — regardless if they’re satisfied in their current positions. Users can view lynda.com 24/7 at home, on campus and with mobile devices.

“The beauty of lynda.com is that employees can do this at home or on their own,” James said.

Lynda.com also meets federal accessibility requirements for those with disabilities by providing closed captioning. It further includes transcripts of each course.

Access to lynda.com is being offered as part of a collaboration with the University’s Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS), Human Resources, and the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). In 2013, there will be other enhancements to online training and learning at the University.

Visit the Learning and Training section of our website for more information about all of the online training resources available through EITS.