KnowledgeNet Microsoft Live Office.

KnowledgeNet Microsoft Live Office, KnowledgeNet (877-688-3717, www.knowledgenet.com), $2,490 for 10 students. Session archives, student guide, performance support tool.

KnowledgeNet Live Office provides an "all-access pass" to training on Microsoft's core office suite: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Outlook. The all-access pass means learners have unlimited access to the Office courses for the duration of their subscription.

KnowledgeNet divides each course into two parts: core and expert. Core classes introduce learners to the application and help them navigate through its many features. For example, learners explore an application's menus, learn to customize the toolbars, and perform basic tasks such as using templates and creating and formatting documents. Expert classes, as the name implies, cover advanced features. In an expert Excel class, for instance, you'd learn to perform v-lookups, create macros, and perform simple editing using visual basic.

"KnowledgeNet theatre" is the virtual classroom that enables you to listen to your instructors as they work in the application and demonstrate various tasks. Although learners cannot speak with the instructors, the classroom includes a chat feature. If you set the chat to "my questions," you can write questions and submit them to the instructors, who respond to your question quickly. If you set the chat to "all questions," you'll see questions submitted by others as well as the instructor responses. Typically, the instructors incorporate questions and answers into the class session so there's little if any interruption to the training flow.

The class duplicates the content you'd receive if you attended a class at an off-site training facility. However, in a traditional class you'd expect the instructor to inject tips and shortcuts while demonstrating various tasks in the application. You'll find that the KnowledgeNet instructors deliver the same attention to detail. In classes I attended, the instructors shared keyboard shortcuts, time-saving tips, customization options, and pointed out common features among Office products.

The KnowledgeNet instructors shared their expertise in ways other than tips and shortcuts. They recognized that some learners might want to demonstrate their Office skills via certification. When appropriate, the instructors alert you to content areas you should learn well if you intend to prepare for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification.

The instructors demonstrated audience sensitivity in other ways. At key points, they offered sage advice about the importance of audience analysis so you can avoid the pitfalls of overusing certain Office features. Undoubtedly, you've sat through a PowerPoint presentation in which the presenter wants to show off his mastery of many features. As you endure various sounds, overused animated gifs, uninspired clip art images, and poorly sized charts, you may wish the presenter had put the same amount of time into analyzing audience need as he did in constructing the presentation. In different KnowledgeNet classes, instructors advised learners to consider how a document or presentation "fits" with the intended audience.

Although the "live" classroom instructors demonstrated mastery of their subject and were attentive to questions submitted by learners, I had some initial difficulty adjusting to the delivery styles. At times I thought vocal modulation was excessive.

If you're unable to attend a "live" session, KnowledgeNet offers KnowledgeNet Express, a recorded version of a live training session.

TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS

Since KnowledgeNet's Live Office provides sophisticated training features, you should verify that your systems meet all technical requirements. I found out the hard way that KnowledgeNet does not support the Mozilla browser. Before attending a live class event, I was careful to log onto KnowledgeNet's campus to ensure that my system passed the requisite checks. I didn't experience any technical problems. The instructor's voices streamed clearly, and the video was crisp. Unfortunately, my experience was less than perfect when I tried to access another live class from a laptop running Windows XP Professional with service pack one. I contacted KnowledgeNet's technical support, and although I found the people attentive and patient, they could not resolve the problem via phone. Ultimately, I abandoned the laptop and attended the rest of the class using the system running Windows 2000.

REVIEWER'S RECOMMENDATION

The KnowledgeNet virtual campus is feature packed, and I was pleased to see such attention to detail. The live virtual classroom allows learners to interact with instructors in real time, but if your schedule can't accommodate the live classes, you can access the same expert instruction in recorded sessions. Both class formats. Live and Express, are supported by exercises, labs, and student guides. When you compare KnowledgeNet's Live and Express classes with traditional classroom training on a feature-by-feature basis, KnowledgeNet is a clear winner.