The DISCOVERe Hub’s new app training program is providing in-depth training for students and faculty to reach proficiency in software and apps used daily in their career fields.

Those who have spent time in the Henry Madden Library can see the visible aspects of the program. The new black chalkboard with bright neon colors in the library’s entrance features the DISCOVERe Hub’s agenda of technological trainings daily.

The class-specific program began last semester with DISCOVERe Hub app trainings.

The Hub team taught students and faculty how to use one specific app like Google Docs and Evernote. But the DISCOVERe Hub personnel saw a decline in attendance over the course of the semester.

“We interviewed students, and we found that students felt that if they wanted to learn an app they are most likely going to download it and use it themselves, rather than
go to a one-hour training on it,” said Christopher Vieira, the DISCOVERe Hub’s manager.

So, Vieira said, the Hub decided to revamp its approach and change the material it was teaching. Now the DISCOVERe Hub not only gives students and faculty the opportunity to learn about app and tablet use, but also has implemented in-depth software and technology use to its program.

Bryant Allen, an assistant administrative project coordinator for Fresno State President Joseph Castro’s office, attended an Adobe InDesign workshop and left the training with a grasp on how to use the new software.

“That’s very unusual for me, and I was able to go back and recreate it with ease,” Allen said. “There was an emphasis on quality of the training and not speed.”

Vieira explained that if students want to become graphic designers, they need to
learn Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign, but sometimes professors don’t have enough
time to spend more than 20 minutes introducing new programs in class before giving the
students assignments.

“The trainings are outside help that they don’t have to pay for,” said Cristian
Juarez, a freshman information systems major. “It’s good for them to learn more,
and the trainings are really in-depth, so they will get the practice they need.”

The DISCOVERe Hub’s goal is to help undergraduate and graduate students become proficient in the software used in their careers in order to become more prepared for the career market and to heighten their chances of landing a career after college.

The workshops are now broken down by majors, including graphic design, mass communications, music, business and computer science.

The DISCOVERe Hub also plans to group apps with similar usage into one training in order for students to see the benefits of some apps over others. This way, Vieira said, students can get the most out of the technology available to them.

Vieira said that he hopes to hire new students next semester who are proficient in software to continue to train and expand the program.

“We have never seen anything to the scale that we are doing it at, which is
committing day-in, day-out to doing trainings every single day,” Vieira said. “We are
pioneers in that area, and I think we are definitely breaking some new ground.”