From the GWRRA Texas Chapter M-2 Education Corner September 2009

“Technology Bites!”

Nearly universal access to the internet and related technologies has allowed organizations like ours to deliver communications in ways we never thought possible twenty years ago. Web – based training is a good example. Twenty years ago we couldn’t imagine the World Wide Web. Ten years ago web-based training meant viewing pages of text, like a book. Today, web-based training can be delivered as fully interactive, full-motion video with linkages to downloadable content and real-time feedback.

Take, for example, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation website. I hadn’t been there in quite awhile. Check it out at http://www.msf-usa.org and you will find five and ten-minute videos on topics like Basic Rider Course high-lights and Group Riding. But even niftier is the Rider Perception Challenge. Our Technical Coordinator, Howard Halasz pointed this out to me, and it’s a way-cool interactive tool. The Perception Challenge takes the form of two different kinds of “tests” that help you improve your visual perception. The Road Sign test gives you glimpses of common (and not so common) road signs and asks you to identify their meaning. The Collision Trap test challenges you to evaluate riding situations by showing you a quick view of a street scene as though you were riding, and asks you to identify the risks you see. It’s not as easy as it sounds! I found the Collision Trap Test to be especially challenging. The test encourages you to keep trying until you get a perfect score, and when you do go back to try the test a second time, you get different scenarios so the test is not repetitive. It’s pretty interesting.

So give it a try, and at the same time appreciate the amazing ease with which this sophisticated content now arrives on our desktops!

Nancy Kwiecien
GWRRA Spring, Texas Chapter M-2 Chapter Educator