As Real as Real Can (Almost) Be

Some of you out there have probably watched the "old" TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's a successor to the even older TV show Star Trek. By the way, are we overexplaining this? It's hard to know. There are still Star Trek spinoff shows in production, after all, even if the newest (and only current) iteration of the long-lived franchise is locked up behind a paywall at CBS.com where only subscribers can actually watch it.

Actually, that in itself probably needs some explanation. You see, kids, there used to be this thing called "television," or TV for short, that let people watch their favorite shows on a screen in the living room. (Yeah, yeah, sort of like how it still works today.) TV shows, or programs, were created by "networks," including CBS — OK, yeah, we're overexplaining again. The point is that one cool futuristic doodad on Star Trek: The Next Generation was this thing called the holodeck.

So the show is about a spaceship exploring the far reaches of the galaxy, and whenever the crew members need to blow off steam, they can go to the holodeck. It's a computer-generated wish fulfillment machine that can replicate real-world environments. You ask for something you find relaxing, and the holodeck brings it to life. You can do things like climb Half Dome, or ski off a cliff, without actual danger to life and limb.

When the show was first on TV, the holodeck was a somewhat revolutionary concept. Fast forward a couple of decades, and TestOut Continuing Education is already using similar ideas to improve IT training. We can't give you a holodeck. Unfortunately. What we can do, on the other hand, is let you play around with expensive computer equipment and figure out how things work. It's a highly effective way to learn.

We can do it because everything is simulated. It's just like the real thing, except that we make the real thing fit inside your computer monitor. TestOut training lets you get actual "hands-on" experience with IT hardware and software — taking things apart, putting them together, running through processes and procedures — all without taking your hands off the keyboard. Someday, maybe, there will be an actual holodeck for (almost) truly hands-on training.

You need to know about IT products and processes right now, however, and right now TestOut training with LabSim simulation technology is an excellent and cost-effective way to learn. So don't settle for just reading study guides or memorizing facts and figures with flashcards. Learn IT the way it works in real life. Only without the expense or potentially damaging screw-ups that real life brings with it. It's not Star Trek (yet), but it is the next best thing.