RCI™ Definitions

The Best Way to Learn

We believe live, instructor-led, classroom training is the most effective way for most people to learn computer technology. That's how we’ve been delivering computer technology training since 1983.As the demand for training has declined and as travel budgets have been reduced, however, training companies have found it increasingly difficult to get enough students in a single classroom to run a traditional, in-person class. This has resulted in more class cancellations each year. Our solution (even before the Covid pandemic) was to create the Remote Classroom Instruction methodology which allows us to combine enrollments from multiple locations for class.

RCI Breaks Some Rules

RCI is a blend of virtual technology with the option for “bricks and mortar” classroom locations, and therefore, the model can be confusing to understand at first. As a result, we’ve come up with these definitions to terms that are frequently misunderstood when applied to our RCI methodology.

CHARACTERISTIC	DEFINITION
Are the participants in the same room?	In-Person. With traditional in-person training, the instructor is in the same room as the participants. That is not the case with RCI. With RCI the instructor is teaching from their own location with all of the participants attending from other cities. No matter what location is selected (an ONLC center or your own location), participants have equal access to the instructor. Remote / Online. For public classes, our instructor is not in the classroom with any of the participants. Classes have participants attending from multiple locations which can be their own location or one of our training centers. (Clients may request to have our instructor in-person onsite with our Group Training option .)
Where is the learning taking place?	Classroom. The classroom is a place that is dedicated for learning. It has all the tools you need: a computer, a desk, and a comfortable chair. RCI classrooms have additional communications technology that allows the student to hear and watch the instructor’s presentations. Special software is also used that enables the instructor to see and optionally control the student’s computer to provide direct assistance. An RCI classroom is typically an office-sized room that provides an interruption-free environment so you can focus on learning. Home or Office. We feel that there are significant advantages to attending training in a RCI classroom setting. However, for people who prefer to attend from their home or office, RCI technology provides that flexibility. Students considering training from their office should note that corporate “firewalls” may block remote connections to our classroom computers. For this reason, we require individuals to test their connections prior to the class. (See items needed to attend a class from your home or office.)
Is the event happening “live?”	Live Instruction. An event where the instructor and the students participate at the same time is said to be “live.” Educators often call this kind of training “synchronous.” Live training is sometimes incorrectly assumed to be the same as “in-person” training. Here’s a good analogy to clarify this relationship: someone watching an episode of “Saturday Night Live” from their home is watching a live performance from a remote location—the event is live but not “in-person.” All RCI events are 100% live. Recorded Instruction. E-Learning, videos and mentored learning are typical examples of recorded learning sessions. Educators label this kind of training as “asynchronous” meaning that the instructor and the students are not participating in the event at the same time. Obviously, individuals learning from a recorded presentation do not have the ability to stop the instructor and ask questions. (See RCI Comparison to Mentored Learning for more details.)

RCI allows us to maintain the benefits of live, instructor-led, classroom training while using conferencing technology to eliminate the need to be there in-person. As the demand for training has dropped, it is sometimes impossible to find in-person IT training nearby.

RCI is an attractive alternative for individuals who want classroom training but who are unwilling or unable to travel to the instructor’s location for an “in-person” event. Our specially designed classroom locations coast to coast make RCI training the next best thing to being in-person!

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Still Not Sure about RCI?

There is no better way for us to show you the quality of our live training than to try it yourself. That's why we guarantee your satisfaction with all of our public, instructor-led training (ILT) classes.

“If you are not satisfied with our training for any reason,
we'll refund 100% of the purchase price.”

Whether you attend our live, instructor-led training from one of our centers or from your own home or office, the same guarantee applies. For more details about out money-back guarantee, see ONLC's guarantee .