Courtesy of: Country Guide Magazine - May 1996
This spring the Calgary-based consulting company Mitcon Inc. is launching the first marketing course for Canadian farmers and ranchers on CD (compact disc). About 20 copies of a pilot disc were tested by farmers through March and early April, and the final version of Introduction to Hedging Through Futures and Options should be available by late spring.
It's the first CD that takes a popular course, previously available only through workshop or classroom instruction, to the interactive multimedia format, explains Mitcon's Paul Cassidy.
Both crop and livestock producers can benefit from the material, which explains how to use futures and options in marketing crop commodities and cattle.
CD technology first appeared a few years ago as a replacement for the long play record album. Instead of just music being stamped onto the 4-1/2" disc, Mitcon's marketing CD supplies sound, the written word, dazzling graphics, and more.
You need at least a 386 computer with CD-ROM capability to get at this information. But to use the disc, you just slide it into the CD port and an introductory course on marketing is before you on the computer monitor.
It's not like a video you just watch, or text you just read. It opens with a rousing introductory screen showing you both the sights and sounds of futures trading on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange. Those few seconds set the mood.
From there, you go to a main menu where you click on one of four areas: futures, options, basis, and a glossary. "It's designed for the beginner to intermediate marketer," explains Cassidy, who has offered this material as part of a workshop for several years. He figures it would take about 4 days to cover the material on the CD through a classroom course.
It begins with a general explanation of each area. For example, through written text on the screen, backed up by audio and graphics, you learn what futures contracts are, how to use them, why you should use them, and so on. There's a section on the new canola futures, the western barley futures, and contracts.
The course gives plenty of examples and scenarios relevant to either grain or beef producers. You can walk your way through the section on futures and then move into options. How are options connected to futures? How do they work? More scenarios follow, with examples of how to use options.
The same sequence explains basis. What is basis? How does it work? What does it tell you and how do you use it as a marketer?
The CD offers plenty of colorful graphics and charts designed by technicians at Comtec Multimedia in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They worked closely with Cassidy for several months in transferring what was essentially a verbal classroom lecture into this colorful format.
"You don't just read the material on this CD; you become involved and interact with it," explains Bonnie McLean, a multimedia artist with Comtec. As you work your way through each section, different quizzes appear to test your knowledge of what you've just seen and heard on the screen.
Work at Your Own Speed
You can go back and forward through the material at your own speed. You can click on help buttons if you don't understand a point, or need help using the program. At any time, you can call up a glossary that explains all the marketing lingo.
Who'll benefit from the marketing course? Anyone beginning to learn, looking for a refresher on, or just wanting a good reference source for marketing technique and strategies.
"The beauty is that it's there when you want it," points out Cassidy. You can slip in the CD for an hour first thing in the morning, at noon, in the evening, on a rainy afternoon...in fact, at any convenient time, and pick up where you left off or just review a section of interest.
"We've had a lot of interest from farm women who want to learn more about marketing, but are at home with small children and can't get away to a workshop for 3 or 4 days," says Cassidy. With CD-ROM, they could access the information on a schedule that suits them, and work at their own pace.
And it's entertaining. It's not just text. It's not just something you listen to. You read, you answer questions, test your skill, participate, and interact with the course. "Studies have shown that just through reading, a person's learning retention is about 20%," says Comtec consultant Troy White. "But through interactive multimedia presentations, the retention level jumps to between 60% and 80%. It's a great way to learn."
With feedback from the pilot program, Cassidy will make changes to the course, and then offer the final Introduction to Hedging Through Futures and Options.
by Lee Hart