Learning Tree International is an aggressive company in the computer training field. It has an educational center in Fairfax County at Reston Town Center. The company also schedules on-site courses. One of the benefits of Learning Tree is that they offer certification programs in areas such as Client/Server Systems, Local Area Networks, Unix programming, etc. I took a course in PowerBuilder from Learning Tree International at the Reston Education Center. The course and instructor Ken Avellino were excellent. Of course, the success of any course is highly dependent on the instructor. Learning Tree International recruits and assigns instructors from all over the country, and based on my research, they are top quality. It is not certain, however, that you can sign up for Ken's class in Reston.

Thus, I'll make some general observations on Learning Tree classes. The Learning Tree courses are pricey. Two, three, four, and five day classes cost $1195, $1595, $1995, and $2295 respectively for the standard tuition. There are a host of discounts available, plus a training passport for 8 courses in 12 months for $5995.

Nevertheless, given the proliferation of computer classes and books, it seems that the price structure is geared toward companies who need immediate help in training employees, and/or for companies who need to get employees certified in a short period of time for specific reasons.

For example, in my case with Powerbuilder, I bought books on the subject and felt that I had a reasonable knowledge of the material before walking into class. The class augmented my knowledge to a degree, but I felt that a disciplined self-study course would yield more value per dollar than the Learning Tree course.

The course was also fast-paced. This is a necessity since the classes are scheduled during the day. The idea is to pack as much as possible in a short period of time. This is a laudable goal but it means that the students must be able to keep up. It is therefore important that the students understand and meet the requirements for a class. If in doubt, be sure to get specifics on what the students are expected to know in each class. If a student misses a step, it may difficult to catch up.

Finally, virtually any computer class is useless if students do not begin using what they learned right away. There should be a real immediate need for the training before sending anyone to Learning Tree, and probably any other training program.

In sum, I recommend Learning Tree for companies who need or are required to provide immediate training for qualified employees on computer systems that currently exist. I also recommend Ken Avellino for PowerBuilder classes if he is available.

Learning Tree International
1805 Library Street
Reston, BA 22090-9919
(800) 843-8733
Web Site:
Learning Tree International