Heather Ackmann is a veteran tech trainer and the co-founder of AHA Learning Solutions, which provides high-quality educational and professional development materials to businesses and institutions across the country. The Microsoft MVP is also a busy wife and mom.
So when she was recently approached by a publisher to write a book about Microsoft Word, she initially declined, citing her busy schedule. The publisher then suggested she bring on a co-author to lessen the workload, and she agreed with one condition: she would only do it if she could work with Bill Kulterman.
“In my experience, adding a co-author actually extends the timeline,” Heather said. “But Bill and I work really well together.”
Heather and Bill have a shared passion for teaching computer applications that dates back several decades. The Chicago-area professionals have worked together previously at industry leaders such as New Horizons, TrainSignal, and Pluralsight. They both still teach and run their own training businesses, and now they’ve teamed up to write a guide to the popular Office application.
“I don’t think I could have written a book [Microsoft 365 Word Tips and Tricks] with anyone but Heather,” Bill said. “It was a great experience.”
So, we decided to pair the two up for our latest Spotlight interview, conducted by Susan Cockrell, senior PM for the Office Insider program. Heather and Bill discussed how they “fell into” their tech teaching careers, the joys and struggles of helping their students with Office, the benefits of the Insider program, and their thoughts on the future of e-learning.
How did you get started in the tech training field?
Bill: We both have very interesting journeys into tech. Heather, do you want to go first?
Heather: Sure. So, I started out as an English teacher. I was the young English teacher at a high school that had one IT guy for the entire district, and so he was spread very, very, very thin. So, when things went wrong, they were like, “Ask the young teacher!” And I didn’t know anything about computers. But, just because of that assumption, I kind of had to force myself into it. So I was fixing printer jams and people’s Word problems and Excel problems and Access database problems, and I’m like, “I don’t know that program!”
(Image by Jodi Newell)
And then, in kind of a roundabout way, I was hired at New Horizons as a business writing instructor. Then, they just needed a (computer) apps instructor and trained me on that, and I loved it. I was really good at it. And then I really, really got into applications, and a little bit of programming, and just sort of ran with it. And I just loved seeing what apps could do, and seeing what apps could do better, and loved teaching about them.
Fast forward, and I’m now working on a master’s degree in human-computer interaction at DePaul University. This is my last quarter, so I’ll be graduating this year. I love teaching people how to use apps, and love figuring out how to make apps more user-friendly.
Bill: I have a much more roundabout path to this. I was actually a theater major in college, and I did acting, and I did a lot of technical work. I wound up, after not being very successful as an actor or a theater technician, as a museum carpenter. And I worked as a carpenter for about 25 years on and off. And I was getting older and I said, “Boy, I’m really getting tired up hauling drywall and plywood around.”
So, I decided to take some courses at New Horizons, and decided I want to go into graphic design and web design. And so I took their whole program and still needed a job. And my mentor there said to me one day, “Excuse me, you’re really good with these apps, and we need more trainers. You need a job?” And I said, “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.” So I started working at New Horizons, and my main focus was the graphic apps; I taught Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, all of that stuff.
But of course, nobody at New Horizons could ever get away without teaching Excel and Word, and PowerPoint and Outlook. Excel seems to be the bane of my existence. I’ve probably taught more Excel than anything else in my life, because everybody wants to know how to use Excel.
Heather: The bread and butter!
Bill: It is, it really is. Then, I moved over to TrainSignal, and they wanted me to teach Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, all of the graphic stuff. But first, we need you to teach Excel. So I did an Excel course. I did a Word course. Then they hired Heather, and she did PowerPoint and Access and by the time we were done with all of that they said, “Yeah, we’re not doing graphic stuff. You guys just need to do apps.” So we did apps forever.
And in the last year, I’ve moved into HR training; I’ve started my own business, and we’re doing HR training: teaching across generations, gender bias, ageism. Whatever you got, I can teach it. It’s my acting background.
How long have you been a part of the Office Insider program? Why did you join, and what do you like about it?
Heather: I’ve been a part of the program since the very beginning [2015]. I like the Office Insider program because it’s open to everyone; you don’t have to “know someone.” Anyone can join, and I love that. I can tell whoever I’m teaching in a class, “Hey, you can join this. You can offer direct feedback to Microsoft; you can have a direct line to program managers, people who are coding this stuff, and give them your feedback. I can’t promise that they’re going to act on everything that you suggest, but be polite, because they do read it.” I love feeling that I have a voice, and my feedback goes somewhere, and that someone will read it.
Bill: Yeah, the same for me. But also, as a trainer, we’re always creating videos, and it’s always nice to be able to see what’s coming. I work with a lot of VMs [virtual machines], so I always have one VM that’s on the fast ring, the dev stuff. It’s rough, it’s raw, but I want to see what’s coming. And my recording rig is on the beta track, so I can start creating videos even before a feature is released, and kind of get a jump on it. I’ve already created a course on Windows 11, “First Looks.” You know, just trying to stay on top of things.
We’ve really seen a rise in e-learning, especially during the pandemic. How has the need for it changed, in your mind? Are people more receptive to it?
Heather: Those are two different questions. The need has definitely doubled, maybe tripled. Do they want it? No. My prediction is that online learning is very hot now, but it’s going to have a backlash. The pendulum is going to swing the other way, and it’s going to be back to the classroom. I don’t think online is going to go away, but I think everyone’s going to be like, “No more online. I hate it.” I think especially with the younger generation; I think the kids who were forced into online are going to resist it like you will not believe. And they will not want to buy anything for online training.
How about a fun one: Do you identify with any particular superhero character?
Bill: This is an easy one for me. Batman was always my favorite, because it’s easy to be a superhero if you have super-strength, or you’re invisible. Batman has to use his brains and his own normal human body to do what he does. And he has his moral compass. He has his skills and he has his brains, and that’s all he needs.
Heather: What’s the lamest, most inept, boring… is there a superhero that sits there and like, you know, spills coffee on himself a lot, or knocks things over? I poured a cup of coffee this morning and set it down and could not remember where I set it; I went through every single room in the house twice, and had to pour another cup of coffee. I think that’s it right there.
Susan: I think the mom is the superhero!
Heather: Or maybe Lizard Loki. That’s a good one.
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