Improving Efficiency and
Profits With Improved
Training Materials
A Proposal For Daejeon KPS
IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Current Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Proposed Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Alternate Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Appendix A: Responses from the Interview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Appendix B: Gantt Chart Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Executive Summary
The current training and reference materials at the Daejeon campus of Korea Poly School
(Daejeon Poly) are insufficient for the current needs. Currently instructors rely on a number of
different documents of various styles and file formats, several of which have become obsolete due to
changes in our computer systems and methodologies. The current situation is resulting in the
following negative effects:
 Instructor efficiency is reduced when they are required to redo procedures, due to error.
This costs the company money due to the reduction in employee productivity.
 Instructor morale is negatively affected when they are reprimanded for errors. This
increases the likelihood of staff turnover, and reduces the number of experienced instructors for future semesters.
 Students are receiving belated, or incorrect, evaluations. This reflects poorly on the
company, and may result in students leaving the school, which will reduce income.
A number of factors have prevented Daejeon Poly from developing a single comprehensive
training and reference document: the volume of material to be included, the financial cost of such a document, and the lack of available qualified personnel.
An ideal solution to this problem, would achieve the following three objectives:
1. Create an up-to-date, consolidated employee handbook, with an electronic version.
2. Minimize the financial cost to Daejeon Poly.
3. Require the fewest person-hours of Daejeon Poly employees.
The solution I propose achieves these three objectives:
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. I have worked at Daejeon Poly and am familiar with the methodologies and
systems used by Korea Poly School.
2. I am currently enrolled in the Technical Communication program at
Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology. In order to build my professional
portfolio, my current rates are significantly lower than the rates of other technical writers,
or the hourly rates of your instructors.
3. I am not currently employed by Daejeon Poly, so no instructor hours will be lost in the
creation of the documentation. I can remotely access the network for any necessary
documentation and any communication required between myself and the academy can be
scheduled to minimize impact on the staff.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
THE CURRENT SITUATION
The Current Situation
Daejeon Poly has numerous files and documents that constitute the employee training and reference materials. Many of them are obsolete, and many are in inefficient formats for employee reference. This has lead to increased errors by instructors, reduced morale in the workforce and
worsening relations between management and instructors and management and client parents, all
of which take a financial toll on Daejeon Poly.
In this section, I outline the questions I asked in an informal interview of Daejeon Poly employees,
the responses I received and the implications of developing an updated employee handbook for
Daejeon Poly.
Interviews
I conducted a series of informal interviews with five current and former Daejeon Poly employees
over June and July of 2012. Through phone, Skype, and face-to face interviews, I asked a series of
questions to gauge the employees’ views on the current training and reference materials, and determine the areas in which they felt the materials could be improved. A complete listing of the questions
and responses can be found in Appendix A on page 14.
I asked the following questions of the interviewees:
1. How often do you consult the current training and reference materials?
2. Which documents do you refer to most often? As a follow-up, how often do
you refer to those specific documents?
3. Do you feel confident in your ability to perform all of the necessary procedures asked of
you? If so, how soon did you become confident in your abilities after being hired? If not,
what could be done to assist you in completing these procedures?
4. Would you prefer to have the disparate training and reference documents combined into a
single document?
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
THE CURRENT SITUATION
5. Would you use an electronic version of the training and reference material if one was
available?
6. What would you like to see in future versions of the training and reference materials?
Results
The answers given in the interview to the questionnaire led to several clear conclusions:
 Instructors currently refer to the documents that cover the use of the Korea Poly Information System (KPIS) website most often. The sections on Student Grading, Teacher’s
Resources and Level Test Audio files are referred to most often.
 Instructors do not feel confident in their ability to complete the procedures asked of them until after
6 months of employment. Suggested ways to assist them include tutorials and greater feedback in the
training materials.
 Instructors would unanimously prefer a single document that covers all training and reference materials.
 The majority of instructors would use electronic versions of the materials if they were available.
 The most commonly requested feature in future training materials are clearer, more
complete instructions.
Implications
An updated employee handbook would eliminate the uncertainty among employees and provide
the following benefits:
 Improved instructor efficiency will reduce errors and person-hours spent on procedures.
This will save money by increasing employee productivity and reduce the time necessary to
complete assigned tasks.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
THE CURRENT SITUATION
 Improved instructor morale by reducing instructor frustration with procedures, and
management intervention. This will help reduce employee turnover, improve employee
productivity, and bolster Daejeon Poly’s reputation as a satisfactory place of employment.
 Reduced errors in student grades, preventing incorrect student assessments. This will
increase parent satisfaction, improving the student retention rate, and increase student
intake.
Constraints
The primary constraints that have prevented Daejeon Poly from creating a single, up-to-date,
comprehensive training and reference document are: the volume of material to be included, the financial cost of
such a document, and the lack of available qualified personnel. The ideal solution will therefore achieve
three objectives:
1. Create an up-to-date, consolidated training and reference document, with an electronic
version.
2. Minimize the financial cost to Daejeon Poly.
3. Require the fewest person-hours of Daejeon Poly employees.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
The Proposed Solution
I propose that Daejeon Poly employ me to consolidate the disparate training and reference materials into a single document that can be used for the training of new instructors and serve as a reference during their employment. This process would commence in January of 2013, and be completed
by April of 2013. A detailed timeline can be found in the following section, and a Gantt chart
detailing the process can be found in Appendix B, on page 19.
This proposal meets the three objectives described previously.
Objective 1: Create an up-to-date, consolidated training and
reference document, with an electronic version
I was employed by Daejeon Poly for one year, am familiar with the methodologies and procedures
at Daejeon Poly, and have experience using the current training and reference materials. I created the
current guide to the Korea Poly Information System (KPIS) that is currently in use at Daejeon Poly. I
also have created training materials for instructors at other private language academies in Korea,
which are still in use today. This background knowledge will allow me to approach the subject matter
with a clear understanding of the needs of the audience. I am currently enrolled in the Technical
Writer program at Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology. Through this program, I have
become proficient in the design of clear, concise technical documentation, including tutorials and
instruction manuals. I am capable of creating the documentation in both electronic and hard copy
formats. These qualities demonstrate my ability to accomplish the first objective described above.
Objective 2: Minimize the financial cost to Daejeon Poly
I am currently attempting to develop a professional portfolio of my technical writing while a
student at Algonquin College. Due to this, the rate I would charge Daejeon Poly is lower than that
charged by other technical writers.
The table below gives a breakdown of the hourly wages earned by technical writers working in
the education industry.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
Table 1: Hourly Wages For Technical Writers in the Education Industry1
Labour Segment
90th percentile
75th percentile
Median
25th percentile
10th percentile
My rate
Hourly Wage (US Dollars)
40.35
32.85
26.07
20.75
16.96
15.00
As the table demonstrates, my rate is considerably less than even the lowest-paid technical
writers in the field. Combined with my experience with the Daejeon Poly’s materials and methodologies, hiring me to develop the comprehensive training and reference document allows Daejeon Poly
to minimize the financial costs.
Objective 3: Require the fewest person-hours of Daejeon Poly
employees
My schedule from January of 2013, to April of 2013 is offers a degree of flexibility. This allows me
to adjust my schedule to compensate for the time difference between our two locations and dedicate the time to complete the project on schedule. Communication between myself and the management and staff of Daejeon Poly during the development process would be conducted by e-mail and
scheduled Skype conversations. I also will be able to remotely login to the KPIS website, reducing the
amount of communication required during the development process.
This will reduce the interruption to the daily administration of Daejeon Poly. E-mails can be dealt with
at the convenience of you and your staff, and Skype conversations can be scheduled at times convenient
to the Daejeon Poly staff.
This demonstrates how my proposal can meet the third objective of using the fewest person-hours
of Daejeon Poly personnel.
1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2011: 27-3042 Technical Writers, http://
www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes273042.htm#st (July 17, 2012)
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
TIMELINE
Timeline
This is a proposed timeline that details the process of developing the reference and training
documentation. A Gantt chart illustrating this timeline can be found in Appendix B, on page 20.
Initial Meeting –January 4th to January 8th
I propose that the process begin with an initial video meeting between Daejeon Poly management and myself to occur between January 4th and 8th. At this time we can discuss Management’s
goals for the project, discuss communication methods and protocols, and finalize any details. Any
changes in this proposed timeline would ideally take place in this meeting.
Audience Profile – Completed January 11th
By creating an audience profile, the completed document can best meet the needs of the
readers. The profile will detail the readers’ motivations, role in the academy, tasks, knowledge level,
and the internal and external factors that influence the situation.
Staff Interviews – January 10th to January 21st
Through e-mail and video interviews, the current instructors can be interviewed to tailor the
document to their needs. Instructors will be questioned on strengths and weaknesses of the current
documentation, their use of the current documentation, their tasks and routines, and the features
they desire in the new documentation. By carefully scheduling interviews during instructor downtime, and using e-mail to communicate, I can minimize any interference with the operation of
Daejeon Poly or the routines of its staff.
Document Plan – Completed January 25th
The document plan will outline the basic information structure and design of the document.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
TIMELINE
Document Plan Proposal Meeting - January 25th to January 28th
During this time period, another meeting between the administration of Daejeon Poly and myself
will occur. In this meeting, the proposed document plan will be presented and discussed to ensure
that the needs of Daejeon Poly and its staff will best be met by the document.
Gather Existing Information – January 28th to February 5th
During this time, the current training and instructional materials used by Daejeon Poly will be
gathered and sent to me. I will review the existing materials and factor the previous approaches into
the design and structure of the new documentation.
Research – Completed February 8th
During this period, I will use Daejeon Poly’s KPIS and E-Poly systems to obtain the basis for the
graphics to be included in the documentation. I will also research scholarly articles that discuss
learning strategies to best implement the documentation.
Draft Alpha Version – Completed February 18th
By February 18th, I will have completed the first draft of the documentation. It will be complete,
with all content and graphics included
Testing – February 19th to March 11th
During this time period, we will provide the instructors with the alpha version of the documentation. This time frame was chosen, as it coincides with the arrival of new instructors before the start of
the new school year. This will allow us to use the new documentation to train the incoming new
instructors, who will begin teaching at the beginning of March. We will also be able to observe how
the documentation is used by existing staff, whom will be using the documentation to assist themselves in proctoring Level Up tests, entering student grades and comments, and learning the formats
of new courses for the upcoming semester.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
TIMELINE
Gather Feedback – March 12th to March 18th
At this time, I will be providing all instructors and management with an extensive survey to
gather feedback, and qualitative and quantitative data that will be used to in the creation of the next
version. Towards the end of this period, an interview will be scheduled with management to discuss
the results of the feedback and address the instructors’ concerns with management.
Draft Beta Version – Completed March 28th
By March 28th, the beta version of the documentation will be completed. It will have taken into
account instructor and management feedback from the alpha version testing process. Changes will
likely be made to layout, design and copy in order to best fulfill the needs of Daejeon Poly and its
staff.
Editing – March 29th to April 1st
This period will be spent correcting any errors in the Beta version’s copy or graphics, and finetuning the wording and design of the document.
Product Presentation – April 2nd to April 5th
During this time period, a final meeting will be set up between management and myself to
discuss the completed Beta Version.
Draft Final Version – Completed April 8th
By April 8th, the final version of the documentation will be completed. It will be ready before the
end of the spring semester, and can be used by instructors immediately following this date. It will be
provided in both an electronic format to be accessed from employees’ laptops, as well as a print
version that can be distributed in the office.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
ALTERNATE OPTIONS
Alternate Options
To demonstrate that the solution proposed in this document is the optimal choice for Daejeon Poly,
additional options should also be thoroughly examined. Three such are options are as follows:
 Not creating a new training and reference document
 Hiring an external technical writer
 Having a current instructor create the document
Option 1: Not creating a new training and reference document
This alternative does fulfill the second and third objectives, minimizing the financial cost and the
person-hours to Daejeon Poly. However, it does not fulfill the first objective, the creation of an up-todate, consolidated training and reference document. As illustrated in the first section of the Current
Situation, the failure to create a new training and reference document has negative financial consequences
for Daejeon Poly.
Option 2: Hiring an external technical writer
This alternative meets only the first objective of developing an updated training and reference
document. However, it does not fulfill the second or third objectives, to minimize the financial cost
and person-hours of Daejeon Poly staff.
The hourly rates shown in Table 1 demonstrate that an external technical writer will cost Daejeon
Poly more per hour. Hiring a technical writer from outside the company will also take longer,
increasing the final cost. Any external technical writer will require time to research and learn the
systems, methodologies and materials that would be included in the documentation.
A technical writer from outside of Daejeon Poly will also cost more person-hours of Daejeon Poly
staff and administration. For the writer to learn the systems and methodologies used, they will
require more interviews with Daejeon Poly staff. These interviews may be inconvenient and interrupt
an already busy daily routine.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
ALTERNATE OPTIONS
Option 3: Having a current instructor create the document
This alternative meets only the first objective, in that it results in the creation of a consolidated
training and reference document. However, it fails to meet the second and third objectives, to minimize the financial cost and person-hours of Daejeon Poly staff.
The current pay rate for a first-year instructor at Daejeon Poly is 2.8 million won per month.
Factoring in a current exchange rate of 1143.95 Won to 1 US Dollar1, and a 40 hour work week gives
an hourly rate of $15.30 USD. This does not include the housing allowance or health insurance benefits paid to instructors by the school. This is higher than the rate I quoted, making my proposal more
economical.
In addition, assigning a current staff member to create a training and reference document will create
significant schedule conflicts. With a rigid class schedule and numerous other responsibilities, an instructor is
unable to spend more than 3-5 hours of their work week on the assignment, less if it is a grading period. This
means that the document will likely take several months to develop. An alternative is to have the employee
work on the document during their own time, but if that is the case, they will likely request additional
compensation.
1. FX Exchange Rate, United States Dollar(USD) To Korean Won(KRW) Exchange Rates Today, http://usd.fxexchangerate.com/krw/ (July 17, 2012)
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
CONCLUSION
Conclusion
Daejeon Poly needs to make the creation of a single comprehensive training and reference document a priority for three primary reasons:
 The loss of money through employee inefficiency due to lack of training and/or access to reference documents.
 The loss of qualified staff who become frustrated with imprecise procedures and conflicts
with management.
 The potential loss of money and damage to Daejeon Poly’s reputation due to higher student
withdrawal rates and lower student intake rates caused by instructor errors.
I propose to develop a single comprehensive training and reference document for instructors at
Daejeon Poly, a solution which adheres to the three objectives for an ideal solution:
1 The creation of an up-to-date, consolidated training and reference document, with an
electronic version.
My experience as an instructor at Daejeon Poly and the skills gained through Algonquin College’s
Technical Writer program make me a qualified and capable choice for this project.
2 It minimizes the financial cost to Daejeon Poly.
The rate I would charge is considerably lower than both other technical writers in this field, and
current Daejeon Poly instructors. My background knowledge also reduces the number of billable hours required to complete the project.
3 It requires the fewest person-hours of Daejeon Poly employees.
By utilizing e-mail and video conferencing, I can maintain communication with Daejeon Poly
with a minimum of interference with the duties of the staff. My flexible schedule allows me to
minimize the difficulties posed by the time difference.
For the aforementioned reasons, I propose that Daejeon Poly chooses to employ me in the
creation of an up-to-date, comprehensive reference and training document.
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IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND PROFITS WITH IMPROVED TRAINING MATERIALS
APPENDIX A: RESPONSES FROM THE INTERVIEW
Appendix A: Responses from the Interview
During the months of June and July, 2012, I conducted a series of informal interviews with five
current and former Daejeon Poly employees. The interviews were conducted over the phone, over
Skype videoconferencing, and in person. I asked a series of questions to gauge the employees’ views
on the current training and reference materials, and determine what they felt was lacking, and the areas
that could be improved. The respondents are not named, and any references to individuals have
been redacted.
Question 1
How often do/did you consult the current training and reference materials?
Answers
1. I had to use it whenever semester grading came due.
2. I used it when I first started, but gave up on it. I just asked other people in the office for help.
3. Only for the first semester. After that I had it pretty much figured out. I did have to use it
sometimes to find the audio for Level Tests
4. Whenever I got stuck, which was pretty often. I’d use it, and ask someone like [Head Teacher] to
help me too.
5. Probably 2-3 times a semester. Maybe more. I never really kept track.
6. That stuff was useless! I threw that junk out after a month or so. I would just ask someone who
knew what they were doing.
Question 2
Which documents do you refer to most often? As a follow-up, how often do you refer
to those specific documents?
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APPENDIX A: RESPONSES FROM THE INTERVIEW
Answers
1. I used the materials that dealt with the school’s website, the marking stuff. I used it pretty much
every semester, since we only did it once a month. And comments even less than that.
2. I never really used the books they gave us when we started, about how to use the website and
stuff. [Manager] printed out some of the PowerPoints they used in training, but I just asked other
teachers. It was a lot simpler, you know what I mean?
3. I referred to the ones that explained where to find the Level Test audio, like I mentioned. I’d use
that pretty much every level test, so maybe once every three months? That was only for my first
year though. Now I never use them
4. I kept all of the papers on the shelf above my desk. I probably used them once or twice a week? I
can’t remember using one more than the others really though.
5. I couldn’t tell you. Isn’t that awful?
6. I pretty much never opened them after training. There were so many of them, I didn’t want to have
all that mess at my desk.
Question 3
Do you feel confident in your ability to perform all of the necessary procedures asked of you? If so,
how soon did you become confident in your abilities after being hired? If not, what could be done to
assist you in completing these procedures?
Answers
1. I got in trouble once for the grading. [Manager] came to talk to me because scores were on the
wrong months. I just told him that it was confusing, and I don’t read Korean! The system should be
in English for the teachers and Korean for the secretaries. It makes no sense for an English school to
have the website that the English-speaking teachers use be in the wrong language
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APPENDIX A: RESPONSES FROM THE INTERVIEW
2. I did after about four or five months maybe? By that point, you’ve done everything once or twice.
By my second year, it was all a piece of cake.
3. I have no real problems with it, but I know a lot of other people did. By second year, I was helping
a lot of people on the fourth floor since we got so many new people. It’d be nice if it was all
together, instead of having so many pages. And a lot of it you never even have to use.
4. Oh geeze. Never? I always worried about [Manager 1] or [Manager 2] coming and complaining. I
mean, it’s not like we really got trained on everything. They just kind of threw us into it and we had
to learn as we went.
5. I think I had most of it down pretty quickly. I mean I didn’t make too many mistakes, other than
that whole disappearing grades thing that happened. [Note: This refers to a known issue in the
KPIS website where multiple teachers can access the same classes scores at the same time. When
the second teacher saves their comments, it would erase any comments made by the other
teacher]
6. I was good at my job. Yeah, sure I made mistakes, but that whole system was screwy. I never got
trained properly, I had to go to you or [other instructor] for help.
Question 4
Would you prefer to have the disparate training and reference documents combined into a single
document?
Answers
1. I never really used most of them, but it would have taken up a lot less space.
2. Yeah, I guess so.
3. Absolutely, I said so in the last question you asked me.
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APPENDIX A: RESPONSES FROM THE INTERVIEW
4. Definitely! I wouldn’t have had to go through my desk and all my shelves to find what I was looking
for.
5. I guess so? I mean, it would be nice to have everything in one spot.
6. Of course, but its not like Poly would ever get around to it. Wasn’t everything made by Head Office
anyhow?
Question 5
Would you use an electronic version of the training and reference material if one was available?
Answers
1. Definitely.
2. I might actually use them then!
3. It would make things a lot simpler and more convenient for everyone. I wouldn’t have had to
explain as much to everybody.
4. Maybe, but I kind of liked having the booklet to use.
5. Oh, definitely! I could have just had that on my desktop and used it at home too when I had to
finish marking after work.
6. That would have been nice!
Question 6
What would you like to see in future versions of the training and reference
materials?
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APPENDIX A: RESPONSES FROM THE INTERVIEW
Answers
1. Make everything just clear and simple. Give me the steps so I know how to do what I have to do,
and that’s all.
2. It would have been nice if it was all one book, like you said. With an index, and pictures of what
you’re doing. Something easy to follow along.
3. I’d like it if they made a proper manual. Not just a bunch of photocopied PowerPoint slides from
the training presentations. That stuff doesn’t work!
4. Definitely make it simpler. I mean, you had so many booklets, and so many papers, and things
were always changing. I mean, how hard is it to just tell us what to do and stick to it?
5. Having it on the computer would be the best thing. No more papers, and so much easier to use.
6. Actually explain things. Not just a bunch of photocopies that don’t tell you what are in them or
where to find things.
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APPENDIX B: GANTT CHART TIMELINE
Appendix B: Gantt Chart Timeline
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