The Electrical Trades Center (ETC) is the apprenticeship program for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 683 (IBEW) and The Central Ohio Chapter of National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Technology is a large part of the electrical construction industry and so it makes sense that it is a large part of the apprenticeship and its training program.

In 2005, the ETC still had a very limited use of technology in the classroom. A computer lab was just about all we had besides a few data projectors and a tv to play VHS tapes. The computer lab was used for an introductory to computing course and AutoCAD training. All students were required to take the introductory computing course where they learned about software, hardware, RAM, files, email, etc. The AutoCAD course was one of a large handful of electives that the students could choose to take as part of the final year of training.

The years from 2005-2015 have brought about significant changes to the training program and the individuals being trained. The widespread use of variable frequency drives, programmable logic controllers, Building Information Modeling, solar panels, LED lighting, industrial and building automation systems, network connected devices, and fiber optics for instance have dictated the need to ensure the apprentices are equipped with the necessary skills and aptitude to use these technologies. In order for these students to be prepared for the workforce of the 21^st Century, it was decided that the same technology that is necessary to work with these new state of the art systems would need to be intimately integrated into the training program. Not only would computer skills, programming skills, and an understanding of these new-fangled technologies be important, but even the use of cell phones and the myriad of apps, messaging and documentation capabilities that they offer to ensure that our workforce has the skills, knowledge and aptitude necessary to compete and be successful in the electrical construction market.

An emphasis has been placed on making the ETC a technology rich environment. Any student accepted into the apprenticeship is required from day one to have a laptop or tablet capable of working with our learning management system or LMS. The LMS is Moodle based and has courses in it for every available course in our apprenticeship. This system includes simulations and virtual labs, online homework, embedded videos, links to pertinent websites amongst other digital content. The use of the LMS has been a major change to the way the ETC instructors teach and the students learn.  The students are also required to have email addresses inorder to create the account for the LMS. We utitlize a second database for recording attendance and reporting grades and this is call RollCall by PowerVista. The students also have accounts for this so that they can log into a web based browser to view attendance, on-the-job training hours, academic achievement, costs of materials for courses among other important features.

Much of the technology layers from course to course. For example, while the students are learning about construction drawings they use many of the mark-up tools that are part of the AutoCAD package so that when they take the AutoCAD class they are already familiar with the platform, how to navigate the ribbon with the tools, and what many of the tools do. To accomplish this, the instructor uses “scaffolding.”  During the beginning, the instructor provides contingency support, soon the teacher begins fading from teaching them how to use AutoCAD and focuses more attention on the drawings themselves eventually transferring the full responsibility of using the program to the students and solely focusing the attention on how to read and interpret construction drawing.

These are just some examples of the types of technology that is being used at the Electrical Trades Center. The state of the electrical construction industry was the driving force behind this change. The technologies that were integrated were purposefully chosen to provide students with real world experiences using the technologies. The processes and methods also had to change or the students would have the experienced the same bland training that had been going on for years. It is not just about the technology, the methods to deliver the curriculum are equally important when making these decisions.

This is but one particular example. It is not necessarily the answer for all training programs. Each situation is dynamic, with many parts that will justify different means. It is evident that these changes were not only necessary but it is equally evident that these processes must continually be analyzed to ensure that the ETC is Central Ohio’s premiere electrical apprenticeship program. .

Today, I am going to talk about a fantastic organization that I have the pleasure to serve. It is called Rebuilding Together Central Ohio. RTCO, as it is known, is part of a leading nonprofit in safe and healthy housing with more than 40 years of experience. Together, with our corporate and community partners, we transform the lives of low-income homeowners by improving the safety and health of their homes and revitalizing our communities. Locally, RTCO’s affiliates of skilled and non-skilled volunteers, donors, and other partners help make year- long emergency repairs to residents homes, lend tools to neighbors, and revitalize communities within Central Ohio participating in the Rebuilding a Healthy Neighborhood event. In addition, RTCO houses one of 70 tool libraries found in the United States.

RTCO’s primary mission is to help low income, veterans, and elderly homeowners with modifications and repairs to allow them to safely remain in their homes. For the cost of one broken hip, ($65,000 in lifetime medical costs) RTCO can install 1,000 grab bars. Many older, low income homes pose far greater risks. Moisture and mold, pests, toxic exposures, fire and electrical hazards along with trip and fall hazards are just some of the risks that RTCO is able to mitigate so that the homes are safe, warm and dry.

Why is this so important? Many of these homeowners are left to decide whether they are going to use what little they have to make the much needed repairs, purchase food, or pay for crucial medicine. No matter which decision the homeowner makes it is a bad one. The homeowner’s health in all of these situations is at risk. RTCO can make the decision much easier and help relieve undue stress and make their environment safer.

Back to the tool library. You are probably wondering why you have not heard about this sooner. The tool library, allows residents of Franklin County to become annual members and check out tools with no additional costs as long as the tools are returned.  The annual fees are setup with a tiered pricing structure which allows the low income resident’s annual fees to be waived. For the individuals that are not considered low income a modest contribution of $40.00 is all that it takes. There is also an extremely affordable $20.00 rate available for students and seniors.

The tool library works just like a traditional library. If you are a member you are able to check out a tool for a defined length of time. There is no limit to the number of tools but RTCO asks that you be a good steward for the rest of the public and use common sense when checking tools out. There is a whole host of tools. In fact, there are over 200 different types of tools and over 5,000 individual hand and power tools available. Some of these include ladders of all sizes and types, floor sanders, lawnmowers, powered post hole diggers, variety of saws, hand tools, etc. All of these can help our neighbors make a difference at an extremely affordable cost.

The Rebuild A Healthy Neighborhood event this year will be in early May and will be located in Whitehall. If you would like to find out how you can be involved or to learn more about the program the link is here. http://www.rtcentralohio.org/

As the legendary Woody Hayes would say, “You can never repay someone for the help they provide you but you can pay it forward.”

GO BUCKS!

Integration, convergence, and disruption are important to understand as technology relates to the classroom. Without an understanding of each of these concepts, one may set themselves up for failure when trying to implement any technology. The focus of this discussion is to examine all three of these concepts so that we can be better equipped to use technology in our classrooms.

Integration is the use of technology as a tool to allow students to apply computer or technology skills to learning and problem solving. It is much more than just having computers in the classroom. The curriculum should drive the use of technology not the other way around. Technology must be used as a tool on a daily basis not as a separate subject. Some examples of technology tools that can be use are video projectors, virtual field trips, SMARTBoards, including URL’s in your monthly calendar, using websites to enhance history lessons, and using graphing calculators.

Convergence is the process or tendency for unrelated things to evolve similar characteristics. Technology convergence is the process by which existing technologies merge into new forums that bring together different types of media and applications. One of the best examples is a cell phone that is used as a flashlight, camera, web browsers, and mapping tools. Some examples of devices that use convergent technologies are tablets, gaming systems, laptops, smart watches.

Disruptive technologies are technologies that have revolutionary effects on other products. These are the “game changers”. They change or disrupt the way that we do things. They may not always be well received initially but their effect is too great to ignore. Some examples of disruptive technologies are graphing calculators, SMARTBoards, Google Apps, Instant Messages, Social Networks, Creative Commons, and Wikipedia.