EDUCATION What a Tangled Web We Weave Jim Hancock, CML, CMST, details ALOA’s plans to take education to the Web — and beyond. E ducation in our industry has changed, and not always for the better. For many years — decades actually — to get training on new prod- ucts and procedures or to simply hone your existing skills, you had to travel to a brick-and-mortar facility somewhere: a hotel conference room, a convention center or someone’s shop. There, you sat in a classroom envi- ronment and had an instructor lecture on or demonstrate the latest, greatest items or techniques available to satisfy your clients’ needs. This learning experience is nonpareil to other available resources if you’re trying to learn this business or a particular skill without prior experience. However, it’s somewhat intrusive if you’re simply trying to enhance an existing skill set or if the class is mostly a lecture topic. Enter the World Wide Web (that’s “www” — thanks Al Gore?) and video technology. ALOA has long been the leader in education for the industry. But when it comes to keeping up with the technology available to make training easier to obtain and less time-consuming for members, we’ve been not “behind the eight-ball” as the saying goes, but behind the entire rack. And it’s not been due to a lack of effort or desire to produce videos or online sessions — far from it. It’s been because the quality of the efforts have not been to the standard that ALOA and the Education Department want to produce and offer to the industry. We attempted a few webinars in 2013 and 2014 that were received fairly well, but the subject matter — though well presented — was limited. As is the case in many instances, the train- “It’s time to put webinars, video and distance learning back on the front burner.” along with web training sessions where an instructor can use a live webcam to watch students do the hands-on work and assist with issues as they happen. All of these education opportunities will make the learning experience a little easier for some and more convenient as well. But one thing is needed before any of this can be done: That one thing is in- put from you. We can guess and take shots in the dark regarding subjects that we think would be good for webinars and videos, but that’s all it would be: a guess. If we expect to of- fer this to you — the membership and the industry as a whole — then you should have input as to what you want to see or what will benefit you. I’ve asked for input on other subjects before, and the response has been, to say the least, underwhelming. But I need to ask again. Take a few minutes and think about classes you’ve taken or wanted to take that could have been done without a live instructor in the room directing you, such as lecture classes. Or, for instance a class such as SFIC, where if you learned the history and the math in a video or web setting, you could walk into a class- room and just start doing the work. Give us a hand in helping you. Send us some thoughts (no “War and Peace” dis- s, please) to [email protected], et training into the 21st century. Hancock, CML, CMST, A’s education manager, an his locksmithing ca- r at the age of 8 in his ndfather’s lock shop ulfport, MS. He has ct of the business, from ech to operations man- . In 2003 and 2009, he was presented e ALOA ACE Award as Instructor of . You can reach him at [email protected] 19-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
