Maintaining IBEW Standard in E-apprenticeship

Covid has accelerated a move towards remote learning and ebooks. For our younger generation the challenge will be to embrace change while maintaining the quality of the apprenticeship.

When I started my apprenticeship in 2017, we physically went to school every other week with no exception. We bought hard copy books that were ours and took written tests in class, with  a piece of paper and a pencil. And the apprenticeship lasted for five (long) years.

Here is my little collection of books from the apprenticeship. I think the Code book, Fire Alarm, the AC and DC theory books were the most useful to me overall.

Talking about a revolution.  

In less than a decade, the learning environment has changed tremendously. Apprentices now take online tests with the help of Google and can get their journeyman ticket in four years. They buy a mix of hard copy and e-books. These online copies belong to a server hosted somewhere in a data center.  

The computing power of ebooks is a great tool to accelerate finding information. The apprentices who shared their experience with me referred to the Ctrl-f short cut to find key words as a useful tool. On our Renew 613 Discord server, Emily said:

“ I preferred e-books. Control F. It’s king” while SuburbanSage (Discord nickname) shared “E books are the future.”

This is the same type of computing power that accelerates the job when we need to quickly access the right set of prints from a computer or tablet.

The down side to ebooks was a sense of feeling deprived of the ownership. “I like the fact that we have ebooks, but I despise the fact that we’re unable to save copies for ourselves. We paid to own these books forever, as per our agreement, but our only access point to electronic copies is a website that we have no control over” summarized Victor P.  

And indeed, one year after I graduated, I don't have access to my e-books anymore.

Remote learning and expectations. 

The ebook revolution is here already but I think we need to stay conservative when it comes to online classes. Numerous scientific studies have found that conducting online classes can lead to teachers lowering their expectations and students not paying attention.  

This is confirmed by journeyman and IBEW steward Cormac. “I def learned more in the in person days than I did when we switched to online. Partially bc of the engagement of the class, partially bc I was constantly playing video games or otherwise not paying attention (during online classes).” 

And who will cast the stone to Cormac? I remember my online classes during Covid were mostly devoted to cleaning up the house and resting.

Our time is packed with obligations and a lot of us have to work overtime or a second job to power through the apprenticeship. So when we sit at home and can get a little more sleep, studying was the first thing out the window.

I believe the current hybrid set of online and in person classes should still heavily favor the in class teaching with direct human interaction.

Lowering the standards is a tricky game to play. We can move apprentices through the motion faster and produce large quantity of electrical installers led by an elite of qualified electricians.

But from my observations in the field, management’s main demand - apart from a more competitive package for 613 - is to have quality help. The guys and gals that can read the prints, understand the wiring diagrams, retain the information and pass it along to the apprentices are the most valuable field people.    

This ties to the vision we have for the IBEW and for society in general. The IBEW is a ladder to access middle class status and economic life style. For us journeymen and apprentices it comes with sacrifice, it comes with showing up day in and day out, it comes with learning and investing in ourselves.

For the contractors, I think it comes with the understanding that no matter how much prefab and how much they rely on their core group of foremen and journeymen, they need to invest in their field employees as a whole.

The IBEW apprenticeship sets the tone for the entire industry. Our new generation of electricians - that is in higher demand than ever - has the unique opportunity to be trained with the best digital tools of the day while retaining the high quality standards that has made the name of the IBEW in the country.

YIB

Victor Fremont