Please add a comment to this post with your learning style, and either what aspects of the training help you learn best, or, other ideas on how your learning style can be catered for!

Before we ask if apprentices need a PLN, lets clarify exactly what one involves…

PLN stands for Personal Learning Network, and it refers to the network of people/resources that a person has to access. For an example I will explain to you MY PLN. (click on the image to view a larger version).

What do you use a PLN for?

You can use it for a number of things, like networking, but in this scenario it is mostly used for LEARNING. Learning is an amazing gift, and we should be taking every opportunity we can to learn as much as we can, for the rest of our lives. This is called Life Long Learning.

A trade apprentice should be using their PLN to learn more about their trade, and to answer questions they have as they study.

What does a PLN look like for a trade apprentice?

For a trade apprentice, your PLN will probably involve the following people/places/resources:

1. Google. Ah, google, how we love you and your infinite wisdom…

2. Your trademan/leading hand/supervisor. These people’s experience and knowledge is invaluable. They should be able to answer your questions because they’ve done it themselves!

3. Your textbook. Textbooks are a great way to read about your trade, and work through examples.

4. The Library. Libraries hold so many great books which could very well be about your trade! The books you find could very well go into more details about specific aspects of your trade that you’re interested in.

5. Industry forums. If you’re serious about your trade, and about being involved, then it might be worth googling some forums or serminars around your trade that you can attend.

6. Standards. The Australia/New Zealand Standards for your trade are the most current legal requirements about the area you’re interested in.

7. The list goes on! If you have other ideas of how trade apprentices can expand their PLN, please add it to the comments!

-Talia

FAAT funding from the government will allow you to complete additional subjects while you’re unemployed. Perfect for you to increase your skills, show a new employer how dedicated you are, and finish your apprenticeship off quicker then before!

eLearning Australia will organise for you to move through your training at the pace that suits you. We never run out of spaces in our courses, and you can start any time you want! No waiting till a block is available at TAFE!

If you would like more information on how you can keep studying while you’re unemployed, then please email Talia, or call us on 07 5450 2795.

You can also download the necessary form here.

This thought process prompts me to ask the question, “Is life long learning important in the trades?”

Often we assume that apprenticeships and other trade qualifications. are not ‘academic’ and therefore are do not need life long learning skills. But how wrong we are! Life long learning is an important attitude for everyone to have, no matter their age, sex or career! It is the ultimate in anti-discrimination! We need to be constantly learning, and aiming to be the top of our field, never letting an opportunity to learn go by! David N. Aspin talks about this in his book, The school, the community and lifelong learning when he talks about being work-ready, and preparing ourselves for the inevitable- multiple jobs/careers in our lifetime.

Does this mean that we have to be involved in formal education? Not really, though formal education like Uni, TAFE qualifications, accredited courses, and other training opportunities are great opportunities to learn new skills.

Every person is already presented with an array of opportunities to learn each and every day- it may be things they can learn about themselves (who they react, what they prefer, how they can talk to people), it may be general life skills (how to deal with difficult people, patience etc), or it may be specific to their profession, or a profession they make have in the future.

As Allison so rightly put it in the recent online survey we conducted, “People will be learning for their whole lives anyway – why not help the manage this learning”. So how do we do this?

• Help our students see opportunities to learn
• Create open-ended assessments so that students have opportunity to put their learning skills into action in a formal education setting.
• Encourage students in each subject to look further/beyond what is in their workbook or textbook.
• Provide links to new learning places.
• Run workshops/seminars on how to be a lifelong learner.
• Explain the benefits of life long learner/ get students excited about learning

What ways can you think of encouraging students to be life long learners?

Life long learning is as relevant to the trades as it is to any career. If we are constantly learning then we are able to put into practice the things we’ve learnt, which makes us more valuable employees- the kind of people who are on the road to promotions, and general success. Employees should WANT to do professional development- to learn new skills, and to stay current in their industry.

Jon Thomas, one of the former career start students says,

“The Career Start course has been a great way to gain work experience and learn some of the theory applied in the electrical industry. I have had the chance to test how I enjoy the work and to make an informed decision to pursue a career as an electrician.

I am pleased that the course has also enabled the firm with which I have done work experience to also test my suitability from their point of view.

I am happy to have started an apprenticeship last week.

Thank you.”

If you’d like to read more testimonials from students, then please click here.

Open source is an approach to design, development, and distribution offering practical accessibility to a product’s source (goods and knowledge). – Wikipedia

Open source is a term often used for computer software that has an open source code that other developers can edit and add too. The end result is a collaborative effort, and the software is free. It can be re-distributed freely to anyone.

Why should we use it?

If free software isn’t a good enough reason, then you might also like benefits such as continued updating and improvements, (generally) a good support network via online forums, and you can use it for whatever purpose you wish. Open source software also uses Open Standards which means that it is compatiable with a variety of platforms, not locked to using that same program- great for sharing documents with other people.

How is it applicable to education?

There are some great open source software (and cloud) packages that are perfect for students. Open Office is one of the most popular applications for text editing and general office tools. Firefox is a great open source tool, and with it’s rad extensions you can make it very helpful for study.

You’ve read my previous post which referred to this book: The Brain Rules. Well, here’s another concept, this time on memory, from the book which we can apply to our eLearning. This video is a study by the Univesity of Washington, and Seatle Pacific Univesity, where they put into practice Brain Rule 5: repeat to remember, in a school.

Because as eLearning students we have to manage our own learning, I thought it would be beneficial to look at this video, and think try to implement it.

So the next time you’re sitting down to study, why not try a system where you go through ONE learning outcome (maybe a bit less if it’s a BIG subject, but no more), then take a break (10 minutes will do). Then sit down and do some most study, breaking it up with other activities (maybe an assignment, or some extra research). An hour and a half later to two hours later (no more) go back to the outcome you learnt before and review it. By review I mean go over the material again. This time you should have all the words filled into your workbook, so you can take extra notes, or highlight as you go. Once it’s been an hour and half after you learnt the second outcome, then go over that.

It’s important that you don’t sit down and just do study continuously all day. You need to REMEMBER what you’ve learnt, so you need to break it up, and do one subject over a number of days.