Learning Online Internet-based training provides a new tool for metalworking managers looking to build the technical knowledge of their employees.
Tom Beard
Technical training is so difficult these days. Apprenticeship programs are but a memory in most companies, if indeed they ever had them at all. With leaner organizations throughout the manufacturing world, few companies believe they have the time or money to execute a solid in-plant training program today. Although community colleges and local technical schools have gotten better at delivering practical instruction in the last decade, geographic access to quality technical training is spotty at best, particularly when it comes to serving continuing education needs. At the same time, the competitive need for a technically proficient workforce grows by the day. That leaves many metalworking companies at a competitive disadvantage, with precious few choices beyond the on-the-job training techniques that have reigned in all too many companies for all too long.
The Internet can have a significant impact on this situation, however, now that high quality training curriculum is finally making its way to the Web. This is why Modern Machine Shop is working with Tooling University, a company dedicated to addressing the knowledge gap in the metalworking community with comprehensive and affordable online technical training. The entire Tooling U program is available through MMS Online (www.mmsonline.com).
Tooling U currently includes more than 100 classes covering the fundamentals of metalworking with beginner and intermediate class work in metalcutting processes and equipment, CNC, workholding, materials, metal forming, shop essentials, quality control, and many other subjects of interest to metalworking operations. Many classes are also available in Spanish. Still more classes, covering topics such as quality, CNC programming, inspection and welding, are currently in development.
While online training can’t replace the hands-on learning that can only come from the shop, it is an excellent alternative to the classroom training that has historically been an essential component of a well-balanced technical education. Unlike the classroom, Web-based training can be accessed from almost anywhere and at any time. That lets companies work training time around production schedules or other time-critical activities. Employees can learn at their own speed, at work or at home—anywhere there is an Internet connection. Moreover, companies can monitor the progress of trainees as they access class work and then confirm their understanding of the material through programmed testing.
How It Works
Companies begin a Tooling U training program with an online assessment of their employees’ current knowledge of metalworking processes. Tooling U has both a basic machining fundamentals online assessment, and an intermediate CNC online assessment. Based on the results of each individual’s assessment, Tooling U will suggest the training classes necessary for each employee.
The content of Tooling U classes is developed by the company’s instructional design team, which works in conjunction with a variety of industry sources and experts. The design team creates each class based on a consistently applied methodology for presenting industry knowledge in an “e-learning” environment. Besides applying fundamental principles of learning, the methodology also takes into account the unique nature of the industry content and the metalworking community it serves.
Each class includes learning objectives, a class outline, a pre-test, a detailed lesson sequence and a final exam. Students are led through class lessons in a sequential manner so that information is delivered logically and progressively. For example, the 15-lesson “Cutting Processes” class for beginners starts with class objectives and then progressively moves through “What Is Machining?,” the basics of cutting tools, sawing, turning, boring, threading and grooving, then on through other milling and drilling type processes, and finally to broaching. A more advanced class, such as “Cutting Variables,” begins by explaining issues related to machinability. It then identifies the specific variables for each of the major metalcutting processes in the same order as the beginner class, leading to a deeper understanding of feeds, speeds and depth of cut. This common approach to topics, as well as the common look and feel to lessons throughout the program, contributes to easier and quicker understanding by students as they advance from class to class.
Each lesson in a class includes full text explanations augmented by numerous graphic illustrations. For students who respond better to the spoken word, all text can be delivered in an audio format. In addition to pictures and illustrations, many lessons also include video clips, and all are further supplemented with pop-up vocabulary definitions of critical terms. If a student has a question about anything in the class, he or she can click on the “Tooling Professor,” where students can post questions to other students on a forum. They can even upload application photos. Tooling U also provides chat room sessions with industry experts and a large industrial resources section with helpful charts, formulas, conversion factors and an industrial dictionary.
Confirmation And Control
Once a student has completed a class, it is time to take the final exam, which will validate how well that student has mastered the material. Upon completing the final exam, students may view the questions and their answers. Incorrect answers are flagged and the correct answers can be displayed. Explanations of each question are provided through links back to the relevant lessons.
Tooling U subscriptions are purchased for a flat annual fee. Subscriptions are obtained on an individual basis (one subscription per person), which gives the subscriber unlimited access to all Tooling U classes for 1 year. In most cases, of course, companies will purchase Tooling U subscriptions for their employees. Then company supervisors can monitor employees’ class progress, test results, schedules and attendance, and the supervisors can participate by sending messages to their students. Moreover, a company can specify mandatory curriculum, requiring that employees complete prerequisite classes, take pretests or achieve required performance levels before receiving credit for the class and moving on to the next level.
Class content also can be customized for a company, which can be as simple as including the company logo and a corporate message. Or, a company’s existing training materials can be captured and converted into a Web-based class that can be accessed individually or in conjunction with complementary Tooling U content. This approach can be particularly useful for training new employees.
Testing provides an objective measure of employee knowledge levels, which can be an extremely useful tool for managers to assess true workforce capabilities.
With this direct connection between testing and instructional class work, metalworking managers finally have a practical means to identify technical knowledge areas needing improvement and to facilitate the necessary learning to achieve organizational objectives. Such training programs will only grow deeper, broader and more numerous with time. But the time has finally come where virtually any shop can begin to enhance its capabilities by using these tools to build a more knowledgeable workforce.