PLC Courseware and Reference Material Update

Greg Greiner August 12, 2019 No Comments

Sometimes, in the world of electricity, no matter how hard you try, something causes the imaginary smoke to be let out of what you are working on and you have to regroup…

Recently, unexpectedly, and unfortunately the electrical training ALLIANCE was informed that the current PLC textbook Programmable Logic Controllers (S597) will become no longer available once the publisher’s existing inventory is depleted, and subsequently (nearly simultaneously) our requisition of those books depleted their inventory.  Therefore, our orders exceeded the anticipated availability.  As an interim solution, we have built a course based around ATP’s textbook Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers (S531).  In fact several of you, have already received this new textbook.   This interim course was listed as part of the upcoming catalog release, and will be used until a complete new training course and system is completed. (More info below)

It is anticipated that the interim replacement LMS course Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers (J162LM) will be ready in mid-August and at that time, we will be scheduling webinars to review the material and review any changes and questions that you may have.   This course will replace the current, Programmable Logic Controllers, Level I (J237LM.J1) and Programmable Logic Controllers, Level II A (J237LM.J2A) training, and will utilize existing Allen-Bradley/ Rockwell Automation SLC 500 processors.  These would be the suitcase style PLC trainers and also include many of the processors on your instrumentation trainers, in fact some have asked previously, “How can we use these trainers we still have?”   Well this may just be the perfect opportunity.

Additionally, it was anticipated that the select programs which participate in the Programmable Logic Controllers, Level II T (J237LM.J2T) course, would continue to be able to be supported with textbooks and LMS courseware.   Unfortunately, this does not appear to now be possible.   We sincerely apologize for this unfortunate circumstance.  Should you have a critical need to support your tag-based system training please contact Jason Lunardini to discuss a solution.

The bright side to this unfortunate situation is, the electrical training ALLIANCE had already begun investigating and planning the process of updating the overall PLC training course in advance of this issue.   The new course is going to based on a newer Allen Bradley product, the Micro 800 series controller, and we believe this will offer a flexible and very cost effective training solution to provide introductory PLC training, as well as grow into more advanced motion control topics.  This system will be a wholesale change of not only textbooks and LMS courseware, but also hardware, and offer free software support, all being done in a hands-on lab based format.  Look for more information on this in late 2019 and early 2020.

 

Should you have purchased the existing textbook Programmable Logic Controllers (S597) and companion LMS courses Programmable Logic Controllers, Level I (J237LM.J1), Programmable Logic Controllers, Level II A (J237LM.J2A), Programmable Logic Controllers, Level II T (J237LM.J2T), and would prefer to utilize the interim single course textbook Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers (S531) and LMS course Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers (J162LM) please contact Steve Strickland (sstrickland@electricaltrainingalliance.org).  Should you have technical questions regarding the interim and future courseware, existing trainers, new ideas or what the weather is like in Pittsburgh, please contact Jason Lunardini (jlunardini@electricaltrainingalliance.org)

 

Thanks for Reading!

Introducing the New Mobile Application for use at NTI

Greg Greiner July 22, 2019 No Comments

NECA and the IBEW, with collaboration from the electrical training ALLIANCE are excited to announce the deployment of our new ProTech Skills Institute mobile application.  As mentioned in our previous announcement, IBEW and NECA created the ProTech Skills Institute to offer new tools and resources to serve your needs.  Streamlined services and tools with high functionality have been requested by you and this new mobile application was designed to do just that.


We are launching this now in time for NTI.  On it you will find all NTI tools for a great experience in Ann Arbor including maps, the event guide, your personal schedule, communications and much more.  Beyond NTI, this mobile application will be a central location for accessing upcoming and future service tools and resources without need of downloading new apps each time.  This newly architected solution will become a single-stop location to access all of the many resources you have requested of NECA and the IBEW to support you with.

Please take a moment and watch the video announcement above of this new application, where to access and download it and how it will be a primary tool for use at our 30th Annual NTI.

 

Download the app from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or from the https://protechskillsinstitute.org website.

 

 

Introducing the ProTech Skills Institute

Greg Greiner July 8, 2019 No Comments

It is the mission of the electrical training ALLIANCE to develop and standardize training to educate the members of the IBEW and NECA contractors to insure and provide the most highly trained and highly skilled workforce possible.  To be effective and competitive in the electrical industry, ​we must constantly improve ​our processes and enhance our services ​for you. You have told NECA and the IBEW the areas that need focus and you have been heard.  Please take a moment and view this exciting announcement of how NECA and the IBEW have created the new ProTech Skills Institute.

 

 

LinkedIn Learning removes Lynda.com name and how it may affect you

Greg Greiner May 21, 2019 No Comments

As you may know, LinkedIn purchased Lynda.com. This is not new or fake news..really its rather dated news… But, great things are happening there! Due to that purchase a few years ago, LinkedIn created a subsidiary called LinkedIn Learning. Up until this week they carried the Lynda.com name with them as a part of their learning platform. Change is and has been coming and it’s been pretty seamless so far. One thing you will note over the next few weeks will be the Lynda.com course titles in the LMS & TMS will be updated. Courses previously identified as Lynda.com courses will now utilize the LinkedIn Learning identifier in the title.

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New Online Test Generator Active – Webinar Video Available

Greg Greiner May 14, 2019 No Comments

There were over 128 participants on the New Test Generator (TG) GoToWebinar that took place on Friday May 3rd.  The webinar discussed most of the features with a live demonstration of creating, administrating, and reviewing the test with live students.  The new TG is live for all Inside JATC Training Centers and awaiting for the Training Director to activate the system.

The recording was post-edited (47 mins) with additional comments and is now available to watch.

The programmers will be adding this video to the Orange Help block on the TG home page in the near future.

Be sure to ask questions if you have any issues.  Keep in touch!

BBall@ElectricalTrainingAlliance.org

eBooks! The New Reference Option

Greg Greiner February 14, 2019 No Comments

The electrical training ALLIANCE is excited to announce that select eBooks are now available.  Students and Instructors will be able to access content on the go, wherever they are, without need of carrying the printed books.  This is just one beauty of eBooks where the content is also much more than a book in pdf form.  It offers many other great features. (more…)