Thoughts of cooler weather, fall sports, and pumpkin spice-flavored everything go hand-in-hand with heading back to school. That is why we thought it might be the perfect time to take a closer look at our Education Center, a department that never stops teaching, no matter the season.
This versatile in-house department plans global and local training events, builds online courses, develops internal staff training, and coordinates the curriculum for large events. In this article, we'll go behind the scenes with the people who build our online training offerings in our online learning platform, LearningStage.
“Determining how to provide a personalized experience across an audience with varying skillsets can be a challenge,” says Jen Russo, ETC Instructional Designer. But that’s exactly what she does. When someone comes to Jen with a request for an online class, she encourages a very collaborative process.
“I’m rarely the subject matter expert, but it’s my responsibility to take the course objectives and present them in a way that keeps people engaged and teaches them what they need to know. It’s different than in-person training where people can ask questions and the instructor is constantly getting feedback. I have to build in repetition and consider multiple learning personalities to successfully convey class topics.” Jen includes videos, interactive quizzes, and question/answer modules to help cement each concept for the viewer.
ETC’s education team is constantly testing and revising courses. “Please send feedback!” Jen says. “We want every course to be successful, whether it’s a 15-minute or a 15-hour training.”
Even before the pandemic, ETC had online training options available, so when COVID shut down traditional in-person learning, we were uniquely suited to offer Study Hall – a series of training opportunities for students and educators alike. And the course library hasn’t stopped growing since!
Universities began using our Intro to Console Programming classes as their lighting classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. And to this day, many of those same institutions use these classes as a prerequisite for their in-person lighting design classes. With over 300 classes, we offer a lot more than people may realize. And not all of these classes are product-focused. If you’re looking for classes on networking, or troubleshooting DMX, or understanding TM-30, or how photo sensors and occupancy sensors work, there are options for those, too.
With hundreds of classes available on LearningStage, and the majority of them free, we’re confident you’ll find something interesting to help move your career forward.
Not sure where to start? Here are a couple of staff recommendations!
Troubleshooting Techniques
What do you do when things go wrong? How do you resolve problems? Over a series of short video chapters, this beginner level course covers the techniques to calmly and efficiently get to the bottom of a problem and fix it. This class is designed for anyone wanting to learn more about how to efficiently diagnose and solve technical problems in today’s theatrical systems.
Understanding LED Dimming
Divided into four (4) easy to digest chapters, we will review the following: Components of Traditional Dimming, Traditional and Line Voltage LED Dimming, Other Types of LED Dimming Control, and ETC Compatibility Testing & Troubleshooting Tips. This is a recognized ETCP course for 1.0 renewal credit.
Want to focus on console training? Start here!
We’ve only begun to discuss the educational opportunities that ETC offers. Join us next time as we look at the in-person classes, trainings, and events that ETC plans each year.