3 Best Practices for Online Training Courses

Back in March 2020, institutions for education and training took a major hit with student enrollment due to COVID-19.  This caused a major deficit for some training centers in the industry that rely on students either attending class in-person or having the trainer teach on-site.  An opportunity was presented to accommodate the current training environment and student’s education needs, while following COVID-19 safety and travel mandates. IPC created a way for the student to become IPC certified by utilizing an online/remote exam method.

What Classes can be Taught Online?

Even though online classes are convenient, not all courses can successfully be taught online. IPC courses that are lecture-based instruction only can be taught online, for example IPC-A-610 and IPC/WHMA-A-620.  On the other hand, training courses such as J-STD-001 and IPC-7711/7721 are limited by online functionality and have a more difficult time meeting training standards in an online setting, since they require hands-on workmanship projects.

Operations for Online Classes and Remote Exams

When taking an online certification course, it is important to understand the certain nuances involved.  Your environment, computer system capability, and overall learning style preference should all be kept in mind when deciding which online technical course to enroll in.  At EEI Training, we conduct our online training courses using Microsoft Teams.  This allows students who are joining in remotely to interact with the instructor and other students in the class.  During the testing portion, remote students are to use IPC’s Remote Proctoring Program.  This program acts as a live proctor and locks your computer from having any open programs but the exam itself.  For more information regarding IPC’s Remote Proctoring Program please visit https://img.ipcedge.org/Remote_Proctoring_Guides/rpguide_EN.pdf.

Who can Benefit from Online Courses?

Due to the evolving travel mandates, many companies have restricted travel for their employees, especially for training courses.  With IPC and technical training courses now being offered online, students can re-certify on time without being limited to current travel restrictions or having to accommodate and budget for an extended trip to complete their certification training.

For a schedule of the online courses EEI Training provides, view our training schedule at /training/course-calendar/index.