Lane Community College, as part of the AACC-ECCA initiative, utilized existing staff to expand on our goal of making apprenticeship education more accessible to our rural and remote students. A Lane faculty member in the same career and technical education (CTE) division as our apprenticeship program developed training seminars focused on the needs of the apprenticeship instructors and students in the current educational environment. These training seminars were conducted live allowing for interaction and recorded for future reference. More than half of Lane’s apprenticeship instructors have attended at least one of the seminars. This month, another three seminars will take place to provide in-depth training on Moodle (Lane’s open-source learning management system) to ensure apprenticeship classes will provide at minimum a hybrid experience, allowing students to participate remotely.
These seminars focus on skills and information important to the success of the instructors as well as the apprenticeship students. Instructors learn via Zoom about technology such as Zoom and Moodle, and the use of cameras to stream and record lectures and labs, including procedures at the jobsite. These seminars also illuminate tips and ideas about classroom management and student interface and support. College policies and procedures are introduced and explained in the seminars along with resources for the instructors and students. These trainings provide skills and support to our apprenticeship instructors, most of whom are career professionals serving as part-time educators, creating a more rewarding experience for our students.