Students and Educators Benefit from Online Training The new AWS Online Educational Library is an affordable collection of welding courses paired with an easy-to-use learning management system The metal objects, vehicles, and structures people depend on to live, work, and thrive are forged by the hands of properly trained welders. If welders didn’t receive the necessary education, modern civilization as we know it, along with the lives of billions of people, would be in jeopardy. And yet, training the world’s future generation of welders is no easy feat. To help institutions and businesses accomplish their goals, the American Welding Society (AWS), Miami, Fla., has launched the first online educational library geared specifically to the needs of welding students and educators. It’s available at awo.aws.org. Whether you’re a welding instructor or a business owner with employees to train, this resource can help you surmount the inherent obstacles of teaching. Comprehensive, Engaging Courses The AWS Online Educational Library contains a large collection of welding-related courses — Fig. 1. The vetted course content is created by trusted AWS subject-matter experts and teaching professionals in accordance with SENSE education standards to ensure high-quality instruction. The industry-approved library includes seven comprehensive courses: Welding Fundamentals, Safety in Welding, Metallurgy I, Fabrication Math I, Fabrication Math II, Nondestructive Testing, and Welding Symbols. Together, these courses comprise more than 75 hours of educational content. By next year, the library will include even more courses. To help students and teachers manage the wealth of information at their fingertips, each course is divided into short modules that usually range between 15 and 30 min. The short modules allow students to digest information in manageable chunks, and they also grant teachers more flexibility when assigning material. But even the most comprehensive materials would be of little assistance without an evaluation system. Therefore, each course comes equipped with pre- and post-quizzes and interactives. The quizzes deliver real-time feedback so that students can assess their readiness to advance to the next module. They also give instructors an overview of each student’s performance. The interactives, which are positioned at key junctures throughout the modules, provide an opportunity to practice and master concepts. Last, but not least, the courses use audio narration, digital text, animated graphics, and video footage to engage students, appeal to multiple learning styles, and break down complex topics. According to Mike Anderson, an instructor at New Castle Career Center in Indiana, welding educators face several challenges. Some of these include students’ varying schedules and learning styles, as well as the ease with which students become bored with traditional classroom instruction. Anderson noticed his 40 students showed a marked improvement in comprehension, retention, and motivation when they were introduced to the library. He credits this to the stim- 54 WELDING JOURNAL / OCTOBER 2015 BY KATIE PACHECO Fig. 1 — Numerous courses, ranging from Welding Fundamentals to Metallurgy I, are available as part of the AWS Online Educational Library. Fig. 2 — Customers can access the library at www.awslearning.org. To learn more about the library, visit awo.aws.org.
Welding Journal | October 2015
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