Trade Education For The Digital Age

While computers have found their way into every aspect of education, becoming ubiquitous across the grades, one central area of education has been largely overlooked: vocational training. Skilled trades such as plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work, though having extensive course requirements, have not seen the same level of technological integration with their instruction. The Connected Apprentice, a platform for the delivery of trade education, addresses this gap, offering a digital solution that fits naturally into trade education and brings lasting benefits to learners and the industries they serve.

A Forgotten Segment In Digital Learning

Apprentice education often relies on traditional classroom instruction using outdated educational materials loosely organized in 3-ring binders. These resources are cumbersome and decidedly analog. In an era where tradespeople use increasingly sophisticated digital tools, it only makes sense that their training should follow suit.

The Connected Apprentice fills this void, offering iPads preloaded with customizable apps, resources, and learning tools tailored to specific training needs. By moving apprenticeships into the digital age, this approach sets learners up for success in their tech-driven careers.

Incorporating digital tools into trade education is not only a natural step but a necessary one. Tradespeople rely on technology daily, from digital blueprints to specialized apps that help them perform their jobs efficiently. Delivering training through the same devices they will use in the field allows learners to become familiar with the tools and platforms integral to their work.

By using digital devices, apprentices develop a fluency in technology that will serve them well throughout their careers. This early exposure to the tools of the trade positions them as not just proficient workers but as lifelong learners who are adaptable to new technologies as they emerge.

Shawn Arballo, Training Coordinator for Sprinker Fitters 709, spoke to the advantages of the Connected Apprentice approach. He has seen his field transform from a mechanical trade to one where technology is increasingly being introduced. Embracing this technology during training has immediate payoffs. He added, “rather than working off of a blueprint that is one or two months old, they are getting real-time drawings that they can use in the field.” This approach also makes the workers familiar with the technology they will ultimately be using, sparing them from having to do a second set of learning after completing their training course. It has an added motivation benefit of being the technology they are already used to. This captures their attention while preserving a sense of immediate relevance.

Similar positive reactions are reported by Mykal Jorgenson, Director of Training, Billings Pipe Trades Local 30. The embrace of this technology has solved two challenges of access. The first was the problem of travel. Instead of people often having to drive several hours each way to get to class, the Connected Apprentice allows people to learn in the field. This has immediate financial and motivational benefits. He added that it also gets people used to the technology. Given that they will be using the devices in their everyday life after school, it made no sense to keep everything in a paper and pencil form factor during school. Besides, he added, “It is easier to look stuff up than going through the book to find it.”

The Growing Need For Trade Education

The overall size of the market for technical education is large and likely to grow. USA Facts reports that 34.7 million people worked in the trades in the US, which is just over 20% of the total working population. This population is heavily skewed towards older workers, many of whom will likely retire in the next ten years, so the demand for skilled workers will continue to increase.

Aside from a general market need, there are other forces at work that should drive more people to pursue careers in the trades. The first is AI. Pure knowledge work is more likely to be disrupted by the onrush of AI technology than will be jobs that require manipulating objects in the real world. The second is job satisfaction. People looking for careers with high job satisfaction, good compensation, and control over their schedule are increasingly more likely to find them in the skilled trades than anywhere else. This combination of satisfaction and future-proofing will be a power attractor.

Ready For The Future

Given the current and growing need for skilled tradespeople and the definite benefits of going into the trades, both in terms of job satisfaction and financial security, not to mention the more general need to rapidly develop new talent, there should be an explosion in trade education in the coming years. As young people who prefer digital delivery increasingly look for alternatives to traditional college education, the Connected Apprentice is well-positioned to meet this need.