Learning locksmith skills at a distance - Web and modules add flexibility for students at Red Deer College

Red Deer College Press Release

June 19, 2004 - How can you teach locksmith skills to someone located 1,000 kilometres away? Through creative use of web technology and modular learning.

Distance training came about gradually and Department Chair Shaun Lovell accepted his first student on WebCT in 1999. The benefits of WebCT are significant: apprentice students tell Lovell that without an online course, furthering their training wouldn't be possible. "They're in situations where they can't take two months off work, or leave their business behind to come here for training."

Another advantage of WebCT is that the College can offer casual online courses and make them available to non-apprentices.

Using a modularized learning approach called CBAT (Competency-Based Apprenticeship Training), Lovell delivers in-class and online training to locksmith apprentices. "CBAT is a fancy way of saying that all learning material is in self-contained modules," says Lovell. The modules were created at Red Deer College.

CBAT modules are converted into PDF format and placed on WebCT as units that students can download and print for themselves. The information is complemented on WebCT with multimedia items such as short videos, photograph sets, and flash animations.

Locksmithing is a small trade and Red Deer College is the only institute in Alberta to offer the program. Adding to this exclusivity, Alberta was the first province to designate locksmithing as a trade in 1992; the contract was awarded to Red Deer College and classes began in the fall of 1994.

Currently, Lovell has eight apprentices training online, and seven non-apprentices taking short online courses. The numbers are growing, especially for the short courses, because these can be marketed worldwide, an opportunity Lovell considers untapped.

With distance learning, students are never faced with geographical limitations. Lovell has pushpins in a map from Palmer, Alaska, to Las Vegas, Nevada. Also from Ottawa to Vancouver. For an apprenticeship, however, "we're restricted to Canada since there is no apprenticeship for locksmiths in the US, or in most Canadian provinces." Lovell's technology goals include continued development with animation and multimedia materials. "I'm a department of one. Progress is made when I get time, or in response to a student query. And once it's done, it's there for any students."