• Welcome to the new and improved Building Code Forum. We appreciate you being here and hope that you are getting the information that you need concerning all codes of the building trades. This is a free forum to the public due to the generosity of the Sawhorses, Corporate Supporters and Supporters who have upgraded their accounts. If you would like to have improved access to the forum please upgrade to Sawhorse by first logging in then clicking here: Upgrades

Code Education Economics

Glenn

Registered User
Joined
Nov 1, 2012
Messages
889
Location
Denver
I would like to prompt discussion about the economics of code education (not talking about product education). With live education cancelled everywhere, the internet is the primary other option. The virtual education market was already interesting and varied, but is even more so now and into the future. I'm trying not to just bark my thoughts, as I would really like to hear yours. It is my hope this discussion will be beneficial to many, as education options have been stirred up recently and many people are new to the online dynamics.

  • Free education. (Hmmm... what's the catch? Why is it important to the instructor that I attend?)
  • Seeking CEUs (I don't want to learn, I just need CEUs and want them as cheap and easy as possible. Sadly this is a percentage.)
  • Soft marketing. (I learned a lot about ______ and I think ______ makes a great solution for it. Not sure where I heard of that product... it just came to mind.)
  • Professional instructional design independent from the instructor ("I'm not sure what this slide is for, but I'll read the bullet points to you.")
  • Fee-based education directly developed by the instructor ("weird? There were a lot more people at my free promo webinar last week.")
  • Ad revenue. (I think I can fit another pop up, click-bait, google ad in this small bit of white space on the webpage. I'll make the instructional space a little smaller...)

I wrote the above parenthesis "tongue in cheek", so I mean no offense to anyone. There are many options out there for instructor, student, and host and none are universally right or wrong. None of us learn the same or have the same economic strength. However, I think there is respectful discussion to be had.
 
I’m not certain which way this discussion is going, so I’ll throw this out there. As you stated you will have one person in every category but ultimately your time is not free. “Know Your Worth” If I was putting together a platform and “categories” for online consumption I would undertake them something as such.

Free Education, use a platform that provides exposure and possibly pays you such as YouTube or others! Provide link w each video to your website at beginning & end of videos.

Seeking CEU’s, Offer this on a VERY limited basis directly on your website while promoting it from the Free Ed platform(s).

Soft Marketing, can have its benefits, possibly combine more then one product that is new to the industry.Market same as CEU’s however if possible attempt to obtain product support from the manufacture, even if it’s just a sample of the product. Also seek a special discount promo that may pay you after so many sales of that product.

Professional Instruction, avoid. This is too closely related to free CEU’s.

Fee Based Education, this would be on your actual website.

Ad Revenue, if it pays and it can be related so be it. Just keep ads as short as our attention spans!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As a classroom professor I have been dragged kicking and screaming into webinars & powerpoints. Transfer of "useable" info is
the key by those with experience and the ability to "communicate" the info to a variety of attendees. Ones communication skills
are critical to the acceptance/retention of the info. Not all instructors have this critical ability.

Consider if you will a classroom of oldtimers who haven't been to school in over 40 years but have that much field experience,
keeping up with new technology is a constant time consuming requirement. Here, time is the key: where does it come from
and who pays for it? Workday, evening, weekends? It is a necessary investment but by who? Employer, yourself?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are online trainings now for different fields now.
There are online trainings now for different fields now. I mean you can find indian guys on youtube that explain economics much better than the teachers in classes. I thought that I have attention problems, but it turned out that some of the teachers were just not good at sharing the knowledge. I did some online training on spotoclub.com and those guys did a much better job than my teacher. They explained everything much better and I finally understood everything.
 
There are online trainings now for different fields now. I mean you can find indian guys on youtube that explain economics much better than the teachers in classes. I thought that I have attention problems, but it turned out that some of the teachers were just not good at sharing the knowledge. I did some online training on spotoclub.com and those guys did a much better job than my teacher. They explained everything much better and I finally understood everything.

Depends on the quarterback and what kind of a pass he throws; not everyone will catch it every time. Much of what we learn is supplemental to what we already know, or not. or how late we were up the night before class or how many hours we have to sit and listen. Communication + good graphics and the environment in which it was received are usually the best ways of transferring knowledge.
 
Good topic Glenn. I felt the same way about training. Everyone seems to be heading towards webinars and live on-line training. The problem with that is you have to do it on their schedule not yours. There is your main cost. The seminars aren't cheap and you lose productive work time, not to forget those who have to pay for employees time. I have started a new on-line training site to let people earn CEUs on their schedule and at affordable cost. I am a certified MCP, have a third party inspection company and am a Preferred Provider for ICC. Please have a look and see if I can help with your search for affordable CEUs. Suggestions welcome!. https://pacodetraining.com/
 
What about outreach to the next generation? Even pre-pandemic most schools shut down their woodshops and there is much less of a push to get people into the mindset of "oh boy, hard labor!". Now with the pandemic there's even less of an opportunity for young people to get out and see what people do for a living. Are they doing virtual career days? I was surprised at how little my own kids understand about all of the different careers in this industry. They know how to swing a hammer and know that you can get paid to do it, and now they know that I "work for the city" and I "make sure people do it right" but they didn't realize how many different trades there are and how specialized they can be. The idea of design, engineering, and enforcement is still a new concept for them.

Following up on what Keystone said, if you can design some quick, attention getting content on youtube (or whatever) designed to bring interest to your website, the same content could be reformatted to be presented to kids in school to inform them about potential careers for their future.
 
Whatever happen to reading a book on the topic.....
Why would anyone spend hours reading a book when you can watch minutes of video and get the same info? The internet is here! Everyone can be an expert! If you don't like the answer you find click a different link! Why hire a contractor when you can buy the parts at your local box store and get professional guidance for free? Why why why... Yeah it's a new world out there.
 
Top