EDUCATION Webinars, Podcasts and E-books, Oh My! ALOA Education has made many improvements in 2020. A s we close out a very strange and stressful year, we can only hope that the New Year will bring us a return to normalcy or a better sense of the new normal so we can move forward. If any good has come from this bizarre year, it’s been ALOA Education adapting and having the time to turn ideas into reality. Webinars In April, ALOA began offering webinars with both lecture-based content and hands-on demonstrations. As the health crisis intensified and settled in to stay, we increased the number of topics and frequency to more than 35 webinars per month in the summer — up to three per day. There were one-time subjects and several multi-session classes. Our Master Keying series was a 19-episode, nine-week training that included homework and culminated in the first test for the Certified Master Key Specialist designation. These webinars will continue to be an integral part of ALOA’s Edu- cational offerings, both as stand-alone sessions and blended learning leading into live classes. Podcasts This fall, we launched “Locksmith Talk With ALOA.” This 30-minute podcast is for industry technicians, managers and owners and covers all things locksmithing. It is hosted by ALOA ACE Instructor William Lynk, CML, CPS, M.Ed. Along with an in- dustry guest each episode, he discusses topics ranging from institutional locksmithing and GSA regulations for safe and vault work to legal issues and major manufacturer reps’ views on the future of the industry. Members can download podcasts on several major platforms, and non-members will soon be able to access them for a modest fee. We’re always looking for sponsors who want to get their message out on the podcast as well as guests who want to discuss their expertise. We are also looking for topic ideas, so contact us at [email protected]. E-Books For years, ALOA’s bookstore has published and sold titles by some of the most highly re- spected experts in the business. This fall, we started to convert these titles (and more to come) to e-book format so they are available for download instead of only as hard cop- ies. This allows instant delivery, so you don’t have to wait for the publisher to fulfill our order before we can ship to you. Those taking live and web-based classes that require a text will have the option of using either e-books or printed versions. 58 KEYNOTES DECEMBER 2020 PRP Changes While updating tests is an ongoing pro- cess, we’re also adding electives to cover more subjects that concern the modern locksmith. We have new testing subjects on brand-specific hardware, safe moving and some business electives. The second change is how we can offer testing while live, paper-and-pen testing has ceased due to the pandemic. We’ve been able to do ALOA-proctored Zoom test- ing, which has enabled more scheduling flexibility, and student testing aſter many webinars. But the biggest change is a hands- on component to be introduced in 2021. It’s long been a concern that some can pass the written exam without being able to perform the tasks or that some can’t pass the written (as they don’t test well) but are wizards with the work. The hands-on portion should mitigate this and make the credential mean more to clients and employers. We continue to be vigilant in this last month of 2020 and anticipate 2021 with trepidation. ALOA Education will con- tinue to create new opportunities to help you gain needed knowledge, with an eye toward the next ALOA and SAFETECH conventions for live training. Jim Hancock, CML, CMST, is ALOA’s education man- ager. You can reach him at [email protected] or (214) 819-9733. WWW.ALOA.ORG
