Do We Really Need Continuing Education?
Many states require their electricians to take annual or biannual continuing education classes to keep their licenses renewed. If they fail to keep up with their CE they can be stripped of their licenses and in some cases, may have to retest if they want to continue their career.
A lot of the continuing education that is currently available comes in the form of online courses, live online classes, in-person seminars, or in book form. Some states are very strict on what avenues electricians are able to go to gain their credits, others give much more leeway. Most states have an “hour requirement” where an electrician must take, for example, 4 hours of continuing education each year. Other states, like California and Minnesota, can have 24 to 30 hours of CE requirements every year. This is a good thing because keeping electricians up-to-date on modern code changes, materials, safety, laws, and wiring methods only increase the skill of these electricians.
The problem with a lot of the currently available continuing education is that it can be very dry, boring, and may not actually “continue” your education at all. Many states do not have strict procedures, like facial recognition, or exams/quizzes to ensure the licensee is actually engaged in the class. Some people pay office staff or family members to take the classes for them because many are computerized voices reading code articles and legal text on a screen out loud to the student. 4 hours of this is enough to drive a person mad.
What’s needed is some comprehensive reform on what continuing education actually means to electricians. Let’s not put it lightly, this trade can be a widowmaker. It can be extremely dangerous working with electricity, and many have died over the years to prove this. So taking continuing education and licensure with deadly seriousness should be non-negotiable. But it is up to each of the states in the US to govern their own state’s licensure, so many states have zero requirements. Some states don’t even have licenses for electricians!
One thing that can be helped, however, is the level of education that electricians can gain from their CEUs. They don’t have to be minimal effort. Electrician U builds video-based courses and hosts online instructor-led group classes for anyone who wants more out of their continuing education. Our courses are approved by the states we offer, and each state has evaluated and approved our CEUs for their respective states. We strive to offer electricians more knowledge and educational opportunities and realize that in the modern age of video screens – peoples’ attention spans are changing. Many want more engaging content, higher quality learning, and convenience – without it costing an arm and a leg. Click the button below if you’re interested in seeing what continuing education we have available in your state. If we don’t have it in your state quite yet, it’s coming. Every month we add more states to our approved list.
