For the past dozen years or so, I've been teaching one-day Tech classes. Whether you like them or not, the classes have been very successful at turning out new amateur radio licensees. The classes have helped hundreds of folks get there Technician Class licenses, and the pass rate is about 90%. I taught my last face-to-face Tech class in January of this year. Not long after, our governor issued an executive order prohibiting large gatherings, and the University of Michigan, where I had been teaching the class, sent everyone home. So, what's a guy to do? Teach onine, of course! In June, I got an email from a fellow in Portland who said that he had a group of people who wanted to get their Tech licenses and would I consider teaching an online class. Since it didn't appear that this virus was going to let up anytime soon, I agreed, and in June, I held my first online Tech class. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive. For one thing, I didn't know how well my teaching methods would work online. I don't do PowerPoint presentations, so I had to find the tools I needed to duplicate the classroom setting as closely as I could. It took some experimentation, but I was able to find a solution that worked for me and the students. It was also clear that I wouldn't be able to do this in a single day. If you've attended any Zoom meetings, you know all about "Zoom fatigue." There was no way that I could sit in front of a computer for six and a half hours--or expect the student to. So, I decided on splitting up the class into four, two-hour sessions, held over ten days. This format also seems to work pretty well for the students. Another challenge was the testing. When I teach a one-day Tech class, I get a VE team to come in at the end of the class and give the test. The W5YI Group agreed to give this a try for the first class. They arranged a remote test session right after fourth session ended. 7 of the 8 students in that first class passed the test (the eighth passed later), but it was apparent that this wasn't a great solution. Instead, the W5YI Group now sets up a test session the day after the last class session. I've now held three online classes, with more than 50 students. I'm so happy with the results that I plan on doing this once a month for the foreseeable future. My next class is going to start on Monday, September 14, 2020. For more information, and to register for this class, go to https://www.kb6nu.com/product/next-online-tech-class/. The cost is $25. If you can't attend this class, you can always subscribe to my mailing list by going to https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/m6l6t4 to get information on future classes. I am also planning on teaching an online General class. Although a final date hasn't been set yet, I do plan on starting it sometime in September. To get more information when it's available, you can subscribe to the General Class mailing list by going to https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/x7j3g2. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 73, Dan KB6NU
