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Lynda.com for continuing education?

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(@hardline228)
Posts: 177
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Topic starter
 

What are your guys' thoughts on Lynda.com to meet continuing education requirements? The site has technical training videos on subjects including autocad, revvit, 3d modeling, statistics, even project management. It offers certificates of completion for each course that show how long the training took. There are no quizzes though. I really like the training materials and cover some topics I'd like to learn anyways, have any of you claimed these as part of your continuing education requirements?
Thanks.

 
Posted : December 13, 2013 7:11 pm
(@dave-ingram)
Posts: 2142
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It doesn't matter what I think - it's what your state board thinks. Some won't allow online - period. Some won't allow technical training such as autocad. Some require an outcome assessment.

You can ask all you want here, but our opinions don't matter. Check with your state board.

 
Posted : December 13, 2013 7:20 pm
(@hardline228)
Posts: 177
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Topic starter
 

My State says that all 30 hours can be taken in online courses, but they don't pre-approve courses. It is up to the license to choose - so I'm asking because last thing I want is to get hauled before the board and accused of poor judgement. The members on this forum seem to have a lot of experience and so I'm bouncing it off them. I realize you're not my state board, but short of that I'm asking for opinions. 😉

Acceptable activities include "Completing advanced computer software instructional courses that relate to the improvement of one’s profession or business. Advanced computer software instruction courses do not include spreadsheet, word processing, presentation, or web design software (e.g. Excel, Word, Dreamweaver, etc.)."

 
Posted : December 13, 2013 7:31 pm
(@paul-in-pa)
Posts: 6044
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If It Is Not Live, It Requires An Exam

That is the way I read my State Boards.

Since I was updating my records today, I note that my handwritten list includes all test scores. Some but not all certificates state that a test was included. Attached to all of mine is a copy of the corrected test, for when I retake a course years from now.

In the last PA cycle 10/01/2011 to 9/30/2013 I had 11.5 hours of in person seminars, 8 hours live eSeminars and 15 hours webinars with on line tests. Out of those 34.5 hours, 25.5 were applicable to surveying and 30.5 applicable to engineering (24 required).

I can carry over 1.5 surveying hours to toward this cycle. I get much more engineering hours through various design magazines I subscribe to. My NJ engineering cycle ends 4/30/2014 and all I really need now to meet the NJ 15 required hours is 2 hours in engineering ethics.

Yesterday I picked up my 3rd live 1 hour engineering for the new PA cycle. It had a 1PM EST start time and I followed that up at 2PM with a no credit 1 hour seminar on a different site. That was an interesting manufacturer's infomercial on liquid float switches applicable as they said to Septic Pumps, Ship Bilge Pumping and Automatic Coffee Makers, all of which this company supplies switches for. I had to smile that they included all three in one sentence, the only difference being the size.

Tomorrow while I am snowed in I have a 1 hour webinar with test lined up, and three more for slow days over the holiday week. My definition of a holiday slow day is nobody to go flintloack hunting with.

Paul in PA

 
Posted : December 13, 2013 9:41 pm
(@ric-moore)
Posts: 842
Member
 

My daughter has worked for Lynda.com since they were only a small company in Ventura with about 20 employees. I asked her if she had every heard of customers using their training videos for continuing education and this is what she told me:

Customers try but since Lynda.com is not accredited as an educational institution they can't provide the proper documentation for their offerings to be approved.

She also said that they have some subscription options available for organizations that can provide training for their own employees which include reports that document use and completion.

Good luck

 
Posted : December 14, 2013 3:59 pm

(@deleted-user)
Posts: 8349
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Just a question out curiosity, are your 30 hours per year or a longer renewal period?

 
Posted : December 16, 2013 9:02 am
(@hardline228)
Posts: 177
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Topic starter
 

If It Is Not Live, It Requires An Exam

Interesting take, is there a specific rule in the PA law that indicates to you that an exam is required? Neither the words "exam" or "test" appear anywhere in the Continuing Professional Competency Law Provisions or the Continuing Professional Competency General Guidelines.

However the logsheet for these credits lists "Continuing Professional Competency Activities: CE courses, correspondence, televised, videotaped, short courses, tutorials, seminars, employer-sponsored courses, workshops or conferences relevant to professional practice"

 
Posted : December 16, 2013 4:18 pm
(@hardline228)
Posts: 177
Member
Topic starter
 

Ric, your daughter's employer provides a fantastic service for what they charge. Even if I wasn't using it for CE I would subscribe.. I've learned so much through Lynda, I love the service.

 
Posted : December 16, 2013 4:20 pm
(@paul-in-pa)
Posts: 6044
Member
 

If It Is Not Live, It Requires An Exam

My miss statement. The exam is a provider requirement. Without it how can the provider give a certificate saying you viewed the subject on line, on video or via written material and understood the subject.

For live seminar course many of the providers ask questions throughout the hour to verify you are in physical attendance the required time your computer was connected. You also have the option to ask questions and get a live on air response, get an response to your screen or possibly an email later. Many also request you fill in a survey at the end. For a live seminar you typically receive the certificate at it's conclusion. If you miss a live seminar you have an option at a later time to view the recorded seminar. There is a delay as a typical 10 question quiz on the material. That test may take 15-30 minutes as you review material and reply. Typically a score of 80% is required. A score of 70% or less requires a retest. In the last cycle I took tests for 15 hours of credit. Average score was 93%. One test required retesting due to my difficulty in filtering our too much informations. Provider usually have available courses on their websites.

In the past cycle I paid for 12 hours of seminars I attended and 4 hours from a commercial provider. Because of the number of engineering magazines there is an average of one free 1 hour course a month in the CE field. Many topics are pertinent to surveying, but alas no surveying magazine promotes free seminars to date. I attended a free seminar today for no credit. But it is a snow day and the topic was of interest.

I had been a Sewage Enforcement Officer in PA for 20 years with required continuing education for most of that time. I do know the DEP policy was a live program did not require a test, though many had them. For their online education a test and a perfect score was required. To retake the test you had to run throught the teaching material prior to the test on eact section. You had to pass before going on to the next section. For a 4 hour course you usually spent 6 hours or more on line.

Paul in PA

 
Posted : December 17, 2013 1:27 pm