TRADA began sharing a regular email named Learn with TRADA during the first national lockdown, because it wanted to encourage the students, recent graduates and the furloughed among its audience to learn more about timber at a time when things were slowing down.
TRADA’s raison d’etre is helping people learn about timber, but the emails also stimulated internal discussions around the practicalities of learning online. These discussions resulted in several thought pieces on laying foundations, creativity, and the necessity of critical thinking to discern a single “correct answer” from many presented in search results.
“Whether it’s a tutor at college, an organisation like TRADA, or one single textbook, advice should be consistent and hang together to form a coherent and trusted whole,” said Rupert Scott, marketing and membership manager.
The Learn with TRADA Live programme of events is a natural progression. Unlike compiling a list of free technical resources under one topic header, an online learning programme represents the opportunity to create a more cohesive curriculum and allows TRADA to facilitate learning journeys with both regular and oneoff attendees in mind.
CRITICAL ISSUES SERIES
The first series, dedicated to exploring critical industry issues including fire and a post-Brexit construction industry, launched to great success in January. More than 250 attendees tuned in to learn about demonstrating and specifying the performance of timber fire-resisting doorsets – the first of five online sessions delivered by BM TRADA and Warringtonfire experts.
FUNDAMENTALS OF TIMBER SERIES
A second confirmed series will launch in July. BM TRADA experts Phil O’Leary and Lewis Taylor, both experienced trainers, will provide a comprehensive introduction to the many aspects of timber, including moisture and durability, across eight online sessions.
When attended regularly, the series will lay robust foundational knowledge in a structure intentionally designed to ensure productive learning. In particular, attendees will learn the terminology, definitions and background necessary to access more challenging resources (often provided for free in Learn with TRADA emails) and recognise where their knowledge might be lacking.
Other series are also in the works. A structural engineering series with weekly sessions for practising engineers and university lecturers is anticipated during May and June.
“Despite the recent acceptance of online learning methods, there are still limitations,” said Mr Scott. “That’s why our goal is to provide practical, foundational knowledge that you can apply in your dayto- day and begin building around.
“There are many benefits to using timber, yet it needs to be designed properly to mitigate risks. In the construction industry, the danger lies in the unknown unknowns. Learn with TRADA Live helps you spot these and encourages further learning or collaboration. Already we’ve seen an increase in enquiries about our formal training courses – for example, ‘Fire doors explained’ – which goes to show that people are keen to learn.”
