Re: "Learn at Home" courses.
First a little background.
In Canada, the Electrical Trade is a regulated Trade, which means all people wishing to enter the trade must go through an apprenticeship or prove they have worked at the trade for at least ten years before being allowed to write the Exam for an Electrical Licence.
The apprenticeship involves attending at least two sessions (most go three) at a community college. For about three years I taught apprentices at one of these colleges.
Basically the curriculum was Theory, Code and Practical exercises.
What I observed was most of the apprentices lacked or had very limited knowledge of Theory and Code.
They got practical experience out in the field, however this was sometimes limited. (i.e. somebody who worked solely in the residential field lacked experience with Conduit and Motor Control.)
In school at least they received some practical training that exposed them to the stuff they were not exposed to in the field.
Everything that we as electricians do, installations, trouble shooting and repairing, designing electrical installations, all have a reason and cause.
It all basically comes from Electrical Theory.
The Code is written to Provide Safety Standards to protect people and property and if really analyzed is generated as a result of Electrical Theory and all our installations should follow this guide.
What I’m saying is if this type of training system is not available and you want to be a good electrician the "Learn at Home" courses will at least give you the Theory and Code portion of the trade that is also very important.
The only thing that I would say before signing up for a “Learn at Home" course is check out the company providing the course material and make sure they are reputable and have good “Training Material”
Sorry about the long winded reply,
