Midwest Solar Instructor Training NetworkLocal Training Partners Webinar

Friday, February 12, 2010

Agenda

-Program overview-Award status-Scope of work for budget period 1-LTP responsibilities-Contracting terms and conditions-MREA Wiki tour-Timeline-Questions, comments, concerns

Program Overview

Program Overview

DOE Team•Yana Rasulova – Project Manager•Mark Frickel – Project Manager

MREA Team•Tehri Parker – Principal Investigator•Nick Hylla – Curriculum and Instruction•Katrina Shankland – Administrative Assistant

Program Overview

• Illinois – Green Institute, Heartland Community College (Julie Elzanati)

• Indiana – Purdue University (Bill Hutzel)

• Iowa – Center for Energy and Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa (Kamyar Enshayan)

• Michigan – Northwest Michigan College (Bill Queen)

• Minnesota – Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (Laura Cina)

• Ohio – Green Energy Ohio (Bill Spratley)

• Wisconsin – Midwest Renewable Energy Association

Program Overview

Program Goals

1.Provide instruction, installation, and curriculum development experiences in applied PV and Solar Thermal technologies to 200 instructors from across the Midwest.

2.Develop instructional materials and hands-on training capacity for PV and Solar Thermal in 6 Midwestern states with broad participation of installers, instructors, engineers, education administrators, and other industry stakeholders

3.Form a Midwest Solar Instructor Training Network to promote solar training, share resources, expand instructional installation opportunities, and advance regional strategic initiatives

Award Status

• Current Status• Expected timeline

Scope of Work

Budget Period 1 (Jan 2010 – June 30, 2011)1.Instructor Application and Database2.Training Needs Assessment3.Instructor Institutes4.Shared Resources5.Special Topics Courses

Scope of Work

Training Needs Assessment•Develop resource directory (wiki)•Establish baseline for training capacity (programs and instructors)•Define important trends•Identify and justify state training priorities•Develop state training goals and metrics

Scope of Work

WI Training Needs Assessment•WI Directory (see MREA Wiki)•Trends - Certification, regulation, training programs, job market, incentives, partnerships•Priority programs

Technical colleges (certificates and apprenticeship) Professional Associations – IBEW, Pipefitters, etc.

•Priority locations Solar cities (Milwaukee and Madison)

•WI Goals - TBD

Scope of Work

Instructor Application and Database•Develop uniform app for region•Establish centralized, digital application process•Collect baseline data to understand instructor needs and facilitate ISPQ instructor certification

Scope of Work

Instructor Institutes•MREA Renew the Earth Institute, Custer, WI

• PV (July 19-23, Aug 2-6)• ST (July 26-30, Aug 9-13)

•Contract Instructors•Re-tool syllabus and materials•Develop evaluation framework

Scope of Work

Training Resources1.Further develop ‘Teaching Modules’ section on MREA Wiki2.Prioritize content and skills with LTPs3.Outline development process with LTPs4.Establish open-use and peer review guidelines with LTPs

Scope of Work

Special Topics•Identify priority trainings

Residential and Commercial Installations Site Assessment Training Lab Design Developing Solar Training Programs Others?

•Establish development process with LTPs

LTP Responsibilities

1. Training Needs Assessment2. Training Recruitment3. Shared Resource Development4. Participatory Planning

Contracting Terms and Conditions

1. There are 24 provisions in the special terms and conditions document the DOE furnished the MREA.

2. All provisions apply to MREA’s subcontracts with local training partners.

3. All provisions apply to LTPs’ subcontracts with other partners and parties.

What is a Wiki?

-a knowledge management system accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection

-an easily scalable place to host information and share it with anyone or just a select group

-a community-driven site that encourages sharing, discussion, and collaboration

-information on a wiki does not belong to anyone, but rather everyone. All are responsible for the content and for revising it and ensuring its accuracy.

The Wiki and Local Training Partners

-The Wiki will be used to compile and share all of our training network’s resources.

-It’s a dynamic place to host information – the info is updated as things change. As more and more people add resources to our database, the better resource we become and the stronger our training network is.

-As ideas shift and knowledge grows, so does the content of the Wiki. The Wiki can provide information on new incentives, new education programs, etc. Anyone can add more info to keep the info as current as possible.

Who will use the Wiki?

-Every Local Training Partner will have access to the wiki and can grant access to their staff.

-The MREA will give access to any instructors who come to the training institute.

-The MREA also has its instructors on the wiki working on teaching modules and curriculum development.

-The information is organized so that certain sections can be restricted amongst MREA instructors or LTPs if necessary.

Mediawiki Tour

Two Sections:DOE MREANetwork CoursesStates Instructors

-User Page-Talk Page-Help Page

-Upload File-Special Pages-Image Gallery

-Create a user page -Add bio and photo-Include your location and organization-Go to the discussion page to talk to others about collaborating or sharing resources-Find your state under Training Network Resources in navigation toolbar-Help compile resources for each section under your state

Join the Wiki Community

Technical Knowledge

-There is an initial learning curve: wikitext. Wikitext takes some time to learn but the payoff is great.

-Wikitext is similar to HTML. There is a plain text editor and a rich text editor.

-It’s helpful to learn both. We’ll review the main things to know here, then you can spend some time on the wiki and in the help section learning more.

Wiki Help Resources

-MREA Wiki Help Center (navigation toolbar -> Help -> Basics or Help Center)

-MediaWiki Help Section: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents

-MREA: 715-592-6595 x 106 or katrina@the-mrea.org

Timeline

1. Instructor Application – March 152. Training Needs Assessment – April 13. Resource Development – March ->4. Energy Fair – June 18-205. Institutes – July 19-Aug 14

Questions