I have written before about the decline of the educational quality at Northeastern Technical College. One of the problems has been the desire of the current administration to open “satellite” campuses, campuses that do not have qualified instructors to educate the students. One of the ways NETC is replacing such instructors is through long-distance education and what I would call video game instruction. If you go to the 1-minute 30-second section of this video, you will see what is being installed to “teach” the craft of welding. In this video, you will see the instruction booths installed to teach welding.
It is well-known that the proper way of instructing one in a craft is by hands-on instruction by a skilled craftsman. This is a technique that has been practiced for centuries with outstanding results. Turning education in a craft trade into a video game wastes the student’s time and money. They will find themselves at a disadvantage in the workplace when their certificate in the trade they choose is worth nothing more than a roll of toilet paper.