Why is Hands-On learning Better for Trades?

Ask nearly any technician or maintenance person (or pretty much anyone) how they learn best, and they will affirmatively tell you they learn best with real-world, practical experiences (i.e. through hands-on experiences). In short - they need to see it to believe it. They need to observe 'how' things react and behave to understand the concepts.

There are several reasons that hands-on and direct live observation based learning typically outperforms other training methods. When we learn, our brains automatically catalog and store information and tie that information to other concepts and topics based on how we learn and how we use the material.

So – for many people, the learning value of being packed in a room watching a slide show or sitting at a desk clicking the 'next' button on an online course, just doesn't produce strong results.

Training offerings that are merely a compilation of factoids and slides, presented with little or no discussion, observation, questioning, or analysis don't produce the type of learning that results in the information being useful back in the field.

I see way too many training courses offered with slide after slide with little or no discussion, questions, observations, or experimentation by the students. And even if there is a ton of material covered in the course, the amount of actual LEARNING is minimal.

Good training should factor in how people actually LEARN (i.e. how the brain actually works!). I'll forego a discussion of how new dendrites are formed between neurons and so forth, and just explain that learning happens best when we are 'wondering', asking questions, performing observations, and solving problems. So – it makes sense that training should be structured to cause those things to happen along the way.

Note – Many courses/lessons include periodic factoid-based quizzes as a mimic of reinforcement. But those factoid (or even conceptual) questions aren't going to work as well as if someone is literally applying the concepts to solve problems similar to those they'd confront in the field when using the material being presented in real world work.

Put simply, the concepts and learning needs to be structured in a way that relates to how that material will be used in the field – and that typically means it needs to include real world tasks and equipment.
Hands-on exercises should induce thought, questions, and curiosity, and as those questions are answered, students should effectively formulate associations between various concepts as well as associating it all to the actual work and tasks where the skills will apply.

When people are curious, or observing something and trying to make sense of what they are seeing they are truly LEARNING! That is when the brain is forming new connections that will expand the usability of the knowledge/skills that will lead to improved abilities in the field.

For example:
In my training classes: In my PLC training classes, I have numerous minor details/issues/snafu's, that students will notice during the various lab exercises, which are intended to lead to questions, experimentation, discussion, and ultimately the correct answer/explanation.

Here's an example of one of many issues I purposefully introduce in each PLC course:
While performing a hands-on lab related to a generic timer instruction, one of the PLC outputs is ON - but it does not appear anywhere in the program logic…?? This issue is unrelated to PLC timers, but is related to the concept that I had typically covered earlier about how the PLC
processor scans and executes operations.

Either a student notices the output being on after we discuss the timer logic, and asks the question that I'm hoping for, or I pretend to notice it and ask if others see the same thing and have the students see if they can figure out why it is happening.
Either way we approach it, a genuine question (or a 'curiosity') is formed. When we find that answer, it is stored with that 'experience' along with the thought process to make sense of it – which is where it should be stored because that way it will be available when they run into that issue or something related to it.

Opening the Learning Box:
In my training methodology, I call this method "Opening the Box". Once someone has a question or curiosity about something, they have 'opened the box' and they are ready to learn and make sense of the concept or topic in a long-term, useful way. I have found that too much training (especially in the business / industrial world) is simply a broadcast of material via slideshows or presentations that cover numerous 'factoids' but cause little real learning.

In the fields that I teach in, memorizing facts and details is not as helpful as understanding the foundational concepts and being able to go find and make sense of the detailed info / factoids that are readily available in references and manuals when needed.

Sadly, even courses with supposed hands-on labs are often merely having students follow rigid procedural steps or having them perform time consuming mundane manual tasks that provide little to
no actual learning value.

In addition to helping the students to 'open the box' and properly catalog the material being learned in their minds in a way that is truly useful in their job, this curiosity formulating approach helps individuals practice and enhance their problem-solving skills and critical thinking processes (which are also very important to develop).

The Problem with Typical Online Training

Traditional online and PC-based training can be tricky for numerous reasons: pre-recorded content with no live instructor interaction, no ability to ask questions or get clarification, and the "click-next-to-continue" format that encourages passive consumption rather than active learning. There are certainly times where self-paced online options make sense – but they are often applied in cases where they shouldn't be, simply because they sometimes appear cheaper. Paying for training that yields no actual results is a total waste of money.

For years, Orion Technical Solutions held off on offering online training because the typical online format just didn't meet our quality standards. We weren't willing to put our name on click-through slideshows that don't produce real learning.

What Changed: Live Online with Real Demonstrations
We finally found a way to deliver online training that actually works. Our Live Online courses are instructor-led via Zoom with real-time Q&A, live demonstrations on actual equipment, and interactive discussion throughout. Students watch real circuits, real transmitters, and real responses – not slide shows and click through pages. They can ask questions, see the instructor troubleshoot problems, and observe how things actually behave.

This "seeing is believing" approach captures most of the learning value of being in the classroom. When students watch a real 4-20mA loop respond to a calibrator, or see actual voltage readings change as we manipulate a circuit, they're forming the same mental connections they would in person. The brain doesn't much care whether the observation happens through a camera or across a table – what matters is that the observation happens.

For those who want the full hands-on experience, we also offer equipment rental shipped directly to your location. Students can perform the same labs at their own pace while they have the gear, reinforcing what they observed during the live sessions.

Where Each Format Works Best
In-person training with hands-on labs remains the gold standard – there's no substitute for physically building circuits, taking measurements, and troubleshooting faults yourself. For foundational skills and troubleshooting methodology, in-person is hard to beat.

Live Online with demonstrations is an excellent option when travel or scheduling constraints make in-person impractical. Students still get live instruction, real-time Q&A, and observation of actual equipment behavior. Add the equipment rental option and you get surprisingly close to the in-person experience.

Self-paced online courses (the click-through kind) can work well as follow-up or reinforcement AFTER the core concepts are understood through live instruction. They're useful for review, refresher, or expanding into related topics – but I don't recommend them as the starting point for foundational technical skills.

Try each method and weigh results
If you are curious about the value of well organized, instructor-led training in the Electrical, Instrumentation, Controls, Automation, or PLC areas – give us a chance to show what we can do! You'll like the results. Whether you attend in person or join us live online, we're confident you'll see the difference that real instruction and real equipment demonstrations make.

Guarantees
We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of our training sessions – public, onsite, and live online – because we are confident in the results our training produces. You probably won't find that guarantee with any other training provider.

Summary

I'm biased because my company focuses on hands-on and demonstration-based training – but also because I've tried all delivery methods over the years and have overseen parts of development programs for larger organizations at various parts of my career. The results have me convinced that live, instructor-led training with real equipment observation and hands-on practice produces the best outcomes. Whether that happens in a classroom or through a well-designed live online format, the key ingredients are the same: real equipment, live instruction, interactive Q&A, and the opportunity to observe how things actually work.

If you want to boost the skills of your workforce (in electrical, automation, instrumentation areas) send someone to one of our courses and gauge for yourself when they return to work. We feel confident you'll become another loyal customer once you try our services.

We offer in-person public courses at locations across the USA, customized onsite training at your facility, and live online courses with optional equipment rental. Whatever format fits your situation, we can help. We can also work with you to incorporate helpful online tools to supplement and follow up on instructor-led training in a way that is economical and effective and that continues the forward progress.