CD Rom Course.

I have been writing small plc programs for a few years, but I am completely self taught. A local college is offering a CD Rom based PLC Technician Course. I was hoping to get some feedback from other members if they thaught this might be worthwhile??

I suspect that CD based means that the text is not a printed text, but is on the CD-ROM. It would be worth finding out what CD-based really means.

I've always found instructors more than willing to talk about what a course entails and covers, and what they expect. Why don't you contact the instructor and ask?

I took a basic PLC course at a community college a couple years ago. It used a printed text. The course was about 3.5 months long, met once a week evenings for 3-4 hours. The lab where the hardware was, was open for use anytime during the day, even if a class was in progress.
The course I took was exactly what I expected, binary-hex number formats, basic ladder, timers, counting, shift registers, stage programming.

I suspect the real question you have to ask yourself is whether you can get enough out of a basic class to warrant the time and money spent on it, especially if you already have some practical background on a specific brand that uses a specific syntax.

Dan

I took a PLC programming class in college. Complete with instructor, books and slc500's to practice on. To be honest, it didn't teach me a whole lot. Even though the instructor was very knowledgeable and we had lots of training tools, there just wasn't enough time to dig in and practice the way you need to, in order to get a good grasp of the subject.
What helped me more than anything, was getting a used plc off of ebay and building my own control panel with lights, switches, buttons, etc. and then getting the software for the plc and programming it myself. Practice really is the best teacher. I would write all sorts of nonsense programs, making this light blink "x" number of times, then turn off for so long, then back on, etc. etc.
The point was to make myself think about what I was trying to do and then using the software to make it happen. Lots of trial and error, lots of mistakes, but then it starts to get easier and easier. And, if you really get stuck, you can always come here and ask for help.
Now by plcs.net standards i'm a complete rookie when it comes to plc programming, but I do know enough to tackle most small projects without fear.
Just my 2 cents.


Tom

Do you have an electrical background, or are you just a computer-PLC player? If you do have an electrical background, you should look at getting employed as a Junior with an engineering firm in the TO area. There are lots of employers that can do with new fresh talent.

Honestly, the experience says it all. If you can put some experience with your programming abilities to work in real-life applications you will do well.

IMO, the CD courses will teach you the basics, and maybe some of someones' tricks. It sounds like you have written programs already, so I don't know how these technician courses will make you much better.

Education is good, but experience is great.....and what will pay you the bucks.