Five free online courses for fibre professionals to access during the covid-19 lockdown.
In the weeks since social distancing came into effect around the world amidst the covid-19 pandemic, there have been a number of companies, organisations and individuals offering free online resources for people to access while self-isolating at home. These have ranged from keep-fit videos to educational resources for home-schooling children, to free plays, musicals, movies and other forms of entertainment.
In the optical communications industry, there is arguably less chance to sit at home and take advantage of such resources, with many individuals classed as key workers, allowing others to take advantage of the above. But those who perhaps have been stuck at home for whatever reason can now look to enhance their skill set by taking advantage of one of the free training courses that have kindly been made available for the duration of the lockdown period. Here, Fibre Systems offers a rundown of what’s available. If your company is offering something similar, let us know and we will add you to the list!
Apstra Academy
For a limited time offering, the Apstra Academy will be offering its online intent-based networking tutorials for free.
The online and classroom-based educational system is designed for engineers looking to master IBN. Josh Saul, head of technical marketing explained: ‘As a company focused on ensuring positive developments in data centre networks, Apstra is proud to offer these education offerings to interested engineers, operators and architects.’
Classes and certifications offered in Apstra Academy are designed to rapidly up-level skills in network automation, data centre design and root cause identification
Courses available on-demand include: Intro to Apstra Academy; Intro to Apstra AOS (Part 1); Advanced Apstra AOS (Part 2) and Apstra Automation Architect Exam. Free live/remote training will take place on 15 April. Participants can sit through the entire class in one day, do 4 hours each day two days in a row, or simply not attend the live sessions at all and use the pre-recorded videos. Register for free.
Cabling Science Institute
Specialist training organisation and subsidiary of Wahoo Learning, Cabling Science Institute is offering all of its online training courses free of charge to help support the optical communications industry until at least 31 May.
A variety of courses is available, including: Fibre Optic Cabling Installation; Network Cabling Fundamentals; Network Project Planning and Safety; Network Testing, Inspection and Troubleshooting. These are available 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week and can be taken in more than 200 languages.
Anyone wishing to take advantage of this offer can do so by visiting the company’s website, where there are details of all the available courses.
CommScope
CommScope is offering most of its online training classes for free until the end of May to help customers and partners increase their product and technology knowledge and reduce financial burden.
The free courses are all part of the CommScope Infrastructure Academy, the company’s online platform where learners can earn certifications in a variety of topics covering the latest wired, wireless, wireline and fiber-optic technologies, including cutting-edge brands like NETCONNECT, UNIPRISE and SYSTIMAX.
The three most popular courses are: SP4420: Fiber Optic Infrastructure Specialist; SP8850: Pre Terminated Data Center Solutions and WR9701: Introduction to Smart Cities and Buildings. CommScope has also put together some recommendations for courses based on what its experience of what is most popular and relevant, including An introduction to cabling, its basic technology and implementation, then the WR9100 Introduction to Structured Cabling Solutions (Residential/MDU). There are around 50 courses, spanning 150 hours of free training. To get started, just register on the CommScope Infrastructure Academy website.
CNet
CNet has offered to give away 150 free places on its Fluke Versiv CCTT Course.
President and CEO, Andrew Stevens promised via LinkedIn that the company was working on a number of initiatives to help educate those within the industry that find themselves unable to attend work due to the current situation. The first is an offer to attend free of charge and via remote attendance, the Fluke Versiv CCTT testing course,
The course is two days in duration and it covers the theory and practical aspects of copper and fibre optic testing and certification utilising the Fluke Networks DSX-5000 CableAnalyzer, CertiFiber Pro Optical Loss test set and OptiFiber Pro OTDR to test, analyse, and achieve optimal performance of new high-performance cabling installations.
You’ll need to move quickly, however, as the 150 places are available on a first come first served basis. Find out more.
SCTE
To celebrate its 75th anniversary - albeit slightly early in order to help the industry during the current unprecedented situation - the Society for Broadband Professionals (SCTE) is supporting its members with a free special edition of its Fibre Optic Transmission for Technicians learning management system (LMS) course, a theoretical course for technicians in the CATV industry.
The content of the course includes the history & development of fibre optic technology; fibre network topologies, PON/FTTH; health and safety; systems and calculations of signal losses and gains; types of cables and connectors used in the industry; fusion splicing and termination of cables and connectors; blown fibre techniques and much more.
Applicants can self-study over approximately three days using the SCTE LMS. To access the course simply contact the society’s approved provider, Broadband Training to obtain a username and password.
