NATIONAL DISTANCE LEARNING DAY

I live in a house full of teachers. There are three licensed teachers – in fact, I’m the only adult who isn’t one in my house. Today is the last day of August, and we are in full back-to-school mode. This year is even stranger and more stressful than usual since CoVid will be keeping everyone in our community home and distance learning for at least the first month of school.

While not ideal, distance learning has proven an invaluable resource. Did you know that correspondence courses predate the American Revolution?! Caleb Phillips advertised a course in the Boston Gazette in 1728. The instruction was done completely via mail, making it the first known distance learning course. Amazing!

Never has distance learning been more important than 2020. We have just reached a tipping point where enough people have access to fast internet that many of us can watch instructional videos and video chat with colleagues, teachers, and classmates. As the world changed and we had to keep our distance, we could still maintain the human need to teach and learn!

Today is National Distance Learning Day. Believe it or not, this holiday also predates the current pandemic. In celebration, I want to share a few YouTube channels that have helped me learn about this fascinating industry. 

Paint Life TV, hosted by The Idaho Painter, is excellent for learning about techniques and is full of helpful hints and tricks to make your job easier. There’s a video that teaches you how to tie back bushes that are close to your project, how to best mask carpet, preparing stucco for airless spraying and even cleaning up the inevitable spill that will happen when you use paint on an everyday basis.

 Pittsburgh Spray Equipment Co posts bi-monthly videos on spray guns, airless paint sprayers, paint booths, sandblast equipment, powder coating, and all things coating related. They even have a free distance learning course you can sign up for!