How to Make Online Training That Does Not Suck - Short #286
HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs
Bryan Orr
4.9 ā¢ 1K Ratings
šļø 12 May 2026
ā±ļø 24 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
In this short podcast, Ruchir Shah and Dan Riggs from SkillCat talk about how to make online training that does not suck! They talk about how to develop training that is relevant to the trades and can be applied in real-world trade work.
The skill gap is widening in the trades, especially as shortages grow when people retire and it becomes more difficult to hire qualified new people. Hiring apprentices with little experience also has costs associated with it, and SkillCat aims to address the training reasons for the skill gap and provide the needed accreditation for trades like HVAC (including EPA 608). After receiving feedback that the curriculum was too theoretical and could do better in the applied learning areas, the SkillCat team has been revamping the training program with a skill map.Ā
Now, there are partnerships with trade educators, more interactive videos, and interactive virtual activities to create a more relevant learning experience. There are now kits that SkillCat ships out to trainees, and assignments have offline proctors who verify all submitted materials and online activities to ensure that the trainees' submissions align with real field conditions and expectations. The goal is to have trainees who enter the field and can be fully functional helpers with a basic tool kit and enough working field knowledge to identify system components and perform basic tasks, bringing value to employers from day one.Ā SkillCat is going to be piloting a new training program with a mentorship component as well.
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Learn more about SkillCat at https://www.skillcatapp.com/ and the GRIT Foundation at https://www.thegritfoundation.com/.Ā
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ye freaking ha. This is the HVAC school podcast. I'm Brian. This is the podcast that helps you remember some things you might have forgotten along the way, as well as helps you remember some things you forgot to know in the first place. And this episode is all about how to make online training not suck by Rishir Shaw from SkillCat and |
| 0:22.3 | Dan Riggs. My brother-in-law is married to my sister. Dan works with SkillCat to help them develop |
| 0:28.5 | curriculum and online training that is nice for people who are going to be working in the field or |
| 0:33.5 | already do work in the field. And Rashir talks very honestly about his journey to making things better with online app-based |
| 0:41.2 | training. |
| 0:42.3 | And he's going to talk about it. |
| 0:43.7 | But before he does, we want to thank our great sponsors. |
| 0:47.0 | Refrigeration technologies and their Viper aerosol coil cleaner for condensers and evaporators. |
| 0:53.2 | If you don't know, the Viper aerosol cleaner is a foaming |
| 0:57.1 | cleaner that you can spray into a coil with its really powerful pin spray. It has a strong |
| 1:02.0 | degreasing capability in a convenient package. It's safe to use with rinsing or no rinse, so there's |
| 1:10.0 | zero need to bring a bulky pump |
| 1:11.7 | sprayer into the house for an evaporator coil cleaning or in many refrigeration applications. |
| 1:17.0 | And like you mentioned, it works on our evaporators and condensers. |
| 1:20.3 | Find out more at refrigetec.com. |
| 1:23.5 | Carrier and carrier.com. |
| 1:26.1 | Carrier has been a long-term sponsor of the podcast. They've made it possible very early on for us to do what we do and they are the products that we sell day in and day out, everything from single stage equipment all the way up to the Green Speed Extreme, one of the most efficient products on the market today, find out more about what Carrier |
| 1:44.5 | has to offer and about becoming a carrier dealer by going to Carrier.com. |
| 1:50.0 | Navak and Navakglobal.com and the Navak NX1 Nexus Digital Manifold Gage. |
| 1:56.7 | It's got a great clear display, USBC charging, and among the highest accuracy manifold gauges in the industry. |
| 2:05.4 | To find out more, go to hvacr school.com slash an X1. |
| 2:10.8 | Santa Fe and Santa Fe and Santa Fe dehumidifiers. |
... |
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