Former corrections officer; discovered in 1992 that we could use multimedia computers for teaching in all academic subjects, including how to use computers!

Left the prison as a civilian; working in medical records and making breakthrough discoveries by studying the medical histories of inmates serving life in prison...contrasting the poor health histories of those who were more chemically dependent of free drugs over more than two decades. My coworkers suggested that I go to college to continue my studies.

In 1995, while attending college full-time, I was able to recognize for the first time as an adult that I was severely limited in my abilities to write, which became a hindrance in my efforts to progress in academic studies; I became more effective at writing by actively engaging in writing on topics related to subjects about which I am most passionate, such as continuing education for working families with limited access to computers and vocation training.

After several years of attending school part time and working, while driving over 100 miles to school and work, I discovered the ease of taking classes online...that still got me closer to completing a two-year degree; I still felt that there was an element that was missing in the online courses I was taking. Having a hands-on training experience with tools and equipment that can be found in the workplace, seemed to be an essential element for a complete immersion in the learning process.

In the fall of 1999, I took the opportunity to enroll in a training course for wind turbine mechanics/technicians at the local high school. I had no real interest in working on the turbines, but thought that I could learn from the course how to organize classes in other subjects, as I had looked at every class in college from the perspective of student2teacher, observing how effective the teachers used the resources available to interact with their students. By the end of the six-month course I was working in the wind farm industry as a mechanic, training to become a technician...while continuing to bring community groups together to organize a trade school on existing campuses.

I worked for about 16 months for wind companies and about three years on drilling operations, while looking for opportunities to better my knowledge at both ends of the energy field, which began to yield other bits of understanding about how the earth produces oil and gas; and wind from solar heat...an endless supply of energy! Now the principles which were bought so dearly at a great price in the field can be found on short discussions on energy on our web site, as well as on YouTube and other video sites.
http://TheVideoWall.ning.com

This honeymoon experience with the video sites, creating energy challenge contests over the past two years, along with active blogging in energy and non-energy forums; such as trucking and real estate has led to greater awareness about energy...our efforts of late have been eclipsed by the importance of energy and independence as a rallying cry for people all across the country and around the world, following industry leaders who have presented a solid financial plan to move from oil2wind power, with or without the current gaggle of politicians nipping at our heels.
http://Push.PickensPlan.com/groups

Our best tool for training energy coaches from all backgrounds has been with the emergence of energytalk radio; LIVE discussions on existing and future projects, which allow a small group to post their best ideas in a public forum, with links provided to help listeners to see the radio in the forums.
http://BlogTalkRadio.com/search/energytalk Our immediate plans are to turn energytalk into a dynamic tool for educators worldwide, allowing them to organize students and workers with the radio shows, which we will train them to host through BlogTalkRadio, which allows a small group to form a network and launch their own shows from cell phones, as long as someone in the network as access to the internet.
http://BlogTalkRadio.com/AlternativeEnergyCom

With Energytalk in its second year, we are now launching an open education forum for all other technology fields, which we call ApprenticeTEACH! or Aprendizajes in Spanish. We have several shows on matters related to emerging technologies, in the fields of telecommunications; financing sustainable development and health and wellness discussions currently archived on http://BlogTalkRadio.com/search/FEDtalk and http://BlogTalkRadio.com/search/apprenticetalk

We welcome comments or questions from anyone interested in these topics.