Bullrider, this is a pretty good place to start. Most of these are pretty well-done, and they have an acronym guide at the end of most of them: (the website is listed at the end)
IEC online tutorials help take communications professionals to the next level
light-wave magazine
By Susan Fogarty, Online Editor
The International Engineering Consortium (IEC--Chicago, IL) recently added 13 new tutorials to its Web ProForums online education program. The program features more than 100 free tutorials on telecommunications, network management, e-commerce, and business issues. "We view ourselves as the leading provider of continuing education in this industry," says Glenn Bischoff, Web ProForum marketing manager. "We keep up with technology, and we constantly update and add new information."
One newly added topic is "Fiber Optic Technology," sponsored by Corning Inc. (Corning, NY). It discusses how fiber works, the manufacturing process, how to choose optical fiber, and fiber geometry and its effects on splicing and performance. "ATM [Asynchronous Transfer Mode] Passive Optical Networks," sponsored by NEC Eluminant Technologies Inc. (Herndon, VA), includes sections on the technology's benefits, a comparison with Digital Subscriber Line technology, and descriptions of major players and their positions in the marketplace. Users also can learn about such other topics as dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), DWDM testing, ATM fundamentals, ATM testing, hybrid fiber/coaxial and DWDM networks, and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy and Synchronous Optical Network technology. All tutorials conclude with a self-test and many include acronym guides.
The Web ProForums are free and can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The tutorials are especially valuable "for anyone who is a current professional in our industry and wants to stay abreast of technology, or for anyone who is going to be a future professional," says Bischoff. Currently, the site generates a whopping 3.2 million hits each month (up from 1.5 million in June 1998) and over 100,000 user sessions every month, each averaging about 20 minutes.
Each topic is sponsored by a leading organization in the technology covered. "Our content team stays current in the industry," Bischoff explains. "When they see something coming up that should be covered, they will approach likely candidates as sponsors to contribute. We also get proposals on a regular basis from companies wanting to contribute a tutorial. A lot of sponsors take pride of ownership in the program and see it as a way to develop the industry and future engineers. These companies recognize that they are helping to develop the people who will take their companies to the next level."
Once a company or organization is selected to sponsor a tutorial, the IEC works very closely with the sponsor to decide on the final content. "We want to make sure that the information presented is non-commercial and emerging-technology based, or, if it's an older technology being addressed, we make sure that any new wrinkles developing in that area are covered. Within that framework, it's usually up to the sponsor to come up with the content," says Bischoff, adding, "We have, however, produced tutorials as a service, and the IEC itself does sponsor several on the site."
The tutorials are located at iec.org, and can be viewed with a browser or downloaded as Adobe Acrobat files. They are also available in printed and CD-ROM formats. The IEC also conducts live educational forums, workshops, and conferences, and produces videotapes, research studies, and a wide range of publications.
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