How to Learn Basic Electronics Online

You don’t have to be an experienced do-it-yourselfer to get comfortable working with electronics. Understanding the basics isn’t nearly as daunting as it may seem!

Rather than going it alone with a beginner’s guide or committing to an expensive (and intimidating) course at a trade school, consider studying the basics through online learning. It’s an effective way to gain foundational knowledge at your own pace and an affordable cost.

So, What are the Basics, Exactly?

Fundamental knowledge of electronics allows you to understand what’s happening behind the on/off switches and plugs/sockets we all use every day. To really understand how to work with electricity safely and successfully, you need. . .

1. an understanding of the scientific principles of electrical current, its conductors, semiconductors, and insulators,
2. knowledge of the tools and equipment required for electrical construction, maintenance, and troubleshooting,
3. the skills to configure components and connections into circuits,
4. familiarity with the principles and operation of multiple components and devices like capacitors, resisters, generators, and motors; and
5. the ability to apply all of the above for use in electronics devices.

Why Learn Electronics Online?

We all know people who were born to tinker and who find it relatively easy to learn by doing, but trial and error is a dangerous way to discover electricity with no experience!

You can work from a how-to book, but a book can’t give you any feedback or clarify complicated information when you have questions.

You could take an introductory class in electronics at a brick-and-mortar school but visiting a classroom daily or weekly is time consuming – and likely to be expensive. It’ll be hard to find this kind of technical instruction outside of a college, community college, or technical school and that means you’ll be paying hundreds of dollars per credit hour for tuition whether you need to earn credits or not.

You might also consider Googling free technical instruction from the thousands of resources available online. But those don’t have educational accrediting bodies behind them. Their appearance in your web searches are likely to be crowdsourced and based on no reliable technical authority. And since nothing is ever free, they may exist solely for the purpose of capturing your user information and pushing digital advertisements. That’s not exactly educational content you can trust!

What’s the happy in-between? An online course! And online learning at PCDI Canada is especially ideal for studying basic electronics on your own, outside the fuss of a classroom, while still having access to help from real people (via phone or email) when you need it.

Best of all, the cost of the course is flat and based on your choice of payment plan! Right now, Basic Electronics Career Diploma program tuition tops out at $999 for the entire course if there are no savings offers available (and often times there are). Plus, the 15-lesson program is enhanced with a basic electronics student lab kit that includes sample electrical components, a digital multimeter, and wire stripper so you can practice what you learn as you go. It’s a great value for self-paced study that you can finish in as few as four months or as many as 12 months.