New School Starter Kits

FOA School Starter Kits

If your school is just getting started with a fiber optic program, The FOA believes it is important for you to have certain books and reference materials available for your instructors and students. These books will help you understand the FOA requirements and develop your curriculum. Your training should reference and your students should have access to The Fiber Optic Technicians Manual and NECA/FOA-301 Installation Standard as the FOA CFOT and AFOT exams are based on them.

If you are an instructor who plans to teach a fiber optic class, the FOA has created a complete training curriculum for you to use in teaching the classes. The program comes with a complete set of annotated PowerPoint presentation slides (over 1,000 slides are included in the advanced kit), instructors' guides, student lab manuals, etc.  By using this program, you can save considerable time researching technical materials and creating training programs and PowerPoint presentations yourself. 

Two versions are available, a Basic Starter Kit containing the materials for a standard CFOT class and an Advanced Starter Kit which adds a full library of materials including about 1,000 annotated PowerPoint slides, more instructors' guides, information on teaching hands-on labs for developing student skills and materials to teach AFOT and CFOS (specialist) courses.

If you do not already have a curriculum developed, we strongly recommend you purchase one of these programs:

 

Basic Starter Kit: Fiber Optic Curriculum ($150)

The Basic Starter kit includes materials to teach a CFOT class with instructor-developed labs. Include in the Basic Fiber Optic Curriculum are: FOA Starter Kit

The Fiber Optic Technicians Manual, the textbook on which the FOA certifications are based.
The NECA/FOA-301 Fiber Optic Installation Standard, on which the FOA certifications are based.
Instructors Manual for The Fiber Optic Technicians Manual - how to teach courses from the FOTM, answers to chapter questions, etc..
Lab Manual for The Fiber Optic Technicians Manual - how to set up labs that help students gain basic fiber optic skills.
Basic Fiber Optic PowerPoint (95 slides, see sample at right). Overview of fiber optics, applications, components, installation and test. All PPTs are fully editable for incorporation into the school programs.
PowerPoints for introducing fiber optics and the FOA, as well as presentations for CFxT, CFOS/D
Basic fiber optic tutorial videos
Self-study Programs for FOA TTT CFOS/I, CFOT self-study programs.

 

 

Advanced Starter Kit: Complete Fiber Optic Curriculum ($500):

The Advanced Starter Kit includes the basic program plus additional materials that can be used for labs or to teach advanced courses. Included are a complete set of basic and advanced PowerPoint presentations, 8 programs of approximately 1000 slides.  The Advanced PPTs are more in-depth and cover step-by-step hands-on installation practices which makes them appropriate to use in your labs as well. Also included are instructor and lab manuals, handouts, etc. All PPTs are fully editable for incorporation into the school programs.

OTDR simulator

The Advanced Starter Kit includes all the Basic Kit materials above plus:

Complete set of basic and advanced PowerPoints, 8 programs of approximately 1000 slides, covering Basics, Cable, Termination, Splicing, Testing, Design and FTTH, plus instructor and lab manuals, handouts, a unique OTDR simulator and more. All PPTs are fully editable for incorporation into the school programs.

Topics covered in PPT Presentations (Approximate number of PPT slides):
Basics (95) Overview of fiber optics, applications, components, installation and test.
Cable (60) Types of fiber optic cables, choosing appropriate types, installation, handling and preparation for splicing or termination.
Termination (235)
All about connectors, termination types: adhesive/polish (epoxy, anaerobic, HotMelt), prepolished splice, singlemode polishing.
Splicing  (125) Splicing tpes, mechanical, fusion, ribbon fusion.
Testing (111) Overview of testing requirements and standards, visual inspection, power, loss, OTDR, bandwidth.
OTDRs (50) How OTDRs work and how to interpret traces.
Design (95) How to design a fiber optic network.
Fiber to the Home (FTTH), (45) Overview of FTTH applications and technology, PON types.
All PPTs are fully editable for incorporation into the school programs.

OTDR Simulator
The Advanced Starter Kit includes a unique OTDR simulator for teaching OTDR theory and practice (right). This program shows how OTDRs work, how set up parameters affect measurements and includes about 40 traces for student evaluation. Schools may allow each student to install the program on their computers for labs or homework.

Additional Materials

Both Starter Kits include additional materials that instructors can use in developing and teaching classes. For example:

What Is The FOA? (PPT, 21 slides) An overview of the FOA and its programs.
Introduction To Fiber Optics (
PPT, 26 slides) An introduction to fiber optic technology and available jobs.
The NECA/FOA 301 Fiber Optic Installation Standard (
PPT, 22 slides) What is the NECA/FOA installation standard and how to use it.
Instructor Training For CFOS/I Certification (PPT, 74 slides) Tutorial for instructors to use for studying for the FOA instructor certification exam.
Guide To The Fiber Optic Technicians Manual. What is in the textbook and what is important in each chapter, answers to chapter questions.
Study Guide For CFOT Certification Exam. How to prepare for the CFOT exam.

PowerPoints for CFxT, CFOS/D programs.

 Complete contents of the starter kits 

Order Form: Starter Kits and FOA Literature (PDF)

 
The Fiber OpticTechnician's Manual , written by the FOA, is the textbook on which The FOA CFOT exam is based. It should be your reference book for FOA certifications. Did you know the royalties from this book are paid to The FOA to benefit all our members?

 

NECA/FOA-301 Fiber Optic Installation Standard
The FOA CFOT exam is also based on NECA 301-2004, Installing And Testing Fiber Optic Cables, produced by The FOA in cooperation with NECA (The National Electrical Contractors Association).

 FOA/NECA-301 Fiber Optic Installation Standard
   
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