Attribute 9: Monitor developments and trends in tertiary education, technology and practice, anticipate changes and adapt teaching and learning accordingly
As an Educator, I am constantly looking at current developments that will impact and enrich my teaching practice. I actively research new approaches to learning and think about how this can be applied in the workplace.
An example of this was driven by a book I recently read by Clive Shepherd, titled "Transforming Learning and Development". In this book Shepherd (2012) talks about trends in corporate learning and development since the economic recession where learning budgets have reduced and there is greater pressure of Learning & Development departments to show how their activities generate real returns for business. Working as an Educator in a corporate setting, this is a development that I can very much appreciate. The book talks about a vision for learning and development that is aligned, economical, scalable, flexible and powerful; and introduces the concept of volume mixers where the appropriate level between two extremes in determined in different areas for any given learning solution. An image from this book can be found below.
An example of this was driven by a book I recently read by Clive Shepherd, titled "Transforming Learning and Development". In this book Shepherd (2012) talks about trends in corporate learning and development since the economic recession where learning budgets have reduced and there is greater pressure of Learning & Development departments to show how their activities generate real returns for business. Working as an Educator in a corporate setting, this is a development that I can very much appreciate. The book talks about a vision for learning and development that is aligned, economical, scalable, flexible and powerful; and introduces the concept of volume mixers where the appropriate level between two extremes in determined in different areas for any given learning solution. An image from this book can be found below.
Of the topics above I would like to particularly focus on three elements; Online/Face-to-Face, Asynchronous/Synchronous, and Competence/Compliance. Shepherd's volume mixer concept suggests that workplace learning is traditionally weighted at the bottom part of the mixer, i.e. learning is done face-to-face, in synchronous at the same time for all learners, and focuses on meeting compliance needs. However in order to be relevant in an environment of greater economic uncertainty, workplace learning needs to look at changing the learning mix to look at how learners learn asynchronously at different times, build competence rather than just meeting compliance needs, and that there are online opportunities to increase learning accessibility.
Reflecting of these trends influenced my work in the development of the Mandatory Orientation Education curriculum outlined in Case Study 1. Looking at this further using Shepherd's framework above:
Reflecting of these trends influenced my work in the development of the Mandatory Orientation Education curriculum outlined in Case Study 1. Looking at this further using Shepherd's framework above:
- From Face-to-Face to Online: An obvious trend in the education is the use of technology to support education delivery. In its first form the Mandatory Orientation Education curriculum centered only around a 2 day face-to-face classroom delivery. However this posed a couple of challenges. One of these challenges was the inability to cover all content necessary from a regulatory standpoint in the 2 days, so online courses helped provide an additional delivery mechanism for necessary education that could occur outside of the classroom. Another challenge was in information retention as learners received a lot of information in the original 2 day delivery, so providing some content via online learning helped learners cover content at their own pace to aid in learning retention.
- From Synchronous to Asynchronous: As mentioned above online courses were a useful tool in providing learning opportunities that were asynchronous as learners could go through the content at their own pace, however our end solution was blended, to include both classroom and online learning delivery, as we identified benefits from the synchronous delivery of core content, in both reinforcing key messages that was more powerfully delivered face-to-face, for example activities asking people to interact and reflect on their role and others' roles in the delivery of exceptional care to patients, as well as informal benefits of creating a sense of community among learners who would go through a classroom cohort together.
- From Compliance to Competence: The type of education delivered within Case Study 1 has been purely compliance based in most organisations. In fact many of the learners who went from this program commented that in previous hospitals that they had worked with, people simply signed an attendance sheet and sat through a day worth of powerpoints to tick the box that education required for accreditation purposes had been completed. It was important in my education design to show that learners could demonstrate knowledge, which is why assessment became an integral part of the curriculum.
The above example from my reading of Shepherd's work is an example of how I keep up-to-date with developments in teaching and practice. Staying up-to-date is also important in my current pursuit of a Doctorate in Business Administration where I am looking to study the transfer of training to the workplace in diverse multicultural environments. As this is a professional doctorate through the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, the first third of the program is coursework, including research methods papers. On September 16th, 2015 I submitted my first assignment for my paper, RSH8000 Introduction to Research, where I had to explore current literature relevant to my topic to identify my proposed research question. I found this an insightful process and one that was useful to explore current trends in parent theories connected to my topic from literature. I explored what was known and gaps in literature across the categories of transfer of training, diversity and its impact of group performance and cultural learning styles, a summary table of my findings (and my full report) which can be found below, and identified my proposed research questions which is: How cultural diversity acts as a moderator and/or mediator in the relationship between trainee characteristics, training design and work environment; and training transfer in the State of Qatar.
rsh8000_assignment_1_final.doc | |
File Size: | 98 kb |
File Type: | doc |
I would also like to specifically highlight my use of technology. As mentioned in Case Study 1, after the development of our online courses I received training from eLearning instructional designers to maintain and update their work. While I am still developing my eLearning development skills, this is an area I continue to make great strides in as part of my professional growth as an Educator. Below a sample of my most recent work can be found completed in September 2015, which is my first eLearning module that I have not just updated or maintained, but developed from scratch myself (note this is still in a draft form as some final content is pending). I enjoy learning how to use new technologies to enrich my teaching practice.
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Module title: Emergency Management - Draft
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Login using username: gdte
Password: gdte123
Module title: Emergency Management - Draft