TEL Continuing Professional Development – What works and why?

An experiential study of the various approaches taken to TEL Continuing Professional Development and the effectiveness of each in changing user behaviour. This presentation will chronicle the various CPD initiatives... [ view full abstract ]

An experiential study of the various approaches taken to TEL Continuing Professional Development and the effectiveness of each in changing user behaviour. This presentation will chronicle the various CPD initiatives undertaken by the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning in Waterford Institute of Technology, these included:

• Email Newsletters
• Lynda.com Campus Licence
• TEL Workshops
• National Forum Digital Badges
• Blended Learning Module – Level 9 (10 ECTS)
• One-to-One Sessions

Each of the various tools used and approaches taken served both an individual and collective purpose and in some cases lecturing staff would have availed of all of the services provided, in others they may have only availed of one or more.  They also varied in terms of intensity from light touch such as newsletters used to both inform and educate staff to more intensive one-to-one sessions that were often in response to a specific training need or requirement.

The somewhat unique nature of the CTEL unit in WIT lends itself well to this particular type of professional development as the front line helpdesk is oftentimes able to offer bespoke training in response to user queries or issues that may have arisen.  The fact that the professional development function is also embedded within the technical team also means that new and updated features of both the VLE and other edtech tools can be communicated early to teaching staff.

While some of the initiatives are informal and non-accredited a number are aligned to both the professional development framework recently developed by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and are accredited as academic modules within WIT.  It is planned to offer an additional newly developed Level 9 module in the near future and some thought is also being given to combining these into a special purpose award.