Candidates should demonstrate their understanding of and engagement with teaching, learning and assessment processes. ‘Engagement’ may include using understanding to inform the development, adaptation or application of technology.
Note that your learners are the people with whom you work. For teaching staff this will typically be students. For many learning technologists this may be students or the staff that you support and train.
Note that your learners are the people with whom you work. For teaching staff this will typically be students. For many learning technologists this may be students or the staff that you support and train.
An understanding of teaching, learning and/or assessment processes (my draft)
Statements here might relate to areas such as teaching experience, learning design, curriculum development, work-based assessment, the creation and execution of a programme of training and so on.
Evidence might include being on the register of the Higher Education Academy, a PGCE award, having completed a SEDA-approved course, extracts from your Institute for Learning (IfL) portfolio or undertaken relevant sections of the Certified E-Learning Professional courses. Commentaries from peers on your approach would also provide suitable evidence. Other possibilities include teaching experience, reflective statements that analyse experience in terms of learning theory, pedagogic approaches, sociological theories, or a comparable, recognised perspective. In relation to learning design, a report, specification or reflective statement might be provided that clearly elaborates the principles that informed the design process. In any collection of evidence there should be some consideration of how technology is changing approaches to teaching and learning and/or the roles of learners, teachers and support staff.
Description: I have come into the education environment as a third career, following over ten years nursing and a similar time as a tour guide - both careers in which I was frequently communicating information and informally training and mentoring new colleagues. I hold the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (explain what this is in Australian VET) and recently completed the Diploma of Training Design and Development. These qualifications, combined with my work experience of facilitating the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment for six years have given me a strong understanding of teaching, learning and assessment principles and processes that I have developed further through the last ten years in a variety of academic support roles.
Through these experiences I have gained the knowledge and skills to design and develop training and assessment strategies, develop training programs tailored to meet the needs of specific clients and learner cohorts and interpret units of competency and develop appropriate assessment tools.
I use these skills in my current role supporting staff in ...
What PD & qualifications have I done & how have I implemented this?
eg what is good online design and how do I implement this or give examples to staff.
Reflection
What have I learned, what would I do differently? What was valuable, how have I used training, what strengths has it given me? What gaps am I aware of? Where areas will the job never be done, e.g. new technology, always changing.
All these cool new sparkly tools, but not all have a use in education. Pedagogy driven.
Supporting Evidence
Image gallery
Documents
copies of qualifications or PD records
Links
Documents
copies of qualifications or PD records
Links
An understanding of your target learners (My draft)
Statements should show how you have found out about learners’ needs and the context for their studies, and how you have developed approaches that reflect this.
Evidence might include a description of how assistive technologies have been used to support disabled students, how learner feedback has influenced the design of an e-portfolio, how the needs of work-based learners or overseas students have shaped the curriculum, or records of conversations with product analysts, marketing departments or course teams and the resulting plans for your design.
Evidence of changed practice, rather than simply the recognition that this is an important area, is required.
Description
I work primarily with staff in the fields of Creative Arts, Children's Services and Community Services whose age ranges from mid thirty's to fifty plus. Their existing skills vary widely: some are experienced educators, highly skilled in their professional field of creative arts, community services or children's services, while others are new to the world of education or have limited skills in computer use. All have busy teaching schedules and for some this includes regular travel for a week or two at a time to remote locations with little or no internet access. Even within each team there is a wide variation in knowledge, skills, and experience. For example, the Creative Arts team includes staff who work as graphic designers and have exceptional digital skills, as well as painters, sculptors and others who rarely use a computer in their personal life, are "one-finger" typists and struggle with the digital skills required to develop training and assessment materials and are challenged when working with templates and electronic forms. (So what did I do about this)
For these teams, and across CDU as a whole, there is a wide range of professional development available to staff including webinars, face to face sessions, online self paced courses and lunchtime sessions; however, there is often poor attendance at "one-off" professional development sessions, limited participation in internal self paced online PD, as well as a reluctance to take personal responsibility for PD outside of working hours. This also appears to be the case at other institutions, as discussed by James Clay in his blog, I don't have a dog and evidenced by the team who developed 1 minute CPD.
To combat this, following discussions with the Team Leaders I work with, in 2017 I began a series of fortnightly webinars for each team, on a day and time selected by the Team Leader as most suitable for their team. We acknowledge that the varying teaching schedules mean not everyone is able to attend all sessions, and all staff are welcome to attend sessions scheduled for another team if they wish. The first session for each team was an opportunity to explore using Blackboard Collaborate (why) and to discuss topics they felt were important to them. Staff in the Creative Arts team were keen to explore the processes and specific requirements to complete a range of qualification re-registrations including using the document repository on SharePoint, assessment design, and assessment through recognition of prior learning. The Children's Services and Community Services teams were keen to learn about blended learning, principles for online learning and using technology in learning - a challenging topic for some due to pre-conceived ideas that an online information repository constitutes online learning.
The webinars are facilitated through our LMS using Blackboard Collaborate. This has been a learning curve for all of us: whilst I have experience in using Collaborate, it has been challenging to prepare for and facilitate three sessions every fortnight on different topics, whilst supporting my colleagues in learning to use Collaborate, some of them for the first time. Initially not all staff had access to basic requirements such as headsets and microphones, and some had computers with old versions of software that needed to be upgraded. To trouble shoot these issues I scheduled individual sessions with two staff members who needed assistance as well as an online buddy so I could sit beside them for a practice session and assist with setting up their workstation. These two staff had never participated in a webinar before, and weren't familiar with the set up process so some additional support was essential to enable them to participate.
Elaborate more on how the session topics were chosen.
In summary, these three groups are made up of a wide variety of individuals, each with their own personal needs and influenced by different previous experiences and with different motivators to participate. In this respect they are no different to any other group of adult learners, needing to know the relevance of the training, and wanting access to training at a time and in a mode that suits them. Despite a wide array of professional development opportunities available to them, it wasn't until there was an external pressure with specific training to meet that need that they chose to utilise what was available. And without a whole of team focus, the other groups were less motivated to participate.
In contrast, the NGO staff I worked with in Nepal who had extremely limited opportunities for professional development, were keen and eager to learn, often asking for far more than had been scheduled. These were people working in some of the remotest areas in Nepal, some of whom had walked for two days to get to the training venue and would walk two days home. Their job roles varied including nurses, physiotherapists, community/health development workers, laboratory technicians, regional managers and administrative duties. Some were experienced computer users while others had been issued with a laptop years previously but had never had any computer training. Most were struggling to use the touchpad of their laptop for fine detailed work such as accurate highlighting of text or copying and pasting and most had never used a mouse. All had English as a second or third language and I worked through a translator where necessary. With one group of computer beginners, the local office provided an experienced English speaking staff member to act as translator, however, with all other groups the translator was simply the person in the group who spoke the best English.
One of my challenges with these groups, was that although I knew these broad parameters, I didn't meet the learners until the first day of training and the learners in each group were very different. In two locations the managers were able to separate beginners and more advanced into separate groups, but in the other five locations this wasn't possible and the abilities within the group were very mixed. Drawing on my previous experience, I was able to use techniques such as buddying learners and modifying individual tasks to group tasks, as well as guiding my co-facilitator in providing individual support where necessary.
Reflection
Comments from staff indicate that they appreciate regular sessions that are targeted to the specific needs of their team, and whilst not all will use Collaborate in their teaching, they appreciate its capacity for screen sharing, chat and recording functionality. The sessions aren't compulsory, but I encourage staff to attend with reminder emails. Attendance has been varied across the three teams, and strongly influenced by the level of commitment and support shown by each Team Leader. I've noticed that as we've progressed through the year and have developed relationships with each other, staff on other campuses make more frequent contact with me requesting support than previously. Whilst it is a requirement for all trainers and assessors nationally to maintain currency and participate in regular professional development, there is no specified quantity or regularity and each RTO or individual staff member is responsible to demonstrate sufficiency. The Creative Arts team were highly motivated by their team leader to attend, had the best attendance rate and were also the staff who had the highest level of participation during sessions. Whilst the other teams had selected topics they were interested in, there wasn't the same sense of urgency or team focus and the Team Leaders weren't as proactive in encouraging their staff to participate. Additionally, one of the teams scheduled their sessions for Monday afternoon to enable those team members who travel regularly to participate, however, three of their sessions in Semester One were cancelled due to public holidays. In all teams there were some staff were unable to attend due to teaching loads, travel or personal leave so sessions were recorded for their benefit.
The CPD webinar series for CDU staff appears to be working well. Attendance has been varied across the three teams and whilst this is partly due to a number of staff in two teams working in remote areas, I believe it can also be attributed to the level of engagement of the team leaders. The Creative Arts team were focused on a specific project to gain re-registration of their qualifications, their team leader actively and regularly promoted the sessions and their session content reflected their project needs. As such, they participated enthusiastically and were more able to immediately apply their learning. One of the other teams had requested sessions on Monday afternoons and in hindsight, although this suited the needs of staff who travelled regularly, this was probably not the best time due to the number of public holidays that fall on a Monday.
(Add more here about need for assistance in set up. Do they want/need this assistance regularly? why do they need it? Don't want to admit to needs in group setting - add to reflection)
Statements should show how you have found out about learners’ needs and the context for their studies, and how you have developed approaches that reflect this.
Evidence might include a description of how assistive technologies have been used to support disabled students, how learner feedback has influenced the design of an e-portfolio, how the needs of work-based learners or overseas students have shaped the curriculum, or records of conversations with product analysts, marketing departments or course teams and the resulting plans for your design.
Evidence of changed practice, rather than simply the recognition that this is an important area, is required.
Description
I work primarily with staff in the fields of Creative Arts, Children's Services and Community Services whose age ranges from mid thirty's to fifty plus. Their existing skills vary widely: some are experienced educators, highly skilled in their professional field of creative arts, community services or children's services, while others are new to the world of education or have limited skills in computer use. All have busy teaching schedules and for some this includes regular travel for a week or two at a time to remote locations with little or no internet access. Even within each team there is a wide variation in knowledge, skills, and experience. For example, the Creative Arts team includes staff who work as graphic designers and have exceptional digital skills, as well as painters, sculptors and others who rarely use a computer in their personal life, are "one-finger" typists and struggle with the digital skills required to develop training and assessment materials and are challenged when working with templates and electronic forms. (So what did I do about this)
For these teams, and across CDU as a whole, there is a wide range of professional development available to staff including webinars, face to face sessions, online self paced courses and lunchtime sessions; however, there is often poor attendance at "one-off" professional development sessions, limited participation in internal self paced online PD, as well as a reluctance to take personal responsibility for PD outside of working hours. This also appears to be the case at other institutions, as discussed by James Clay in his blog, I don't have a dog and evidenced by the team who developed 1 minute CPD.
To combat this, following discussions with the Team Leaders I work with, in 2017 I began a series of fortnightly webinars for each team, on a day and time selected by the Team Leader as most suitable for their team. We acknowledge that the varying teaching schedules mean not everyone is able to attend all sessions, and all staff are welcome to attend sessions scheduled for another team if they wish. The first session for each team was an opportunity to explore using Blackboard Collaborate (why) and to discuss topics they felt were important to them. Staff in the Creative Arts team were keen to explore the processes and specific requirements to complete a range of qualification re-registrations including using the document repository on SharePoint, assessment design, and assessment through recognition of prior learning. The Children's Services and Community Services teams were keen to learn about blended learning, principles for online learning and using technology in learning - a challenging topic for some due to pre-conceived ideas that an online information repository constitutes online learning.
The webinars are facilitated through our LMS using Blackboard Collaborate. This has been a learning curve for all of us: whilst I have experience in using Collaborate, it has been challenging to prepare for and facilitate three sessions every fortnight on different topics, whilst supporting my colleagues in learning to use Collaborate, some of them for the first time. Initially not all staff had access to basic requirements such as headsets and microphones, and some had computers with old versions of software that needed to be upgraded. To trouble shoot these issues I scheduled individual sessions with two staff members who needed assistance as well as an online buddy so I could sit beside them for a practice session and assist with setting up their workstation. These two staff had never participated in a webinar before, and weren't familiar with the set up process so some additional support was essential to enable them to participate.
Elaborate more on how the session topics were chosen.
In summary, these three groups are made up of a wide variety of individuals, each with their own personal needs and influenced by different previous experiences and with different motivators to participate. In this respect they are no different to any other group of adult learners, needing to know the relevance of the training, and wanting access to training at a time and in a mode that suits them. Despite a wide array of professional development opportunities available to them, it wasn't until there was an external pressure with specific training to meet that need that they chose to utilise what was available. And without a whole of team focus, the other groups were less motivated to participate.
In contrast, the NGO staff I worked with in Nepal who had extremely limited opportunities for professional development, were keen and eager to learn, often asking for far more than had been scheduled. These were people working in some of the remotest areas in Nepal, some of whom had walked for two days to get to the training venue and would walk two days home. Their job roles varied including nurses, physiotherapists, community/health development workers, laboratory technicians, regional managers and administrative duties. Some were experienced computer users while others had been issued with a laptop years previously but had never had any computer training. Most were struggling to use the touchpad of their laptop for fine detailed work such as accurate highlighting of text or copying and pasting and most had never used a mouse. All had English as a second or third language and I worked through a translator where necessary. With one group of computer beginners, the local office provided an experienced English speaking staff member to act as translator, however, with all other groups the translator was simply the person in the group who spoke the best English.
One of my challenges with these groups, was that although I knew these broad parameters, I didn't meet the learners until the first day of training and the learners in each group were very different. In two locations the managers were able to separate beginners and more advanced into separate groups, but in the other five locations this wasn't possible and the abilities within the group were very mixed. Drawing on my previous experience, I was able to use techniques such as buddying learners and modifying individual tasks to group tasks, as well as guiding my co-facilitator in providing individual support where necessary.
Reflection
Comments from staff indicate that they appreciate regular sessions that are targeted to the specific needs of their team, and whilst not all will use Collaborate in their teaching, they appreciate its capacity for screen sharing, chat and recording functionality. The sessions aren't compulsory, but I encourage staff to attend with reminder emails. Attendance has been varied across the three teams, and strongly influenced by the level of commitment and support shown by each Team Leader. I've noticed that as we've progressed through the year and have developed relationships with each other, staff on other campuses make more frequent contact with me requesting support than previously. Whilst it is a requirement for all trainers and assessors nationally to maintain currency and participate in regular professional development, there is no specified quantity or regularity and each RTO or individual staff member is responsible to demonstrate sufficiency. The Creative Arts team were highly motivated by their team leader to attend, had the best attendance rate and were also the staff who had the highest level of participation during sessions. Whilst the other teams had selected topics they were interested in, there wasn't the same sense of urgency or team focus and the Team Leaders weren't as proactive in encouraging their staff to participate. Additionally, one of the teams scheduled their sessions for Monday afternoon to enable those team members who travel regularly to participate, however, three of their sessions in Semester One were cancelled due to public holidays. In all teams there were some staff were unable to attend due to teaching loads, travel or personal leave so sessions were recorded for their benefit.
The CPD webinar series for CDU staff appears to be working well. Attendance has been varied across the three teams and whilst this is partly due to a number of staff in two teams working in remote areas, I believe it can also be attributed to the level of engagement of the team leaders. The Creative Arts team were focused on a specific project to gain re-registration of their qualifications, their team leader actively and regularly promoted the sessions and their session content reflected their project needs. As such, they participated enthusiastically and were more able to immediately apply their learning. One of the other teams had requested sessions on Monday afternoons and in hindsight, although this suited the needs of staff who travelled regularly, this was probably not the best time due to the number of public holidays that fall on a Monday.
(Add more here about need for assistance in set up. Do they want/need this assistance regularly? why do they need it? Don't want to admit to needs in group setting - add to reflection)
On completion of the training in Nepal I was asked to write a brief report. I included some personal observations and reflections:
Observations
Reflections
The resources used were adapted from materials on file, developed by (another volunteer) and used for MS Office 2007 training some years previously (I was unable to determine when this training was facilitated). The activities make use of a variety of documents unrelated to the work of the organisation. I believe this training would be more relevant and effective if the activities used their own organisational draft documents. With more preparation time this modification would have been possible.
Whilst we had a wonderful time and feel privileged to have had the opportunity to visit the places we did, there are actually staff in most locations who have a high level of skill in using MS Office and who could possibly have facilitated this training themselves. (Maybe their job role doesn’t allow this or they don’t have skills in facilitating training, or maybe they weren’t aware of the need.)
That said, many of the participants, particularly those in Gamgadhi & Kolti (the two remotest locations), were very appreciative of our visit with comments like “Bideshis (foreigners) rarely come here”, so I believe the opportunity for Bideshis to contribute in this way is one way of supporting and encouraging remote staff. We were particularly touched by the openness of the Bajura (Kolti) team and the opportunities to pray with and for them and their work, and the opportunity that has provided for us to share their needs through our networks.
I reflected on this further on my return home questioning why internal staff who have the technical skills others need, weren't utilised in a training role. Discussing this with others who have spent longer in Nepal than me, I learnt there is cultural prestige in attending formal training, as well as an attitude that an external trainer carries greater status. Learning on the job isn't accepted as "proper" learning. With this in mind, it may be possible in the future to consider running "train the trainer" workshops which would then give selected internal staff the additional status of "Trainer" which would carry more weight among the local staff.
The level of technical challenge presented by something as simple as not having access to a mouse surprised me. Unfortunately at the time I only had one mouse with me, but I was able to let participants who struggled with the touchpad try using it. All were delighted to find how much easier it was and as a result I made a recommendation to the local IT team that they investigate the possibility of providing a mouse to all staff.
This was my first experience in training through a translator. I was certainly pleased we had taken some basic conversational Nepali lessons, and more so to discover that computer technical words (mouse, screen, laptop, etc.) don't exist in Nepali and simply use the English.
Reflected on didn't know where this would go, how sustainable. Might be better to utilise internal resources. In future better to scope out context - why don't use own staff more and is train the trainer an option. Some of the learners had skills but weren't sharing them - why not? Outside expert is always seen to be better. Depends on organisational culture
Technical challenge of using mouse - level of IT equipment available not sufficient to do the job. eg cutting and pasting
Talk about translation - working with translato & without. Technical words not an issue.
Observations
- All staff who attended the training participated with enthusiasm.
- Many participants struggled using the small touchpads on their laptops, and appreciated the opportunity to practice using a mouse.
- Many participants commented this was their first opportunity to attend IT training.
- There are staff within the organisation who have the content knowledge and skills to facilitate similar training.
- Participants who had access to internet were keen to learn about web based collaboration and communication tools.
Reflections
The resources used were adapted from materials on file, developed by (another volunteer) and used for MS Office 2007 training some years previously (I was unable to determine when this training was facilitated). The activities make use of a variety of documents unrelated to the work of the organisation. I believe this training would be more relevant and effective if the activities used their own organisational draft documents. With more preparation time this modification would have been possible.
Whilst we had a wonderful time and feel privileged to have had the opportunity to visit the places we did, there are actually staff in most locations who have a high level of skill in using MS Office and who could possibly have facilitated this training themselves. (Maybe their job role doesn’t allow this or they don’t have skills in facilitating training, or maybe they weren’t aware of the need.)
That said, many of the participants, particularly those in Gamgadhi & Kolti (the two remotest locations), were very appreciative of our visit with comments like “Bideshis (foreigners) rarely come here”, so I believe the opportunity for Bideshis to contribute in this way is one way of supporting and encouraging remote staff. We were particularly touched by the openness of the Bajura (Kolti) team and the opportunities to pray with and for them and their work, and the opportunity that has provided for us to share their needs through our networks.
- Access to a mouse would benefit many staff.
- An IT skills analysis on initial employment may assist in planning individual professional development.
- Several participants wanted to know when we would return for further training.
- I believe there are opportunities to encourage the use of web based tools for training, communication and collaboration. Expand on this.
- The Australian Vocational Training Skill Sets may be of benefit to staff to develop their skills in training and mentoring.
- Enterprise Trainer-Presenting Skill Set
- Enterprise Trainer - Mentoring Skill Set
I reflected on this further on my return home questioning why internal staff who have the technical skills others need, weren't utilised in a training role. Discussing this with others who have spent longer in Nepal than me, I learnt there is cultural prestige in attending formal training, as well as an attitude that an external trainer carries greater status. Learning on the job isn't accepted as "proper" learning. With this in mind, it may be possible in the future to consider running "train the trainer" workshops which would then give selected internal staff the additional status of "Trainer" which would carry more weight among the local staff.
The level of technical challenge presented by something as simple as not having access to a mouse surprised me. Unfortunately at the time I only had one mouse with me, but I was able to let participants who struggled with the touchpad try using it. All were delighted to find how much easier it was and as a result I made a recommendation to the local IT team that they investigate the possibility of providing a mouse to all staff.
This was my first experience in training through a translator. I was certainly pleased we had taken some basic conversational Nepali lessons, and more so to discover that computer technical words (mouse, screen, laptop, etc.) don't exist in Nepali and simply use the English.
Reflected on didn't know where this would go, how sustainable. Might be better to utilise internal resources. In future better to scope out context - why don't use own staff more and is train the trainer an option. Some of the learners had skills but weren't sharing them - why not? Outside expert is always seen to be better. Depends on organisational culture
Technical challenge of using mouse - level of IT equipment available not sufficient to do the job. eg cutting and pasting
Talk about translation - working with translato & without. Technical words not an issue.
Notes to add
My target learners are adults - picture of VET Lecturer. Success story of Lecturer who has come around. Add something about characteristics of adult learners. e.g importance of developing relationships.
WIIFM, optional, compulsory, time & sanction to play,
Communities of practice - PLN
What is the difference between in house and external organisation.
How can we use TL input in the future.
(How are these working better, why are they better, compulsory or voluntary, what is attendance like.
What are the benefits, is there any evidence they are applying what they are learning. Get formal feedback. Quote from research. Some of this could go back in operational issues.
Who are the learners - what team, what do they teach? Difference in attendance and why? Team Leader support.
Habit forming, resistance to PD. )
How was not knowing the audience different. How did it feel to have such a difference within the group. Give more info about this group of learners.
Understanding of target learners means that I don't always see things through to the end, in a support role so they don't answer to me. TLs varying levels of understanding and support.
My target learners are adults - picture of VET Lecturer. Success story of Lecturer who has come around. Add something about characteristics of adult learners. e.g importance of developing relationships.
WIIFM, optional, compulsory, time & sanction to play,
Communities of practice - PLN
What is the difference between in house and external organisation.
How can we use TL input in the future.
(How are these working better, why are they better, compulsory or voluntary, what is attendance like.
What are the benefits, is there any evidence they are applying what they are learning. Get formal feedback. Quote from research. Some of this could go back in operational issues.
Who are the learners - what team, what do they teach? Difference in attendance and why? Team Leader support.
Habit forming, resistance to PD. )
How was not knowing the audience different. How did it feel to have such a difference within the group. Give more info about this group of learners.
Understanding of target learners means that I don't always see things through to the end, in a support role so they don't answer to me. TLs varying levels of understanding and support.
Supporting Evidence
Links
Read about my experience and reflections on my blog Training in Nepal
Image gallery (below)
Read comments from learners in Nepal on Padlet.
Extract from training report showing training outcomes for Nepali learners.
Facebook image extract from training report showing Twitter training sessions in Nepal.
Documents (attached below)
Presentation: Introduction to Team Professional Development - see attachment below.
Team-based PD Calendar - see attachment below.
Presentation: Online learning - Inclusiveness and Collaboration - see attachment below.
Read about my experience and reflections on my blog Training in Nepal
Image gallery (below)
Read comments from learners in Nepal on Padlet.
Extract from training report showing training outcomes for Nepali learners.
Facebook image extract from training report showing Twitter training sessions in Nepal.
Documents (attached below)
Presentation: Introduction to Team Professional Development - see attachment below.
Team-based PD Calendar - see attachment below.
Presentation: Online learning - Inclusiveness and Collaboration - see attachment below.
| intro_to_team_pd.pdf |
| team_based_pd_calendar.docx |
| online_learning_inclusiveness_collaboration.pptx |
