Activity+Five

Discuss the potential for online learning for professional development in the work place. What are the benefits? The drawbacks? Consider how online professional development could benefit your organization. What would it take to implement such a program?


 * || Implementing an online professional development program is well underway in our organization. As a part of our digital migration initiative, training of faculty in the use of web-conference software for collaboration purposes has already been accomplished. Actually, one of the agenda items in this online professional development was the use of the conferencing system in their actual online classes. We gave already used web conferencing tools for delivery of training to support staff (Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Services, and Online Faculty Meetings), but

The benefits on online professional development are numerous. If the specific occasion were to be hosted in a Learning Management System and moderated by the “trainer”, it would allow for faculty to attend at times that suits their particular schedules; allow for geographically disbursed attendees; cut costs of travel and lodging, and allow for multiple development sessions in a more timely manner (as opposed to the summer summit). Another benefit is the possibility of personal implementation. The online delivery could be set up with content expert presentations, but followed up with mediated asynchronous discussions, and written reflections on how participants plan to include the particular development topic into their programs. This would assist in the assimilation of new methodologies and accountability in sponsoring or attending meaningful professional development opportunities.

Drawbacks would come in the form of “We haven’t ever done it this way before” mentality, and those who have technophobia or the mentality that online is not real teaching and learning. Our organization benefits already from the ability of our faculty to pursue online professional development. Our next goal is to identify and prescribe professional development and build our professional development around content expert presentations which will be moderated by a department dean or chair.

The most costly item to implement this kind of approach to professional development is the learning management system (LMS). Since our organization already has unlimited use of an LMS, this is not problematic. The missing link at this time is a designated person to be in charge of working with the department chairs to identify needed areas of development, and put those programs together. ||