My Professional Values

For me, my professional values should reflect, and be, an extension of my personal values. I wouldn’t want my personal values to be compromised in my profession or vice versa.

Some may see that as naïve. Some may think we should be one person in work, and another in play. Not me.

As I see it, I can only be one person, and that is me…Caroline. I can’t be anyone else. I wouldn’t really want to be anyone else if I’m honest (although some may wish I was).

So when thinking about my professional values, I concluded that I will be Clear, Authentic, Respectful and Open. I will Listen to you, remain Informed, Nuture and provide Energy. I will be CAROLINE.

Clear – I will be transparent in my advice and what is expected from each other

Authentic – I will be real, trustworthy and myself, while providing a professional service

Respectful – I will respect you, your ideas and your opinions

Open – I will be honest in my service to you at all times

Listen – I will listen to you and consider your thoughts

Informed - I will continue my professional development so you can be confident in my advice

Nurture - I will take the opportunity to coach, counsel and cultivate to help you reach you potential and/or achieve the best possible solution

Energy – I will be passionate and determined to help you succeed in whatever you ask of me

Now my next challenge…living these out

What makes an elearning professional – do they need to be able to swim?

A few months ago, comedian David Walliams swam The Thames for Sports Relief. Professor Greg Whyte guided David through his training regime, advised him on his diet, shared techniques to help him complete the challenge and even swam alongside him at points during the challenge to motivate and support him. Greg describes himself as having “professional experience assessing, treating and improving the performance of athletes and sporting enthusiasts”.

I heard another swimming story a few years ago when I attended a course, about a competitive swimmer who wanted to rank in their next competitive games. The swimmer sought the advice of a professional trainer, who trained with him most days, critiquing his performance and giving him advice on what he could do to bring his time down and improve upon his technique. In the end, the swimmer’s time decreased and he won silver in the competition. Like Professor Greg Whyte, the trainer had many professional accolades, however there was one vital honour that he did not have...this trainer couldn’t swim.

Regardless of the technical ability (to swim in this case) of the two sporting professionals, the end results were the same - both swimmers reached their goal. So in that case, both “professionals” who were employed, did their job, with common characteristics displayed by both:

-          Critique performance and offer advice on how to improve performance

-          To motivate and influence the swimmers to adopt the techniques based on their recommendations

-          Understood the goals of the individuals, what they wanted to achieve and what was motivating them to achieve it

-          The swimmers seeking their advice trusted and respected their credentials as professionals (based on their knowledge from their experience, qualifications and professional standards achieved by them and wanted to learn from them.

When looking at my mind map of what I think defines an elearning professional, many of the above mentioned soft skills emerged, with them outnumbering the technical skills. (When I talk about “technical skills” of an elearning professional, I mean the basic skills to use and implement the technology).   This didn’t surprise me as I am of the opinion, for example, that a good manager doesn’t need to know the “nitty gritty” of their employee's job, but needs the skills to bring out the best in them, which will in turn help them achieve the goals.

As with any “e” market and its constant evolution (now “e” is turning into “m” for mobile), an elearning professional must keep up to speed and that is why accreditation of a professional body and continuing professional development fits into my definition. They are passionate, are seen to offer sound judgement and are influential with their opinions that are respected and trusted. The elearning professional has transferable skills from face to face learning that they can bring into elearning, making people feel they are not missing out on the traditional interaction of a classroom environment or a paper based experience.

My mind map shows the technical ability necessary, is the knowledge they have of how elearning tools can support the learner and in what circumstances they would benefit.  They may not necessarily know how to build the technology, but they have a network of people who can do that for them. The “technical professional” will know how to create multimedia, podcasts and build the infrastructure needed to support an eportfolio structure for example, but will not necessarily know how this will impact the learner.

What I would also highlight (slightly contradictory) is that the elearning professional who has the technical skills plus the behavioural skills will, in my opinion be more credible in the elearning field, however a lack of these technical skills doesn’t make them an "elearning unprofessional".

So does an elearning professional need to be able to metaphorically swim? I guess that all comes down to the opinion of person who is seeking their professionalism to decide.


Listen to this blog post as a podcast

Elearning Professional...I'm getting there

Spag bol is my speciality dish (I use the word “speciality” loosely). When friends come around for dinner or I want to make something that I don’t have to think about, spag bol is the dish of choice. I don’t have to measure out ingredients or follow a recipe book, in fact I could probably make it standing on my head. I would also be confident to change the recipe to suit people’s taste, for example if someone was vegetarian or another didn’t like mushrooms, it wouldn’t throw me into a blind panic.

By thinking about my objectives for studying this module and assessing my skills as an elearning professional, I’ve discovered that being an elearning professional is a bit like having a speciality dish. There is a basic recipe for being a learning professional, which can then be tailored to become an elearning professional

In my previous blog  I highlighted that my strengths were those things that I was “unconsciously competent” in, and as I look at my PDP grid, I can see that these will also my strengths in the elearning world as they are key skills to have in any learning environment. For example, my ability to use examples throughout, answer questions helpfully and summarise key content should remain constant and consistent whatever the method of delivery. Another strength is my ability to communicate online/audio without having ever met the person. I don’t see this as a barrier for me and is something I would encounter on a frequent basis.

My weaknesses are not so much my technical ability (as I know I am quick at picking things up) but more my technical knowledge. I would class myself as a complete novice not only in my understanding but also my awareness  as to whether certain technology would be applicable for me or not. I suppose the starting point is researching what they are and then assessing its relevance. What I’m specifically referring to are the suggested technical competences e.g.  Text-based communication systems, online community and the understanding of technical copyright issues. At the moment, facing these would cause me to react in the same way as if someone turned up for dinner and said they didn’t like spag bol!

I would struggle to say I have “learned” anything new about my strengths and weaknesses as a result of this activity, but more so it has reinforced for me what I already knew and has allowed me to put it down on paper, or should I say epaper!

My current ability to be an elearning practitioner

”You played really well today.” “I would have played better if I had more practice time”

“I like what you’re wearing”. “This is just an old top I’ve had for years”

“That’s a really good idea”.” It’ll do until someone comes up with a better one”.

We don’t cope well with being complimented. It actually frustrates me at times when I give really positive feedback to someone and they then play down their achievement. Saying that, I know this, “pot, kettle, black” are words that spring into my head at this point!

So if it’s that difficult to accept a positive feedback, how much more difficult is it to openly share our strengths (weaknesses I’m sure for most of us would be much simpler)?

The grid below is an analysis of my current ability to be an elearning practitioner. This is by no means exhaustive, but simply the key points. I am an advocate of the  4 stages of learning model and feel it gives a very clear way of identifying strengths and weakness.

Unconscious Incompetence This is what I’m still ignorant of when it comes to being an elearning practitioner– I don’t know what I don’t know I don’t know! This week my eyes may be opened to something new in the course groups discussion form. I may receive feedback about myself in terms of strength or a weakness that I never knew. However, at the moment, I will remain in the dark!

Conscious Incompetence This is what I know I need to work on when it comes to being an elearning practitioner: Technical ability – I am aware of different types of elearning however still lack the technical ability of creating them  (e.g. Podcasts) My reluctance to slow down at times– Although a strength of mine is being proactive, I recognise that I am impatient at times to learn about why things have developed. I would rather think about what it means to me. E.g. looking at the drivers of eportfolios could help me understand the implications to my organisation, but I’d rather “jump in” and think “what can they bring and how can I implement”.

Unconscious Competence This is what I can do naturally when it comes to being an elearning practitioner: My passion – I love my job, I learning about learning and I love having the ability to support people in their development. This enthusiasm will follow me into the elearning world My ability to learn quickly – I know I can pick things up quickly which will help in my elearning journey My ability to provide the right training – whatever the platform for delivery, I am comfortable and competent in following the training cycle and recognise it as invaluable in my context

Conscious Competence This is what I can do, but have to still think about. It doesn’t come naturally yet. Motivate, engage and lead students - The qualities I have as a face to face trainer need be transferred into an elearning environment. I am very competent in these, however don’t have as much experience of how they will manifest in an elearning environment Transform training material for the elearning environment – I have experience, although limited, of amending material for non-classroom delivery. I am more than comfortable at designing material, which will help me with this.

At this point, this is my perception of my development as an elearning professional. By the end of this week I will have produced a needs analysis for my own development and discussed in the course forum, so I look forward to reflecting about what I have discovered.

Eportfolio recommendation: Activity 3.2

The purpose of this report is to share the objectives of implementing an eportfolio in the organisation, an overview of 3 eportfolio systems currently available, and concluding with a specific recommendation for the organisation.

The objective of implementing an eportfolio system within the organisation is to better manage and support the organisation’s talent pool. An eportfolio system will allow a repository of evidence to be created by all, which the employee can then submit when a development opportunity arises. The result of implementation will be a culture of experimental learning in the organisation, leading to employees being more aware of their capabilities and the organisation being more aware of the talent, resulting in a more focussed, motivated and innovative workforce.

The 3 eportfolio systems investigated were:

1. FolioSpaces – particularly aimed at schools and education systems. It is an open space for people to structure and manage their files as they desire. It also has a blog facility.  It is owned by the individual, who controls what is shared. Individuals can link their eportfolios to the organisation, which allows ease of reviewing.

2. Digication  – as well as having the key functions of FiloSpaces, Digication also has assessment management and a resume builder. Unlimited eportfolios can be created in one account.

3. PebblePad  – clear structure to record (e.g. my action plans, my experiences) allowing for a clear focus. There are also prompts within the system to encourage reflection on practice and learning

Based on the investigations and the resources available to the organisation, I recommend enhancing the functionality that is already available to the organisation. I purpose that the skeleton for an eportfolio system is already in existence ( the private space available to mange a CV and record learning) which can be built upon. I propose adding a blog functionality to allow for reflection, a file manager so work can be stored and categorised and also adapting the security so that individual’s information can also be shared and comments added, as they wish. Finally I recommend that this portal is not restricted to internal use, but can be accessed off site so that employees can update it at a time convenient to them.

The motivation for individuals to use the eportfolio system is for personal development planning, acting as an 21^st century “learning log”, being solely owned by the individual to present and use as they wish. Support and coaching will be provided to them by their manager as to best practices for use (e.g. see guide on reflection ).

I recommend the following implementation plan:

Stage 1: Project team set up

Stage 2: A working group to be set up (comprising of 11 people – 1 from each business area). Their responsibility to communicate the implementation to the different areas to gain buy in

Stage 3: Rollout of the enhanced system, with the working group acting as a support network to provide guidance

Stage 4: Monthly evaluations of how the eportfolio is progressing and any key points that need addressed

Who would have thought a duvet cover could inspire?

Earlier today I stripped my bed and put a load of washing on. I’m one of those people who have to make the bed straight away or I would regret it when it comes to later on when I just want to crawl under the duvet and fall asleep. I gathered clean pillow cases and a bed sheet, but when I looked for the clean duvet cover, it was nowhere to be seen. This was an impossible scenario to me; if it wasn’t in its rightful place, in the wash or out to dry, where on earth could it be? How could a duvet cover be misplaced?

Several head scratching minutes later, I noticed pile of clothes in the spare room and there, peeking through, was the missing duvet cover! That was the moment that it hit me – my approach to study has well and truly changed…dramatically!

Until today, if you asked  how I approached study, I would have told you it was exactly the same as when I was at school, university and two evening courses I have studied. I would have been lying to you - “new Caroline” has replaced “old Caroline” without me even noticing!

“Faffing” was my best friend – “Faffing” is procrastination. When it came to studying, old Caroline would do everything but study and thrived on the adrenaline of the night before a deadline. Until the assignment or exam was less than a week away, I would find every excuse not to study. It’s funny how around exam time, I needed to hoover, polish, clear out my wardrobe, do the dishes, clean the bathroom...anything but study! This is why the duvet incident is so significant to me ; the old Caroline would never have let a pile of clean clothes gather up while there was study to do, this was an opportunity to “faff” staring me right  in the face! I know the reason for this change is time pressure. So many things eat into my time, so time is precious. If I have a core text to read that I know should take 30minutes, I could “faff” before settling down to it, but this would result in it taking twice as long and missing out of 30 mins that I could spend on other things.  New Caroline has the ability to realise that H808 is part of life at the moment, but not my whole life.

"So i say thank you for the music..." – When old Caroline was revising for anything or writing an essay, I had to have noise in the background, whether it be music or the TV on in the background. I couldn’t work in silence as my mind would wonder. The last time I studied was a year ago and even then, I did always have music in the background. Now for some reason, I need silence (although it’s quite ironic as I have music playing as I write this). This again is something I’ve just realised. The reason for this change isn’t as clear compared to why I no longer “faff”.  Has it something to do with the subject – could it be because I am really interested in the topic, I want to give it every part of my attention so I can absorb it all? Did my mind previously wonder as I was interested, but not as interested? Am I able to listen to music at the moment as I’m not concentrating as such, but reflecting? Is it just age and it’s harder to concentrate? Regardless of why, the fact is new Caroline needs to study H808 in silence.

Do what I like first, do the not so nice things at the very end – Old Caroline would look at the overall task, pick out what was comfortable to do, do it, and leave all the “horrible parts” to the end to stew over and complete the night before when the adrenaline would kick in. New Caroline loves nothing more than ticking a task as complete before moving on to the next.  If I know the next activity I need to do is quite challenging, or not as interesting as I’d like, I realise the motivation for me it knowing that if I do it and tick it off, it means that’s it over and done with and I can move on to the next task. Now, if I left it (as I previously would have), it would act as a de-motivator. Again, if I reflect as to why I now work like this, I think it ties into the procrastination again and realising I don’t want to always have in the back of my mind that I have to do something that  I don’t particularly want to do –this is something I can control. New Caroline’s carrot for the H808 journey is ticking each activity off and feeling good about it.

So I’ve evolved in how I study, and it was the duvet cover that made me realise this. As I study H808, be prepared to come to a messier house if you’re calling in for coffee, and if that’s an issue for you, best that I come around to your abode until next February!

There's no "we" in REFLECTION, only "I" - my student guide to reflective writing:

When I look at my reflection in the mirror, I see things I am happy with and then things that I want to change.

I look in the mirror now and think my hair is sitting well and I like the jewellery I have chosen for my outfit. However I notice I’ve put on too much blusher and my shoes don’t go with my jeans. So I’m going to change my shoes and tone down my make up, which will make me happy (as I can be).

This is the same as using reflective writing to learn from our experiences, both personal and academic. It’s only when we hold them up in the mirror that we see what worked well and what we have learned that we can do differently next time.

The gird below can act as a framework to help you write your reflection. As an example, I have used it to reflect on my last holiday. Notice the use of "I" and not "we", as reflection is based on our personal perception.

1. What was your experience and what did you hope to gain from it? In June, I spent a week in Portugal with 2 of my friends. I went on the holiday to relax and completely switch off. I wanted to soak up the sun, have great fun, not worry about anything and create happy memories.

2. Putting yourself back in the experience, how did you feel? (think about your senses: what did you taste, smell, touch, see, hear) When I think back to the holiday, I associate it with bright colours as it was sunny, full of laughs and at night, the place was lit up with various lights and colourful cocktails! During the day there was a contrast, as I felt relaxed as it was peaceful, calm and serene by the pool.

3. How would you mark the experience on a scale of 1-10 (10 being absolute success) and what contributed to this score? I would give it 8 out of 10. I loved Portugal, I loved the company, I loved the weather, the food and the cocktails!

4. What would you do next time to increase this score by 2? Next time I would definitely stay for 2 weeks as I felt a week was too short. As I would stay longer, I would think about doing more excursions and seeing different parts of Portugal. I would go at the same time of the year as I liked the climate. The accommodation was pretty basic and there was no air con, so next time I would check this, as it was uncomfortable at night.

Blogging...good, bad or ugly?

Blogging conjures up loads of very happy thoughts and times for me. It “found me” in 2007 when I started travelling. I knew I wanted a permanent record of my time away which wouldn’t get lost, or become unreadable and could be shared with others.

 I have always loved the idea of keeping a physical diary to, but I knew I would struggle to keep it up for the 9 months I was away. Probably every Christmas from the age of 7 -17 I got a diary, and every year, my resolution was to keep one. If I could place these diaries now, I guarantee I would be able to tell you what happened on the 1^st and 2^nd of January from 1990 – 2000, but from the 3^rd January onwards the pages would be blank!

I have found this blog to be a totally different experience to my travel blog . My  travel blog was to serve as a record of the events I wanted to remember, I would say more than the emotions I felt. It also acted as an “online postcard” to those at home. Even the days that I felt were “insignificant” or “nothing in particular happened”, I wanted to reference as these could trigger many more memories later on, which they did. I still love going back to it and how reliving the memories. In some ways, I now also see how it was quite therapeutic in making me feel connected to home as I was letting everyone know what was happening.

This blog is more focussed on reflecting, sharing my opinions and challenging my ideas. In terms of the usefulness of blogging for reflecting, I think it is a very valuable means of doing so, but in the same breath, I stress that I find it valuable to me. As eluded to in this blog, I am a computer person, writing something down physically is not how I do things. In fact I know if I had to write this on paper, it would take me twice as long and I would suffer writers block. Having a space that specifically forces me to consider my opinions towards a subject provides me with the focus to reflect.

I can see also relate to how blogging could terrify people. The fact that it is public, there are so many blogs out there to compare to and people can openly critique them is daunting. This can also pose another issue that blogs, specifically used for students to reflect, are used to write what the student thinks someone want to read or what they are being assessed against, rather than what they actually feel. They may use it as a “tick box” exercise rather that what is true to them. Experiences may be exaggerated or also played down, with sometimes the biggest fear not being the public’s opinion, but their peers and how their thoughts compare to this group.

In summary, my attitude to the usefulness of blogging in aiding reflection is it’s a tool that works for me. As with any tool, it won’t suit anyone, and that’s why there are various ways and frameworks available to choose from. We are all different, so a “one size fits all” tool for reflecting would be liquid gold!  It is the role of the elearning professional (with or without the “e”) to find what works best for their students when it comes to reflecting and also base this on the purpose the reflection (is it personal/public, to be assed or not etc).  In the same way different learning styles are incorporated into the classroom, should different reflecting styles be included to?

It’s not “win or lose”, it’s “win or learn”!

I was delivering an “Assertiveness” training course last week and used a phrase ”win or learn”. I have no idea where it came from; perhaps it was something I had heard before and filed away for a rainy day, or perhaps it was a “caroline-ism” that was coined in the heat of the moment. Whatever its root, it turns out the phrase made an impact to one particular person I was training, as it dawned on them “even if something goes worse than I thought, I can still use it to learn how to handle it next time”. Could this be a snippet of reflection in the training room? Was I promoting reflection, as defined by Dewey,“to enable students to learn to learn from experience, or to make greater use of learning where there is no formal guidance or teaching.”? 

If you asked me this time last week what my attitude to reflection was, I could have answered from my personal perspective and from the a learning context. From studying this module, how I view how I reflect hasn’t changed, but I have been awakened to the learning context and to be honest, challenged in my use of reflection.

Firstly, looking at myself, I would definitely describe myself as a reflector. I have always been to some extent, however I would say it has very much come to fruition over the last 2 years, having dealt with a series of unpleasant personal experiences. In some respect, I see now how reflection has shaped and strengthened my coping mechanism. In the context of problem solving, I “mull over” problems to help find a solution (I might also put this down to my stubbornness and determination to prove that for every problem there has to be, an often simple, solution!). I also know that the best place for me to reflect is in the car on the way home, often from work. This has reaped far more answers for me, compared to "dwelling" on the issue at my desk. Reflection to me personally is best defined as

“..a form of mental processing…that we use to fulfill a purpose or to achieve some anticipated outcome. It is applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution…” (based on Moon 1999):

When it comes to the learning context, I would have said I see it as quite integral part. I suppose I’ve always been in the Kolb train of thought (have an experience, reflect on the experience, learn from experience then try what you have learned). I would say I do promote reflection inside the training room, however this module is challenging me to think “do I promote it outside of the training room?”

Most of my training sessions start with a time of reflection (which I’ve just realised). An example of this would be for “Time Management” course where I pose the questions at the start “Tell me a time you would have liked to better manage your time. How did you feel during the experience? How did you feel after? What would you have preferred the outcome to be? What would you have done differently to achieve this outcome?”

At the end of a training session:
Yes I do ask all to share how the new learning’s will make a difference.
Yes I do encourage all to use their new skills/behaviours and seek opportunities to put them into practice.
Yes I do let them know that in 3 months time I’ll send them an evaluation to complete so I can measure the return on investment of the training.

But do I encourage them to step back at different stages, to pause and reflect on how they are getting on? To celebrate what they have acheived or learn from what they think could have gone better?

No I don’t think I do.

Now to me, the reality is reflection is almost as important as the initial learning as this is where the development continues and the maturity in that subject.

The million dollar question then is how to instigate a “reflective culture”? I think this is something that will be reflected on in my coming car journeys home!

REFERENCES

Moon, J. (2001) ‘PDP working paper 4: reflection in higher education learning’ (online), The Higher Education Academy. Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/id72_Reflection_in_Higher_Education_Learning.rtf (last accessed 8 June 2011).

Reflection 2.2

This week was our first collaborative group exercise, in which we had identify the drivers of eportfolio developments.

To be honest, when I first looked through the group exercise I wondered what relevance it would have to me and my development to know why UK, USA, Europe and beyond are driving eportfolios. As I journey towards becoming an elearning professional, what I found more relevant was understanding what eportfolios are and their benefits and limitations. This is the focus I tend to, and need to take on a daily basis, as it allows me to reflect what the impact will be of eportfolios in my workplace. I feel after all the core reading, I am in a better position to do so.  


The skills needed to work together in an online group are quite different to a face to face class, where you have a class at specfic times in the week. What is difficult about distant learning is by nature, it is flexible. For example I knew that the week was going to be particularly busy time for me, with limited time to log on, so most of my time was spent offline, reading and making notes. That’s why at the start of the task, I posted on the forum suggested groups of who could take on particular regions, so that I knew where to focus my reading,

Apart from that example, I don’t feel I was particularly proactive in leading, informing, or motivating the group, as the limited time I had online was mainly spent making sure I had uploaded all I had to, understanding how to set up a wiki  and having a look through the posts. I suppose I was also still “finding my feet” and getting used to this new way of studying. This is something I want to change in the future, as I know I can lead, inform and motivate “offline”, which I am comfortable with, so want to transfer these skills to “online”.
On my part, there was very limited additional discussion in the forum. My focus was more on getting though the core reading to update the drivers template. I suppose the fact that we came up with a template that everyone agreed on meant that we were all on the same wavelength to some extent? There was discussion in the forum of which I tended to agree and that's what I voiced.


Overall I feel the completion of this task is most relevant to my research competency due to the vast amount of core reading that has definitely increasde my knowledge of eportfolios by 600%! There was also a touch of technical skills in terms of wiki set up of how to set up wikis (as mentioned in my previous blog).

What I know this week that I didn’t last week…

You can learn a lot in a week…although in the same breath, it can feel that you forget a lot in a week too! It is simple to reflect on what you have learnt in the past week if it was something significant. I think it is easier to pick out these “eureka” moments from childhood – last week I couldn’t ride my bike, this week I can; last week I couldn’t tie my shoe laces, this week I can; last week I couldn’t count to 10, this week I can. As I get older, these “significant” learnings tend to be replaced with the question of how my knowledge in a specific area has grown within the week.

I suppose in the context of this course, I can clearly identify two area that I didn't know as much about about this time last week, and they are eportfolios and wikis.

I mentioned in a previous blog that when it comes to technology, at times I realise that I have been using something or have awareness but never realise what the proper term is – I feel this is exactly the route I have gone down with eportfolios. I knew what a portfolio was, and as per my first blog , I know what an “e” in front of something means, so by putting these 2 facts together, I worked out that it must be some sort of online/electronic collection of evidence. From all the reading and research of this week, I guess my instinct wasn’t far off.

As for wikis, I do use something similar to a wiki in work, but again I had never heard it referred to under this name. I just refer to it as a “shared document” or “an online document to update”. In the first week of the course, I had updated one so I am comfortable with how to edit (which is very similar to your standard Microsoft tools). I wasn’t aware this time last week how to set one up and that’s why I shouted for “help” in our group forum. So now I can set up and edit a wiki as if my life depended on it. It may not look pretty or glamorous, but thankfully at this stage, that’s not the point of it!

So that’s what I have learnt this week, I’m sure the coming weeks will have lots more learnings!

Technology and me - do we go together like a horse and carriage?

It’s my dad’s 60^th birthday today. He had never switched a computer on in his life until 20^th May 2007. I remember the exact date as it was the night before I moved to Sri Lanka for 6 months.  I basically set up an email account for him and showed him step by step how to write and read an email. From that day on, I think I got an email a day!  5 years on he can navigate around the World Wide Web, he still has his moments (asking me about “microwave office”) but he gets by.

I’m using this entry to reflect on my technical skills. I would say technology and I have a similar relationship as my dad has with the internet – I get by. I tend to be a quick learner, and when it comes to technology, I learn my doing. I like to keep it simple and learn what I need to know about it and then as I use it more, I experiment and build upon my skills. I find that if I am first introduced to something technical by listening to what people have to say about it or reading it, then my head converts it into something far more complex, so I prefer to dabble in it myself. The realisation then is either a) its not too bad b) o is that what it is, I’ve used that but never knew it was called that, or c) yes I still don’t understand it, someone talk me through it in very simple terms!

At the moment, Wiki, google apps, eportfolios are all a foreign language to me, however I know as I start to investigate them and use them, we will hopefully develop a great relationship!

Reflecting on train drivers

I’ve just begun a 2 hour train journey to Dublin and I find myself thinking about the train driver. I have never met him, I’m not likely to see him, I don’t know how many times he has navigated this route (for all I know this may be his maiden voyage), I don’t even know if “he” is a he! What I do know about him is that I’ve placed my trust in his expertise and knowledge to get me safely to my destination. So would I be correct then in calling the train driver a “professional” and as I drive elearning, does that make me an “Elearning Professional”?

When I first started this course, the word “professional” conjured up thoughts of a person with experience, knowledge and expertise in an area or number of areas. People who I want to learn from, ask their opinions or seek advice. But as I reflect and read other views, I’m wondering if my idea of professionalism is more associated with expertise - is a professional an expert and an expert a professional, or can they be mutually exclusive?

In the first week, members of the course team shared their views on the very notion of what professionalism is, amongst other thoughts. One posed “part of being professional is that you’re always learning, updating and developing the field you belong to”. I see this as one of the key reasons as to why I’m doing this course and to me, the real impact it has on me will only be seen when I implement what I have learned and put it into practice, as with any learning. My views fall in line with another member of the course team who stated “the sense of being professional is really a combination of good old research and practice”. In my opinion, I could sit back and rhyme off all the theory, which I believe would make me an expert, but rolling up my sleeves and putting it into practice would then cross the line into becoming a professional.

I expect my thoughts on an “Elearning Professional” to change as I delve deeper into this course. I’m not someone who tends to get bogged down with what “box” I should fit into, however I understand why it is important to distinguish. By the end of this course, I want to have an elearning toolkit which equips me with both the technical and theoretical knowledge to drive a credible, enthusiastic and knowledgeable elearning journey within my field, which compliments and blends with the other types of learning offered. If some then decide to label me as a “professional”, “expert”, “expert professional” or all or none of the above, then who am I to argue! As long as in myself, I am confident in what I have achieved and how I can progress it.

And as for the train driver, as I have arrived safely at my destination, I would class him as an expert in his profession!

Elearning…I know what it is, don’t I?

Emails. Ecards. Ebanking…I'm surrounded by “E’s”.

I can easily send and receive 30+ emails every working day. But outside of the dreaded bills, I would say I have probably only received 30 handwritten letters in my entire lifetime!

No longer do I have to go into a card shop to pick a birthday card from a limited selection, I can now personalise one online and get it delivered straight to the recipiant without even having to put a pen to paper.

I remember booking my first holiday away with friends and each of them giving me a cheque for their share of the cost. Now with a few clicks of a button, the money is directly deposited into my account.

I lived in Sri Lanka for 6 months and I don’t know how I would have survived without emails. An email home can be sent and I’d have a reply within an hour with the latest news – I remember skyping my parents and informing them of some “home” news before they had even heard, yet I was 5500 miles away! But do you know what I loved? The days the postman arrived, rang the bell and handed me a letter addressed to me. Holding something physical and reading the handwriting of someone you missed thousands of miles away, felt like the closest thing to a hug from them (cheesy but true). There was a place for email and there was a place for snail mail during this time.

So just like all the other “E’s”, learning has entered the virtual, electronic world. No longer do we need to co-ordinate the diaries of 50 people to pass on the latest information, instead a podcast can be recorded for the 50 people to listen at their own convenience within a 5 day period.

BUT….Just as there still is a place for a handwritten letter, birthday card and going into a bank, there still is a place for a face to face learning experience. And just as there is a place for sending an email, ecard or using ebanking, there is also a place for elearning. Used together and in the right way, they can only complement each other.

The purpose of this blog is for me to reflect on elearning and all that it means as I journey though the Open University module “The Elearning Professional”. I have deliberately put “The Elearning Professional” in quotation marks, as that is the first thing to ponder….is there such a thing and if so, what is it?