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.