MyPD FAQs

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MyPD FAQs

WHAT IS MyPD?MyPD is an online tool for teachers to record their professional development (PD) activities for the purposes of registration renewal.

It is not compulsory to use MyPD for your own records. However, if you are randomly selected for auditing purposes or returning from non-practising registration, you will be asked to use this tool to record your PD and its relevance to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Your records can be downloaded as an xls (excel) or pdf file.

IT / TECH TIPS FOR MyPDYour MyVIT account and MyPD tool work best in Internet Explorer. Some functions (e.g. delete or edit PD) do not appear in Google Chrome.

MyPD is located within a secure website and will time out after 20 minutes. Many computers and networks have a shorter time out period (e.g. 10 minutes or less). If you are working on a computer or within a network with a shorter time out period, you will need to save your information frequently. Software browsers and security structures on individual computers, in particular those set up within a school environment, can have shorter time out periods.

If you are encountering time out issues, you can type your text in a Word document and copy and paste it into the MyPD activity form.

BEFORE USING MyPDHow much PD do I have to do?

Teachers are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of standards-referenced PD annually for the purposes of registration renewal.

What if I have completed more than 20 hours?

There is no maximum amount of PD that teachers can complete in a year. The amount of PD completed is determined by a teacher’s individual needs and interests, as well as the requirements of their employer.

Teachers can record more than 20 hours of PD using the MyPD tool for each registration year if they wish to.

ADDING PD ACTIVITY TO MyPDHow do I record my PD activities?

To record your PD activities, click on the Add Teacher PD button.

This link will take you to a form to add information about your PD activity. You must provide the following information• title• description• reflection• duration• date of PD activity• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).

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How do I add PD activity retrospectively?

MyPD allows you to add PD in your current registration year as well retrospectively. For the purpose of your renewal audit, you are only required to enter PD activities completed between 1 October last year and 30 September this year. If you wish to compile PD from earlier years, we recommend the following

• download your existing PD in an xls (Excel) spreadsheet

• save it to your computer.

What are the text limits when entering a new PD activity?

There is a minimum and maximum limit to the amount of text when entering a new PD activity. This limit is specified in characters, not words. The following restrictions are applied

• title - between 5 and 50 characters (approximately 1 to 9 words)

• description - between 20 and 150 characters (approximately 4 to 28 words)

• reflection - between 20 and 1500 characters (approximately 4 to 280 words).

Note: the exact number of words will depend on the length of each word.

If you wish to add a significant amount of text, we recommend that you create a Word document and upload it as a separate file. If you have already uploaded a file for that PD activity, we recommend that you add additional text to that file.

UPLOADING FILES TO MyPDHow do I upload files / attachments to MyPD?To upload a file / attachment (e.g. a certificate of attendance at the PD) to the MyPD homepage• click on the Add Teacher PD button• find the Upload any specific evidence relating to this activity section• click on the Browse button• find the file you wish to upload and click Open• ensure you have completed all fields of the form and then submit your form.When you have successfully uploaded a file / attachment you will see the paperclip icon in the PD summary table on the MyPD homepage.

How do I view my file / attachment?To view your file / attachment from the MyPD homepage, click the paperclip icon for the relevant PD in the summary table.

How do I change or delete my file / attachment?To replace or delete your file / attachment from the MyPD homepage, click the pencil / page icon for the relevant PD in the summary table. From here you can replace or delete the file / attachment.

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What file type can I upload?The following file types can be uploaded to MyPD

• MS Word (doc/docx) • PDFs• Open Office (odt) • Jpg / JPEG• MS Excel (xls/xlsx) • Tif / TIFF• Open Office spreadsheet (ods) • Gif• MS PowerPoint (ppt/pptx) • Png• Open document presentation (odp)

Can I access previously uploaded files / attachments that are different from those listed above?You won’t be able to view the old files / attachments you have previously uploaded in MyPD that are not listed above, however you can download them to your computer. When downloading, save as a different / compatible file type (e.g. PDF). You will not be able to reload the old original file back into MyPD.

How many files can I upload? You can upload one file for each PD activity. If you have more than one file or piece of information that you would like to upload, you can combine them into one document to upload. The maximum file size you can upload onto MyPD is 10MB.

ADDING DATES TO MyPDWhat is the MyPD activity date?The date you enter for the PD activity will determine which registration year your PD will be recorded in. A registration year runs from 1 October to 30 September the following year. Therefore• if you enter 20/10/2018 or 01/05/2019, your PD will be recorded in the 2019 registration year• if you enter 20/10/2017 or 01/05/2018, your PD will be recorded in the 2018 registration year.

What date do I enter for extended PD activities?If you have undertaken an extended PD activity that runs over several days, weeks or months you can• add the entire PD activity on the completion date; or• add it in parts, with a proportion in one registration year and the remainder in another registration year.

E.g. if the first 2 days of the PD were on 8 & 9 August 2018 and the final 2 days were on 20 & 21 November 2018 you could• record 4 days (24 hours) on 21 November 2018 - therefore 24 hours will be recorded in the 2019 registration

year; or• record 2 days (12 hours) on 9 August 2018 and 2 days (12 hours) on 21 November 2018 - therefore, 12 hours will be

recorded in the 2018 registration year and 12 hours in the 2019 registration year.

USING FUNCTIONS IN MyPDHow do I use the filter function?To filter your PD by registration year, click on the Filter button on the MyPD homepage. This will generate a table of the PD activities that you have entered into MyPD. From here you can view, edit and delete a PD activity.

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How do I view my PD activities?To view a PD activity from the MyPD homepage, click the magnify glass icon for the relevant PD in the summary table. This will allow you to print a PDF record of your PD activity.

How do I edit my PD activities?To edit a PD activity from the MyPD homepage, click the pencil / page icon for the relevant PD in the summary table. This will take you to the Add PD form and will allow you to edit all fields except the PD activity date.

How do I delete my PD activities?To delete a PD activity from the MyPD homepage, click the red cross icon for the relevant PD in the summary table.

Can I save my PD activities to my computer?You can download your PD activities for a registration year in Excel or PDF format.

Downloading an Excel documentTo download a record of your PD activity for a registration year in Excel format, click on the Download filtered PD (xls) button. You can then print or save this document to your computer. Once saved, you can edit the document if required.

Downloading a PDF documentTo download a record of your PD activity for a registration year in PDF format, click on the Download filtered PD (pdf) button. Once downloaded you can save the PDF document to your computer for your own records.

Any questions? Email your enquiry to vit@vit.vic.edu.au and provide your name and VIT registration number.