Session 3 t

Mervyn JonesCentre for Professional Development © Imperial College London 2005 1

Session 3 t

Mervyn Jones

Imperial College London

Technology Enhanced Professional Learning

Athens, 19 - 20 December 2005


Introduction

In this session I hope to initiate discussion from the perspective of learners, specifically with respect to:-

• Employability

• Flexibility and survivability of European citizens

• New Paradigms of learning

• Continuing Professional Development


Employability (Some factors which influence it)

• Globalisation

• Growth in developing world (especially China and India)

• International competition

• Changing competitive position of Europe (e.g. manufacturing)

• Communications and Information Technology

• Availability of labour, labour mobility, labour flexibility

• Possession of appropriate skills

• European expectations on health and pensions

• Increased longevity and changing demographic distributions



Imperial College’s non-UK Students

Greece 399Malaysia 371France 251Singapore 246Germany 194Nigeria 126Italy 125India 123

In 04/05 from a total student population of 11,152, of which 30% were postgraduate, split 50/50 between Masters and Doctoral studies, 2,959 were from overseas. The principal countries of origin were


Imperial College’s non-UK Student league

Ah yes…….How could I forget…………

We also have 874 from China!


Employability (Some factors which influence it)

• Globalisation

• Growth in developing world (especially China and India)

• International competition

• Changing competitive position of Europe (e.g. manufacturing)

• Communications and Information Technology

• Availability of labour, labour mobility, labour flexibility

• Possession of appropriate skills

• European expectations on health and pensions

• Increased longevity and changing demographic distributions


Flexibility and Survivability of European Citizens

• Move to progressively larger economic units, e.g. companies, trading areas, retail outlets, universities, etc. etc.

• To remain competitive - need to move up the economic chain

• Enhanced efficiency: a more flexible, skilled, entrepreneurial workforce

• Increasingly need to understand other cultures – both within Europe and elsewhere

• Understand/evaluate educational systems


New Paradigms of Learning

• Initial education is ‘changing’

• Students more output oriented and measured

• Need to define terms: learning, education, training, professional development

• What is the role of IT, - is this appropriate?

• (Do not under-estimate the importance of basic optically oriented knowledge systems)

• Personal view – inter alia, initial education must be seen as laying the groundwork for continuing education


Agendas for Change

• Governments – with economic problems to solve

• Individuals - for career flexibility

• Commercial organisations (e.g. media, publishing) – looking to extend in different ways

• Companies forming ‘corporate universities’



Dichotomies in Teaching and Learning

• Breadth vs depth, with constraints on resources and time

• Coherent bodies of knowledge and employment needs

• CPD and LLL have an impact on initial education

• Need to give attention to the whole educational process, as to what is taught when and the role of hard and soft skills

• We need to place CPD on a more formal basis than hitherto


Continuing Professional Development

Driving Factors

• Obsolescence of existing knowledge

• Generation and expansion of new knowledge

• Completion of initial education

• Changing labour market

• Changing career needs


What is CPD ?

CPD can take many forms:-Self study,Attendance at courses and conferences,Work place learning, Formalisation of professional learning (e.g. recording),Mentoring,Writing, etc.

It is influenced by many constituencies:-Employers, Professional institutions, individuals,

providers, government.


Characteristics of the ‘Ideal’ Professional

• Sound knowledge of basics underpinning field

• Level of expertise in a coherent major technical discipline

• Recognition of the limits to personal knowledge

• Willingness to learn

• Good communication skills

• Operate in a professional and ethical way

• Appreciate international dimensions

• A commitment to CPD or Life Long learning

The competent professional


Knowledge – academic, a pre-requisite, assessed by examination

An Understanding of Competence



Skill - ability to undertake a task, requires relevant knowledge, assessed practically



Commander, who has a castle under siege, interviews a new officer and asks “What’s your relevant experience here?”

“Well……. ” the officer replies


“I’ve never actually stormed a castle,

- but I have taken a bunch of siege management courses”







Skill - ability to undertake a task, requires relevant knowledge assessed practically

Attitude – approach to activity assessed by interaction/observation




Skill - ability to undertake a task, requires relevant knowledge assessed practically


Competence – the skilled deployment of knowledge with appropriate attitude






Competence – the skilled deployment of knowledge with appropriate attitude


Competence is sought by employers, hired from employees, developed by diverse routes and upheld by professional institutions


The Evolution of CPD

Recognise the diversity of CPD activities and note the time spent on activities

Maintain a record of what, why and outcome of all CPD activities

CPD activity has to underpin or develop a competence – useful for work situation where learning has specific outcome – e.g. surgeon or airline pilot

Still no measure of effectiveness

No measure of motivation, planning, or quality

Needs to be developed for many professions


Disruption in Technologies

• How did we view the first steam ships, robots, ATM cash dispensers?

How do we view them now?

• How did we react to stereo photography, to audio cartridges, to the first laser disks?

How do we view them now?

• IT has had a profound affect on manufacturing, agriculture, banking. Disruption has played an important role in this process Is IT a disruptive element for education?


The Challenge of Disruption

Don’t bother me now – can’t you see I’m busy trying to win this battle


Don’t bother me now – can’t you see I’m busy trying to win this battle!!

The Challenge of Disruption


Disruption in Education

• The tools that assist in the delivery of face-to-face education progressively evolve. The evolution from radio, > TV, > PCs, > www highlights changing support vehicles

• In parallel there has always been distance education, via correspondence courses, > the Open University, > TV, > VHS, > the WWW……..

• There are horses and there are courses, Selecting the horse for the course is the key

• We need to evaluate carefully the disruptive influences in education


Example courses


Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases

• 21 participants• 13 from overseas• 16 held PhDs• 2 held professorships

• Well known faculty

Teaching at an Advanced Level


Appraisal of mineral projects


Risk in the Minerals Industry

• Minerals remain central to economic development. • Coal is an essential fuel.• Gold is a unique economic indicator, etc. • Significant risk elements are associated with minerals projects:-

Financial risk; Technical risk; Environmental risk; Legal risk andCorporate reputation.

• Courses address these issues to meet professional needs.


Several different courses have addressed issues in Minerals Appraisal


S.E. Asia + Australasia

N & W Africa

Southern Africa

UK

S. America

W. Europe N. America

E. Europe

Middle East

Minerals Appraisal Courses in London – Geographic Participant Origins

Participant origins of first 600 participants from over 60 different countries.


Supported by a Virtual Learning Environment(On-line access to all material before and after the course)


E-learning on a professional web site


A Changing Educational Structure

Education Career

Years

Daily Activity

Family, leisure etc

after Lee & Messerschmitt, Proc IEEE (1999)


Education Career

Years

Daily Activity

Family, leisure etc

Family, leisure etc

Years

Daily Activity

Education

Family, leisure etc

A Changing Educational Structure

after Lee & Messerschmitt, Proc IEEE (1999)


Educational Challenges

• Global mobility will be a facet of employment patterns - Do current educational systems reflect this sufficiently?

• Are educational systems seen in a sufficiently holistic - from those starting - to professionals - to employers?

• Do they reflect the needs of the learner at all stages• Do our curricula meet the needs of employers - to what

extent should employers influence the nature of the curriculum - if so do they have a sustainable vision?

• Is it appropriate to consider first cycle education without reference to what follows, integration with CPD?

• Have we ‘thought through’ the role of IT in education


Reflection

• Factors affecting employability• Globalisation• Survivability and flexibility of European

citizens• New educational paradigms – raised

questions about the role of technology• CPD highlighting international

responses and the role of the VLE


Documents

Session 3 t