Author: Tariq Bitar

There are so many different ways of learning.  The old fashioned having just teacher at the front of the class with the chalk board, or blackboard as it was known originally, has a tendency to turn students right off learning.  The dullness of some teacher presentations is a problem – that monologue can seem like a long stream of being talked at rather than to.  The beauty of online e-learning is the variety of presentations, be it a click and respond or simultaneous one to one engagement over video – there is something happening all the time to encourage thought processes whilst emphasising the subject matter.   Virtual learning enviornment is a set of teaching tools which have been developed to really boost the learner’s experience by involving all sorts of other facilities such as computers, curriculum mapping and means of breaking down the curriculum to be able to track and assess.  Online support for and from teachers via email, threaded discussions.  The teacher has additonal user rights and will create or modify the curriculum contemt so as to enhance and track the student performance and result.

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development.  It is the intentional maintenance and development of knowledge and skills which are needed to perform your job successfully.  This might mean brushing up on current skills, or increasing the knowledge you have, or even learning new skills which will allow you to progress up the career ladder.

Most professions require their employees to take part in CPD courses to ensure their staff are fully trained in the necessary skills they require.

A good CDP structure gives employees a clear path to success with their current role and shows the potential progression to future jobs.  If you work in a regulated industry such as the healthcare, accountancy or legal industries, employers can get in a lot of trouble if they do not keep their staff up with their CPD!

CPD activities could include formal educational activities like instructor led training courses, workshops and seminars, or CPD could include self directed learning through online courses and structured reading.

The world of learning is so vast these days.  No longer do we just go through juior then senior school and if we’re very bright, get a place at University.  Everyone has the opportunity to study at university and get that batchelors or masters degree in almost any subject we care to study.    However it is not always necessary, in fact, rarely absolutely necessary, for the student to up sticks to move right away to study.  There are so many absolutely fantastic onlune learinng resources.  Almost every university of note will have a massive online presence these days.  They offer everything that lecture room based learning offers but with no need to travel and a chance to learn in your own time, at your own pace.   The online learning tools are vast now.  They have been developed to enhance the learning experience and to ensure you benefit from the craft of the course designers.  Video conference gives distance learning students equal high quality tutoring, connecting staff and students at any and all of their campuses or elsewhere – worldwide.

Oh how I remember the days of the typing lessons in school.  Way before anyone had produced the exciting e-learning and online training courses we can all take part in these days.  No, back then it was a case of listening to the tutor and then carrying out her instructions with her marching up and down the lines of typists.  We did not have the benefit of software – VLE or otherwise.  The only soft thing in that room was the cushion we popped on our rock hard chairs to soften the otherwise numbing effect of the hard wood.  Those lessons come flooding back to me with joy.  Rossini’s William Tell Overture floods to mind and of course, every time I hear that music, I am transported back to those halcyon days.  Just the start of it reminds me of a, s, d, f, g, f etc. etc.  Ah where would all the wonderful programmers and software folk be without the genius of a well trained keyboard operator.  Online courses with typing keypads involved are still the bet way to get accurate and well constructed pieces of work out there for all to learn from!

For any student having to chose those all important GCSE subjects, it helps if they have some idea of a career they may want to follow once they’ve got those in the bag.  Making thses choices as a teenager seems very daunting but in the grand scheme of things, getting the right exams early on can save time later.  Supposing for arguments sake that Jenny wants to go into law – not sure that she wants to go the whole hog and become a solicitor or barrister.  She may however fancy doing one of the many activities surrounding the solving of crimes, bringing the bad guys to prosecution etc.  There are many different career streams.  All of these have associated e-learning courses that can help with the initial training and formulating ideas.  Online courses are a brilliant way to get the gist of what would be involved and of course, will help when the itme comes to apply to uni for just such a career focused degree course.

When you have been working for a few years and then have to take maternity leave, this is often brings big changes t the way we look at our working priorities.  Lots of women think thye’ll just take a couple of weeks off, have baby, get a few sleepless nights and then whoo, back to work after 29 weeks.   It often does not work like that.  Once that bundle of joy has arrived, there is more to contend with than sleepless nights.  It’s a whole sunami of emotions and exhausting factors.    Not everyone can go back to work or even want to.   Many decide that a high flying career is not now for them and baby rearing is the thing – but with the need to have some earnings.   Other women find that the caring side of their nature needs more nurturing and that a career as a teaching assistant would suit them down to the ground.  There are many e-learning courses available to aid the process.  Teaching Assistant levels 2, 3, 4 can be bought in a bundle – to be completed in  your own time within broad timescales.   Maybe  you’ve had a career with special needs in a very hands on way before – how about taking a course on SEN within schools – this is becoming a vital role that schools need to fill and will be totally rewarding with the right course under your belt.

I had the somewhat dubious task of entertaining three youngsters for a couple of hours whilst their parents took part in a charity walk – I thought this was going to be a real challenge for me.  But no, the three bandidoes were an asolute delight and we spend the entire morning finding our way around their school online homework courses.  This was quite a eye opener for me.  I’ve not undertaken any course work, online or otherwise, for some time now.  The youngsters were so full of enthusiasm to show me their maths, English, Humaities and Sciences, we looked at all sorts of revision guides and each had little tests to have a go at.  By the time our final checks were completed, after the rather harder science, I was all for signing up for more – it really fired my brain and I felt superbly equipped to babysit three youngsters again – Or become a school teacher, if it’s really that much fun!