Innovation Profile 051

Online training for teachers/lecturers?

Many large companies make a wide range of training courses freely available to employees through their company intranet. Some are now extending this into the homes of all their staff, making access easier for employees and enabling family learning.

It is rare to find educational institutions taking a similar approach to staff training and professional development. There is no reason why this should be so. Online courses in IT, finance, communications and leadership are already available and educationally specific courses could be developed.

In NETg's May newsletter (http://www.NETg.com/netgnews) you can read about the innovative initiative by ScottishPower to bring NETg's online learning courses into the homes of all ScottishPower employees and their families. Being able to undertake professional development in the comfort of their own homes, at times to suit themselves, considerably increases the take-up of courses.

If an employee of a company wishes to advance their career, as well as becoming more competent at their core task and understanding the company's products, they will have to increase their understanding of business processes. This includes how ICT can be most effectively used, the financial basis of business, and how to exercise leadership and communicate with colleagues.

The same is true in education. Increasingly teachers work in teams, need awareness of financial priorities and processes, and the use of ICT is becoming central to learning. There is much that teachers/lecturers could gain from the range of courses available from NETg's library of e-learning solutions, which include services to suport online learning, such as online mentoring and chat rooms to exchange help. You can investigate the range of NETg courses at http://www.NETg.com/CorporateSolutions/LearningProducts where you will find both skills training and professional development courses.

However a question which does need to be considered is the appropriate level at which to set up online training systems for educators. Individual schools/colleges may not be of sufficient size to afford access to the wide range of courses that will provide what individual teachers want. It is also likely that courses for teachers in different aspects of ICT-for-learning will be developed in various places. This is an issue which should be considered at city, regional and national levels in education systems - without delay.

The NETg Company Profile on our web site will give you an overview of the company.

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If you know of examples of innovative use of ICT-for-learning that others would be interested in, please email innovations@eep-edu.org

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