Mind Map of what makes an elearning Professional

This is the link to the mind map but I am not sure whether I am doing the right thing.

There are 4 main components of this which is
1. Definitions
2. Quality
3. Stakeholders
4. Regulatory


http://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/5DAA8E51-8680-3637-38BF-60C7AF1C8520#-1

From my own practice, the idea of quality and standards are integral.  For any professional to claim that they are professionals , they need the skills , knowledge and be able to apply them effectively and efficiently . A professional whether an E-learning professional , therefore, needs to also have a code of ethics of "professional behavior".

I have added the other dimension in whats makes an E-learning professional which is :

5. Digital Competence

http://webbrain.com/brainpage/brain/5DAA8E51-8680-3637-38BF-60C7AF1C8520#-1

Activity 3.1 

This  exercise is asking me whether I have any strengths or weakness in connection with e-learning practitioner. I don't quite know how to answer that except that my research skills needs to be improved in terms of using the Internet . Hmmm

1. Zorah -PDP needs analysis grid

1. 	How do you rate your own: Teaching ( Tutorials and E-forums)	Yourself compared with other lecturers in the Faculty of Business and Management					Comment
   		Complete novice	Below average	Average	Above average	Expert
   1	Knowledge of the subject you teach to write modules					/	Have to write  subject modules
   2	Understanding of students’ knowledge base				/		Good knowledge
   3	Ability to select appropriate content for assignment and final exam papers					/	ditto
   4	Ability to structure and sequence content in Module writing					/	ditto
   5	Ability to explain the key ideas in modules and in tutorials					/	ditto
   6	Ability to give and use examples throughout in modules and in tutorials					/	ditto
   7	Ability to ask and answer questions helpfully in e-forums and tutorials				/
   8	Ability to summarise and give the ‘big picture’					/
   9	Ability to convey enthusiasm for the subject in Modules and in tutorials					/
   10.	Ability to mark exam papers according to faculty standards					/	Marking criteria’s given
   11.	Handouts and other learning support materials				/
   	Research and Publications
   12	Publications in refereed journals /magazines/newsletters/newspapers			/			Need to get 2 journal articles published as KPI
   13	Writing and presenting papers at national and international conferences				/		Need 2 conferences; national and international
   14	Research collaboration with other academic colleagues			/			Currently working on a project
   15	Initiation and securing of research grants; institutional, national and international			/			Have secured a research grant and working on it
   16.	Web searching skills; different search engines, databases , Boolean searches etc. Consultancy /Training Projects				/		Do this all the time for secondary information search
   17.	Initiation and collaboration with industry			/			Have done this in the past but need to have the contacts
   18.	Report writing skills			/			Used to academic writing , not as much into business report writing

2.  
3. Source: H851 Practice Guide 7, Reviewing and Improving your Teaching, The Open University, 1998, p.31.

My impressions of this Module-H808

Sitting here at 11 pm today , thinking of what are my impressions of this Module. This is my second Module for this Post Graduate Certificate in Online and Distance Education.
I am intimidated by my fellow colleagues in the forum and how knowledgeable they are on blogging and technology . I am a complete dud in technology but I want to learn as much as I can in order to enhance my teaching and to make the experience enjoyable for my students.
I am not sure whether I can cope with the course- very apprehensive about the demands  of the course. I am hoping to have some time to work on the course and see no other alternative , except to work at nights after work.

This is taken from my balcony of my condo overlooking the rain forest with a brook.

Templer's Park

H808- Podcast - Views on E-Learning Professional

I am hopelessly lost in this module because I have not been checking the module forums . Been terribly busy at work with an upcoming research project and a journal article to submit. Gawd, this is awful!

The module begins with an introduction of what defines a E-learning  professional . There were 4 views represented by Robin Mason, Gill Kirkup, Robin Goodfellow and Chris Jones.
In summary, the first speaker Robin Mason talks about an E-learning professional as:

• how e-learning has come of age and is now a profession when before there was no recognition of it as a profession
• he defines a professional as some one who does research and practise
• Was involved in MAODE course since its inception and in the forefront of e-learning consequently
• He is involved with e-learning as a profession by reading books & literature on e-learning, reviewing books and articles and having contact with other colleagues  in the profession through conferences and visits to other universities.
• Sees the growth of e-learning from a profession that was side-lined in the early days of distance education
• E-learning has matured  considerably in the last 20 years in practises rather than the research to his dismay. Campus based universities have legitimised e-learning as a profession in his view.

Second speaker in the pod cast is Gill Kirkup  and these are her reflections on what defines an e-learning professional:

• Specialist as a distance educational professional working in Open University for nearly 20 years.
• Distance education contains significant amounts of e-learning.
• Became an e-learning professional by accident so to speak rather than deliberate intent.
• 2 things in being a professional- operating within a set kind of ethical standards and another set of standards of fairness, justice, appropriate treatment of other people , not taking bribes , doing good quality work , putting in many cases the interests of your professional client above your own personal interests.
• Follows the UK Academy sets of values of having respect for individual learners, commitment to processes and outcomes of research, scholarship and /or professional practice, commitment to development of learning communities , commitment to encouraging participation in Higher Education and commitment to continuing professional development and the evaluation of practice.
• respect for the learner and commitment to incorporate research and scholarship is big part of the professional e-learning practice.
• Emphasis on promoting and developing good practice.
• Professional means being in a state of flux of always learning ,updating and developing the field you belong to.

The third speaker Robin Goodflellow summariszs his ideas of what is a e-learning professional; They are;

• views e-learning as primarily as teaching but recognizes that there are other professionals in the field such as computer engineering, information science, management etc.
• 2P's - the little P which is professionalism means knowing one's job, and doing it well, which could apply to other occupations , the big P professionalism means belonging to a particular kind of occupational club.
• Professionalism as an academic researcher includes a commitment to the valuing of knowledge independently of economic or political considerations. Not easy in this materialistic climate to maintain.
• views himself as a teacher and researcher working in an educational context, which means having a commitment to learning for civilization as well as personal development.
• E-learning as an part of an educational technologist job 
• technology dimension through an interest in the materiality of knowledge , that is the stuff in which is contained and exchanged and the way this "stuff" is used to determine roles, and status and symbolic capital , whole apparatus of civilisation through education.

The last speaker in the pod cast is Chris Jones and these are his reflections of what he thinks is an E-learning professional:

• PC - ability to distribute computing power widely across universities and across societies 
• Introduction of networks that link up universities and individuals but also business organizations and any large organization.
• Context in which e-learning has radically changed with the World Wide web.
• Modern professionals - based on autonomy, memberships that are self-regulating and that builds on the notion of trust and relationships . Modern professionals are usually in corporate , managed environments and are often audited either by government or by the institution , the organisation , the corporate body that they are part of.
• Academic has to do teaching besides research and learning a huge part of the student's life .
• E-learning professional is something that goes beyond innovation and it is somethings where there's a beginning of organization and systematization of whats e-learning's all about.
• Questions whether there is a distinct E-learning professional or is this simply an aspect of other professions such as teacher, university lecturer , academic, trainer or staff developer or human resource developer in private corporate bodies?

After summarizing these points from the transcriptions , I probably agree to Chris Jones with what is question by him  in the sense of is an E-learning professional a distinct profession or is just another aspect of other professions . I would think of as a e-learning professional as another aspect of being a professional in my case as a university lecturer and academic. I want to know more about how technology can enhance learning and teaching , that's probably my motive in taking this module.  

  

Hello hello hello experimenting with blogging today.