E-portfolios for Professional Certification

Today I took part in an excellent webinar on support for applying for membership of the UK's Association of Learning Technologists (ALT), Certified Membership (CMALT) . The webinar was run by Mark Northover from the Centre for Learning and Teaching, Auckland University of Technology. The first tool mentioned was the CMALT Professional Development Module from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (David Watson). The second was Mosomelt  (Thom Cochrane, AUT). Also ASCILITE run CMALT Australasia. These both provide online support for applicants.

The UK also has the Higher Education Academy's (HEA) fellowship scheme. Like CMALT this requires completion of a reflective portfolio. For those not used to this approach, the process can be daunting, thus the need for support. Late last year I completed a reflective e-portfolio for a MEd, which used a similar process.

One thing unclear is the relationship between certification and formal educational qualifications. ALT and HEA ask applicants to describe their training and experience with education (and the in the case of ALT, with technology). However, there is no requirement for formal educational qualifications and these certifications are not educational qualifications. In contrast, membership of the Australian Computer Society (ACS), and the British Computer Society, are expressed in terms of educational qualifications and relevant experience.

An ACS "Certified Technologist" would normally have a Diploma of IT (one year study) and the higher "Certified Professional" a Bachelor of IT (three years study), plus relevant experience. It would seem reasonable for the ALT and HEA to set educational requirements, but perhaps at a lower level, reflecting the lack of maturity of higher education as a profession. A certificate or graduate certificate (six months study) for entry level and an advanced diploma or masters (two years study) for full membership would be reasonable.

ps: On thing to keep in mind with certifications is how long they last and what are the ongoing obligations and costs. The annual fee for CMALT holders is £79.

Help with ALT and HEA Teaching Certification

This is to ask if there are any on-line self help, or formal on-line asynchronous courses, to assist non-UK people with applying for Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT's CMALT) and Professional Recognition by the Higher Education Academy (HEA's A/S/P/FHEA). While ALT and HEA offer some assistance to applicants, they charge only a modest amount (£150.00 each) and so applicant's can't expect much in the way of help, particularly internationally.

UK Group Looking at Technology for Further Education

The UK Further Education Learning Technology Action Group" (FELTAG) have produced draft recommendations for comment, on the use of technology for Further Education and Skills in the UK. The term "Further Education" (FE) is used in the UK for post secondary non-university studies. This is the equivalent to Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia.

One difference between the UK and Australian systems, is that the Australian VET system is more closely aligned with university Higher Education. Also the UK seems to lack anything comparable to Australia's National VET E-learning Strategy, which provides a centrally funded pool of training, tools and content for e-learning, which can be used by all public and private VET providers. The UK could look at adopting something similar, with a Learning Design Tool (LDT), packaged e-learning content "Toolboxes", e-learning software and events for educators.

The FELTAG recommendations are grouped under "work-streams":

1. Horizon Scanning and Context
2. Regulation
3. Funding
4. Investment and Capital Infrastructure
5. Providers Capacity & Capability
6. Learners
7. Employers
8. Wildcard!
9. Online English, Maths & ESOL

FELTAG have requested comment on:

1. Which workstream(s) do you think are the most important to focus on to effect the agile evolution of the FE sector in anticipation of disruptive technology, for the benefit of learners, employers & the UK economy as a whole?
2. Which recommendations would you change and how?
3. Building on the draft recommendations, or proposed revisions that you have made, what single change would make the biggest difference to you or your organisation?
4. Are there examples, issues or evidence that you feel FELTAG has overlooked and should consider in its recommendations?