Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 15

In 2016 I started looking at how to training computer professionals  to teach, and wrote 14 posts over the next three years. Part 14 was on some existing teacher training at a university.  This training has to satisfy several needs. There are experienced students who want to tutor at university, and industry professionals who want to teach part-time at university. Also this is a way to introduce new teaching and assessment techniques to university. In the previous 13 parts of this series I looked at the definition and recognition of education as part of the computing profession, and how this could be provided in a university level course. Obviously the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an added impetus for training in online learning.

Need

It might be asked why a semester long course in teaching is needed. University staff are already offered short courses (I have undertaken many, many of them), and whole qualifications in education (I have a couple of those). They can also undertake the excellent teacher training provided in the vocational education sector (one of those also). However, I suggest the short courses are insufficient and the longer qualifications tend to be more than is needed, at least for a beginning teachers. Also university education qualifications for academics tend to be too "academic". Someone going into teaching for the first time needs help with how to teach, then and there.

It needs to be kept in mind that most teaching at university is not undertaken by tenured professors, it is by more junior casual and part-time staff, many of whom are students themselves. It is very difficult to convince a tenured professor to undertake a teaching course, and learn new ways to educate, but it is much easier with someone just setting out on a career, less secure in their position.

Pragmatism

A pragmatic reason for suggesting a formal university course in teaching for professionals is that it can also be offered as part of degree programs. Teacher training is normally thought of as a cost to the university, draining the training budget. If the course can be offered to fee-paying students, that can offset some of the cost of development. This also provides a way to fill the class of a new course.

May tutors are students themselves. These students can be given the opportunity to gain credit towards their degree, not just a little cash, by having their teacher training formally recognized. This benefits the student, as they need not undertake teacher training in addition to their regular studies: it is part of their studies. Also this provides the soft skills employers ask for, but which it is difficult to find space for in the curriculum. Having tutors enrolled in a teaching course also has direct financial benefits to the university, as the tutor will be paying for their training. As the teaching course is a regular course, this is something the student pays the standard course fee for. 

Teaching Techniques

Teaching is a skill best learned by doing, with others. So I suggest a teaching course should be structured to provide just enough theory in online modules, and then require the students to teach, and help each others, in practical assignments. Students can undertake this concurrently with their teaching, and use that teaching as the subject of their assignments. This approach is commonly used in teacher training. The course can also provide an exemplar for the way university education should be provided, with the emphasis on students working in teams on practical projects which are assessed, assisted by a teacher. There need be no lectures or examinations, as these are not particularly effective teaching or assessment techniques. The assessment can be pass/fail, as that is more effective than the complex scales currently used by universities.

Microcredentials

There have been many proposals for micro-credentials. That is a qualification much shorter than the typical six months full time study required for the shortest AQF aligned university qualifications.  Micro-credentials are an appealing idea, but difficult to implement. To simplify the process, a course in teaching could be divided into three or four micro-credentials. These could then be offered to industry professionals for development. Those who complete all the micro-credentials would receive one course credit.

Government Funding for University Teacher Training

The Australian Government is  funding undergraduate and graduate certificates as part of the COVID-19 response. These are six month online full-time programs. It is not proposed to create a CECS teaching certificate, just one course. However, the Minister for Education mentioned micro-credentials, and so it may be possible to obtain funding for these:

" We had a major report done on the Australian Qualifications Framework, and they, it suggested that we should move to what this, what they call, micro-credentialing, short courses. So, we’ve used these opportunities to say, ‘Alright, well, let’s push ahead with this, and let’s really give it a go for the next six months'."

Teaching Computer Professionals to Teach with Educational Technology

For some years I have been considering the question of how to improve the quality of teaching at universities. One obvious way is to have academics who teach trained and qualified to do so. However, the business model of university is to attract students, and funding, based on the quality of their research. Students will select a university to study at based largely on a reputation which comes from research, even though this has nothing to do with the quality of the teaching. As a result, there is a strong incentive for universities to select and promote staff based on their research record.

Having recruited a staff member based on their research, it is very difficult to get them to study how to teach. The academic knows that they will be promoted based on the research they do. Regardless of the quality of education they provide, students will enroll. However, those same staff then have a frustrating time teaching students, because it is a skill they did not acquire during their undergraduate degree, where they learned the basics of their discipline, or in postgraduate studied, where they learned research techniques.

Universities offer academic staff short courses, and various fellowship schemes, in an attempt to improve the quality of education, and also to be seen to be doing something. However, this is frustrating for all concerned. I have been through many of these training courses and programs.

One solution I suggest is to incorporate training into degree education, before academics graduate, are appointed and become fixated on research. It can be argued that teaching is an integral part of any professional's job.

To make this training more relevant, it can be tailored to the needs and opportunities of the discipline. As an example, computer professionals can help provide education using computers and networks (so called Educational Technology, or EdTech).

Emphasizing the technical aspects of teaching will make the topic more palatable to computing students, and also make the topic more acceptable to those who approve degree courses. Such a course can make use of whatever short training courses, or work experience through tutoring, or edtech support work is available.

This approach could turn teacher training from something graduates are reluctant to do, even when they are paid to do it, into something students will pay for.

Previously I used this approach in a reflective learning module. Students were required to write a job application as a course assignment. While they were offered training materials, workshops and individual one-on-one help by a specialist careers unit of the university, they were reluctant to use these services. As a result they produced poor job applications. However, when the same materials, workshops and staff were integrated into the formal course, students engaged. The same approach should work for teaching and edtech.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 14

In Part 13 I looked at  "Guidelines for Teaching @MIT and Beyond".  But teacher training do universities require their new teachers to have? The first teaching someone is likely to do at university is tutoring. The School of Mathematics and Physics at University of Queensland require new tutors to undertake five hours of training.  However, details of what is in the training is not provided on the UQ website.

The ANU offers Principles of Tutoring and Demonstrating (PTD) for new tutors,. with ten modules:

1. Setting the Scene Reflective Practice
2. Student Learning
3. Planning a Tutorial
4. Teaching Groups & Individuals
5. Dynamics and Diversity
6. Peer Observation
7. Intro to Wattle for Tutors
8. Assessment and Marking
9. Evaluation
10. Troubleshooting (The Tutorial Toolkit)

Each module is two hours long, making a total of  20 hours. That is equivalent to half a week full time study and four times as long as the UQ course. The students don't get a recognized AQF qualification at the end of the program, but can apply for Associate Fellow status with the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

The Higher Education Academy use the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for early career academics, higher degree students who are tutoring, part-timers, learning technologists, learning developers and  library staff.

This requires "successful engagement" with two of five Areas of Activity:

1. Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study
2. Teach and/or support learning
3. Assess and give feedback to learners
4. Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance
5. Engage in continuing professional development in subjects/disciplines and their pedagogy, incorporating
   research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices 

It is curious that the HEA would require any two of these for a beginner. It would be usual for a beginner to start with teaching (2), then assessment (3), and some planning (1). Only after some training and experience would it make sense to undertake design (1). Also professional development (5) is not applicable to someone who has not yet undertaken their initial training (and so is not yet a professional). But the UKPSF could still be useful for framing teaching.

For the AFHEA the applicant also requires "Core Knowledge" of the subject material they are teaching. In the case of a university teacher, this would normally be obvious from their qualifications (in this case in computing). Of more interest is the requirement for "Appropriate methods for teaching, learning and assessing in the subject area and at the level of the
academic programme" (K2). The applicant also requires "relevant professional practices, subject and pedagogic research and/or scholarship within the above activities".

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 13

In Part 12 I looked at the documentation associated with Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) teaching qualifications for inspiration as to what might be in a course for computer professionals to learn to teach. However, the VET units focus on very small discrete outcomes, and something broader is needed for university teachers. So I searched using such terms as 'teacher training for doctoral students "computer science"'. One document this threw up was "Guidelines for Teaching @MIT and Beyond". I was surprised to find that this was based on "Guidelines on Learning that Inform Teaching", by Adrian Lee, Emeritus Professor, UNSW.

MIT's guidelines use the same three areas I had already decided on: design, deliver and assess (although I had  them in the order: deliver, assess, and design). I looked at Lee's website, but found this very hard to follow. However, both the original and MIT's version use a Creative Commons license, allowing the material to be adapted and reused.

The guidelines provide a short statement and a series of . For exmaple, "Deliver":

"The way that you present material in your course, as well as the choices you make about how your students will engage with course content can have profound impact on student learning.  Use your intended learning outcomes to guide your content delivery choices and shape your classroom environment.

• Varied Teaching Methods
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Professional Competences
• Views of Learning & Knowledge
• Learning Communities
• Student Responsibility for Learning
• Student Reflection"

Then under Varied Teaching Methods:

"Guideline:  Use multiple teaching methods and modes of instruction."

There were then references to help with this guideline. Unfortunately the link for the first reference is broken and the second paper based. Only one of the eleven additional references had a hypertext link. This makes the material of very little practical use. What is needed is online freely accessible material.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 12

In Part 11 I chose three skills from the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) for three micro-credentials for teaching: Delivery, Assessment, and Design. But that only provides a paragraph for each: where do I get more detail as to what the students need to learn?

I tried searching curricular and open access course materials for existing university teaching courses, but these tended to emphasize theory, rather than practice. For a computer professional who wants to learn how to teach it is not necessarily helpful to give them pages of theory and references to research. They need to quickly introduced to something which will help them teach.

More useful is the documentation associated with the Vocational Education and Training (VET) teaching qualifications. Most prominent of these is the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40116). This is at level 4 in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), much lower than a Bachelor Degree (Level 7) or Graduate Certificate (Level 8). There is mention of learning principles and theories in the VET skills definitions, but the emphasis is on practical skills.

TAE40116 has nine core units, the first of which is Plan assessment activities and processes (TAEASS401). This has five elements:

1. "Prepare session plans ...
2. Prepare resources for delivery ...
3. Deliver and facilitate training sessions ...
4. Support and monitor learning ..."
   
   From Plan assessment activities and processes (TAEASS401), training.gov.au, 2016

One interesting aspect is that delivery is only part of one of the five elements. Those new to university teaching tend to worry about their ability to speak forcefully, in a lecture or tutorial. However, perhaps the useful thing we can do is reassure new teachers that they do not have to give a dramatic performance, like Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Understanding what the students need, preparing and supporting them, will be more effective than Shakespearian rhetoric.

The element on Deliver and facilitate training sessions, has four Performance criteria:

1. "Conduct each session according to the session plan, modified where appropriate to meet learner needs
2. Use the diversity of the group as another resource to support learning
3. Employ a range of delivery methods to optimise learner experiences
4. Demonstrate effective facilitation skills to ensure effective participation and group management ..."

From Plan assessment activities and processes (TAEASS401), training.gov.au, 2016

These are criteria for assessing the teacher, but I suggest are also useful tips for the new teacher, particularly the first, to have a plan, but modify it for the learners. Also useful, is to have a range of delivery methods. Delivery is not just about talking, or videos of talking, in the case of e-learning. The learner experience can be improved by getting them to do something, in particular working in a group.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 11

In Part 10 I looked at having three micro-credentials on teaching, which taken consecutively would count as one university course. The Australian Computer Society were short one speaker at their 2018 Canberra Conference, so with 12 hours notice I presented on this at the conference (it went okay). Now I need to work out what is in the three micro-credentials proposed: 1. Delivery, 2. Assessment, and 3. Design. These were abstracted from the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA):

SFIA Category Skills on Teaching

Subcategory	Skill	Code	Levels
1. Delivery The SFIA Learning delivery skill is what I would call simply "teaching": "The transfer of business and/or technical skills and knowledge and the promotion of professional attitudes in order to facilitate learning and development. Uses a range of techniques, resources and media (which might include eLearning, on-line virtual environments, self-assessment, peer-assisted learning, simulation, and other current methods)." From Learning delivery, SFIA version 7, 2018. This is defined at SFIA levels three to six. The lowest level looks most appropriate for a beginner, as it is about the doing of the teaching: "Delivers learning activities to a variety of audiences. Teaches, instructs, trains students/learners in order to develop knowledge, techniques and skills using appropriate methods, tools, online environments, equipment and materials. Oversees students/learners in performing practical activities and work, advising and assisting where necessary. Provides detailed instruction where necessary and responds to questions, seeking advice in exceptional conditions beyond own experience. Assists with the development of examples and case study material for use within pre-defined learning material." From Learning delivery, Level 3, SFIA version 7, 2018. 2. Assessment The SFIA Competency assessment skill may cause some confusion for university academics. The term "competency" is usually used for vocational education, where students are pass/fail assessed as to if they can do a small specific task. University assessment is usually of a broader range of skills, with multiple grades (Pass, Credit, Distinction ...) or numbers allocated. However, the description of the SFIA skill doesn't seem to be limited to the former: "The assessment of knowledge, skills and behaviours by any means whether formal or informal against frameworks such as SFIA. The evaluation, selection, adoption and adaptation of assessment methods, tools, and techniques based on the context of the assessment and how the results of the assessment are to be used. The evaluation of learning or educational activities against defined skills/competency development outcomes." From Competency assessment, SFIA version 7, 2018. Here the Level 5 skill looks most comprehensive: "Provides advice and guidance on the selection, adoption and adaption of appropriate assessment methods, tools and techniques based on the context of the assessment and how the results of the assessment are to be used. Manages execution of skill/competency assessments to ensure they deliver the required outcomes with acceptable quality. Ensures assessments follow ethical, legal and regulatory requirements. Manages reviews of the benefits and value of assessment methods and tools. Identifies and recommends improvements to assessment methods and tools. Assesses the effectiveness of learning or educational activities based on the achievement of skill/competency development targets." From Competency assessment, Level 5, SFIA version 7, 2018. 4. Design The SFIA Learning design and development skill is less problematic: "The specification, design, creation, packaging and maintenance of materials and resources for use in learning and development in the workplace or in compulsory, further or higher education. Typically involves the assimilation of information from existing sources, selection and re-presentation in a form suitable to the intended purpose and audience. Includes instructional design, content development, configuration and testing of learning environments, and use of appropriate current technologies such as audio, video, simulation and assessment. May include third party accreditation." The Level 4 definition looks most appropriate: "Specifies the content and structure of learning and development materials. Takes responsibility for design, creation, packaging and maintenance and manages development to deliver agreed outcomes. Where required, designs, configures and tests learning environments, including creation of simulated data, and replication of external systems, interfaces, and assessment systems. Secures external accreditations as appropriate." From Learning design and development, Level 4, SFIA version 7, 2018.
Skill management	Learning delivery	ETDL	--3456-
	Competency assessment	LEDA	--3456-
	Learning design and development	TMCR	---456-

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 10

In Part 9 I looked at what quantum is reasonable to teach those who teach. The NZ government recently recognized Micro-credentials of 1 to 8 weeks study. A conventional Australian university 12 week semester consists of four courses, with 3 weeks full time study per course. So one option would be to have three micro-credentials which taken consecutively would count as one university course.

In Part 2 I looked at the Australian Computer Society's "specialisms" for computer professionals involved in education. These were derived Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA):

SFIA Category Skills and ACS Membership Level

Subcategory	Skill	Code	Levels
Skill management	Learning and development management	ETMG	--34567
	Competency assessment	LEDA	--3456-
	Learning design and development	TMCR	---456-
	Learning delivery	ETDL	--3456-
	Teaching and subject formation	TEAC	----56-

The three key terms in these, I suggest are:

1. Delivery
2. Assessment
3. Design

For the beginner, I suggest it would be best to take them in that order, first the deliver, then assessment and only then consider the overall design. This would reflect the concerns of the student and make it less abstract. Teacher training courses I have undertaken place a heavy emphasis on theory, which is off-putting for the student.

I will discuss this in "Computer Professionals Providing Mobile Learning for the Digital Economy" at the Computer Society of Sri Lanka's National IT Conference (NITC 2018),  9 am 3 October.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 9

In Part 8 I decided the task of designing an entire qualification in teaching for computer professionals is perhaps a bit too much. But what quantum is reasonable? What is the current practice at Australian universities to teach those who teach?

Those being prepared to teach at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) are asked to do 16 hours study over 8 weeks in the blended course "Beginning to Teach". This is aimed at Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidates (mostly PhD students) and Early Career Researchers (ECRs who already have a PhD), and who are expected to teach:

1.  "Demonstrate understanding of some key elements of learning and how they relate to teaching and to their disciplinary context. 
2. Plan, facilitate and evaluate a short teaching session that aligns aims and approach with outcomes. 
3. Give and receive feedback to colleagues regarding teaching and to students regarding assessment of learning." 

From "Beginning to Teach", UNSW, 2018.

For UNSW teaching staff there is the more advanced "Foundations of University Learning and Teaching Program" (FULT). This consists of 4 modules, 10 hours study per module, over 2 to 3 weeks per module:

1. "Student Learning and Teaching
2. Educational Design
3. Assessment and Feedback
4. Reflection and Evaluation"

Curiously, the beginning and foundations courses do not appear to be aligned or nested. The assumption appears to be that all those who are teaching at university undertook basic teacher training as part of a higher degree or post-doctoral training. This assumes a traditional academic career which is increasingly rare and excludes those with non-research degrees and industry experience. A better approach perhaps would be to have the beginning course available to anyone new to teaching, not just HDRs and ECRs. That course would then form the first module of the foundation course.

The UNSW Foundations course is aligned with their Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching (GCULT). The Foundations course makes up part of the content of the first part of the certificate.

UNSW also offer a "Learning to Teach Online" course via  Coursera, 3 hours per week, over 6 weeks. This appears to be designed for teachers generally, not specifically for university teachers, or those at UNSW:

"Module 1 Why is Online Teaching Important
Module 2: Open and Institutionally Supported Technologies
Module 3: Planning Online Learning
Module 4: Online Learning Activities
Module 5: Online Assessment Strategies
Module 6: Online Resources
Module 7: Engaging and Motivating Students
Module 8: Evaluation Strategies"

Athabasca University offers a similar on-line course "Technology-Enabled Learning", 3 hours per week, over 5 weeks. There is an earlier set of course materials available under a Creative Commons license.

Given that technology enabled learning is now widely adopted, it would seem reasonable to incorporate this in basic teacher training. That is, rather than teaching classroom "chalk and talk" first and then the technology as an afterthought, do it the other way around. I suggest teaching online techniques as basic teaching methods and classroom face-to-face as a variation of that.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 8

In Part 7 I looked at how curriculum for Digital Education in the vocational sector is standardized and packaged. That was a year ago and I realize now the task of designing an entire qualification is perhaps a bit too much. But a one semester course is feasible.

No Australian legislation or support structures exist for universities to share courses, but there are some consortia and informal sharing of materials. As an example, my ICT Sustainability course is run in Canada (arranged by one of my former students). Free open access course materials on teaching for computer professionals may be similarly used. This is s much about promotion. as the quality of the content. As an example, what should such a course be called?

In Part 2 I looked at the Australian Computer Society's "specialisms" for computer professionals involved in education. These were derived Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). Since then a new version 7 of SFIA has been released. The five education skills remain, with "Learning assessment and evaluation" (LEDA) renamed "Competency Assessment":

SFIA Category Skills and ACS Membership Level

Subcategory	Skill	Code	Levels
Skill management	Learning and development management	ETMG	--34567
	Competency assessment	LEDA	--3456-
	Learning design and development	TMCR	---456-
	Learning delivery	ETDL	--3456-
	Teaching and subject formation	TEAC	----56-

There is also the related people management skill of "Professional development" (PDSV). It is surprising that so many separate education skills survived in the version 7 revision of SFIA. In contrast, three sustainability skills were removed (Sustainability assessment SUAS, Sustainability engineering SUEN and
Sustainability management SUMI), leaving only Sustainability (SUST). A future revision ming have just two education skills: "learning design and delivery", plus "learning management".

 ACS Certified Professionals (CP) are required to be competent in at least one "specialism" at SFIA Level 5. This makes course design easier as all the the SFIA skills are defined at this level.

The words/phrases in these skills are:

Learning management, development management, Competency Assessment, Learning design, Learning development, Learning delivery, Teaching and subject formation, Professional development, Skill management,
People management.

Some of these words are problematic, when used for university education. The term "Competency" is usually used in the vocational sector, not universities. Similarly, academics generally don't like to think of themselves "Teaching". The terms "Management" and "People management" may be seen as something for the business faculty, not computing schools.

Removing the problematic terms and duplicates suggests the course title:

Learning design and delivery for computer professionals

I ave left out "assessment" to make this shorter (it is implicit in all formal education).

As web search found no occurrence of this title. There are several hundred thousand occurrences of "Learning design and delivery". The problem will to be prevent confusion with courses on how to teach computing. Perhaps "for" should be "by":

Learning design and delivery by computer professionals

The approach I have previously taken to structure a twelve week course is to divide it up into modules and the modules into weekly topics. In this case the modules might be: Delivery (Teaching), Design (Development), Assessment and Management. This is the order a teaching program would traditionally introduce the topics, but perhaps this should be: Design, Assessment, Delivery, and Management.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 7,

In Part 6 I looked at ACM and IEEE CS curriculum guidelines. That was back in December last year. I have been a bit distracted by completing my MEd and teaching. Returning to the issue of how to design a qualification for those teaching IT, perhaps the vocational Graduate Certificate in Digital Education (TAE8031) is the place to start.

There are many universities across Australia offering graduate certificates in education. However, the curriculum for these programs is not standardizer and they are proprietary. That is, the content of the hundreds of similarly named Grad Certs is different and each institution claims ownership of their design (except in some cases where a few institutions share a common design).  

In contrast, the curriculum for the vocational Graduate Certificate in Digital Education (TAE8031) is standardized ac cross all institutions, is publicly available and is freely available for use.

Qualification Description

This qualification reflects the roles of individuals who apply substantial specialised skills and knowledge in the field of education and capability development, using ICT.

In these roles they make high-level, independent judgements in major planning, design, operational and educational outcomes within highly varied and specialised contexts.

The qualification is designed to enhance, but not replace, a teaching or training qualification.

The volume of learning of a Graduate Certificate in Digital Education is typically six months to one year. ...

Packaging Rules

Total number of units = 5

3 core units plus

2 elective units of which:

• at least 1 unit must be from Group A or Group B below
• 1 unit from the same group as the first elective chosen, or from any accredited course or endorsed Training Package at Graduate Certificate level or above.

The elective units chosen must be relevant to the work outcome and meet local industry needs.

Core Units

TAEDEL801 Evaluate, implement and use ICT-based educational platforms

TAEDEL802 Use e-learning with social media

TAELED801 Design pedagogy for e-learning

Elective Units

Group A

TAEASS801 Analyse, implement and evaluate e-assessment

TAELED803 Implement improved learning practice

TAELED802 Investigate the application of ICT content knowledge

Group B

BSBRES801 Initiate and lead applied research

ICTICT805 Direct ICT procurement

TAELED804 Review enterprise e-learning systems and solutions implementation ...

From: Graduate Certificate in Digital Education (TAE8031)

Australian ICT Educators Program

The Australian Computer Society has proposed an "Australian ICT Educators Program" ("A new paradigm: Why our education system needs an overhaul", Anthony Wong, 7March 2017). This would provide professional development for those teaching ICT in schools. The program would be modeled on the UK Chartered Institute for IT (CaS), from the British Computer Society.

 The Australian program, I suggest, could build on the good work already done by the University of Adelaide, with their on-line Digital Technologies Education Programs for teachers. I suggest using the same "on-line" first approach: first building on-line professional development modules for teachers and the supplementing these with face-to-face classes.

Also I suggest that ACS should not confine the initiative to school teachers. Teaching ICT in the workplace and in higher education is a neglected field. Previously I proposed the ICT discipline Introduce Teaching as a Specialization for Computer Professionals. One role for such teaching-qualified computer professionals would be to design and deliver professional development courses to school teachers.

Introduce Teaching as a Specialization for Computer Professionals

This is to propose recognizing teaching as an area of specialization for computer professionals. I suggest that computer professionals who teach should be recognized as playing a key role in teaching in schools, vocational education institutions, universities and, most importantly in the workplace. I suggest that computer professionals with teaching skills will be a valuable resource with computers having an increasing role in formal and informal learning. However, to make best use of computer professionals who teach, their specialist skills need to be formally recognized by the computing profession.

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) accredits higher education programs using the the ACS Core Body of Knowledge for ICT Professionals (CBOK). About the only recognition of education as a role for computer professionals in the CBOK is Appendix B "ICT Occupations Contained within ANZSCO" (page 15), which lists "ICT Trainer" (223211), as an occupation. The role of computer professionals teaching in industry, in schools, vocational an university education is not recognized. This is at odds with the importance placed on computer education by the ACS, in schools, vocational education and universities.

The ACS Accreditation Application Guidelines (2016, page 5), state that education qualifications and teaching experience will be considered:

"In gauging the capabilities of staff, the Panel will look at qualifications (both in ICT and education), research and practical ICT activities, teaching experience, and contributions to the advancement of ICT knowledge, practice and education. Involvement in professional societies and effective participation in ongoing professional development are also relevant indicators of suitable capability."

Similarly, Australian higher education does not recognize teaching as a computing specialization. Some universities offer double qualifications, where a computer science qualification can be completed alongside a teaching one (typically for school teaching). However, I have been unable to find any Australian university computer degrees which offer teaching as a specialization of the degree.

As I noted in my presentation to the Computing Education Conventicle 2016, there are twelve education and training related skills defined in the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), as used by ACS. These would form a suitable basis for a teaching specialization.

EU Digital Competencies for Teachers Project

The EU funded Digital Competencies for Teachers Project (DIGICOMP) has provided a Moodle based e-Learning Portal for teacher training. There is a leaflet explaining the project and a sixteen page Methodology for Preparation of Materials.

I signed up to try the e-learning.  DIGICOMP uses the Moodle lesson. The student is presented with a small amount of text and then a quiz, in the style of many self paced on-line courses. I started by selecting "Information", but got stuck on the first quiz. This asked me to pick which were browsers from a list. I selected Firefox, Opera and Safari. I clicked "continue" was told these answers were correct but was then presented with the same quiz again.

Apparently I had not selected all the browsers. However, the other choices were Google, Facebook, and iPhone 6, none of which are browsers. The Google browser is called "Chrome", Facebook is a social media platform and iPhone 6 is a smart phone.

Even if my answers are not correct, there should be a way to proceed past the quiz without having to make all nine attempts.

After nine attempts I was able to move on to the second part of the lesson entitled "Browse (Google) Like Ninja!". There is no good reason to mention Google so prominently in a course (unless the project is being funded by the company). Also there is no need to use jargon like "Ninja". Perhaps these are early days for the project and this is just a Alpha version of the course.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 6, ACM/IEEE

In Part 5 I looked at the Industry Certifications for IT instructors. However it would also be useful to see what guidance professional bodies provide. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and
IEEE Computer Society provide curriculum guidelines for
undergraduate degree programs in Computer Science (2013), Software Engineering (2014) and Computer Engineering (2016).

 

The curriculum is specified in "lecture hours", but the Computer Engineering curriculum (p. 23, 2016) points out other forms of instruction are feasible:

"This report does not seek to endorse the lecture format. Even though we have used a metric with its roots in a classical, lecture-oriented form, we believe that other styles can be at least as effective, particularly given recent improvements in educational technology. These include forms such as flipped classrooms, massive open online courses (MOOCs), blended learning, pre-recorded lectures, and seminars. For some of these styles, the notion of hours may be difficult to apply. Even so, the time specifications serve as a comparative metric, in the sense that five core hours will presumably take approximately five times as much time or effort to address as one core-hour, independent of the teaching style. "

The "Computer Science Curricula" (p. 52, 2013) discusses the use of specialist teachers, however, no mention is made of what qualifications they should have to teach:

"Permanent faculty, whose primary criteria for evaluation is based on teaching and educational contributions (broadly defined), can be instrumental in helping to build accessible courses, engage in curricular experimentation and revision, and provide outreach efforts to bring more students into the discipline."

Interestingly the "Computer Science Curricula" (p. 53, 2013) goes on to recommend the use of undergraduate teaching assistants, but again there is no mention of what teaching skills they require, or the concept of teaching as a specialization for a computer professional:

"While research universities have traditionally drawn on postgraduate students to serve as teaching assistants in the undergraduate curriculum, over the past 20 years growing numbers of departments have found it valuable to engage advanced undergraduates as teaching assistants in introductory computing courses. The reported benefits to the undergraduate teaching assistants include learning the material themselves when they are put in the role of helping teach it to someone else, better time management, improved ability dealing with organizational responsibilities, and presentation skills [4, 6]. Students in the introductory courses also benefit by having a larger course staff available, more accessible staff, and getting assistance from a “near-peer,” someone with a recent familiarity in the kind of questions and struggles the student is likely facing."

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 5, Industry Certification

In Part 4 I looked at combining VET and university teaching. However, before considering any new qualifications, what industry certifications are there? There are Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) to specifically teach about Microsoft products. These trainers need to have a Microsoft Certification in a subject area, plus "one year of instructional experience", and an instructional skills certification.

The Microsoft MCT site is useful in that it provides a list of IT related instructional skills certifications:

1. CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+)
2. IAMCT Approved Technical Trainer (IAMCT ATT)
3. Microsoft Certified Trainer Instructional Skills Certification (MCT-ISC)
4. IPM (Institut für Personalberatung und Managemententwicklung)
5. New Horizons Instructional Skills Certification
6. Netcom Learning Instructional Skills Certification
7. Global Knowledge Instructional Skills Certification
8. Learning and Performance Institute Trainer Performance Monitoring and Assessment (TPMA)
9. CEGOS Group
10. PrepMasters USA
11. Marcom Deli
12. Gopas
13. Sinerji Egitim

CTT+ distinguishes between virtual and classroom based training. IAMCT ATT requires a three day face-to-face course. The Netcom Learning  CompTIA CTT+ Certification requires a 5 day (40 hour) course. This suggests that the MCT could be compared to a form of Australian VET certificate.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 4, Combining VET and University Teaching

In Part 3 I looked at the carefully thought out set of teaching qualifications for the Vocational Education and Training Sector (VET). One approach to the university sector would be to start with those who had completed a VET qualification and then add whatever else they might need. However, this might not be attractive, or useful, for someone who already has a degree in computing. Requiring a VET qualification may discourage computing professionals from studying teaching.

An alternative approach would be to have a graduate university program which also met the VET requirements. This would also be useful as the student could look at requirements for the two sectors as part of their studies.

CQ University advise that their CertificateIV in Training and Assessment requires about 270 hours of study. This is approximately one half the time for a postgraduate certificate. So it would be reasonable to incorporate the material required for a Cert IV in a Graduate Certificate.

One approach which could be used is to teach the students using the tools and techniques they are learning about as subject matter. As an example, students could prepare an e-portfolio as part of learning about e-portfolios as a teaching tool. The students would learn about Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as an educational topic and also present evidence, via the e-portfolio, for RPL.

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 3, Vocational Education and Training

In Part 2' I looked at what  standards professional bodies have for IT teaching. The Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector also has a carefully thought out set of teaching qualifications underpinning the way training is provided. The Companion volume implementation guide for TAE Training and Education Training Package (Release 2.0, April 2016), provides details.

Unpinning the VET system is the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40116), which a VET teacher will most commonly have. Above this are the Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (TAE50116 ), Diploma of Training Design and Development (TAE50216) and the Graduate Certificate in Digital Education (TAE80316).

The Cert IV is intended for both VET and Enterprise Trainers and Assessors,  the Diploma  for VET Trainers and Assessors, and the Grad Cert  is intended for Tertiary, secondary and primary teachers. The Dip TDD, is intended for  Instructional Designers in all sectors.

The Cert IV, Dip TDD and Grad Cert appear most applicable to IT professionals.

Some of the Units of Competency which make up the qualifications involve IT related skills:

TAEASS801 Analyse, implement and evaluate e-assessment

TAEDEL403 Coordinate and facilitate distance-based learning
TAEDEL501 Facilitate e-learning
TAEDEL801 Evaluate, implement and use ICT-based educational platforms
TAEDEL802 Use e-learning with social media
TAEDES503 Design and develop e-learning resources
TAELED801 Design pedagogy for e-learning
TAELED802 Investigate the application of ICT content knowledge
TAELED804 Review enterprise e-learning systems and solutions implementation
ICTICT805 Direct ICT procurement

The number of institutions offering these qualification drops off sharply as the level increases: Cert IV T&A (643),  Dip VET (140), Dip TD & D (115) and the Grad Cert DE (8).

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 2, Education Skills for IT Professionals

In Part 1 I considered if we should have more IT professionals, trained to teach part time.  But what  standards and qualifications could be applied to such teaching?

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) requires members to be competent in at least one "specialism". Five of these relate to education and training:

1. Learning and development assessment
2. Learning and development management
3. Learning delivery
4. Learning design and development
5. Teaching and subject formation

From ACS Certified Professional Pathway Chart (2013).

As I noted in my presentation to the Computing Education Conventicle 2016, there are twelve education and training related skills defined in the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is used by the ACS in Australia to define what IT people do and so this recognizes education as legitimate role for IT professionals. The skills range from level three (the beginner level) to level seven (the highest skill level). The skills are broadly described and would fit with roles in the workplace, vocational training and university sectors.

Having these skills defined allows a program to be accredited as suitable for an professional IT.

SFIA Category Skills and ACS Membership Level

Subcategory	Skill	Code	Levels
* SFIA Version 6 definitions from ACS (2015)
Skill management	Learning and development management	ETMG	--34567
	Learning assessment and evaluation	LEDA	--3456-
	Learning design and development	TMCR	---456-
	Learning delivery	ETDL	--3456-
	Teaching and subject formation	TEAC	----56-
People management	Professional development	PDSV	---456-

One of the six SFIA categories is "Skills and quality". This includes six skills definitions, with five from the "Skill management" subcategory and one from "People management".

ACS Certified Technologists (CT) are required to be competent in at least one "specialism" at SFIA level 3 and Certified Professionals (CP) at Level 5. Three of the learning related SFIA skills are defined at level 3 (delivery, assessment and evaluation, development management). All six are defined at level 5. This suggests that the lower level skills are: delivery, assessment, evaluation, and development management.

The inclusion of learning evaluation as a low level skill is curious. Normally it would be considered that appraisal of a program would be a higher level skill than of individual students.

The SFIA Skills Definitions (Assessment Portal, 2016) would not on the face of it appear to relate to what the typical computer student learns or does in the workplace. However, many of the basic skills, such as preparing documents, giving presentations and collecting feedback, are common to IT development and education. A small component of training specifically on learning skills should be sufficient for the typical computer degree graduate to meet the SFIA Level 3 requirements. However, preparing the documentation for this, without the use of a tool, could be onerous.

Education Related Skills Definitions in SFIA Version 6

Category Skills and quality

1. Learning and development management (ETMG): The provision of learning and development processes (including learning management systems) to develop the professional, business and/or technical skills required by the organization.
   
2. Learning assessment and evaluation (LEDA): The assessment of knowledge, skills and behavior by any means whether formal or informal against capability and qualification frameworks such as SFIA. The evaluation of learning or education programs against defined outcomes.
   
3. Learning design and development (TMCR): The specification, design, creation, packaging and maintenance of materials and resources for use in learning and development in the workplace or in compulsory, further or higher education. Typically involves the assimilation of information from existing sources, selection and re-presentation in a form suitable to the intended purpose and audience. Includes instructional design, content development, configuration and testing of learning environments, and use of appropriate current technologies such as audio, video, simulation and assessment. May include third party accreditation.
   
4. Learning delivery (ETDL): The transfer of business and/or technical skills and knowledge and the promotion of professional attitudes in order to facilitate learning and development. Uses a range of techniques, resources and media (which might include eLearning, on-line virtual environments, self-assessment, peer-assisted learning, simulation, and other current methods).
   
5. Teaching and subject formation (TEAC): The specification, design, development, delivery and assessment of curricula for computing and for information technology (including electronic communication), at any level of the education system from primary through to tertiary (all age ranges) and in the workplace. The topics addressed are those of the fundamental and more advanced areas of computing and the common skills needed to make productive use of computers and IT systems for both computing and IT professionals and competent users of IT based systems including the ideas of computational thinking and the application of computational concepts to everyday and professional life. Special attention is paid to the methods, techniques and pedagogy (the study of being a teacher, tutor or lecturer, and the process of teaching) of computing & IT education.
   
6. Professional development (PDSV): The facilitation of the professional development of individuals, including initiation, monitoring, review and validation of learning and development plans in line with organizational or business requirements. The counselling of participants in all relevant aspects of their continual professional development. The identification of appropriate learning/development resources. Liaison with internal and external training providers.
   

 From: SFIA Skills Definitions from: Assessment Portal (2016). Retrieved from: http://assessment-portal.azurewebsites.net/SFIAv6Index/SFIASkillsDefinitions(v6).aspx

Training Tech Professionals to Teach: Part 1, why?

A few weeks ago I finished a semester helping teach project management to university IT students in ANU Techlauncher. I was asked to help due to a shortage of suitably experienced tutors. But where do such IT teachers come from? Ideally, to teach IT you need not only a theoretical knowledge, but practical recent work experience. Teaching does not pay much, but it is rewarding in other ways. Perhaps we could have more IT professionals, trained to teach part time.

Financial Times columnist, Lucy Kellaway, recently announced that she is becoming a teacher. She plans to teach school maths in the UK. Lucy called on older business people to do likewise: retire and take up teaching. But perhaps experienced IT professionals need not retire: they could take up higher education teaching part time. As more vocational education and university courses are moving to a blended and on-line mode, this need not involve a long commute to a campus. Part time teachers could teach mostly on-line, with occasional visits to the campus for intensive sessions with students and fellow staff.

Lucy Kellaway has helped found Now Teach, to help people have a second career as teachers. I would be interested to know if something similar exists for the Higher Education sector, to help professionals become part time teachers.

The ACS Accreditation Application Guidelines (2016, page 5) suggest using ICT professionals from industry for part time teaching:

"In addition to the full-time academic staff team, ICT schools are strongly encouraged to make use of the expertise of practising professionals in ICT and related fields for guest lecturing and other sessional teaching."

In theory it should be easy to recruit professionals as part time university teachers, as you don't need any teaching qualification to teach at university in Australia. However, this can make it a daunting experience. I have seen seasoned professionals who can defend their project in front of a hostile board of directors, but wilt when faced with a classroom of students. Also as teaching moves on-line, more skills than just being able to get up and talk for fifty minutes are be needed.

If an organization doesn't exist, then perhaps one needs to be started. This could focus on IT and related STEM areas, for vocational education and training (VET) and university teaching. It could provide an on-line program to help new teachers with teaching, particularly in how to use on-line and flipped/blended modes.

First I thought I would look at what would be a suitable set of qualifications for such teachers and what funding would be available for them to learn. Such teachers might be triple qualified: meeting the requirements of their discipline for professional skills (teaching is a recognized skill an IT professional), requirements for vocational trainers and university academics. As far as I am aware no courses exist in Australia to address the training requirements of the IT profession. Courses do exist for vocational an university teaching, but these are in separate programs.