Online training is great! You don’t have to go anywhere, you can learn from wherever you are (at work, in a cafe, at home in your PJs…) and it’s usually very affordable and accessible.
But...we all know that sometimes although we register for online professional development with good intentions, we don’t always see a lot of benefit from it. Perhaps, you don’t actually do the training or finish it or perhaps you don’t take in much of the content or remember it or apply it to your everyday professional practice. Or you organise the training for your team and nothing seems to happen or improve.
To help with this, we’ve put together 8 tips for getting the most out of online professional development. Use them yourself or if you’re responsible for organising professional development for other people, you can download a free A4 version to give to them by clicking below:
- Before you register, make sure that the course meets your learning and professional development needs and is relevant. Perhaps it needs to be related to a certain area of the National Quality Standard or the Early Years Framework or a particular topic. And check who the course is designed for - new or experienced educators, kindergartens, long daycare, family day care etc.
- Also before you register, make sure the course content is presented in an interactive and engaging manner. Does it have video content, interactive elements and a incorporate a variety of techniques to suit different learning styles.
- Even though the professional development is online, take notes or doodle or draw mind maps about the topic as you participate in the learning. This helps you from zoning out or getting distracted and the more senses you engage, the better your retention of the topic will be.
- Make a set time to do your online professional development - make an appointment with yourself in your calendar and block it out as busy so other people will know you’re not available during this time.
- Eliminate distractions - turn off your phone, make sure you have a drink, notebook and pen handy, close all other tabs on your browser, turn off or mute all email and other notifications.
- Take a few minutes after the professional development training to reflect and make a list of several things that you want to learn more about, improve upon, share with a colleague or incorporate into your practice. Note down when you will do these things.
- Put your learning into action. Have a conversation with a colleague informally about the topic, raise a new idea or a reflection point at a staff meeting, incorporate something new into your planning etc.
- Revisit and reflect on the topic. Make a note in your diary to come back to the professional development in a month’s time. Reflect and ask yourself how you implemented what you learned? Did you share any points that had an impact with anyone else? What do you need to find out next? Is there another related topic you now need to explore or question you need answered?
If you have other tips that have worked for you and your team, comment below to share these.
To see the range of online professional development courses offered by Excellence Matters, click below:
