eContinuing Personal And Professional Development
eContinuing Professional Development (eCPD) is a new trend in education and life-long learning.
How Technology Changes Learning (eCPD) Through The Internet
Vast amounts of information can be found nowadays through the internet thus, learning is within reach (virtually) to almost everyone with just a few clicks. Learning is accessible via a mobile, tablet, desktop, or laptop whether you are online or offline. A few years ago, anyone who wanted to access a book or magazine had to go to a library or bookstore. If students and professionals needed to watch presentations, discussions, and educational events, then they needed to be physically present at an area or venue at a specific time and date. Now, these things have changed a lot because there are now so-called webinars, electronic and digital learning, and online universities and colleges. These are the innovative ways that are readily available.
Digital Magazines And Newspapers
Many organizations, bookstores, newspapers, and prints are going digital. If you want to learn and stay updated with the current news, events, digital image prints, and job-specific articles, then digital journals, magazines, and newspapers are within reach. Reading and exploring new topics through magazines is a good example of electronic continuing personal or professional development or eCPD. It is unfathomable for some people that by merely reading an article on social media or in a digital newspaper, that they are spending time developing themself. Technically, it is part of continuing personal or professional development.
Webinars
A webinar is a live or recorded educational presentation, meeting, event, or seminar that simply works with a host. Most of the webinars are business- or education-related, giving participants around the world a chance to collaborate, ask and answer questions, brainstorm, make a poll, and/or host discussions. In the world of eLearning, this is very useful because it connects students and professors in real-time and even can be viewed multiple times. Professional organizations, schools, private institutions, government and non-government organizations are utilizing webinars to introduce marketing, informational campaigns, product or services, and certifications.
Online Courses
As education evolves through technology, many approaches are being introduced like MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course), Learning Management Systems, and online training. Many of the universities around the world are now using this technology-based approach as it can reach anyone around the globe as long as they have internet. Education became affordable and convenient because of this innovation, and the professor-to-student ratio became insignificant in learning. A single professor can teach hundreds of thousands of students. Most of the MOOCs available are free, like edX, Coursera, Khan Academy, FutureLearn, Canvas Network, Udacity, Stepik, and many more. And the majority of the institutions offering their courses are from prestigious universities, colleges, and organizations.
Distance Universities And Colleges
Getting a degree a few decades back required an individual to go to a traditional school or the so-called, brick-and-mortar schools. From admission until graduation, students had to physically go to their campus. Today, almost all the countries have distance learning universities or colleges that enable students and professors to interact and learn (i.e. submit assignments, grade quizzes, take exams, host discussions and peer-review sessions) through the internet. Conveniently, anyone can attain an associate or bachelor's degree, certificate, masters or even doctorate without even being required to be physically present at the school. Comparably, degrees offered through distance learning are much lower than the traditional school with the same level of teaching and approach. Most of these universities are using a modular system when offering courses, offering students ease-of-learning and maximizing the opportunity to balance work-study for those who are employed or entrepreneurs.
The Future Of eLearning In Continuing Development
In the near future, in a very competitive world, the internet will change even more the way people learn, interact, and obtain qualifications, skills, and education. But one thing is for sure, continuous improvement is vital for everyone to stay up to date in this innovative era of ours. Technology is really improving exponentially to the benefit of all. Information and data are available online, therefore, education and learning are available to those who want to improve and develop certain skills or qualifications.
