Advanced Professional Certificate in E-Learning Design and Delivery for Engineers and Technicians
WHAT YOU WILL GAIN:
- An excellent overview of the new and different terms, acronyms and methods ofusing e‐learning for engineering, technology and the sciences
- How to design and present e‐learning courses for engineering professionals
- How to effectively make the transition from the classroom to the e‐learning approach
- How to enhance your learning and training strategies with these new approaches
- Ability to talk knowledgeably to other professionals working in the area
- How to set up the infrastructure and technologies for the efficient delivery of training
- How to train instructors to present effectively using these new tools
- Achieve a good understanding of the way the field is developing
- How to create your own marketing and sales campaign using these technologies
- How to get a job or set up a company based around e‐learning
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INTRODUCTION
E‐Learning has come a long way from its basic ‘book on the web’ roots and is expanding rapidly throughout the world in all industries and subject areas. Recent research for the US Department of Education indicates that statistically, online learners achieved better results than those in the traditional classroom setting. Its popularity is largely driven by the flexibility it offers students, especially with postgraduate students who often have work and/or family commitments while they study. It also gives students access to international industry experts, lecturers and training instructors regardless of their location. Due to the advancement of technology and increase in available innovative e‐learning tools and software, e‐learning is no longer limited to ‘soft’ subjects and possibilities are now endless.
Due to this increase in demand for online training, along with the (often incorrect) perception by some training providers that this medium is a cheaper and easier delivery option, there has been a steep increase in the number of training providers offering online options. Unfortunately, many of these programs are ineffective due to poor design and delivery. The rapid migration of a large number of traditional course materials directly into e‐learning format (often referred to as “shovelware”) has resulted in poor delivery and a significant level of dissatisfaction among students, especially from an engineering professionals’ point of view.
This practical course is about helping you to apply e‐learning to engineering and technology training successfully – all the way up from trades training to high level engineering design. We would be less than honest if we didn’t say that applying e‐learning has been a wonderful journey of discovery for us. After initially being enthused by synchronous e‐learning (e.g. web conferencing) and being dismayed by the materials provided under asynchronous e‐learning (e.g. the “book on the web training course”); in reviewing and experimenting with the different technologies, we have come to the view point that in using a judicious combination of the different components of e‐learning that a really successful productive course can result. The magic is in the mix! Most of this course reflects real world experiences – we have been experimenting and implementing varied e‐learning technologies and quickly find out what is effective and what simply doesn’t work. The so‐called market and our students are often brutally honest!
E‐learning has been extended dramatically in the past decade into numerous other areas such as simulations, remote labs, 3D learning environments, informal learning, web conferencing and indeed blended learning.
We believe that in essence what the Internet and the improvement in computing power has done is to tie outstanding instructors to students no matter where they are located in the world. If executed well, e‐learning programs can actually offer a student more interactivity than classroom study due to the variety of communication tools available. One still needs an outstanding instructor (probably even better than in the traditional classroom due to the lack of visual cues from students) ‐ technology has not taken this away. Anyone who thinks they can replace the instructor with a computer and software in the teaching process is sadly mistaken, yet hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on precisely this method of learning especially using asynchronous e‐learning.
E‐learning is also rapidly becoming a key part of normal classroom instruction as well. This in itself is a great reason for learning about it; even if you are still working in a traditional training environment. If you don’t jump onboard now you risk being left behind. The new techniques today reveal enormous opportunities to really provide an outstanding product to complement your classroom training, and indeed your on‐the‐job training and informal learning.
Another objective of this course is to stimulate you to read further on topics on ground‐breaking technologies in learning. We have done a reasonably exhaustive search of innovative practice in applying e‐learning to engineering and science education and have tried to be as thorough in listing all the resources to dig further.
With all these new technologies, one important point that should be made which is echoed by training professionals and organisations working in the area – that there is still a need for outstanding instructional design, instructors and a focus on the learner. In fact, arguably, despite all this additional technology we have found that the instructor is challenged even more to design and deliver outstanding presentations.
Bear in mind that e‐learning is only part of the training solution. One should always consider it in terms of a holistic solution (or blended approach) and thus combine it with classroom instruction, on‐the‐job training and simply reading and talking to one’s peers and learning about a topic. This should be done in an effective way resulting in tangible and measurable results. One should never forget that on‐the‐job training is often the most important form of training in small business.
While the program examines both synchronous and asynchronous options, it does focus more on synchronous study, as we feel that it is best to train you about an approach we have become very comfortable and knowledgeable about and which we believe offers a proven approach with outstanding results.
Due to this increase in demand for online training, along with the (often incorrect) perception by some training providers that this medium is a cheaper and easier delivery option, there has been a steep increase in the number of training providers offering online options. Unfortunately, many of these programs are ineffective due to poor design and delivery. The rapid migration of a large number of traditional course materials directly into e‐learning format (often referred to as “shovelware”) has resulted in poor delivery and a significant level of dissatisfaction among students, especially from an engineering professionals’ point of view.
This practical course is about helping you to apply e‐learning to engineering and technology training successfully – all the way up from trades training to high level engineering design. We would be less than honest if we didn’t say that applying e‐learning has been a wonderful journey of discovery for us. After initially being enthused by synchronous e‐learning (e.g. web conferencing) and being dismayed by the materials provided under asynchronous e‐learning (e.g. the “book on the web training course”); in reviewing and experimenting with the different technologies, we have come to the view point that in using a judicious combination of the different components of e‐learning that a really successful productive course can result. The magic is in the mix! Most of this course reflects real world experiences – we have been experimenting and implementing varied e‐learning technologies and quickly find out what is effective and what simply doesn’t work. The so‐called market and our students are often brutally honest!
E‐learning has been extended dramatically in the past decade into numerous other areas such as simulations, remote labs, 3D learning environments, informal learning, web conferencing and indeed blended learning.
We believe that in essence what the Internet and the improvement in computing power has done is to tie outstanding instructors to students no matter where they are located in the world. If executed well, e‐learning programs can actually offer a student more interactivity than classroom study due to the variety of communication tools available. One still needs an outstanding instructor (probably even better than in the traditional classroom due to the lack of visual cues from students) ‐ technology has not taken this away. Anyone who thinks they can replace the instructor with a computer and software in the teaching process is sadly mistaken, yet hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on precisely this method of learning especially using asynchronous e‐learning.
E‐learning is also rapidly becoming a key part of normal classroom instruction as well. This in itself is a great reason for learning about it; even if you are still working in a traditional training environment. If you don’t jump onboard now you risk being left behind. The new techniques today reveal enormous opportunities to really provide an outstanding product to complement your classroom training, and indeed your on‐the‐job training and informal learning.
Another objective of this course is to stimulate you to read further on topics on ground‐breaking technologies in learning. We have done a reasonably exhaustive search of innovative practice in applying e‐learning to engineering and science education and have tried to be as thorough in listing all the resources to dig further.
With all these new technologies, one important point that should be made which is echoed by training professionals and organisations working in the area – that there is still a need for outstanding instructional design, instructors and a focus on the learner. In fact, arguably, despite all this additional technology we have found that the instructor is challenged even more to design and deliver outstanding presentations.
Bear in mind that e‐learning is only part of the training solution. One should always consider it in terms of a holistic solution (or blended approach) and thus combine it with classroom instruction, on‐the‐job training and simply reading and talking to one’s peers and learning about a topic. This should be done in an effective way resulting in tangible and measurable results. One should never forget that on‐the‐job training is often the most important form of training in small business.
While the program examines both synchronous and asynchronous options, it does focus more on synchronous study, as we feel that it is best to train you about an approach we have become very comfortable and knowledgeable about and which we believe offers a proven approach with outstanding results.
COURSE STRUCTURE
The Advanced Professional Certificate is an intensive part time program, conducted over 6 months.
Unlike other universities or academic institutions we operate almost all year round without extended breaks between semesters, enabling you to fast track your studies.
This course is composed of 9 modules:
Module One ‐ An Introduction to E‐Learning
Module Two ‐ Basic Learning Theory
Module Three ‐ E‐Learning Technologies
Module Four – Engineering and Technology
Module Five ‐ Presenting in an E‐learning Environment
Module Six ‐ Materials and Resources
Module Seven ‐ Designing an E‐Learning course
Module Eight – Administration and Preparation
Module Nine ‐ Managing and Marketing E‐Learning
Unlike other universities or academic institutions we operate almost all year round without extended breaks between semesters, enabling you to fast track your studies.
This course is composed of 9 modules:
Module One ‐ An Introduction to E‐Learning
Module Two ‐ Basic Learning Theory
Module Three ‐ E‐Learning Technologies
Module Four – Engineering and Technology
Module Five ‐ Presenting in an E‐learning Environment
Module Six ‐ Materials and Resources
Module Seven ‐ Designing an E‐Learning course
Module Eight – Administration and Preparation
Module Nine ‐ Managing and Marketing E‐Learning
Who Should Attend
- Engineers, technologists and technicians wanting to improve their training offerings
- Engineering academic faculty at universities and colleges
- Staff working in corporate training departments who want to extend their training offerings
- Sales and marketing personnel who want to educate others on their products
- Staff of government programs wanting to educate the general public on engineering and technology
- Teachers and instructors at high schools who want to connect to other schools throughout the world with their teaching programs in technology and science
- Engineers, technicians and technologists who have an interest in presenting their courses online
- Engineering training instructors and lecturers
- Engineering training program developers and training coordinators
- Anyone involved in the development, design and delivery of online education in the engineering and technology sector
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