As folks operating within the field of education (or training and development, however you prefer to look at it), it’s critical that we continue foraging our own learning journeys. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit slack with this. Why? I freelanced my butt off, quit my corporate gig, started my own business, and scored a fantastic gig within the post-secondary education sector – just to name a few. However, I’m letting things slow down for me a little bit, and I’m hoping to be able to participate more frequently in the coming months.
With that being said, I’ve been keeping my eye on a few great collaborative learning opportunities, primarily existing within the social media sphere. These are great, because they don’t involve a whole lot of time and you get to learn from a group of colleagues with similar interests! Here are some learning opportunities that have been on my radar:
E-Learning Heroes Weekly Challenges – I participate in these when time allows, and I am presently challenging myself to complete all of the current challenges and keep pace with new ones.
Learn Camp – A self-directed learning experience designed to allow participants to explore new learning concepts and technologies. I’ve seen a lot of Twitter activity under the #LearnCamp hash tag, and catching up will be my goal during some upcoming downtime!
Lrnchat – Lrnchat is an active chat-based community of involvement over on Twitter (hash tag #lrnchat). Participants meet on Twitter each Thursday and participate in online discussion of questions that have been asked. People get really into this one, and I would definitely recommend participating if your Thursday evenings aren’t currently tied up!
OLC Online Teaching Certificate – This program is presently in my line of sight as an opportunity for professional development within my on-site role. It’s a great opportunity to expand upon my Instructional Design experience, while allowing me to contribute more effectively to the design and development of online courses with university faculty members.
Online Learning Consortium Annual Conference 2014 – This year I’ll be sitting in on streamed sessions for the annual conference, and there are SO MANY available! I’m pretty excited. Especially since I wanted to hit up DevLearn this year and wasn’t selected as a presenter (this time around). Both events occur around the same time (late October), so I’m happy to be able to participate in one.
E-Learning Heroes Roadshows – After becoming more active in the E-Learning Heroes Community and being asked to present at the Toronto event back in July, I was hooked! If you have an opportunity to attend one of these events, you’re definitely in for a treat!
I’ve also been looking into a PhD program, but that’s neither here nor there (until I get accepted – which might be this year, next year, the year after – who knows). It’s a long-term goal I have, so I might as well get a jump on it, even if I’m still in the infancy stage.
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