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8. Using MOOCs for Professional Development

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8. Using MOOCs for Professional Development

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6.4. b. Is gaining new knowledge more important than accreditation?

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6.4. b. Is gaining new knowledge more important than accreditation?

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In the survey, 3 people disagreed (2) or strongly disagreed with the statement that acquiring new knowledge was more important than gaining accreditation, while one person said: “I like learning but also like to be able to prove that I am working on my CPD, so even a certificate of attendance is nice to have as a record of your learning”.

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7: Professional Development: Challenges and Perceptions

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7: Professional Development: Challenges and Perceptions

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Rating of CPD activities according to usefulness in for:
1. Improving acquisition of new knowledge and skills
2. Promoting positive attitudes in the workplace
3. Build coping strategies for changes in professional settings
4. Improving workplace performance
Respondents to the survey were asked to rate types and features of MOOCs in relation to how well they achieve the objectives of CPD as per the definition above. The option which ranked best overall was fully online MOOCs validated by the professional council or professional association where 89% of respondents gave it a rating of 4 or more. Different options scored better for each objective: Fully online MOOCs validated by universities or other educational bodies were considered the best way of improving acquisition of new knowledge and skills; MOOCs that are validated by the professional council or professional association scored best as a means to build coping strategies for changes in the workplace; in relation to the online option for promoting positive attitudes in the workplace, three choices got a 4 or more rating by 86% of respondents and included MOOOcs validated by universities or other educational bodies, MOOCs validated by professional council or professional association, and non-award bearing MOOCs based on interest and relevance to professional needs. The top scoring options for improving workplace performance were MOOCs validated by professional councils and associations and non-award bearing MOOCs. Webinars and topic-specific MOOC discussion forums for specific professionals received the lowest ratings, though it should be noted that these are often included in MOOCs, so it could be interpreted that respondents prefer packaged MOOCs including all elements rather than stand-alone activities.
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Note: highest scores are in bold; lowest scores are in red

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Rating of CPD activities according to usefulness in for:
1. Improving acquisition of new knowledge and skills
2. Promoting positive attitudes in the workplace
3. Build coping strategies for changes in professional settings
4. Improving workplace performance
This question was designed based  on its commonly understood purpose described by Schostaka (p. 33.,2010) “to ensure that professionals are kept up to date with knowledge and skills, but the issues of attitude and ability to cope with change in professional settings are also important, in order to achieve the ultimate objective of ensuring that “everyday practice is best practice”.  Responses indicated that while no activity scored badly, some types of activities were considered better than others for achieving different objectives. Interestingly, workplace/offsite training courses and events scored highest for improving acquisition of new knowledge and skills, but scored lowest across all the other categories of promoting positive attitudes in the workplace, building coping strategies for changes in professional settings and improving workplace performance. Coaching and mentoring scored highest for achieving all objectives, and while this may be possible in many settings in the developed country under study, it is not the case in the developing country – as one interviewee said: “because in my country there are districts where there is only one person working, now who is going to coach and mentor this one?”

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Note: highest scores are in bold; lowest scores are in red

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7.2.: Do you have enough opportunities for CPD

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7.2.: Do you have enough opportunities for CPD

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24 people said they have sufficient opportunities for CPD while 18 said they don't, while 3 said the question didn't apply to them.
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In the survey, 9 people said they were required to demonstrate credits for CPD, while 32 said they weren’t.
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6.4.a. Is gaining new knowledge more important than accreditation?

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6.4.a. Is gaining new knowledge more important than accreditation?

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40 out of 50 respondents  agreed (22) or strongly agreed (18) that gaining new knowledge is more important to them than accreditation.

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6.3. Are MOOCs recognized by your employer or professional body?

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6.3. Are MOOCs recognized by your employer or professional body?

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6.2. Does your employer encourage you to take MOOCs?

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6.2. Does your employer encourage you to take MOOCs?

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6.1. Do you inform your employer when you take a MOOC?

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6.1. Do you inform your employer when you take a MOOC?

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