Click Here to proceed to the next page
Courses
A variety of ASP courses and other resources are offered through ULearn to help participants acquire the necessary skills for each of the six competencies. Courses are either standalone learning activities such as a Computer Based Learning (CBL) only, Instructor Led Training (ILT) only, or blended learning, which is a combination of multiple learning delivery methods.
Online courses allow participants to work from a computer terminal and to learn the content at their own pace. This process allows time for reflection and to prepare for live sessions. Live sessions are opportunities to practice skills learned online, question any experiences they have had, and share best practices with peers. ILT sessions are either offered face to face, or as web-based training through the virtual session classroom, Elluminate.
Alternatives
Taking courses offered by PDTO is not the only avenue open to participants. They may participate in a learning activity offered by another organization or through a different medium that will give them the opportunity to gain the required skills in any of the six competencies. Participants can use the following alternative resources to acquire content knowledge in each of the competencies:
*Books
*Book Clubs
*Buddy system / mentoring
*Audio tapes / CDs
*Participation on a committee
*Independent study
*Magazines / journals
*Observation
*Professional Associations
*Civic or community organizations
*University / college courses
*Workshops / seminars
Participants are encouraged to practice and apply their new skills in any opportunity that is available to them. On the job, that might mean working with their supervisor to find special assignments or projects where they could apply new skills. They may also find opportunities outside the office by actively participating in a church, school, community or professional association.
Learning Labs
Learning labs are monthly, competency-based, moderated discussion forums that are designed to give participants the opportunity to practice skills, work on action plans, as well as discuss any ongoing tasks with peers, expanding their network of resources.
For example, someone may have been trained to use one of the University's software systems, but may not have used it in a few months. At the Learning Lab for technology, another participant may be able to answer questions about the system. This added knowledge benefits the department as well as the University.
Collaboration Centers
Collaboration Centers are online discussion boards that will give participants the opportunity to continue discussions started in learning labs or in live sessions, and share best practices on various topics. These online discussions create another opportunity for participants to be actively engaged throughout the program.
Collaboration Centers will be used in two ways. First, the topics that are discussed at each Learning Lab will be posted on the Collaboration Center under their respective competencies. Participants will be able to contribute to the discussion by posting their own replies. A posting for a Learning Lab topic is defined as one comment on the discussion point and two replies to other participants' postings. Secondly, an article per competency will be posted to the Collaboration Center every six months. A posting to an article is defined as one comment on the article and two replies to other participants' postings.
Click Here to view and/or print PDF instructions on how to access a collaboration center.
Click Here to view and/or print a PDF of Collaboration Center Posting Guidelines.
If you do not have Adobe Reader, Click Here to download the latest version.
