Literature Review- Andjulon Richardson

                                  Issues and Technology in Continuing Professional Education

Andjulon Richardson

Ball State University

Introduction

            Continuing professional education has become a topic that is very relevant to today’s society. Now more than ever, individuals are seeing the importance of education not just at the high school level, but well into college and beyond. Even once a college graduate lands that first job and is well into his or her career, education continues to be something that is of upmost importance. With this in mind, it is necessary to take a look at some of the issues that surround continuing professional education. Furthermore, since technology has become so prevalent around the world, it is only fitting to see how the growth of technology has had its effect on continuing professional education.

Issues

            Trevitt and Perera (2009) stated “the concept of curriculum and the nature of learning involved remains problematic. We argue for a focus on the transformation of self, and posit this as an expanded version of one established curriculum.” Trevitt and Perera further go on to say, “We suggest that institutions need to find ways to strengthen their sense of identity and self confidence if this situation is to improve (2009).” According to this excerpt and the subsequent research conducted, the individual himself or herself and their identity are as critical components of learning as the material being taught. This basically means that there is more to what is being taught or who is teaching it. This notion was further embraced when Trevitt and Perera described a few points to consider when implementing a curriculum, which stated “designing a programme is less about reproducibility and more about adaptability and sustainability. Hence, the kernel of the programme should have built in modules. Modules that can cause all participants (mentees and mentors) to engage, reflect, review, and adapt accordingly; while the husk of the shell is the vehicle structure that fundamentally remains reproducible (2009).” This is a particularly important statement with regards to helping an individual develop his or her self or identity. The act of reflection can easily be seen as one the most important ways in which an individual and take the first step to truly understanding his or herself. Reflection is something that no one else can complete for another person. While someone can be have direction provided by another person, reflection is a level of thinking that at times can provide a deeper understanding.

As with reflection, engagement with other individuals is yet another critical component of providing deeper understanding of one’s self. Engagement in a way goes hand in hand with each other. One can almost not go without the other. A group of students can get together and discourse on a particular subject, while providing each other with points of view that the other would otherwise not have thought of. Through these new found points of view, and individual can apply this to their own circumstances and how it relates to their own being.

Adaptability is yet another point that Trevitt and Perera bring up within their publication, and is as important to a person’s continuing professional education as any. As alluded to earlier in this paper, gone are the days that a person could specialize in one particular area of interest or field and have the comfort of a stable career. As globalization increases as well as the average education level of people, those that are looking for a stable, rewarding career need to realize that there is an importance placed on those who are multi-faceted employees who can take on a wide range of responsibilities placed by their employers.

One particular issue of continuing professional education that deserves to have analysis is the ethical issues that may arise. Patricia Lawler (2000) stated, “Ethics sets limits regarding what people can do in pursuit of their own interests, and prescribes standards of behavior governing their dealings with others.” This is a particularly relevant and important concept when thinking about continuing professional education. The ethical issues surrounding continuing professional education may at first be difficult to understand. However, a closer examination may shed light on why this has become an issue.

Continuing professional education is essentially the business of providing professionals a means to progress or at the very least stay current within their respective careers. In order to accomplish this, professionals need to be educated on the numerous advances and developments with their fields. This is more times than carried out by someone who is considered an expert within the field of interest. This can come in the form of lectures, seminars, workshops, etc. These means of providing education more times than not require some form of monetary compensation to run. It comes as no surprise that there is a considerable amount of professional development or continuing education events that are relatively expensive.

This dilemma begs the question, “should someone be denied information if he or she does not have the monetary means of paying for it?” At first this may seem a simple enough question. Of course a person should be denied, someone is providing a service, and should be compensated as such. However, taking a look from the other point of view, what if the education is something that could determine whether or not a professional maintains employment? It has already been established that society is a constantly changing and rapidly evolving place, and if someone is unable to provide what a company is looking for, that company will find someone who has the skills to get the job done. This is an ethical consideration that warrants further discussion, for there may be ways to alleviate or at least mitigate the effects. For example, government could take the initiative to help offset some of the costs associated with providing continuing professional education. However, even though this may be one solution, it still does not address the issue of playing towards a particular party’s interests. Whether it is the educator or the one being educated, there is almost a sentiment that neither side can both have their interests completely fulfilled.

Lawler also points to a number of other ethical issues that need to be considered. One of these ethical issues is very relevant to today’s society is the use of distance education. Lawler states, “distance education brings new ethical problems concerning the use of on-line resources, privacy, equitable access, intellectual property, new forms of cheating, and redefining the relationship between student and instructor (Lawler, 2000).” As mentioned before, this type of issue is very relevant to society. With the advances in technology, there is little doubt that distance education will become a more prominent means of providing education to people. Consequently, with this increase will come the need to regulate the conduct of those involved.

Ronald Cervero (2000) had stated one issue of continuing professional education as, “ who benefits from continuing professional education? The struggle between the learning agenda and the political and economic agendas of continuing education. As mentioned earlier, there seems to be a divide between those that are in need of continuing education and those who are providing the continued education. This may not be an intentional issue, but rather a basic example of supply and demand. If a continuing professional educator makes his or her services too available, then everyone would have access to the information and eventually becomes useless. This is the same idea as those who had high school educations. Years ago there were not as many people who would finish high school, making a high school education a valuable commodity. However, as more people began completing high school at higher rates, the demand for a high school diploma went down. Therefore, for a continuing professional educator to keep their product worth anything, there may be reason to limit the availability. On the other hand, as mentioned before the information that is being withheld may prove to be costly for those in need.

Technology

The amount of growth with regards to technology within the past couple decades has been exponential. People are now able to complete tasks in a manner that used to only could be dreamed of. With this in mind, the use of technology with continuing professional education has also seen its share of growth. Distance education has been a resounding use of technology that many in the continuing professional education field utilize. According to Helen Johnson and Marian Roman, “distance learning is a generic term, denoting several technologies, from classical correspondence courses to the use of the computer, telecommunications, videos, and web-based technologies, offered alone or in conjunction with classroom experiences (Johnson & Roman, 2003).” There has been research that suggests that there are benefits and drawbacks to utilizing technology in continuing professional education. Robin Mason stated, “ it is more flexible than face-to-face teaching, it supports a self-directed approach to learning rather than a teacher-directed approach and it facilitates choice and the use of a wide range of resources (Mason, 2006).”

These benefits are especially true for an increasing amount of adult today. More people are working at least full while carrying any number of other obligations. This consequently leaves people with little or now time for continuing education. However, providing a program exclusively online can help individuals stay abreast with their careers while maintaining a healthy personal life.

One drawback that Mason addresses has to do with the age gap of individuals using technology. “On the whole, young people who have grown up with computers, mobile phones, and other devices for virtual communication are not frightened by the technology and are open to experimentation and exploration of the facilities (Mason, 2006).” This alludes to the fact that while not all adults are completely oblivious to the use of technology, it may safe to say that there are still a large portion of society who may have difficulty grasping the use of technology, especially when it comes to learning.

Adding to the benefit of convenience from the use of technology is brought to attention by Adam Segal-Isaacson, who stated “among the prime advantages is that the student rarely has to spend more than 2 weeks on campus (Sega-Isaacson, 2002). This is yet another illustration of how an individual can carry a busy schedule within their personal life and still have the opportunity to further their education.

The issues and technologies that face continuing professional education have been researched a great deal, however as time progresses, so will the issues and technologies. What is truly fascinating about continuing professional education is that it is constantly evolving, making strides and advances, regardless of the stakeholders. The issues of who continuing education benefits will continue to be of discussion, and the technology that continuing education utilizes will continue to evolve. However one thing is certain; there will always be those who are willing to research and synthesize information in order to better understand it.

Bibliography

Cevero, R. (2000). Trends and Issues in Continuing Professional Education. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education , 10.

Johnson, H. A., & Roman, M. (2003). GERIATRIC CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE WORKPLACE: UTILIZING INTERACTIVE TELEVISION (ITV) TECHNOLOGY IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE. Educational Gerontology , 29 (7), 597.

Lawler, P. A. (2000). Ethical Issues in Continuing Professional Education. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education , 86, 63.

Mason, R. (2006). Learning Technologies for Adult Continuing Education. Studies in Contiuing Education , 121-133.

Segal-Isaacson, A. (2009). Technology Puts Continuing Education Within Reach. Nursing , 14-16.

Trevitt, C., & Perera, C. (2009). Self and Continuing Professional Learning: Issues of Curriculum and Identity in Developing Academic Practice. Teaching in Higher Education , 14 (4), 347-359.