Posts Tagged ‘Continuing education’
Adult education programs vary in content and effectiveness. Whether you’re working as a teacher or a student, there are a few ways you can help improve the quality of instruction.
1. Purchase new materials to help keep your course content relevant. Buy kits that utilize different types of media, like audio CDs, computer programs, DVDs and worksheets.
Plan the programs budget so that a different department gets to buy new materials each year.
2. Post ads in community centers to find people who can teach special courses.
You need qualified educators for things like GED preparation and alternative high school courses, but tax courses, home planning and music instruction can be taught by professionals if your department of education approves them.
Perform a background check on every person who will be teaching alone.
3. Lobby your state legislators to increase funding to improve adult education. Explain that decreased support has made it harder for adults to gain the skills they need to advance in the work force.
Contact your state representatives in Washington and ask them to push for bills that include additional federal money for non-traditional learning.
4. Provide training sessions for your volunteer ESL teachers. Allow them to share their ideas and issues with teaching English. Give out basic lesson plans and resources to help them improve their instruction techniques and inform them of ESL certification programs in the area.
5. Raise the community’s awareness of locally funded adult education. Encourage people to come out and vote to allocate more funding for these programs. Explain that adult education benefits everyone because it leads to better jobs and more money flowing into the local economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Continuing education is a fairly broad term that encompasses various forms of adult education at the post-secondary level.
Continuing education can be for college credit or, as is more commonly the case, not.
Many continuing education courses are industry-specific in that they are meant to offer ongoing training for people working in that field.
The insurance industry, for example, uses continuing education courses to fulfill ongoing licensing requirements.
Continuing education courses can satisfy students’ curiosity and need for self-development.
Because of the importance of such courses, it is necessary that the designer or teacher of the course constantly strive to improve them or design them better.
1. Study the benefits of teaching continuing education courses. Two assistant professors at Marshall University, Wylma C. Skean and Rhonda Robinson Scragg, contend that there are “a number of benefits that the instructor derives that can be directly related to success in completing faculty duties.”
This does not include the obvious perceived benefits such as smaller classes or the lack of need for testing. Instead, they list expanded expertise, networking, “real world” exposure, and for colleges, recruiting.
Understanding how these courses help you or your institution will help you to create better instructional methods.
2. Utilize the world of high-tech media. There are so many different types of continuing education courses that it is difficult to prescribe one method for improving all of them.
It is, however, possible to suggest that technologies such as the Internet, DVDs, Microsoft Powerpoint, and the like can all have a positive impact on the learning environment and can serve as necessary supplements to course material.
Powerpoint can be particularly effective if used correctly with plenty of graphics, audio, and video elements. Be careful, however, to not let it become a distraction to the course participants by making it the sole focus of the learning content.
3. Keep the class engaged. Sometimes continuing education courses become mundane because the instructor is focused on getting through a certain amount of material for licensing requirements or for some other reason.
Using a question-and-answer format, group discussions, and other interactive methods for learning can greatly enhance your course. Read the rest of this entry »
To become a practicing speech-language pathologist, often called a speech therapist, in the communication field of speech pathology, an individual typically must earn a two-year master’s degree in speech-language pathology, complete an appropriate supervised clinical fellowship and pass the national Praxis Series examination on speech-language pathology offered by the Educational Testing Service.
Meeting those stringent requirements is not the end of the professional preparation process for speech-language pathologists, however, especially those who choose not to work in public schools.
To maintain and advance a career in speech pathology, 47 states require licenses that are frequently obtainable only after proof is provided of relevant continuing education.
Function
Licensing is an important aspect of a career in speech pathology because it helps states ensure that practitioners have adequate skills to successfully assist their patients or clients.
As a result, continuing education is a standard pursuit for speech pathology professionals for more than one reason. It not only helps speech-language pathologists meet licensing requirements in the area in which they practice so that they can continue working, but it also allows the development of expertise related to the pathologist’s specific career goals and/or the types of unique issues he will tend to address in his practice.
Types
Continuing education options in the speech pathology field are extremely flexible and diverse. Speech-language pathologists can essentially choose to focus on whichever topics they feel are most appropriate for their professional aspirations, as long as the subjects fall within the range of areas relevant to speech pathology.
These include just about any subject related to diagnosing, preventing and treating communication disorders of a speech, fluency or cognitive nature. Read the rest of this entry »