Employee Development

Personal Development Plan.

Looking ahead, I can tell you one of my major professional goals is to become a High School Video Production teacher.  Now in order to obtain this goal there are a number of things or steps in front of me that I will need to accomplish.

First of All, I will need to receive more formal education in the form of an “off-site program that is specifically designed for my needs.”(Noe)  In order to become a High School Video Production teacher, I will need to obtain my Career Technical Education (CTE) certificate.  CTE courses are designed to prepare students to be members of the work force and teaches them many of the skill needed in order to find work when they graduate from school.  In order to teach these course, teachers need to obtain their CTE certificate. The  CTE certification process prepares educators to teach 21st century skills to both middle school and high school students.  By completing this program, I will be qualified to teach any video production course at any high school in the state of Washington.

Part of the purposes of the CTE programs are for students to learn these skills from trained professionals, from individuals who have worked or are working in these fields and for them to be trained on the last strategies and equipment. The second step for my personal development will be through job experiences, possibly asking for new job assignment.  “New job assignments help take advantage of employees’ existing skills, experiences, and contacts, while helping them develop new ones”(Noe). In order for me to continue to develop my skills I need to continue to work in the field of video production.  To do this, I will continue working at my second job, as a sports videographer at Xfinity Arena in Everett, Washington.  During the upcoming hockey season, I will shadow or follow the Technical Director, in hopes to possibly learn the job and understand its function.   This will allow me to continue to improve my skills, while learning and working with the same tools and skills that I hope to be teaching my students.

The third step in my development plan is to find a mentor, a CTE teacher who is willing to help me through this process.  “A mentor is an experienced, productive senior employee who helps develop a less experienced employee”(Noe).  There are a number of CTE teachers in our school district and more importantly, one who is teaching the program I hope to be teaching.  By developing a mentoring relationship with him, I might be able to learn from his leadership, and have a greater understanding of what needs to be done and how to accomplish it.

The final step of my development plan is an opportunity for Assessment.  “Assessments are used for several reasons.  Assessment is used to identify the strength and weaknesses of an individual.  Assessments help employees understand their tendencies, needs, the type of work environment they prefer, and the type of work they prefer to do.”(Noe) I am currently teaching a similar style of courses or program at the middle school level.  By allowing the administration or possibly the High School CTE teacher to come in and observe my course and teaching, I can develop a greater understanding of my own strengths and weakness, while also getting a better understanding of how my program meets the needs of a CTE program.

By following these four steps, I should be prepared to teach a High School level CTE Video production course, and thus ready to fulfill the dream that I have been trying to achieve for the past 10 years.

By following the link below, you can observe a presentation for my school district that I created in order to convince them to institute a district wide Employee Development Plan.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bpdwsRA3hQ7PMuIsesNrwzBif3HyE2JgmzDxdcLwaKc/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=30000

Noe, R. A. (2013). Employee training and development (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

High Tech Training

Instructional Designers understand that technology has changed the world very quickly over the past century, and if education is going to continue to reach those people who have grown up with technology, it is going to need to find ways to educate while providing access to technology.   The addition of technology must be more than just putting content online, the Instructional Designers must repurpose it to me the needs of the students and the curriculum “Remember that just putting text online isn’t necessarily an effective way to learn.  Repurposing refers to directly translating an instructor-led, face-to-face training program to an online format.”(Noe)

One way technology has truly helped training and education is the way it allows trainees to collaborate with each other.  “Digital Collaboration is the use of technology to enhance and extend employees’ abilities to work together regardless of their geographic proximity.”(Noe) Tools like electronic messaging systems or even program’s like Google Docs allow students or trainees the opportunity to work together on the same project even if they are physically in different locations.  A shared Google Document will allow multiple people to work on the same document at the same time regardless of location and difference in technological devices.

The integration and use of social media has also greatly influenced training.  Besides the obvious bonus of advertising and inviting people to take part in different training opportunities, social media has also proven useful in a classroom setting.  “Social Media can provide links to resources such as webinars and videos, it can help determine the training needs and issues,  it can reinforce and sustain learning, while linking learners before, during, and after the formal training event.”  Tools like blogs and wiki’s give trainers a online local to share their ideas and tools while providing  the trainees the opportunity to access important information during post training activities.

While Simulations are nothing new to education, the use of technology and its involvement in simulations has most certainly affected the way trainers are able to train.  Most importantly, it has allowed companies to use the same training techniques regardless of location, while providing the trainee with real world experience without wasting the companies time or money.  Miller Brewing Company’s use of Tips on Taps is a great example of how trainees can use technology to train in non technological fields, by using technology to teach how to pour beer using proper angle and height. “The online game does a better job of replicating  how to pour correctly than traditional classroom instruction, its more convenient and accessible for trainee practice, and the real product is not used eliminating waste and reducing costs.

Most importantly, a trainer’s use of technology prepare students to live and work in the 21st century.  For example Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) educators use technology as a vessel in which to strengthen their knowledge of the english language while giving them opportunities to develop their job related skills “The computer, Internet, and cell phone, by nature, provide more opportunities for authentic input and interaction, and can contribute to ESL learners’ communicative ability, which is a primary target in English language learning.”(McClanahan)

McClanahan, Lorna. MPAEA Journal of ADULT EDUCATION. 2014, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p22-27. 6p.

Noe, R. A. (2013). Employee training and development (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.