A brief presentation on using online tools and platforms for professional development.

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4. Traditional Professional Development
1. High Cost
2. Travel Often Involved
3. Set Times/Time Intensive
4. Limited “Seats”

5. Online Professional Development
1. Often (but not always) lower cost
2. No travel required
3. Asynchronous opportunities
4. More inclusive

6. How do we build organizational
capacity and competencies on a
limited budget?

7. Harnessing technology for
professional development.

9. Twitter
Twitter is a social media platform where participants “tweet”- write
very short posts of 140 characters or less. A Twitter account can help
you stay connected to leading thinkers in your field. They will often
post their opinions, their recent publications, and what they are
reading. This can be a powerful tool for professional development.
WARNING: In engaging with Twitter, remember that if you choose to
post you are making your opinions public. Engage with Twitter as you
would engage in public conversation.

10. MOOCs
MOOCs, or Massive Online Open Courses, offer a wide and excellent
variety of online learning opportunities for professional development.
Classes are often created by prestigious institutions and taught by
talented instructors. MOOCs provide concrete learning opportunities,
and often provide certificates of completion.

11. Blogs
Following blogs, typically informal web-published content, can be a
great way to find out what’s trending in your professional area.
If you start a blog of your own, you can also create a positive search
result for people looking to find out more about your work. Blog
platforms like Wordpress, Blogger, and Tumblr provide attractive
prebuilt blog set-ups.

12. RSS Feeds
RSS Feeds are links to the blogs you are interested in. By collecting the
feeds/URLs in a tool like Feedly, Pocket, or DiggReader, you can find all
the blog content you’re interested in at one URL.

13. Podcasts
Podcasts are audio records, often presented as ongoing programs
(think of radio shows). If you have a commute, podcasts may be a
wonderful way for you to learn new skills and stay current on trends.
Podcasts cover a wide variety of topics, and can be particularly helpful
if you are interested in learning a foreign language.

14. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social platform dedicated to networking. It can help you
find and organize your full professional network, giving you ready
access to the people you met at conferences or through other avenues
of professional development.

16. For You
• Opportunity to engage with and network with a larger professional
community
• Improving your employability, adding to your resume
• Making the case for raises and promotions
• Keeping up on developments in your area of expertise
• Saves money
• Saves time

17. For Your Institution
• Grows internal skills sets
• Improves quality of workforce
• Saves money
• Saves time

19. Your Technology for Professional
Development To-Do List (your choice):
• Sign Up for a Twitter Account
• Start researching popular blogs in your subject area
• Look at upcoming MOOCs
• Sign Up for a LinkedIn account