Learning how to e-teach?

Staff perspectives on formal and informal professional development activity

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings drawn from a New Zealand research project (Professional Development in e-Learning PDeL) which is producing a sector-wide framework for professional development in tertiary e-Learning. The findings indicate that staff engaged in e-learning in tertiary institutions are not making use of the formal professional development opportunities available to them. Rather they seem to gain their knowledge and support from a variety of informal means. This is despite an emphasis on the provision of formal professional development opportunities by both the New Zealand government and institutions themselves. The conclusion drawn from the findings is that institutional approaches to e-Learning professional development do not yet fully reflect the demands and constraints that working in a digital context impose.