Article - Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development - SupSys Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010)

1. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

2. The purpose of the article is to outline the fundamental features of an online system that offers a continuous and supportive process for occupational groups’ qualification development whereby qualifications stand for a combination of knowledge, proficiency, and competence. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

3. Background: Changed working and societal conditions have entailed increased demands for constantly existing support for the individuals’ development, making it easier for the professional and providing opportunities to navigate his/her learning, work, and life environment. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

4. Modern media partly constitutes a supportive system The development and the increased use that occur via online environments such as LinkedIn partly offer such support – not least with regard to its participants exchanging experience and monitoring both the wider world and development. In practice, the evolution of modern media partly constitutes a supportive system which continuously supports the individual participant’s improvement and wherein individuals’ qualifications can be developed qualitatively and make it easier for people who are consciously aspiring to enhance their competence and their skills by means of informal ways of working in online environments. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

5. FOUR PREREQUISITES OF THE SUPPORTIVE SYSTEM Participation in online environments is characterized by a learning process ongoing over time, by which the individual’s knowledge, skills, and competence are developed during an interwoven process. This interwoven development process of skills and knowledge differs greatly from the procedure normally described as traditional education. The interwoven development processes occurring in an online environment have a special characterization and meaning, constituting an essential prerequisite for developing a supportive system. In this article, we emphasize four different prerequisites which have to be taken into account when designing a system rooted specifically in an online environment. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

6. 1. The participants’ proficiency Participants in an online environment develop proficiencies when they are active in an environment. Figure 1: Development levels in the online environment Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

7. Departing from the online environment - and not a specific subject, theme, or field of knowledge - means departing from a broad, dynamic spectrum of a lot of individual proficiency and knowledge. Our conclusion is that, when developing a supportive system, a broad spectrum of the knowledge, competencies, and proficiencies that the participants are developing in an online environment must be encompassed. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

8. 2. User-generated input Online environments are characterized by user-generated content where the participants, through their activity, account for a large part of the content produced within the environment – irrespective of whether this is messages on Twitter or stories and reports in a community. This separates online-based learning from other, earlier models of knowledge development. When we approach the individual development and informal learning that occurs in online environments, and provide it with a greater formal meaning via a supportive system, the participants’ user-generated content is an important part of the process. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

9. 3. Enduring and without a time limit The participants’ involvement creates permanence through its activity. The point is that the result of the participation, regardless of the intention, is permanence. The participants’ expectation is that it is a process going on over time. No one takes part in an online environment with the notion that the activity will cease at a given point in time – if anything, quite the reverse. The participants’ involvement confirms the prevailing activity and, in doing so, the continuous and enduring process. Understanding and respect for this character - the participant-generated permanence is rudimentary when developing supportive systems for professionals under the inspiration and influence of informal learning in online environments. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

10. 4. The participants’ shared interest The fourth and final prerequisite – the shared interest – constitutes a combined unit based on the three previously-presented prerequisites. The participants expect the community, one way or another, to realize their requirements while the community puts demands on the participants’ participation. In this reciprocity, in this balance between motives for action and community, we also find the community’s permanence. If there is an imbalance or a lack of concordance between the two, the participant’s incentives to participate will decrease and vice versa; if the community develops the whole time in harmony with the participants’ development, then the community will also develop in an enduring way. The strength of the participants’ shared interest is of fundamental importance for the enduring development of an online environment. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

11. Summary of prerequisites Figure 2: Four differences between education and Supportive Systems Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

12. Summary of prerequisites The various prerequisites are dependent on and related to each other. If the intention of a programme is competence development in a specific subject or thematic area, it naturally also follows that we focus on the educational material to be included in the programme. The participants will then not need to have anything in common besides the subject itself – we are conducting, in other words, distance education. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

13. CREATING A SUPPORTIVE SYSTEM – an outline Figure 3: Outline of a supportive online system for ongoing and continuous professional development Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se

14. CREATING A SUPPORTIVE SYSTEM – an outline The system is based, of course, on the online environments that already exist – but are further developed and supported methodically and systematically. The purpose of a supportive system is to methodically and systematically support and advance the progressive development of the participants’ qualifications. A PLE is the individual’s resource bank and the (Personal learning network) PLN that of the participants’ in the system. The PLN then becomes an important part of the individual’s professional development. The media part of a supportive system would then be based on individual Personal learning networks -PLEs which provide an input for the participants and a shared part - PLN where continuous development is supported and experience is exchanged. The proposal that through a combination of PLE/PLM create systems for skills development. Supportive systems for continuous and online professional development Jobring,Svensson eLearning Papers n° 22 (2010) www.gu.se