Continuous Professional Development in Education or CPD in Education is a process of regularly being up-to-date with the latest methodologies and different forms of education or research which is important in the development of professional skills.
At one point or another, you might have had a class with a teacher, instructor or professor and noticed that what they are teaching is actually out dated! You have heard that stuff before or you are aware of the fact that those are old information that may not even be related to your subject or useful for today’s world.
Well do not worry, and do not bother yourself, because you need to sit through that class and pass it eventually! So you might as well start paying more attention to that boring lesson! But how one reaches a level that their knowledge is out dated? It happens gradually and not over night, but there are a few steps that you can take in order to prevent this from happening.
In the past, you needed to study more in your field as a teacher, and you needed to put in effort to keep your knowledge updated, but now, the preparation for that has become quite easy and efficient.
As a teacher or instructor, there are many forms of education and research you can do to keep your data sharp and new. That is when the whole idea of Continuous Professional Development comes in.
It is Continuous Professional Development, and as the title itself says, it is the process of developing and improving your knowledge over a period of time. It has to be continuous and consistent and that is how it can be effective.
There are many activities that you can attend or participate in to keep yourself in the scientific playing ground. You can also use whatever medium you thing best suits you, but here are some meaningful activities you can do:
Taking training courses
This formal way of training can be helpful and effective. However, it might be a little boring since it is going to be a class full of lectures! But there are many re-modeled training courses out there that have a lot of involvement and energy and they are in fact fun to take!
Reading related journals
Reading books and researches related to your field of expertise can help you to gain a better insight about your knowledge and be introduces to new concepts and the ongoing trends.
Engaging in discussion forums and blogs
Nothing is better than live audience, right? Well you can connect and communicate with people online by using forums and blogs related to your subject. In that way, you get to share your knowledge and at the same time, gather some information from your peers!