‘Anything other than silence’: using a personal learning system for continuing professional development

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of a personal learning system (PLS) for continuing professional development (CPD) of academic staff. It examines which, if any, activities, habits or strategies triggered the use of the PLS when there was no immediate or external pressure to engage. It also investigates whether participants felt that using the PLS contributed to their CPD. The case studies in the project were undertaken within an action research approach. Data was gathered by participants posting to the blog tool within the PLS over an eight week period and then individual interviews were conducted. Participants reported that receiving feedback from the project manager on their postings and the prompts within the software to reflect were some of the main triggers for encouraging them to record their CPD. Analysis of the data revealed the distinction between how useful the PLS was during the project compared to its potential future usefulness. On a day-to-day level, several participants stated how the PLS helped them reflect on their work, recording it for processes such as appraisal, working and researching with colleagues and demonstrating fitness to practice in their profession. Some participants found that although the PLS was useful for individual activities, there was greater potential to enhance working practices if other colleagues became actively engaged. The potential of a PLS to support twenty-first century learning organisations is one of the project’s emergent areas of interest, which, in our opinion, merits further investigation.