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A FRAMEWORK FOR OFFERING PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS WORLDWIDE     Dr. Sukhen Dey Faculty, Computing Science and Informatics Faculty, Masters of Liberal Studies Indiana University Southeast New Albany, Indiana 47150, USA

  Faculty, Masters of Healthcare Leadership Park University 8700 NW River Park Drive Parkville, MO, USA [email protected]

    Dr. Craig Standing Professor of Strategic Information Management School of Management Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia [email protected]

  Dr. S. M. Shariful Islam Programme Officer Partners in Population and Development (PPD) PPD Secretariat, Dhaka, Bangladesh  [email protected]

 

  Abstract Globalization within the context of education can be defined as a process or standard that is applicable to a specific level of education around the world. The scope of this paper is to discuss an initiative involving a large and renowned University in the United States and its active attempt to establish a “Life Long” learning foundation through its Continuing and Professional Certification Programs in collaboration with global partners. The authors discuss the basic parameters of the intended program and define the purpose of education in today’s society. In addition, the authors elaborate the value of “Life Long Learning” process, “Critical Thinking” skills and the notion of “Customization “of professional education for its audience.

Keywords Professional education, Globalization, Lifelong learning, Critical thinking, Customization of education for the audience.

The Process of Education Education is a wide topic. It extends from Kindergarten to graduate program including Doctoral degrees. On the other hand globalization within the context of education can be defined as a process or standard that is applicable to a specific level of education around the world. The scope of this paper is to discuss an initiative involving a relatively large and renowned University in the United States and its active attempt to establish a “Life Long” learning foundation through its Continuing and Professional Certification Programs in collaboration with global partners. Before we explain the basic parameters of the intended program we need to define the purpose of education in today’s society. We are fully aware that there is no way this list covers all aspects of the utility of education under any environment. However, we tried to discuss the major facets that are embedded within the general yet global realm of “education”: 1. Education is a process to promote “literacy” which in simple terms entails reading, writing and thinking. 2. Education is a process to enhance the intellectual ability of an individual. 3. Education is a process to make one aware of his surroundings- local, national or global. 4. Education is a process that prepares one to be skilled in a specific profession. Good examples may be carpentry, auto mechanic, engineering and medicine. 5. Education is a process to upgrade one’s civic and social responsibilities. 6. Education is a vehicle through which one can appreciate “Health and Human Service” and Civic related needs and responsibilities in a community, nation or the world in general. 7. Education is a process to recognize the value of “Life Long Learning” in order to constantly keep one up to date in this changing world. 8. Education is a process to provide opportunities to sectors of population who might not have availed such without it. 9. Education is a process to enhance respect for diversity and different belief systems.

 

10. Last but not least, education improves one’s ability to evaluate a situation with “Critical Thinking”. As we have mentioned, these are fundamental utilities of education and one can expand on these with many more premises. What we are bit more interested to discuss in this paper are the above mentioned “Life Long Learning” aspects and enhancement of one’s “Critical Thinking” abilities, with a “customized” approach. Let us expand on these issues.

Life Long Learning (LLL) The term LLL may mean a lot of things to a lot of people or profession. A general definition can be stated as the process of education in response to “transformation in society where creativity and recultivation of skills become core principles related to what is considered to be quality education [1].

What are the specific purposes of LLL? 1. To keep one up-to-date in their profession. 2. To make a cadet exposed to new technology specifically geared to his profession, such as technology application in medical sciences. 3. To provide opportunity to customize relatively common business practices to a specific professional application, such as computing literacy applicable to nursing profession. 4. To provide opportunity to expose the surrounding world to a population who otherwise might not have access to further education beyond high school or similar standard. An example may be part of women population in many developing countries. 5. To remain competitive by demonstrating a set of skills essential for the job. 6. To continue an active or healthy brain [2].

A general exposure to the concept of Health and Human Services (HHS) Almost any aspect within any society has something to do with health and human services. We feel one of the fundamental notions of education is to appreciate the process and have a basic understanding of health and human services needs and delivery systems within any community. For healthcare professionals, these concepts are critical and a professional necessity. The notion comes in mind because of the fact that professionals and workers within healthcare including doctors, nurses, direct caregivers and managers are to be well aware of the underpinnings of Health and Human Services in that industry, community or world in general. Well, just in the HHS website of the US government (http://www.hhs.gov/), under families and children section, there is a list of over 200 categories and sub-categories of what come under Health and Human Services in US alone [3]. Considering various healthcare sectors, at least for entry level care givers, we feel that a good understanding of HHS is seriously called for. For example- the infrastructure of rural hospital care is significantly different than urban hospital care system. So are long-term care, aging population care, care for intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals and mentally retarded children services. Thus, there is a strong need for a tailored professional LLL certification process needed for different types of healthcare industry. In addition, these aspects are often ignored severely in developing nations because of funding and various other reasons.

Enhancement of “Critical Thinking” “Critical Thinking” is a popular educational and intellectual set of terms. We hear, use and demand critical thinking in our day-to-day life. The expanded definition is well embedded in Bloom’s Taxonomy. “In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. Bloom found that over 95 % of the

 

test questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level...the recall of information” [4]. The reader can find in the same page the discussion and his model as follows:

The inclusive contents are rather wordy and populated:

Many find an expanded domain of elements related to “Critical Thinking” embedded in Bloom’s taxonomy [5]. However, the process is rather complex for commons to understand. Following is the foundation laid out by Bertrand Russell [6], the famous philosopher. Russell maintains that in addition to having access to knowledge education needs to offer training in judicial (impartial) habits of thought." Our definition of “Critical Thinking” based on classical theories and today’s society is “Critical Thinking is a thought process towards making an impartial decision by evaluating facts, experience and proven practices”.

The Conceptual Program While there are many other factors leading to good a ‘Life Long Learning’ environment enhancing ‘Critical Thinking’ abilities, we are trying to establish an interim, yet affordable infrastructure, based on the main premises as stated above. To attract a global audience the learning platform is via the internet, commonly known as on-line learning. The programs are somewhat customized for populations that they are directed to and composed of subject matter oriented 4-Weeks courses. A number of courses make up a certificate for an appropriate profession. Before describing the program further we like to make the comment that on-line learning reaches a larger audience through an efficient learning management system (LMS). Important criteria of an on-line educational process are, but not limited to:

 

• • • • • • • • •

Easy to use LMS, both for students and instructors. Rich content. Simple and short lectures. On-line demonstrations and exercises. Up-to-date reference links. Thin files for easy transmission. Interactive forums, chat rooms and efficient e-mail components. Flexibility of time for busy professionals. No need for travel.

All the above mentioned structural aspects create a good learning environment, on-line or off-line. However, the intellectual originality being proposed here is the notion of “Customization” which is one of the major aspects of consumerism that seems to be missing from today’s educational system. The notion of “Cookie Cutter” approach which attempts to create assembly line merchandise may not be applicable to today’s professional learning needs, at least from a globalization perspective. The focus of this paper is not academic degrees or advanced professional credentials. It is not necessarily true that our approach is not applicable to academic programs such as BS, MS, MBA, MPA, BsN etc. In this article, however, we are talking about “Life Long Learning” process and an attempt to globalize such efforts using today’s technology. Again, these two aspects“Globalization” and “Customization” remain to be points of differences between our efforts and others. But as intellectuals neither we have the scientific data to claim the statement to be absolutely valid, nor can we claim at this early stage of this somewhat original model that these underpinnings will create the most effective learning initiative to spread training to professionals and students in the world.

Customization By ‘customization’ of a certification program we are attempting to internalize our premise that in today’s economy and marketplace, especially in the worldwide recession that we are currently experiencing, we need to offer customized training at an affordable cost, maintaining high quality and through easily accessible platform. Not only such approaches are “outcome and cost effective” but in the long run “skill enhancement” impacting increased productivity and GNP is the only way out of any socio-economic crisis. Many in the labor force have to perform multiple tasks within the same organization or even work two different jobs, one day shift, and one night shift – just to survive. In many countries, most do not have access to an easily accessible knowledge base, especially in their own language. Thus, we believe, at least lower level professional education needs to come to them; they may not have the opportunity, time and means to come to education. Nations such as India and China are referenced for overcrowded population problems. However, one can imagine the sheer power positions these nations may undertake in the world with proper education and training of the huge labor force. By customization we are proposing to implant the seed of an infrastructure to train an individual with not general but specific skills for a type of industry, profession or a nation. It is adjustment to be made to an educational content to suit organizational and audience needs. A simple example may be applicable in the US market is a: Certification in “Computing Literacy” for Nurses can be decentralized as: a. b. c. d.

 

“Computing Literacy” for Nurses working in Urban Hospitals. “Computing Literacy” for Nurses working in Rural Hospitals. “Computing Literacy” for Nurses working in Long-Term-care facilities. “Computing Literacy” for Nurses working in operations taking care of intellectually and developmentally disabled Individuals.

2. Certification in “Health and Human” Services can be decentralized as: a. b. c. d.

Certification in “Health and Human” Services for the State of Kentucky. Certification in “Health and Human” Services for the State of Indiana. Certification in “Health and Human” Services related to senior citizens. Certification in “Health and Human” Services related to children and families.

The hierarchy can be continued deeper. But the points are clear. Both for academic and nonacademic programs we need to treat students as “consumers”. At the end of the day, they are paying for our services. Yet they are asked to park farthest away from the classrooms and the staff / faculty has privileges to park right outside their offices. One might not find this in any industry except medical facilities or law enforcement establishments where getting to transportation for officers is “Mission Critical”.

Why this structure? a. The model fulfills the notion of “Consumerism” and recognizes “One size” does not fit all. b. The model has a higher probability to create a better “Critical Thinking” ability because the customized training will produce informed decision making skills about one’s specific work settings and allow him to make “impartial” decision that fits to where he works and how his co-workers operates. c. In the long run it also recognizes the needs (to be appreciated by a caregiver, for example) of a patient who may be an English speaking senior citizen from Detroit, Michigan, an Immigrant from India or a Spanish speaking child, who has poor English communication skill.

Customization for a Global Audience With new technology we can connect and deliver educational content all over the world. An example may be the use of relatively new content software from “Adobe” called eLearning [7]. In a white paper Adobe claims and the primary author has a relatively good experience supporting the claim that “In choosing software for managerial or educational purposes, organizations look to balance the needs of a comprehensive learning system with ease of use, quick deployment, and intuitive design for non-technical users. While many organizations benefit from the core features an LMS provides, advanced functionality sometimes goes untouched, especially in light of the steep learning curve involved in implementing and employing many Learning Management Systems. The most utilized aspect of an LMS is its learning management”. All it needs from the end-user standpoint is Flash Reader which is installed in 95-98% of all PCs in US and in a relatively high percent of PCs in the world. However, we want to be clear that neither we are acting as spokespersons for Adobe, nor we are claiming its efficiency or inefficiency in the distribution of eLearning content. This merely is an example to demonstrate that for months to come there will be many such sophisticated products which will be distributed worldwide through “thin client” technology which normally is a free download such as Adobe Acrobat reader. Where globalization fits in? Again we have to restate that by educational globalization we mean “a process or standard that is applicable to a specific level of education around the world”. In addition, on-line learning brings students and professionals in a virtual classroom from distant lands who can share diversified views towards an issue, which are relatively uncommon in a traditional classroom. Using the same conceptual hierarchy as above, we will attempt to create a certification structure such as: 1. Certification in “Health and Human” Services- A Global Perspective.

 

a. Certification in “Health and Human” Services in India. i. Certification in “Health and Human” Services in Eastern India. a. Certification in “Health and Human” Services related to children in Eastern India. b. Certification in “Health and Human” Services related to senior citizens in Eastern India.

Pictures Speak Following Figure shows a very simple structure of how the customized certifications are intended to be organized globally, using Health and Human Services (HHS) as a general topic:

Few more specifics of the conceptual program The practice and topic of professional certifications are increasingly becoming important and crucial in any business society. Thus, training direct caregivers, social and technological professionals, employees, job seekers and professional students have taken center stage in any nation to improve overall Knowledge Base and GNP. For example, the Healthcare world requires nursing professionals as well as other officers with fundamental knowledge of Health and Human Services, IT, Project Management and basic Technology Concepts. On top of that every institution may have diversified training need for their organization. At the end of the day we all attempt to apply technologies, philosophies and infrastructure to the betterment of public health, business organizations and flow of information for a better society. Through this collaborative international initiative we are looking for collaborative partners worldwide to offer professional certifications. Under this initiative, these will be purely delivered on-line to students, practitioners, researchers and professional all over the world via the internet.

 

Example collaboration may be called Eastern Institute (EI) – Southwestern University (SWU) Collaborative initiative. (EI and SWU are example names). EI, as one can understand can be an institute, University or organization in US or any part of the world. SWU will support the entire Distance Learning Certification infrastructure. To attract students or employees to this initiative various forms of announcements can be undertaken including mutual websites, use of group discussions, forums etc.

Following are rudimentary steps of a typical collaboration initiative: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Initiate a dialogue with a designated officer such as the primary author [8]. Clarify understanding of the structure, terms and certification needs. Willingness to participate in a pilot program. If dialogue continues, execute a standardized agreement after reviewing a Memorandum of Agreement. 5. Design customized contents, design a distribution mechanism as collaborated by the institutions. 6. Initiate the program with student enrollment. 7. The initial language of delivery will be English and eventually in collaboration with the partner institution, if needed, the contents can be translated into other languages. For EI (the partner institution) this type of certifications is expected to: • •

• • •

Improve member, student, employee and working group’s skills, knowledge and loyalty to respective organization along with bringing a high stature of credibility for EI. Improve member / student retention and will increase membership/ student enrollment through motivation of completing a certification from a world renowned institution in collaboration with (EI). Increase employee productivity for networked organizations to EI. Establish a highly qualified technology based education infrastructure which is already in place at SWU. Open door for EI as well as SWU to approach public and private grant giving institutions to fund part of the educational initiative.

Needless to say, we feel beyond the altruistic motive of educating students, professionals, potential job seekers and various types of professionals around the globe, many networking opportunities might take place through national and global coalitions. However, our premise remains to be globalization of education through customization of contents for each individual institution, industry, association and country. We strongly feel for advanced nations like US and nations in Europe, corporations, corporate health care industries and educational institutions will have the opportunity to train employees and students with contents “fit” for their audience. For developing nations, the initiative carries potential to spread skill based Life Long Learning endeavors in a large sector of population at a relatively affordable cost and easily accessible technological infrastructure. After all the “Mind is a terrible thing to waste” [9].

 

References [1] Adopted from Smyre, Rick “On Searching for New Genes: A 21st Century DNA for Higher Education”. New Horizons for Learning at http://www.newhorizons.org/future/smyre4.htm.

[2] Adopted from Diamond, Marian C. “Successful Aging of the Healthy Brain”. New Horizons for Learning at http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/diamond_aging.htm.

[3] http://www.hhs.gov/children/index.html. [4] http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm. [5] Various discussions in http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm.

[6] Russell, "Education for democracy", Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association 77, July 2-6, 1939: 530. See also "Philosophy for laymen", in Unpopular Essays London: George Allen and Unwin, 1950: 47. [7] eLearning is fully copyrighted software solution created and distributed by Adobe Systems incorporated. [8] Dr. Sukhen Dey [email protected]. [9] UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND, advertising slogan.