Yes, the year of 2016 is coming to a close (meaning Christmas is going to be upon us in just a few days’ time)! In the festive spirit of sharing, I will end our SLB blog with the last article for the year by penning a short article on the ACTA journey which I recently undertook and completed.
As professional Librarians, I believe you would agree that our roles have indeed evolved over time. We have now embraced a more educational role when it comes to Information Literacy instruction for our Library users. It was exactly against this backdrop which prompted me to voluntarily enrol in my own spare time for the WSQ Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) program. Yes, this program which I opted to undertake part-time over 5 months of weekday evenings and full day Saturdays had been a long, time-consuming yet very fruitful journey for my learning.
In summary, ACTA consists of 6 modules:
Module 1: Adult learning principles in training
Module 2: Designing a learning experience and lesson plan
Module 3: Preparing and facilitating a learning experience
Module 4: WSQ framework and system
Module 5: Assessing competence
Module 6: Preparing for Continuing Professional Development
I reckon you can easily search online for more details on the ACTA program, so, I won’t be too “lor-sor” (local slang for long winded) to explain what each of the 6 modules entails. Rather, here are some of my personal tips for you in case you happen to be considering in taking up the ACTA program as well:
Tip 1:
You will confirm and “double confirm plus chop” (oops local slang again) be needing a personal laptop for the ACTA programme. For those of you thinking you can make do with your smart devices such as handphone or tablets to view the ACTA content and type in the Training Provider’s Learning Management System (LMS), well, unless you have super bionic eyes and fingers, else please don’t try it…
Tip 2:
Most (if not all) of your learner peers would be working adults, professionals in their own domain expertise. So, do approach each classroom contact time with an open mind and more importantly, be participative. Like I learnt from the course, a silent and passive learner is also considered as a disruptive learner…
Tip 3:
Lots, lots and even more lots of personal commitment, time and efforts required to do the ePortfolio entry submissions of text, pictures, videos in the LMS.
This ACTA program would probably be of special interest to those with an instructional role at your respective Library workplaces. And yes, I will also make use of this golden opportunity (chances are hard to come by these days huh) to strongly encourage those of us whom are already ACTA competent, to come forth and volunteer your skills in delivering the 5 LAS WSQ level 2 courses for our Library support staff colleagues. When we train and facilitate, we too, are learning together with our learners…
Having rambled much, are you ready for a new learning experience?
Contributed by Justin Tan, Librarian at Nanyang Polytechnic.
Posted by Justin Tan, Editor.