Five years ago I started working at the Nova Scotia Community College and one of the requirements for full-time employees is that they have to take part in a program called CCEDP (Community College Education Diploma Program). It usually takes about 2 years to complete, which includes a couple of summers spent in residence taking courses. I completed the program and was lucky enough to be chosen as the valedictorian which gave me the opportunity to sum the experience up in my valedictory address. The best parts of the experience of learning how to teach adults were the connections made between the participants and instructors in the program. Now I know dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds) people from all over the province who work for the college.
A few months ago Carolyn asked me if I’d like to be part of a session that she was organizing called Engaging the Digital Learner that would be part of the New Faculty Orientation that happened in Yarmouth in October. I had a great time when I was in Yarmouth for it and I jumped at the chance to be able to give something back. It was a lot of fun and I contributed with some information about podcasting. I didn’t realize until afterwards that I’d been in CCEDP courses with most of the members of the team that facilitated the workshop, but now we were all at the front of the classroom with a few years of experience within the organization. It was very nice to have it all come full circle, and I’m so glad that I could be involved.
