Regardless of what profession you’re in, you’ll always find opportunities for professional development that will allow you to enhance your knowledge and skills in a way that will benefit your ability to perform your job.
Many online learning opportunities provide ongoing education credits, certifications, and extra knowledge. While certifications can enhance your resume and make you more employable, increasing your familiarity with or without certification will make you better at your job.
1. DWMA Sports offers the dynamic movement warmup assessment is specially designed for coaches, athletic trainers, physical education teachers, first responders, chiropractors, and physical therapists to enhance their understanding of the benefits and techniques of dynamic stretching. This online program is a go-to resource for professionals in these areas to strengthen their skills and knowledge through professional development.
The founder of DWMA Sports, Michael Bewley, is a thought leader in the field of dynamic movement. He created the teaching and assessment platform used by DWMA Sports with an understanding of what was needed by these professionals.
2. AlphaPrep is an online test prep app that helps people study for a range of network certification examples. The app offers a web-based learning platform along with tools and resources all in one place. CCNA practice tests will allow you to go through test questions similar to what will be on the real test. These practice tests are valuable tools that can be help prepare the user to pass the certification tests on the first try.
Test prep is an essential source of professional development. While preparing for certification tests, you’re learning a great deal about a specific area of your profession. Similarly to ongoing education courses, certification courses break down what information is most important for a position and focus on that. Too often, college courses are generalized, so they do not specifically address the knowledge needs and experiences you will have once working.
3. Udemy is another online tool that provides a variety of classes taught by professionals for other professionals. Udemy provides a platform for individuals with specialized skills to create online courses. The intensity of the classes varies based on the instructor, and anyone can be an instructor.
These aren’t college-level courses, but rather opportunities to gain knowledge in specific areas. For example, a wide range of classes on Udemy offer instruction on particular tasks in Excel. You may not want to pay to take an entire Excel class if you only need to learn one specific thing, and Udemy provides that opportunity. You can also learn specific skills like how to create a balance sheet or write a book proposal.
4. John Hopkins University School of Public Health offers an online education solution called OpenCourseWare, which allows people to take real classes in behavioral health, genetics, and health policy for free. The classes are created by John Hopkins professors and include lecture notes, readings, videos, and recorded lectures. These courses don’t offer credits, but they’re an excellent opportunity to gain a fantastic amount of knowledge in those areas.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has also joined the OpenCourseWare program, offering classes in engineering, fine arts, and humanities. MIT has included more than 2,100 cours into the program, and provide lecture notes, assignments, quizzes, multimedia, and guidelines for final projects.
Colleges such as John Hopkins and MIT give everybody access to content that was once reserved for those that could afford to attend those colleges. It’s a fantastic program that offers extensive professional development opportunities.
Regardless of how knowledge is attained, learning things will benefit your career, and it’s a great way to develop as a professional.
