Friday, June 27, 2014

ASTD Certification - How to Select an Area of Expertise (AOE) and a Project - ASK Trish CPLP Work Product Q&A

ANSWERING QUESTIONS FROM CPLP WORK PRODUCT CANDIDATES

Q: My problem is choosing the AOE because I feel I have almost equal exposure to 3 areas - Instructional Design, Training Delivery, and Managing Learning Programs. How do I decide?  

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A:  You've asked a good question - which many candidates who have similar options face.

The answer is straightforward:

1. Submit under the AOE where you can produce work that OBVIOUSLY meets the CPLP Work Product requirements.

See the Appendices for each in the CPLP Certification Handbook Part 3 for each - and also check out the Key Actions (Appendix P: Work Product AOE Key Action List) and Scoring Rubric (Appendix Q: Scoring Rubrics) for each AOE.

I've also created a Getting Started Planning CPLP Work Product Worksheet that walks candidates through a process to compare (if necessary) and select an AOE and project:

http://ykz6groe.megaph.com/

2. Submit under the AOE that you have time for.

For example, Instructional Design projects typically require a much longer time horizon than, say, Training Delivery. If you don't have an existing Instructional Design project that meets requirements and is already far enough along (you have to take the materials at least through Pilot) then getting started with an ID project now would probably not give you enough time to submit in August if you had to "start from scratch."

As for Managing Learning Programs (MLP), a critical component of MLP requires candidates to OBVIOUSLY DEMONSTRATE how they develop other learning professionals. This is often easy for those who have staff; and challenging for those who manage project teams, but don't have direct reports.

Last thought - submitting under Instructional Design means you MUST be the person with "fingers on keyboard" who conducted the analysis, design, and development of the course and training materials. (Candidates who conducted the analysis and design, but delegated the development to other resources do NOT meet Instructional Design requirements.)

MLP, on the other hand (in addition to developing others), is about overseeing the work; rather than being the person with "fingers on keyboard" producing it.

Thanks for posting your question!

I'm sure there are other candidates out there with the same concerns!

~ trish 


Get your complimentary copy of the Owl's Ledge Getting Started Planning CPLP Work Product Worksheet:

http://ykz6groe.megaph.com/

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