Flexible Delivery: The Globalisation of Lifelong Learning

In the future, flexible delivery is likely to play a more significant role at all levels of education and training as globalisation becomes the norm. Given the rapidly growing influence of flexible delivery, stimulated by the exponential growth in access to the Internet, the need for continuing vocational education and training has never been greater in the teaching profession. In response to this need, the University of Southern Queensland initiated a global faculty development program for teaching at a distance. The project entails the development of a Graduate Certificate in Open and Distance Learning (http://www.usq.edu.au/ material/course/us59/). The USQ project appears to provide an appropriate prototype for the flexible delivery of continuing professional education and training on a global scale. Although focused primarily on the teaching profession, and those employed in industrial training roles, it could well act as a prototype for continuous professional education in many professions. The approach has the flexibility to meet the needs of busy professionals in full-time employment, irrespective of their geographical location. Further, it has the interactivity to engender efficacious learning outcomes in a time efficient manner: The immediate access to current materials and associated professional discussion with colleagues from around the world creates a socio-cognitive learning environment from which all who participate will surely benefit.