Scotland’s Advanced Recognition of the Importance of Lifelong Learning

Posted on October 6, 2008 by Barbara Macaulay

UMassOnline Barbara Macaulay There’s a controversy of sorts brewing in the UK and Scotland – it is a very civil debate as you might imagine – about whether or not employees should be granted time off to continue their training and education. While my views on this matter are not necessarily strong, I do think the UK and Scotland need to sort out for what purpose the continuing education serves. If the training is related directly to improving work performance (IT skills, management/leadership skills, etc.), then there is an argument to be made that it should be done on work time. If an employee is truly continuing their education, however, such as earning an advanced degree, for example, then it would seem prudent to pursue such an endeavor on one’s own time. You may be interested in accessing the full story entitled, Time off for training?, courtesy of the eGov Monitor, and let us know what you think.

One thing that is clear to me…online formats can help! If work time is not to be used for training or continuing education, then access to courses online can help, as lunch hours and post work hours can be used effectively. Just a thought!!

I will just add that I love the title given by Scotland to their government official responsible for education: Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning. How great is that? Corporations have moved in this direction with Chief Learning Officer positions, but to see a government acknowledge lifelong learning…this is truly impressive!

Comments

3 Responses to “Scotland’s Advanced Recognition of the Importance of Lifelong Learning”

Apostolos K. on October 6th, 2008 9:32 am

Lunch-time and break time personal computer usage is really subject to applicable laws and employment agreements. For example, if student A is working on project B for school, if company computers are used to create, improve, or transmit that project to the course website, the company MAY own that information.

Online education is great, but working online during your lunch time is not the same (liability and intellectual property wise) as having a text book, notebook and writing implement that you purchased and happen to use on your own break.

Paranoid? Maybe - but it helps to know these types of things before hand.
Barbara Macaulay on October 6th, 2008 11:37 am

Thanks for providing these cautions–I guess as with everything else, working students need to find ways to be creative in the use of their lunch hours for studying. Taking an online course does not eliminate the use of printed materials (texbooks) or mapping out an assignment in a notebook. A student in one of my courses told me she walked at lunchtime and listened to a recorded lecture while exercising. Thanks for your timely comment!
Apostolos K. on October 6th, 2008 11:48 am

Well executed podcasts are *very* useful for coursework (both online and face to face). You can easily listen to them at the gym or during your commute (which is what I do).

As for printed material, you are correct - simply taking an online course does not mean that you eliminate the printed text Taking notes and recording my reactions on what I read has been an invaluable tool that I’ve used as a student during my lunch time