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Patricia James, a program manager at Madison College’s School of Professional and Continuing Education oversees a virtual class. Pivoting from face-to-face to online learning requires redefining office space, assessing equipment and embracing new methods of instruction.
Madison College remains closed in the wake of COVID-19, but it is still offering plenty of new learning opportunities.
The college’s School of Professional and Continuing Education, for example, has embraced the transition to alternative means of delivering professional development training courses designed for both employers and employees (via individual classes and customized contract training), as well as a broad range of continuing education and enrichment classes.
“Prior to the coronavirus, we were chugging along and having a fantastic year with our corporate team training and open enrollment,” says Dennis Wessel, director of the School of Professional and Continuing Education. “But when it hit, we needed to pivot fast.”
“A lot of students were excited that we didn’t cancel all of our classes and programs,” adds Patricia James, a program manager at the college’s School of Professional and Continuing Education.
What follows is a rundown of the school’s new lineup of online offerings, which reflect the necessary move away from traditional face-to-face instruction.
Professional Development
The greatest demand for online professional training right now is in the health care profession. For that reason, the number of educational hours required to become a certified nursing assistant has been significantly reduced as part of a state emergency order that clears the way for more CNAs to enter the field in a matter of weeks, according to Shana LaFore, a business development and solutions representative for the college’s School of Professional and Continuing Education. Health care providers vet individual employees identified to be trained as CNAs. Most instruction is conducted online, with approximately 16 hours taking place onsite with the health care provider. Recipients also will receive digital badge credentials, such as this and this.
This training is provided at a significant discount to the provider under the college’s Workforce Advancement Training grant. For more information, contact LaFore at slafore@madisoncollege.edu.
That is just one example of how Madison College has rapidly developed both facilitated and on-demand professional development opportunities. Other key categories include leadership, Lean Six Sigma and project management. Synchronous online classes are taught by the same instructors and feature the same content as face-to-face courses. For more details, view the Summer 2020 Noncredit Class Schedule.
Continuing Education
Webinar Wednesdays began in early March, before the coronavirus shutdown, and they have built an audience during Wisconsin’s “safer-at-home” order, according to James. The webinars focus on such relevant topics as crisis management, emergency action plans, human resources management and social media strategies for staying connected during COVID-19. They are scheduled every Wednesday at 1 p.m., with typical running times of 15 to 45 minutes. All are available for free and archived on Madison College’s YouTube channel (MadConEd).
Take 10s, meanwhile, are videos that provide 10- to 15-minute bursts of pre-recorded information. Each Take 10 focuses on one key element of professional or personal success — from taking care of yourself while staying at home to crisis communication to cost-saving business strategies during times of crisis. As with Webinar Wednesdays, these sessions feature a variety of Madison College instructors and staff members, and they can be accessed via the MadConEd channel on YouTube.
Enrichment Programming
The School of Professional and Continuing Education has reworked its entire lineup of summer courses to include live video instruction for yoga, art, language, music and other classes. Baking courses will be in the form of live video demonstrations, and several other courses will be similarly interactive. For more details, view the Summer 2020 Noncredit Class Schedule.
All of these opportunities represent a new era in the evolution of Madison College’s School of Professional and Continuing Education, and they emphasize the college’s focus on maintaining student engagement while still practicing social distancing.
“We want to make sure students are getting what they need,” James says. “They should still be able to pursue their goals, even though the rest of the world is on hold.”
