Implement

Step 1

Prepare facilitators and participants

Competent and motivated facilitators are crucial in any successful CPD. You should consider their ability to facilitate both in-person and remote components, as well as their digital literacy, time management skills, and ability to support participants. Communicate with facilitators about your and their expectations and agree on a list of criteria, orrubric, to guide their actions. Also determine how much support facilitators will need and provide them with a range of support such as self-study guides, online courses, or training .

Step 2

Organise the learning environment

Second, you must organise the learning environment to be conducive to learning, easy to access and user-friendly for facilitators and participants. This includes setting up the in-person and remote activities as well as integrating complimentary communication channels between facilitators and participants. This can include administrative services for enrolment and registration, ICT services for support, curriculum and content delivery, additional communication channels and a physical environment for in-person sessions.

Before launching your blended CPD, it’s essential to make sure participants are enrolled and can access the support they need throughout the programme. This can include automated feedback, peer interaction, and support from facilitators. Don’t forget to consider the well-being of your participants and offer support beyond the CPD content and  technical aspects.

Step 3

Organise a dry run, pilot and implement the CPD trajectory

Third, it is recommended to conduct a dry run and pilot before implementing the blended CPD trajectory. A dry run involves discussing the steps of the blended CPD with facilitators to identify potential challenges and understand how everything fits together. A pilot lets you test the programme with a smaller group to see how it works in the real world and gather feedback. You may evaluate how your programmes performs on diversity, inclusion and gender, and use the insights from the pilot to make improvements. Keeping participants engaged and motivated is key to a successful blended CPD programme.