In this chapter, the certified digital educator (CDE) programme is developed with the aim of providing the academics with an on-going training that will lead to the e-learning certification. Formulated as part of continuous professional development program for academics at Taylor's University, the CDE programme provides opportunities for the academics to equip themselves with related e-learning skills through the byte-sized training modules offered in addition to the existing blended learning and face-to-face session. Through CDE programme, all current e-learning-related training modules currently being offered to the academics have been re-categorized under four e-learning packages, which represent the four essential skill components required by the academics to effectively able to apply technology in their lessons. Upon completion of this program, the participants are awarded the certified digital educator certification that certify them as competent e-learning practitioners.
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Recent technology advances have affected many aspects of our lives, including the way we teach. Teaching in the 21st Century is an altogether a different phenomenon, never before learning could be happening the way it is happening now; anywhere, anytime, accessible on multiple platforms and supporting any possible learning style or preference (Palmer, 2015). This has expanded the definition of literacy from just the ability to read and write to include the understanding of technology tools, which requires better integration of digital literacy into the curricula (Johnson et al., 2015). However the exact definition of digital literacy is still considered broad and ambiguous and different technology skills are required for the educator and the learners (ibid). The questions are, how do we prepare the academics to be digitally literate and ready for 21st Century teaching? How do we certify that they have the required competency to teach in the technology-rich learning environment?
Many researches indicate that ICT offers many possibilities that if use effectively, it will provide powerful learning experience to the students (Rienties et al., 2013). Many higher education institutions (HEIs) are allocating resources to provide adequate professional development, training and staff support for academics in order to increase their awareness of the complex interplay between technology, pedagogy and the cognitive content in their disciplines (Rienties et al., 2012). A number of e-Learning certification have been introduced to measure the academic’s current level of digital literacy, however all of the existing e-Learning certification available require the academics to follow a compulsory modules prepared specifically for the certification. None of the existing e-Learning certification takes into consideration the relevant training modules that the participants have gone through as part of his continuous professional development and the opportunity for them to convert their training hours into certification.
Acknowledging the importance of preparing the academics for the 21st Century teaching, the needs to recognize their competencies in utilizing technology in their classroom, and the opportunity to convert the training hours into certification, Taylor’s University has formulated the Certified Digital Educator (CDE) program with the following aims (see Figure 1).