It is coming up to the end of my first nine months as a part-time Lecturer in Sports Business Management at Hartpury University. They offer a range of business programmes across their further and higher education provision, I’ve been mostly connected to the undergraduate BA in Sports Business Management (course details here and student perspective here) and really enjoyed my first academic year here… *insert classic reflections about work load, meeting new people, enjoying the campus/students*

What I want to focus on for this blog is the opportunities offered to me by Hartpury around continuing professional development (CPD). I had assumed walking into the role there would be ‘pressure’ to gain a particular teaching qualification and do the typical human resource induction and safeguarding courses, to an extent this happened during the first few weeks. However, an unexpected and welcomed offer was to complete the Digital Marketing Institute’s Pro ‘Certified Digital Marketing Professional’ course:

“This program covers the key areas required to become a skilled digital marketer in any industry and sector. By taking this program with the Digital Marketing Institute, you will develop the practical, hands-on skills required to implement successful multi-channel digital campaigns and you will come away with an actionable digital marketing strategy and the know-how to help drive success for your business.” More details here.

This course is part of a suite of courses and resources offered by DMI, and Hartpury has access due to their licence agreement. A few short and sharp reflections on the course from me:

• Online CPD is intense! I was caught off guard by the need to block out around 3 hours of time each week to complete the modules… ironic given my skillset of designing and delivering curriculum, I know, but the DMI really do pepper the modules with an impressive wealth and depth of content. You need to be able to give this concentrated and undivided attention per module, I created a system/pockets of time in the week to achieve this and moving forward will do this each week to complete ongoing CPD credits to keep up my accreditation.

• CPD credit systems are ingenious! Linked to the latter point above, the breadcrumb and structured CPD credit system the DMI has designed is great. I am now beginning to think through how I can transfer this type of system into my teaching/module/research ways of working. Essentially you have to keep and monitor CPD activity (not rocket science) but the templates and inclusive design for the CDMP level is very well put together.

• Visibility of the certification! In true digital marketing style, the DMI brand management and communication channels allows you to make visible and interconnect your certificate with other activities. I now have a badge for my email signature and an E-certificate to keep in a file. Yet, connected to the reflection above, I can continue to build the visibility of skills, experiences and benefits I gain from the DMI/CDMP qualification via promoting my own CPD activities (e.g. through this blog, via LinkedIn/Twitter etc.). It is a very clever and well thought through system and culture, tipping my hat to the folk at the DMI.

• Brilliantly packaged content! Already there are tangible and intangible benefits. For example, the International Sports Development undergraduate module needs a hefty amount of ‘data visualization’ both in teaching and assessment content. I’ve used skills and techniques from the DMI CDMP course to influence my delivery and explanation for the students. It is paying off as I am mid-marking the assessments and the quality of ‘data visualization’ has surpassed my expectations.

It is not just me who is impressed by the systems and content at the DMI, interestingly Sport England and the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity have recently launched a Digital Marketing Hub and formal partnerships with DMI… more details in the blogs I’ve linked above.

I may well blog again with further digital marketing specific learnings, for now I am content with making visible my certificate achievement and some reflections on the process of achieving this. Thanks to everyone at Hartpury and the DMI for the opportunity…

VPos