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Professional Engagement Assignment

IT 6750: Current Trends and Issues in IT ~ Mae Guerra

As part of my professional engagement assignment I subscribed to a professional

organization called the Denver Metro E-learning Developers group. This group uses e-mail

to share meeting and industry announcements, job leads, plus tips and techniques within

the scope of instructional technology. This is the seventh year it has been in existence and

it is growing every day. The group grew from the Denver Metro Authorware Users Group

(DMAUG).

Group members develop e-learning and multimedia using a wide variety of tools. Featured

tools include Authorware, Captivate, Director, Dreamweaver, and Flash, along with other

Adobe/Macromedia applications and various development environments. This group

provides opportunity for exchange, interaction and conversation that are vital for

improving skills within the IT field.

Known for collaboration, the group writes code and produces cross-platform programs

deployed on CD-ROM and DVD, as well as on intranets and the Internet. Questions and

activities are brought to during the informal yet educational meetings. Meetings are free

and open to the public. I enjoy this group because it provides learning activities within the

meetings and allows me to participate in conversations with other professionals within the

field. All activities are directly connected to learning more about the IT field and advanced

made within education.

The second organization I joined is called the American Society for Training and

Development - Rocky Mountain Chapter. On the website for the American Society of

Training and Development it states the purpose of ASTD-RMC is to support the goals of the

national society in linking people, learning and performance. The website also states that

the mission of ASTD-RMC, is to be a leader in the profession of human learning and

performance, to provide services, products, and resources for its membership and to

achieve professional competence and fulfillment.

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The American society of for Training and Development has established the following goals

on their website:

Ensure provision of quality resources, educational programs and member services for

professional development of its membership.

Inform and educate practitioners of human learning and performance, both within its

membership and within the workplace, about human learning and performance issues,

trends and the role of ASTD-RMC.

Continually assess and anticipate needs within the field of human learning and

performance and build programs and services to meet the needs of the Chapter's

membership.

Encourage the participation and affiliation of its members through Chapter activities,

special interest groups, Chapter publications, Web site, and other means that build a forum

through which members can exchange ideas, resources and current trends with other

members.

Create opportunities for partnerships and alliances with other ASTD chapters, other

professional societies, educational institutions, the workplace and the community-at-large.