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Best Courses To Become A Lecturer

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Cambridge Open College
Best Courses To Become A Lecturer

If you’ve ever considered a public speaking career, or fancied yourself talking knowledgeably to groups of educated, well-informed people about subjects for which you have a passion, then becoming a lecturer might be a good start.

Lecturing is a ‘thing’ in many countries. Lecturers are highly-regarded and are frequently considered experts in their fields. Not necessarily for any academic prowess (although it can’t hurt), but more often because they have the confidence and fearlessness to get up in front of a crowd and put themselves in the ‘firing line’. 

Perhaps surprisingly, courses to become a lecturer are few and far between, particularly in the rarefied space inhabited by "mainstream" colleges and universities in the education sector.

However, lecturing is as much about delivery as it is about content or subject matter. Experienced lecturers develop and cultivate a stage ‘persona’ and use public speaking skills to engage with their audience. The substance of their content has more gravitas and is much more interesting to the recipients than those without these skills.

But how does a less confident or less articulate individual develop these skills without exposing themselves to the tough and unforgiving ‘crowd’ that stand-up comedians dread with a passion in their formative years?

Before ‘girding your loins’ and taking on the pressurised and terror-inducing environment of public speaking, or ‘jumping in the deep end’ to deliver live lectures, you might consider a less stressful introduction by learning to conduct assessments.

Many of the skills needed to carry out assessments are perfect to introduce a novice to public speaking or lecturing. Assessors need to speak authoritatively to scores of unknown people in unfamiliar surroundings every day of the week! Courses to become a lecturer (assessor) are ideal as preparatory training and are a great ‘warm up’ for teaching and lecturing

An assessor (lecturer) must have certain skills, such as being able to explain workplace procedures and processes or simple routine operations to a student or learner (employee). Or helping to validate the principles of teaching, learning and assessment (core material for an academic lecturer), and having the competence and background to be able to analyse what people (a target audience) need to hear and know. These are ‘bread and butter’ for any lecturer and/or assessor.

Assessment and quality assurance are ideal courses to become a lecturer. Teaching or learning the skills to do so are perfect for insinuating oneself into the ‘lion’s den’ without becoming a public speaker overnight.

The best thing about such courses to become a lecturer is that they can be studied privately by distance or online learning. No need to expose yourself from the outset; rather, you work through the materials in your own time and your own space (even from home if you like), so that you’re ready when the time comes to ‘go public’.

Cambridge Open College, one of the UK’s fastest growing online learning providers, has recently added to its range of teaching courses, the latest of which are aimed at those wanting to conduct workplace assessments (aka deliver lectures).

Brand new courses to become a lecturer are being put together right now by Cambridge Open College’s Qualification Development Team, so why not go and register on their website at https://cambridgeopencollege.ac?

In the meantime, you can study to become an Internal Quality Assurer or take one of the other assessor qualifications (most of which are on the Regulated Qualification Framework – RQF) or courses to become a lecturer that can build up the confidence and knowledge you need to take you further.

Who knows how far you’ll get? You might even consider a complete change of career.

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