The History of Online CEUS
Continuing Education Units - CEUS - are credits that are given for education that is obtained after a person has received their degree and licensure in a particular field. These CEUs are designated by the licensing board and must be obtained over a certain period of time by the professionals in order to maintain their licensure in a particular field.
In order to be successful in any field, a person needs to continue learning and developing in their professional skills and knowledge. CEUs were developed as a way to make sure that busy professionals still stayed up-to-date and aware of new trends and practices in their field. It was a way of ensuring that someone didn’t get a degree and license and then stop learning or growing.
The practice of needing to acquire CEUs has only strengthened over time, as new fields and boards continue to put this practice in to place for their various industries. For many industries, the number of CEUs continues to increase as well. However, the practice of how to obtain those CEUs has changed over time and has been made easier over time.
These changes include:
- Format of CEU Classes – Courses were originally obtained by going and sitting in a classroom setting and generally receiving a lecture from a professional in the field. However, over time and with new methods of technology, this format has changed a great deal. Today’s busy professionals can take obtain CEUs in several ways including:
- classes online through the use of the internet that allow for interaction with instructors and peers via message boards
- in-person interactive classes designed to help them network and learn from their peers, in addition to instructions
- professional seminars or workshops
- Amount and Types of CEU's Offered – the course catalog for CEUs at most institutions has grown considerably in recent years. Today’s professionals are now offered a wide range of classes through which they can obtain their needed CEUs. These can include professional skills, such as organization, paperwork/procedures, and time management, in addition the to traditional classes about latest research and trends or specialized areas in their field.
- Where to Obtain CEUs – a final change that has been seen over time is the type of institution that offers CEUs to professionals. In the past, a professional had to enroll in a local college or university and take classes to obtain their credits. However, there are now many private companies that have been developed for the sole purpose of providing continuing education to professionals. This has expanded the choices available to the professional and allows them to receive education from an organization that is focused only on continuing education and doesn’t have a divided focus like a traditional college or university does.
These changes have not only strengthened the type and quality of continuing education that professionals are learning, but has also enhanced the ability of those professionals to obtain the necessary CEUs without having a negative impact on their job. They are free to take courses in whatever way makes sense to them and allowed to have flexibility on the type of information they learn, as well as the method and location where the learning occurs. Online CEUs have especially made the attainment of social work continuing education much easier because of the amount of training social workers must constantly receive.