RICS Education and Training

Online recording user guide

My CPD

This user guide contains information on how to record your learning online using the RICS website.

Summer 2005

Important information
If you have been keeping your records on the RICS personal development planner (PDP) in Microsoft Word format, there is currently no way of automatically transferring the records over to the online version. We suggest you continue using the RICS PDP until such time we are able to introduce the feature which will enable you to attach your records to the site. Security Your online records are automatically backed-up on the RICS server so you will never lose them. Only RICS staff with online administrators access rights are able to view your records and no-one has access to your password. Accessing your records As an online recorder, you are able to access your records from any computer with an internet connection. This may be useful if you work across multiple sites or you need to access your record whilst attending a conference or when in an internet caf; all you need is a computer with an internet connection.

Getting started
System requirements To record online, the software requires: a PC with a monitor capable of 16 bit colour at a screen resolution of at least 800 x 600 pixels an internet connection web browser Installation instructions If you decide to keep your records online, you need to register as a new user on the RICS website. If you havent already done this, follow these simple instructions: Go to www.rics.org Look to the left of the page where it says Who are you? Click on Member and you will be taken to the members login page Click on click here to register

In the registration area, you will be asked to enter your membership number and date of birth. As this is a secure area, gaining access can sometimes be sensitive. Please ensure you use your seven digit membership number and date of birth in the following format including the forward slashes DD/MM/YYYY. You also need to tick the box to indicate you have read and accepted the RICS Terms and Conditions.

You will be taken to a screen and asked to confirm your email address of preference and confirm what your password will be. Your password must be a minimum of six digits. As the password is case-sensitive, please ensure you take note whether your password is in lower-case or upper-case. Once you have entered this information and clicked on OK you will receive a message saying registration complete and will be given the opportunity to select your website preferences. If you have problems logging onto the site, please contact the RICS Contact Centre on 0870 333 1600. They will then contact the RICS IT department to find out why the problem has occurred.

Logging in: CPD online

To log in, click on My CPD located on the left of your screen. You will then be presented with a window like the one below. If you need help, click on the help icons which appear on each of the pages next to the question with which you need assistance.

This page provides an overview of your objectives and hours. When you create a new objective or unplanned learning activity, the system will automatically update your personal learning record to show the revised number of objectives and hours. Unlike the previous recording site, the objective and unplanned learning templates are now combined. This is because we want you to focus your learning so it becomes structured and planned, rather than being undertaken on an ad-hoc basis. Only unplanned learning recorded on the previous site will appear in the total unplanned learning events field. By default, online recording adopts all of the information recorded in the objective and subject area fields alongside the CPD year. When you want to update your records, click anywhere along the objective field and the original template will appear on your screen.

Making your first online entry

Scroll down to the end of the page and click on create new objective. The following window will appear:

Registering my learning objectives and subjects

This is the online equivalent of the original RICS personal development planner. From here you will identify your learning needs, enter your learning activities and assess how successful your learning has been. For ease of use, the template has been reproduced over five pages. Error messages and character count Before you record your first online entry, you need to be aware of the restrictions placed on some of the template fields. Various error messages will appear if you enter information incorrectly. Maximum character count. If entries in the objective, subject area, learning outcome and further information fields exceed the stated maximum, an error message will appear on your screen, eg Please review the following errors: Subject area too long - maximum of 100 characters or 20 words Qualifying activities method of learning. Although you may have a list of activities you are planning to undertake to meet your identified learning needs, you can not record

a learning activity until after you have completed it. This is because the event might be cancelled or youre unable to attend due to work pressures or personal reasons. Completion date. This field should only be completed when you undertake the annual review of your learning. You can not record a future date in this field.

Learning objective what do I need/want to learn? (300 maximum character count) Since January 2004, you have been required to forward plan your learning. This means setting learning objectives which should be: Specific and clearly defined Relevant to your professional and/or personal role Aimed at improving knowledge, skills and competence Measurable in level of achievement, skill or ability.

If you have been keeping your records on a spreadsheet or the old RICS profile card, you will find the planner framework is very different to what you have been used to. So use the help icons to help you get started. If you are worried about using a web-based recording system, why dont you record details of any previous learning taken from diary entries or CPD certificates? This will help to increase your confidence and remember, the development of ICT skills might count as lifelong learning. Unplanned learning This type of learning starts with an action rather than through the process of reflection and review on current and future practice. Unplanned opportunities will always arise, they just need to be recorded in a slightly different way. When you click on the learning objective box, pre-fix the subject area with the words unplanned learning. This will ensure that when your records are displayed in your personal learning record you can see at a glance the different types of learning achieved.

When you evaluate unplanned learning at the review stage, you need to consider whether it applied to any of your specified objectives or whether it might contribute to a new objective in the learning cycle. If it does, you will be recording an objective that starts with reflection. Current and required levels of competence Having set your development objectives, you need to consider your competency level. In RICS terms, this means being unaware of the subject area to being acknowledged by others as an authority. The process of determining competency levels is described on http://www.rics.org/Careerseducationandtraining/Lifelonglearning/Continuingprofessional development/Structuredlearning/learning_cycle.htm Subject area (100 characters) The subject needs to be specific and relevant to the learning objective. For example, your objective could be to update my current level of knowledge and understanding on Building Regulations Part P, Electrical safety in dwellings with one of the corresponding subject areas being inspection and testing for electrical installations. By entering the information this way, your overall objective can be quite broad in terms of the general updating of your technical skills but very specific when it comes to defining what the objective is that you have set for yourself. CPD year The default year is set at 2005. Although members can record their learning activities going back to 2001, the LLL rules require you to only keep records for three years from the date of the qualifying activity.

Qualifying activities Learning activities should be aimed at meeting the objective. You can select up to five methods of learning, ranging from a CPD event to private structured learning. Record the date and time spent but do not enter anything in the total hours field because the system does this for you automatically. If five qualifying activity boxes are not enough, you will need to copy and paste your objective and subject area into a new template, creating five more blank boxes. Learning outcome/new level of competence (500 characters) This is the important stage of the learning cycle since this is how you assess how successful the learning has been in meeting your objective, what has been learnt and how this has been applied in practice. Determining whether a new level of competence has been achieved is also required. Further information (100 characters) The further information field enables you to record additional information about a particular learning activity like the quality of the learning event or whether a further update is required. It is not a mandatory field.

My qualifications
This is a non-mandatory template enabling you to record the basic details of a postqualification course which leads to a recognised qualification. Click on the link at the top of the page and the course title, name of the college/university, start date and named qualification will appear. Information on how to record this type of learning in more detail is at the end of the section.

Recording details of your course Clicking on add at the bottom of the screen will open up the template below.

The fields are all mandatory and have the following maximum character counts: Course title 34 Address unlimited Other 34 Recording formal qualification details Study leading to a relevant qualification is your commitment to lifelong learning. You should record the modules as your course progresses and identify the parts that have been useful in supporting and broadening your existing skills and knowledge through the process of continual assessment. The example below suggests the type of information you might record in the objective, subject area and learning outcome fields. The other fields are self-explanatory. Diploma in Project Management example Learning objective what do I need/want to learn? I want to develop my surveying practice to offer project management services. To do this I need to expand my existing PM skills by completing a Diploma in Project Management. Starting September 2005 - Semester One - Module One Organisation and People Management

Subject Area Theory and practice of managing people Learning outcome/new level of competence Able to design and complete reasonable timelines for project completion. A project team is often made up of very diverse individuals requiring me to apply delegation and communication skills in order for them to cooperate with each other (Give an example of a situation where you applied your knowledge and skill)

Saving, deleting and amending your CPD entries

Saving your CPD record As part of RICS site security, there is a 30 minute time out feature. If your browser is inactive for this length of time, ie you dont move from one page to another or save the page you are working on, the system will revoke your log-in and any unsaved data will be lost and you will need to log in again. So please make sure you save your work occasionally by clicking on the save and exit button in the bottom right hand corner. Alternatively, you could prepare your CPD records off-line rather than working live on the web site. This has benefits: Planning, recording and evaluating your learning objectives takes time and in most cases, a lot longer than 30 minutes Preparing your records off-line in say MS Word means they will be detailed and error free. It also means you can copy and paste the information into the online template at a time that suits you Because the web site sits on the public internet, transient network issues, ISP difficulties and other problems could result in the site being temporarily unavailable. So preparing your records offline means you are less likely to encounter difficulties or loss of data.

Deleting a CPD record To delete a CPD entry, select the relevant record from your list of entries on your PLR page. The delete button is at the bottom right hand corner. Be sure you really do want to delete the entry because once you have clicked on the delete button the information will be instantly lost and is non-retrievable. Amending your CPD entries You can recall your CPD record at any time. Simply click on the relevant record and the template will be appear on your screen. Follow the same procedures as adding a CPD record. Press save and exit to update your record.

Printing out your CPD records You can print your CPD entries by clicking on the print button at the top of your PLR screen. You will be presented with the following:

If you have more than one page of entries, additional numbers will appear at the bottom of the screen. The print option will appear on each of these pages. If you want a more detailed analysis of your learning records, you need to open up the relevant record from your PLR and use the print option on your toolbar.

Frequently asked questions

We hope you have found this user guide useful. In addition to the guidance already given, you might also find the following list of FAQs useful. Is it mandatory for me to record my learning online? No, although you will be exempt from the formal monitoring process until at least July 2007 if you use this facility voluntarily (FRICS, MRICS, TechRICS only). You must keep your records up-to-date in accordance with the lifelong learning rules. Does RICS intend to make online recording mandatory? There are no plans to make online recording mandatory. However, members admitted on or after 01 January 2004 are required to keep their records this way. This includes those reinstating their membership and members who qualify from 2004 onwards. Can I transfer all of my records over to the new system? The choice is yours as to how much information you transfer over. However you need to keep records for four years from the date of the qualifying learning activity. You could put some of your records online and keep the rest in their original format. Ive been recording my CPD on the original web-based system. What will happen to my records? All of your records (except the free text and additional subject areas) have been transferred across. Our developers are currently working on how the remaining information will be migrated across. How do I know Im meeting the required number of hours? You can see at a glance whether youre on target in terms of hours because the system automatically calculates the total time spent on your learning since you first started recording online. Remember though, learning outcomes are the main goal, not the number of hours you complete. I want to continue using the original RICS personal development planner. Do I have to use the web-based system? The web-based PDP is an alternative framework for the planning, recording and evaluation of your learning, so the choice is yours. It is the content of your PDP that is more important than the format used. Im currently on the APC. Can I record my professional development online? RICS encourages candidates undertaking the APC or ATC to use the online recording facility to help with the planning and recording of their professional/technical development activities. Candidates must however maintain their professional/technical development records in the format prescribed in the APC/ATC guides. Please seek advice from the APC Department, contact apc@rics.org if you are unsure of your professional development requirements.