The Project History
In 2015, an environmental scan identified gaps and opportunities in the training needs of early years professionals throughout British Columbia. In responding to those needs the BC Office for the Early Years sponsored BCcampus to create and pilot a website to improve access to and coordination of professional development in the sector.
BCcampus, in collaboration with sector stakeholders, created EYPD (Early Years Professional Development). This website would become a hub for early years professionals to find and post training events. Most recently, we recently also launched a separate EYPD Facebook page to help reach out to an even broader audience.
The Present
EYPD is currently funded by Ministry of Children and Families, Childcare Policy Branch. Over 1,200 professional development opportunities have been posted from over 130 agencies throughout B.C. in the past two years. Users can find events by keywords, by location, or by browsing through the training event calendar. Feedback from users is regularly collected to inform the design of new functions and to fine-tune current features.
We recognize that we wouldn’t be where we are without the support of the training organizers to post events, and the learners to sign up for an account on EYPD to track their professional development. A heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you for engaging with this pilot project.
Future Plans
In the future, we’ll be working on setting up a forum for event organizers to collaborate on events and share knowledge of emerging issues and trends. If you have ideas or feedback for what you’d like to see on EYPD, we would love to hear all about it. Contact us to let us know your thoughts and ideas.