Day 1
Plenary address 1 by Minister for Training and Workforce Development, Terry Redmond
Mr Redmond stressed that there will be plenty of development in the pipeline and what we are about to experience is not the end of the boom, but some changes in its nature.There has been a 52% increase in graduates from Certificates III and IV qualifications in 2012
The government is committed to a more market led VET sector, adopting an entitlement model structure but is conducting a review learning from other States' experiences - this review will be held over the next 12 months.
The government sees a skilled workforce as essential to increased productivity.
There are some shifts happening in VET and the Forum should help us to understand these.
Changes in WA State economy will impact the budget and therefore training in WA but he is confident that support for training will continue and that the WA economy will still lead Australia.
Plenary Address 2 by Rachel Visser, Miss NAIDOC 2012
Rachel works for Aboriginal Workforce Development. She left school in Year 12 and did Certificates III and IV in business courses at Apprenticentre, on the job. She then did Certificate IV in Project Management and is now doing a Bachelor in Social Work at Curtin University, all while working full time, with time off allowed to train. She expressed her gratitude that she was able to do all of this training on the job, and believes it is this type of work place support that can make a difference to an Aboriginal employee.Keynote Address Mark Pesche - Massive Attack
Mark Pesche is a well known presenter on Innovation - here is a link to his "news" page on his website where you will find recordings of some of his talks. Mark PescheHyperconnectivity
Australians have 1.3-1.4 mobile devices per capita - this provides for "hyperconnectivity." We are no more than 10 digits away from someone else with a mobile device therefore assistance is always at hand. We are in the middle of a personal learning network and this sometimes has unintended consequences, such as Trivia no longer being effective in pub quiz nights as the information is available to all on demand via their mobile phones. Mark proposes we think of a new kind of Trivia night in terms of teaching and learning - based on the ability to learn something new. Memory is no longer as relevant. We could instead conduct a series of assessments, and excelling in these would indicate the participant's ability to get through a life time of education. We can now effectively leverage the knowledge of the whole world.Massive skills acquisition can be achieved by any individual online, not through institutions or formal systems. It is possible to have no gatekeepers, no barriers and few assessments. Tertiary education is facing the same issues as newspapers.
Example: Coursera (www.coursera.com) everything that was once local and decentralised is now global and universal.
Is a personal learning network enough?
However, neither traditional nor online universities are perfect - we can improve both.The presence of the educator cannot be supplanted by the technology - the "now moment." This does not digitise well. The limiting factor for online learning is mentoring via embodied knowledge (ie the in-person, face to face instructor).
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are disembodied so can be lacking in meaning.
A demonstration of competence is also not easy to provide online and at a distance - many areas require hands on demonstration for assessment. The issue is one of trust - who grants the qualification - chain of trust and accreditation.
Playing to our strengths
A tertiary institution is located within a specific community and education is driven by local conditions. a MOOC cannot respond to local conditions, it is global and generic. MOOCs are good for entry level, generic courses - can complement locally based courses as a resource, freeing up time for mentoring - using the "flipped classroom."Pesche proposes that VET in WA could combine to create MOOCs for this purpose. He advises us not to let competitors call the tune but build on the strengths of our existing institutional learning - location, the now moment and hands on assessment.
He discussed the challenges of delivering courses to thousands yet making it personal, and the issue of reaching non-networked areas. He mentioned the use of mobile devices as a possible way forward.
The goal should be to increase the participants' capability.
Australia's future wealth depends on adding value to natural resources. We have strength in our knowledge economy.
The WatBook?
Pesche made a proposal for an app called the WATBook that brings together providers, employers and prospective students. All publicly visible, tutors advertise their skills and ability to assess, all communication, collaboration and tracking happens on WATBook, the qualification is conferred on the site and it is a live portfolio for employers to peruse and respond to. It could be the engine room for the economy.Lifelong learning is now a reality as we have the means. Everyone has a smart phone so it is not true that adults don't have digital literacy.
Mobile Technology in Training Delivery - Chris Winter
Chris's slide show: Chris Winter: Mobile Learning for Education and TrainingTechnology trends - quick survey of the room showed that most people attending had an iPhone or iPad or both. iOS is top OS in Australia for mobile devices, but Android is higher globally.
The top OS in general is still Windows - far greater than iOS. Currently also desk top access to the net is still far greater than via mobile - due to work habits and workplaces being slow to adopt new mobile technology. We are in transition to more mobile work stations. There are mounting expectations of wireless, byod etc but this is then followed by a more realistic assessment of how technology can be used - t his is the process before adoption.
Smart phones are already adopted. We now have 3D scanners.
Some of the challenges are:
Cross-platform compatability - we need a format that everyone can use no matter what their device is
Device costs - mobile devices are affordable, but within an institutional setting who pays and supplies?
Development cost
Battery life and infrastructure to support battery charging
Longevity - what to do when battery stops charging
Not everyone has a mobile device
For cross-platform compatability, apps must be tested on all device types and browsers
The advantages of mobile technology:
Accessibility
Cost-effectiveness
Flexibility - any time, any where, not tied to physical location, portable
Engagement
Intuitive
Wide adoption
Sustainability (eg less use of paper)
Adaptive technology (in the broader sense that it can be adapted to many purposes - but in particular can more easily be adapted for disabilities)
For further information and discussion Chris referred us to Participation and Skills Wiki in the Flexible Learning Framework website.
Effective strategies with mobile devices require us to think "task" not "technology." What is the task we want people to complete? Here are some possible tasks:
Phones:
Short, sharp bursts of content
Revision notes
Podcasts
Evidence gathering
Social networking
Communication
Photo creation, uploading and viewing
Augmented Reality
QR codes
Short surveys or quizzes
Tablets;
Larger chunks of information
Content creation
Apps
The standards for using mobile devices are available on the Flexible Learning Framework's website - here is a link to an m-Learning Guide for teachers from the FLF: M-Learning Guide for Teachers
Small screens for small tasks, big screens for big tasks is a good principle
We need to teach mobile etiquette in the classroom. Allow mobiles in classrooms but make sure infrastructure is available and don't mandate mobile devices as this excludes anyone without them.
Lecturers do not need to become multimedia developers and develop their M-learning materials from scratch - use the apps that are out there as there are heaps.
Third Plenary Address, Allan Blagaich, CEO of Curriculum and Standards Authority - WACE reforms
Here is a link to Allan Blagaich's YouTube video:CEO Curriculum Standards: WACE Reforms
For full briefings on the reforms go here: WACE 2016 briefings for principals
The Slide Show presentation is available in the Google Docs folder at the link at the end of this blog post.
Some concerns about WACE patterns that are being addressed:
Literacy and numeracy levels not high enough for VET or uni entry
3000 students exited secondary school in 2013 with no Certificates and no ATAR.
Changes need to be implemented to lift standards and students needs to demonstrate minimum standard literacy and numeracy essential for demands of work. WACE must mean something.
Day 2
First Plenary - Director General of Workplace Training and Development, Ruth Sheehan
Go here for Dr Sheehan's YouTube video of her presentation: Dr Ruth Sheehan, DG: Update on National ReformsHere is Dr Sheehan's slide show: Dr Ruth Sheehan, DG, Keynote Address Slide Show
VET in Schools reforms - three goals:
Improve quality and outcomes
Restore employer and industry confidence
Clear pathways into careers
The biggest problem has been communication between schools, employers and VET institutions.
There has been a pattern of Year 11 and 12 marking time, since compulsory school leaving age has been raised.
Changes will bring focus and provide foundations for meaningful VETIS.
Single biggest factor for good VETIS is strong leadership by principals.
Suitable courses for VETIS are being identified, changes implemented 2015
Certificate II is generally the accepted level but Cert I in valid in some contexts
There has been an increase in VETIS numbes so resources have to be allocated accordingly - in the current economic climate this may not mean increased resources and spending.
Industry must be involved - industry must be able to accept school offerings.
There will be increased travel assistance for regional apprentices and trainees but the emphasis will be to keep them in their regions where possible.
Aims to reduce barriers and increase opportunities for women.
This will be a difficult budget which will make it difficult to deal with a situation where there is a shortfall in labour but constraints on the training budget.
The emphasis is completion outcomes, not training places
Targets are more defined including Aboriginal graduates, Cert III and above, regional and remote, disabilies etc.
A consistent national position on 11 areas are needed for national harmonisation of apprenticeships - a lot involved - deadline is 30 June 2013 - she doubts this will be met.
Training is the driver of productivity and should not have resources cut in response to global economic contractions.
Entitlement model - student-centred, increase in training, training priorities, funding partly driven by State Priority List
State-based criteria for public and private RTOs.
Income-contingent loans for Diploma and Advanced Diploma for specific courses only
Rolling out new training system in an uncertain world and tight fiscal environment.
Keynote - Nils Vesk - Innovation Blue print
Here is Nils Vesk slide show that accompanied his address:Nils is a very fast-moving presenter and the points below are my notes written on the fly - hopefully you will be able to relate them to his slide show above.
Everyone is an innovator but no one believes it!
Ideas are currency for success
Ideas with legs - ideas that can be taken to market for commercial gain
Boundaries kill innovation - boundaries of what we can or cannot do
Idea generation
Different types of innovators corresponding to the elements wood, fire, water, earth and metal
You have to start by understanding what it is you do, before you can know how to improve
Training has three components - delivery, process and content.Map supply chain and identify where you are unique to build on that
We often get our best idea by using opposites
Counter-intuitive - thinking outside our comfort zone, opposite of what we normally do. What if.....there are no students coming to campus, or what is opposite of education and training?
What can we add or combine?
Most commercially successful ideas combine a range of different innovative ideas
Gamification - rules, parameters, progress indicators - goal driven, challenge, feedback, leaderboards showing progress.
Bend the concept of time
Charette - fast design process
Perception of your users/stakeholders
Look at perceptions of stakeholders and people who know them: eg mothers, high school teachers, employers. He gave an example of finding out that some students deal with their exam stress by patting dogs, so dogs were brought in prior to sitting the exams and students found patting them helpful.Find out what stakeholders don't like or are worried about - obstructions can become commercial innovations - eg airline company in South Africa used people's fear of flying to make some humourous advertising material.
Adaptation - take an idea from one sphere and use it in another.
Eg Maximum security prisons - to create solution so inmates will be better prepared for the outside world - his answer was to create a prison more like something in the outside community and he chose the model of a US residential college as it had many paralells of people being in the same vicinity every day and night for a set period of time, but incorporate all the postives, like meeting places, libraries, etc - the prison has one of the lowest reoffence rates in Australia.Elimination
Eliminate a fundamental element - eg in training it might be eliminate class room, or eliminate the teacher, or books, etc.Map the territory
The big picture in which your activities are situated.Ideas are worthless unless we execute them.
Fear plus focus - key ingredients in innovation
Our brain is geared to danger and risksPrototype the idea, test and present.
For more information about Nils and some free resources I strongly recommend you visit his website at Nils Vesk - he has a free e-book called Life's Little Toolbox which might be worth investigating
Third Plenary Session - Suzi Steigler-Peters - Quality Teaching for Personalised Learning
Here is Suzi Steigler-Peter's YouTube video:Quality Teaching for Personalised Learning
Suzi is the National General Manager for Education, Telstra Enterprise and Government
She produced a paper with the above title.
Suzi undertook national consultation and research to identify challenges and find solutions
She identified the importance of technology-enabled learning ecosystems, BYOD, provided device, ubiquitous technology, flipped classrooms, and multiple, integrated technologies.
New pedagogies - implication for learning design, learning space re-design, rethinking the lecturer, teams of teachers.
Learner enablement, teachers as learners, social networking, fluencies as opposed to competencies, instructor as co-designer.
Shift away from traditional LMS like Blackboard which can be too constraining - social networking instead, or bringing together LMS and social networking.
Deep engagement
Her paper is seen as a blueprint for reform - go here to find a copy: Quality Teaching for Personalised Learning
Anita Mills: VET Transparency Agenda: What's in it for me?
Go here for Anita Mill's YouTube presentation: VET TransparencyOther slideshows and handouts
The link below is to a folder slide shows and handouts for presentations I did not attend, uploaded to my GoogleDocs space - feel free to browse these for further information. The DTWD website where I obtained all of these may be further updated with more resources from the conference.Conference Papers - on Google Docs
