INNOVATION IN THE VET SECTOR – IS IT POSSIBLE?

Michael CoghlanNewLearning

27/3/14

INNOVATION IN THE VET SECTOR – IS IT POSSIBLE?

Yes, but it’s getting harder.

INNOVATION IN THE VET SECTOR

Examples from the pastCurrent state of play

Path to future innovation

INNOVATION ON THIS DAY(March 27th)

• 1790 Shoe Laces and Holes

• 1849 Steam powered percussion rock drill

• 1855 Kerosene

• 1860 Corkscrew

• 1866 the Urinal

• 1884 First long distance telephone call

• 1914 First blood transfusion

INNOVATION

Involves:• Time to play/experiment• An element of risk• Possible failure

INNOVATION ≠TECHNOLOGY

technology often enables

Innovation

BUT

FLIPPED LEARNING

ACCIDENTAL FLIPPING

• TAFESA DENTAL

PRACTICE FIRMS

• RESPONSIBLE SERVICE OF ALCOHOL

1997 - 2002

TAFESA: the first organisation outside of North America to adopt WebCT

•Created by Jay Easterby-Wood (NT VET)•Bought by Microsoft

Video created by a student of one of hispeers demonstrating competence in thesafe use of hand and power tools

Video/photographs created by students onmobile phones and uploaded to Facebook

USER GENERATED CONTENT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/813957814/

Is a video created by an apprentice using POVtechnology somewhere in remote Australia sufficientto prove that s/he is competent at fitting service gauges?

POINT OF VIEW (POV) TECHNOLOGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrGbfYkuu8E

Is a video created by an apprentice using POVtechnology sufficient to prove that s/he is competent at fitting battens on a roof?

POINT OF VIEW (POV) TECHNOLOGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glj1zB-uoRc&feature=youtu.be

Virtual Worlds

Image courtesy of Jo Kay http://www.flickr.com/photos/jokay/3354082811

http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/flickrCC/index.php

FINDING CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGES ON FLICKR

Stephan Schmidt

ASSESSING IN THE FIELD; INTERACTIVE PDF’S & TABLETS

PEER ASSESSMENT: Moodle Workshop Tool

Overview• This project explored the role of online peer

assessment in helping to determine a candidate’s competency

• Unit of study: Promote team effectiveness

http://accesstoskills.wikispaces.com/AS079

http://mobile.news.com.au/realestate/investing/technology-now-a-tool-of-the-trade-in-construction/story-fndbarft-1226579678745

MODEL OF EXCELLENT PRACTICE

Blue Dog Training (Engineering) QLD• Interactive online quizzes• Electronic skills profile (type of eportfolio)

– Photographic and journal evidence– Series of complex online tasks that test underpinning knowledge

• Work closely with on the job supervisors – interview supervisors and students

• Frequency of tasks and photographic evidence recorded• Build effective relationships with learners and employers• ie: USE A VARIETY OF APPROACHES

http://www.bluedogtraining.com.au/

Blue Dog Trainer:

• How do I know that written report is the student’s work? I know because it is one piece of several pieces of assessment. I know in particular because I have developed a relationship with that student. I talk to them by mail and phone, and also I talk to their employer when I can. Any good teacher seeks such validation.”

There are pockets of excellence

CC image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/3661826940

Many of them enabled via funding from:

INNOVATION INTO THE FUTURE Is there a problem?

Victor Callan (The University of Queensland) Berwyn Clayton (Victoria University)

http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/files/Eassessment_AQTF_final.pdf

Skills of the VET Teacher/Trainer

Many practitioners not sure

what is acceptable to auditors –

results in a culture of meek

compliance > unwillingness to

innovate

However.....

• Auditor’s comment:

“I suggest you steer away from collaborative assessment.” (2013)

TEACHING AND LEARNING OUTCOMES(circa 2000)

TAE CERTIFICATE OUTCOMES - 2013

HOW WE’VE CHANGED:

• The focus of VET has shifted from LEARNING to ASSESSMENT.

TIME SPENT ON ASSESSMENT

TIME SPENT ON ASSESSENT – the last 5 years -

LECTURER COMMENTS:• wasting a huge amount of time on bureaucracy to meet auditors needs rather than

on delivery of outcomes to students• the Audit /ASQA requirements for VET and Tafe training has increased the time

needed prepare and assess in training• a lot of the time is spent on the quality requirements now e.g. filing assessments,

tracking training plans etc• marking, documenting, recording, student information systems, fulfilling auditable

requirements takes the largest proportion of our time• Very little time available for research, and development of materials past what is

already available due to the increased demands time for assessment ... Too much time spent doing tasks that should be done by administrative staff.... Quality system also demands multiple records of many outcomes and this takes significant time also

• Administration and compliance requirements, especially in relation to assessment, have significantly reduced the time available for quality lesson planning and resource development

What an assessor in the Australian VET sector needs to show!

• Provide evidence to support your decision to approve student X competent in unit of competence Y on day Z last semester

• extreme cases: need to report on every student on every unit of competence for every day

WHY HAS THIS HAPPENED?

because a couple of kids mucked around in class

• Sugata Mitra:

"the stupidity and short-sighted self-interest of politicians combined with the laziness and

cowardice of many who work in education is a powerful and deadly brake upon change."

(Sugata Mitra)

STEMMING THE TIDE

Two questions:

1. Will this improve my teaching?

2. Will it reduce the amount of time I have to prepare lessons?

Greg Whitby

THE PROBLEM:

"The dominant culture of education has come to focus not on teaching and learning, but testing...this...leads to a culture of compliance rather than creativity.“http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley.html

What needs to happen to ensure innovation in the VET sector?

• Innovation needs to be a standing item on the agenda in work groups meetings

• While we have every learning experience budgeted, audited, assessed and reviewed there will never be any true innovation - the system doesn't allow it (Peter A)

• Without the support of the organisational culture, the best laid plans "to be innovative" just won't happen. VET culture is problematic. The work is meaningful for most, but the desire to do the extra is hindered by lack of support, lack of time, and lack of security in the sector. Culture is the key! (Andrew K)

• TIME! (Frank)

What needs to happen to ensure innovation in the VET sector?

• Peter Shanks (Sprout Labs, Tasmanian Polytechnic/TasTAFE):

– Encourage the delivery of single units of competency and skill sets– Sanction the delivery of non-accredited courses (e.g. no assessment and certification... just the

facts and the practice), either for 'just in time learning' or as a feeder to accredited courses– Create a decent API for the training package material and bring all content under a creative

commons license– Become a centralised open badges issuer for training package based units of competency and

link RTOs into it so that they can issue and verify student achievements, and so students can easily display and move their qualifications from one RTO to another (see http://openbadges.org/)

– Encourage/fund the translation of training package material into other languages– Actively promote and support the use of Training Packages overseas– Build tools for creating content and an interface for discovery, remixing and sharing. Aim for

student generated, mobile based content and you might just about make something relevant before the next big change comes along (my guess: AI generated content available through some ubiquitous interface - wearable or embedded in everyday devices).

”if we want to allow innovation to happen in the VET sector we need to have a work culture and environment that allows experimentation and trialling without the requirement of success, profitability or quality” (Peter A)

2014 Aust Technology Outlook (Horizon Report)

Trending Educational Technologies:Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less• BYOD• Flipped Classroom• Mobile Learning• Online Learning

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years• Badges/Micro-credits• Games and Gamification• Learning Analytics• Open Content

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years• The Internet of Things• Machine Learning• Natural User Interfaces• Wearable Technology

FLIPPED LEARNING( a form of Blended Learning)

MOBILE

• more than 50% of the world now access the Internet via a mobile device

• Develop content for mobile devices first!• Moodle 2.x reformats automatically for the

mobile screen; also apps available for all smartphones

AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)

Inspire Centre, University of Canberra

3D PRINTING

CC image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/7464973344/

(Open) BADGES

From Peer2peer university

WEARABLE COMPUTING(would you wear an embedded chip?)

DEVICES that can be implanted in the brain are being trialled to treat seizures, pain, psychiatric conditions and Parkinson's disease.New electrodes - half a millimetre thick - are being designed to insert into the brain, detect abnormal brain activity and deliver instant treatment.

GOOGLE GLASS

"A study of over 4000 people carried out by the Centre of Creative and Social Technologies (CAST) at Goldsmiths University, revealed that one in five Britons were uncomfortable with the privacy implications surrounding the Google Glass – and believe that it should be banned outright. The research paper, The Human Cloud: Wearable Technology from Novelty to Productivity, found that around half of respondents expressed a general mistrust about the invasive nature of wearable technologies such as Google Glass

eAssessment via Uberveillance?

Google Glass Narrative (formerly Memoto)

CC image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucdjoe/9303044876

See also Autographer

DRONES FOR GOOD

CC image by mobology

Drones for Schools

No strings attached funding

INNOVATION

Involves:• Time to play/experiment• An element of risk• Possible failure

99% of success is built on failure.

(Charles Kettering)

LAST THOUGHTS? QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

END OF TODAY’S SESSION

Unless otherwise stated all images used in this presentation are Creative Commons images by mikecogh - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/

Michael CoghlanNewLearningmichaelc@chariot.net.au

Slides available from http://www.slideshare.net/michaelc/