#workforce capability

The literature review also highlighted that Australia does not have sufficient workers – both skilled and unskilled- to meet the future demands of industry and links the VET sector as a key driver for developing Australia’s workforce in a global economy.

Chris Richardson, Director of Deloitte Access Economics explained at the 2011 Skills Australia and Industry Skills Councils joint conference in Melbourne that there is a growing gap between the demand for the jobs and the supply of skills in this country at a time when our migration rates are halving, and baby boomers are retiring. He believes that the increase in Australia’s terms of trade is a key contributor driving demand for jobs, skills and qualifications.  Put simply he suggests that if we want to position Australia as the best then we need to have the best skills (Australian Workforce Productivity Agency 2011).

Heather Ridout, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group and a Skills Australia board member stated in her address that “Our investment in skills and skilling is too low” and emphasised the importance of looking at ways of rejuvenating sectors such as tourism, education and manufacturing, which are all considered major employers in Australia and who are each experiencing extreme competitive pressures.  Like many others, Heather sees a link between education, training and productivity (Australian Workforce Productivity Agency 2011).

It is clear that if industry itself sees the value of education and training then understanding the importance of the transfer of training to workforce is a vital part of any learning design.

If you are a VET practitioner and you would like to be involved in this research please contact me via this blog, LinkedIn or Social Media.

The first stage involves participation in professional conversations with educational practitioners at various stages of their e-learning journey using platforms such as Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups. This will involve both facilitating discussions and engaging in existing discussions that explore the use and issues of implementing e-learning into training.  Discussions will be carefully monitored manually over a period of approximately six weeks.  The information gleaned from these discussions will be used to determine the nature and scope of the questions that will be included in the design of a practitioner’s survey aimed at exploring practitioner perceptions of e-learning, e-learning delivery and its impact on learning and training transfer.

The role of the VET educator is to create an appropriate learning environment that will enable the participants to learn in a variety of ways that appeals to each individual's learning style.  In the context of VET, learning (be it skills or knowledge) is mostly engaged in to enable learning to develop the necessary skills learners need for a particular job role or career path.  It is therefore essential that the educator considers the most appropriate teaching methodologies to ensure learners can retain and transfer this learning to their workplace.

I am sure you will all agree that not all learning happens in a classroom and much of what we know about a particular work task may have been developed in the workplace or as part of our daily life experiences. 

It so important that we consider learning opportunities that occur outside of the classroom and even outside of the workplace. 

Formal and informal opportunities for learning are very important to us as developing individuals.  Not surprisingly, technology has opened up a multitude of ways for individuals to acquire knowledge that is timely and relevant to our current needs.

Let me give a simple example.  I was invited to a party for Christmas last year and I was asked to bring a light, summery cocktail for the guests.  After a brief discussion I decided on a fruity Sangria.  Now I don't know the first thing about making Sangria but with the help of some great websites, blogs and even videos... I now think I make a pretty mean Sangria.  Surprisingly, I didn't attend any lessons or require a teacher. 

If you are still not convinced and think okay that doesn't count you are not employed to make Sangria... and of course you are right I am not but in my defense I did say it would be a simple example :-).

Okay so now let's consider twitter.  I am in the business of providing education solutions to VET learners.  I am passionate about all things e-learning (more about that in another post, please remember for now ... provided it is used in the right place and the right way) but sadly I don't know everything so I use platforms such as twitter and LinkedIn to keep myself abreast of news, trends and of course 'who is who' in the industry.

With this in mind the majority of my tweets are about e-learning, social media, VET etc and so are the majority of tweets I read.  Some of these tweets take me off to blogs, websites, conference sites, youtubes.... and from this I believe I have learned a lot but in different ways to how I have learned in the past.  With type of learning it it is up to me to work out what content is relevant and how or if I should apply it to my workplace.

Maybe now you are starting to get the picture for why I have chosen this as my theme for research...... I absolutely, love it!

So here are some things to ponder: Is it true that these informal learning experiences are of value to my own personal development as a VET practitioner?  Or dare I say it, is it a time waster, a good thing to do but it doesn't achieve that much?  How do we know that these technologies can assist a learner to learn.... or not?

So this is where my first post will stop... I am on my way... Thus begins a rather interesting literature review :-).

Bye for now and I hope you stop by again soon.

I am currently reading research papers that discuss VET issues, its role and purpose.  At the same time I am considering the answer to the question “Does technology have a role to play in improving workforce capability?”