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Both the [vocational education and training] VET and schools sectors are currently investing significant resources to promote more flexible approaches to teaching and learning. [Australian National Training Authority] ANTA Flexible Learning Toolboxes and the emergence of the Learning Federation are evidence that national initiatives are now seeking to use electronic and online mediums to promote flexibility. Yet for all the resources being channelled into the development of e-learning resources and learning objects, the uptake has been slow. This may be because there is limited understanding of how to implement e-learning solutions in both the VET and schools sectors. This paper reports on two innovative e-learning and assessment projects undertaken in the Western Australia VET in Schools arena in 2002. Both projects focused on retail training. The first ran at Forrestfield Senior High School between April and June; the second at Sevenoaks Senior College in August and September 2002. These projects have been identified nationally as best practice exemplars in the Practitioner Guide to Online Assessment that was commissioned by TAFE frontiers in Victoria. This paper shares the results of these implementation projects in perhaps one of the most difficult but rewarding educational arenas: VET in Schools.

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It is commonly agreed that the educational sector is currently experiencing 'turbulent times' and that this turbulence will be with us into the future. Many government reports highlight this phenomenon and have resulted in policy initiatives to enhance flexibility and innovation in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. This paper examines an approach to dealing with turbulence using knowledge management theory, principles and practice to build responsiveness, robustness and innovation in a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Institute.

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During 2004-2005 a project conducted in Tasmania, Australia, examined e-learning adoption from the perspective of registered training organisations (RTOs) and enterprises in five industry sectors. The project focussed on five industries areas and within these industries, detailed interviews were conducted with selected enterprises and industry representatives. An online survey of all Tasmanian RTOs' e-learning readiness was conducted, followed by in-depth interviews with RTOs providing training to the five industries. From these interviews, opportunities for RTOs and enterprises to work together to develop information and communications technology (ICT)-based solutions to training needs were identified. Findings of the report give useful insight into the tensions that exist for both training and industry, caused by the maturing adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning and business. It contends that there are continuums of adoption of ICT in enterprises and of e-learning readiness in RTOs that create tension as e-learning and e-business begin to coalesce. It suggests that this coalescence creates both opportunities to be capitalised on and challenges to be met. A key feature of this coalescence is the increased demands it places on [vocational and technical education] VTE practitioners, especially for successful work-based training. It will become increasingly important for RTOs to see themselves as part of a business problem solving team, and to understand the business needs of fully ICT-integrated enterprises.

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In this article, [the authors] [Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology] RMIT University's Jason Patten and Michael Abulencia, both involved with the university's Optical Training program, discuss how the vocational education and training (VET) sector can take the lead in developing training for green skills. Informed VET graduates can in their workplaces act as leaders in developing sustainable business practices. E-learning has a significant role in relation to sustainability. E-learning can be used for providing training for green skills and in itself can enable the use of sustainable training practices. The authors point to the successful transition of RMIT's Optical Department to an e-learning model as an example of how sustainable practices can be implemented, with benefits for training organisations, students and the community.

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This article examines the role of social interaction in the implementation of an e-learning tool targeted at off-shore site safety in the oil and gas industry in Western Australia. The e-learning tool, essentially a set of self-paced activities and resources, strongly contrasts with traditional instructor-driven safety inductions that are the norm in the oil and gas industry. During 2005, over 200 participants engaged with the e-learning tool, and this article summarises participant and management perspectives on the effectiveness of the implementation strategy, with particular reference to the limited role played by any form of social interaction, including facilitator intervention. It is perhaps paradoxical that the research that spawned this article is firmly grounded in a social constructivist perspective. However, the authors argue that socially constructed learning, particularly in competency-based settings, does not necessarily imply or require social interaction or indeed facilitator intervention. Where learning objectives are limited to uncomplicated understandings, it is suggested that social interaction is not strongly valued in participant or management conceptions of good practice e-learning design. The authors advocate e-learning as a way to stimulate engagement in learning processes that encourage thinking, reflection, reconceptualisation of ideas and meta-cognition - cornerstones of social constructivism - and argues that e-learning can still be effective in settings that are devoid of social interaction.

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[This article] offers three underpinning principles to guide the development and implementation of vocational education and training (VET) teacher induction programs. It explores the reasons for, and the components and benefits of, a good practice program and expands on the elements of 'who', 'what', 'when', 'how', 'where' and the cost implications that organisations should consider when developing their programs for beginning teachers. The paper draws on interviews conducted in 16 public VET sector organisations in three Australian states and documented in a questionnaire, readings and personal experience in the professional development of VET teachers. It concludes that an induction program would best model adult learning principles by providing variety and choice, and that the process of induction is an important factor in shaping the quality of the beginning teacher's future performance and developing a VET professional.

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This paper examines how electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) provide an effective means of assessing existing skills to gain recognition or credit towards a formal qualification, and how this process can enable individuals to be more marketable in an ever-changing labour market. International examples are used to show the need to recognise all forms of learning experienced throughout our lives, and to describe the factors and business drivers for success.

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The e-magine Online Campus is a core project of the newly established e-magine Centre of Excellence in Online Learning in Tasmania. The Online Campus is designed to empower schools to cross deliver online programs. Rather than the Department investing in centralised delivery, schools are encouraged to form delivery networks. This is the most effective way of supporting rural and isolated schools in achieving curriculum diversity and providing broad learning pathways for students. Schools in rural and remote areas of Tasmania including the west coast and Bass Strait islands are now able to offer students a broad range of subjects and programs, many of which are delivered online by teachers in other schools. Additionally the Online Campus was established to support on-campus flexible delivery. Schools are supported in curriculum restructuring by the use of online approaches. The notion of the school or college campus is broadened to that of an online learning community. The e-magine Online Campus is developing a cohort of teachers in schools and colleges around the state who can teach online – to their own students and to students in other schools. The e-magine Online Campus is thus much more than a virtual or online school. It is a very powerful project based model of professional learning, which is challenging and supporting a diverse group of teachers to move into a new paradigm. The online teachers in the e-magine Online Campus are the early adopters and change agents (or mentors) who are supporting and leading others online. The e-magine Online Campus is challenging schools and teachers, system wide, to reflect on the potential of online learning.

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A great deal has been said and written about tertiary learners and their ability, in 2002, to determine their own learning pathways for 'life long learning'. However these decisions are generally made within a traditional pedagogical framework and need validation by traditional institutions. Learning for life requires knowledge to be personally and culturally integrated. If truly dynamic learning is to be created, pedagogical traditions and progressivism must merge, recognising that all learning emanates from the individual. One of the ways to respond to learners' demand for 'dynamic learning' is to use technological advancements to: ensure that learning is valued and above all validated; develop accessible, relevant and current content; provide digital storage and retrieval services; and facilitate the customising of identified 'chunks of learning'. In this paper the author explores the issues related to digital storage and retrieval of 'chunks of learning'. The author also looks at the creation of frameworks that ensure resources contain information, content and validation that is readily accessed by learners and accepted by institutions.

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This brief article from the ‘Knowledge tree’ outlines the importance of professional development in information and communications technology (ICT) skills for teachers engaged in VET in Schools programs. It describes the innovative approaches to flexible learning professional development in VET in Schools and registered training organisations(RTOs) in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

‘Knowledge tree: an e-journal of flexible learning in VET’ is indexed at TD/TNC 76.320. Show less