Panel presentation and discussion on review of NZ Certificates in adult education and training qualifications

Attended a zoom meeting convened by Ako Aotearoa to update and gather feedback on the review of adult educatin and training qualifications. The meeting was facilitated by John Milne from Ako Aotearoa.  A panel consisting of the two developers Linda Keesing-Styles, Graeme Smith and ConnyHuaki.

Linda introduced suite of qualifications at Levels 4, 5 & 6 for adult education and training.

6 of the current 14 have had no users! Including ones for literacy educator and for learning design.

Graeme summarised the review process according to NZQA guidelines – plan development, stakeholder profile, digital scorecard (data on users of each qualification including enrolments and completions), surveys and zoom consultations.

Linda revisited the process for evaluating which qualifications were viable and which ones to review. Summarised the challenges including low completion rates for many of the qualifications. Presented on decisions to be made with regards to entry requirements to allow for better articulation across the qualifications and to improve completion rates.

Graeme summarised how the different qualification relate to each other and pathways from one level to the next and also horizontally across the specialisations.

Linda shared stakeholder feedback. She summarised work across the suite of qualifications to align language through them so that they are more cohesive.

Key changes for Te Tiriti and cultural competency and educational technologies/practical experiences updated with addition of glossary to reflect contemporary standards.

Work-based learning requirements added to most qualifications.

Graduate profiles also reviewed and updated.

3 certificate qualifications L6 (assessment advanced practitioner), L4 language teaching and L6 Quality assurance now removed.

Conny updated on consultation process and outcomes from her perspective of stakeholder.

Q & A followed.

Linda went through ‘guidance notes’ and their role in the updated qualifications. Again, all of these were re-organised and aligned across all the 11 ‘new’ qualifications. These ‘conditions’ will be also useful to providers to understand the intend of the graduate profiles- which are broad in nature – as all GPOs should be.

Going forward, the qualifications are now being uploaded into the new NZQA template for final feedback and review. Stakeholder attestations are still in the process of being gathered. Eventually, the qualifications will be registered, ready for use next year.

There is scope, especially in the newly formed NZIST to have economies of scale and to be able to offer the full range of qualifications which are relevant to teaching across the ITP (institutes of technology and polytechnics) sector in NZ.

Educational technology research and development journal - good contemporary articles

Doing a catch up on reading in preparation for putting together a short book on the topic of 'practice-based learning via distance learning' or similar title - perhaps 'digitally enabling 'learning by doing' in vocational education and training' or 'technology-enhanced learning: Supporting learning by doing'.

One journal I am able to access via the Ara institutional databases is 'Educational technology research and development' published by Springer. There is a 1 year wait for access to articles which I can live with :)

The focus of the journal - as the only scholarly journal in the elearning/educaitonal techology field focusing on R & D, makes the articles pertinent, given one of the chapters in the proposed book will be on 'how technology enhance learning' may support the future of work/future of learning for practice-based, experential type learning.

The journal is into it's 68th volume!! so rather a lot to catch up on but I am concentrating on articles published in the last decade as educationaly technology type R & D, does have a 'use by date'.

There is a US of A slant in the articles, given the editors and most on the editorial board are also from the US of A, and the journal's affliation is to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. See this link for useful resources (higher education) to cope with Covid-19 challenges.

A useful resource for all who work in the technology-enhanced learning area.

Use of technology in vocational education and training (VET) - European examples

There are not many easily accessible and contemporary resources or examples of the development and implementation of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) into VET teaching and learning.

Here is a list  authored by Professor Dr. Alberto Catteneo from the Swiss Federation Institute of VET,  Michael Hartel from the German Federal Institute of VET (BIBB) and Dr. Alexander Schmolz from the Austrain Institute of VET (oibf). The list is a support for a recent presentation and came up on my Google Alerts.

The list provides links to a series of projects to support VET teaching and learning with technology. Of note, are the following examples:

- Augmented reality for carpenters brings up the 'statics' project but also links to other examples at the bottom of the page, including literacy support.

- ivideo - a easy to use video editor

- examples of learning videos in the automotive field made by apprentices (German)

- example of games from a non-profit game developer (Austrian)

References listed are also useful. 

VR actvities examples - Vocational Education (VET)

Here is an example (posted on LinkedIn) of VR as used in Vocational Education (VET). The example comes from the European Union Erasmus project which is a conduit for sharing practice and information on education - with a focus on youth and training.

 A search on the Erasmus site for virtual reality reveals a range of initiatives, many in the health and well-being arenas, including this longish video (over an hour) from 2018 introducint AR and VR.

As per other posts on VR on this blog, exampled by this one, I have been a cautious observer of VR. As per findings from the eassessment sub-project on using VR welding simulators, VR has a purpose but are still hampered by costs of hardware/software requirements and lack of haptic sensors. In the eassessment sub-project, learners new to welding appreciated the VR simulator for initial introduction to welding skills. The simulators helped dampen the sensory and cognitive overload, However, once the initial experiences became normalised, learners found the VR welding experience to be less 'real' as it lacked all the inputs encountered during authentic welding (i.e. the heat, sparking, weight of welding gun, range of welding sounds etc.)

So there is importance in working out the actual learning advantages of going down the expensive road of developing VR. If VR is to replace expensive, difficult to access machiner/equipment, then the cost benefits may be recouped. For more mundane activities, alternatives like AR may be more useful.

Microcredentials - slideshare from Professor Michael Brown (Eire/Ireland)

Here is a slideshare from Professor Mike Brown's presentation on microcredentials picked up this morning via LinkedIn.

Although the information has a country slant (in this case Ireland) the information is relevant and easily contextualised to other national systems.

Slides 14 and 15 show a quadrant of the types of ways microcredentials may be useful. The axis are whether the credentials are credit bearing or not and whether they are 'bundled' or 'unbundled' which I take to be whether the credentials are part of a larger qualification or stand alone. Associated with microcredentials, is the notion of badging. The EU seems to be exploring this concept in a bid to provide badging with recognition and also to bring them into regulatory control.

To be relevant, both bundled and unbundled are options depending on individual learners/organisational/national needs. Whether bundled or not, stacking is still the prevalent approach of qualification systems to addressing the recognition of microcredentials.

The NZ Qualifications Authority recognises microcredentials. The details are found on this site. The register of microcredentials in NZ  show a collection registered by Otago Polytechnic, a private provider and a few Industry Training Organisations (ITOs). 

So some activity in this area as addition of microcredentials into the qualifications ecosystem is one way to be more agile in meeting future of work and fast changing industry needs. The challenge is to avoid a plethora of microcredentials whilst balancing the need to be flexible! 

Transforming universities with digital distance education - book overview

Mark Nichols has written a timely book - Transforming universities with digital distance education: The future of formal learning, published by Routledge (2020).

Mark is the executive director of learning design and development at the NZ Open Polytechnic and a well recognised supporter and scholar in the distance education/elearning field.

The book is a 'must read' as it summarises the many challenges faced by higher education (and by inference and association, also the vocational education and training) currently and into the future. The pandemic has amplified the challenges and also reinforced the need to provide for alternatives to the majority direction of HE. That is HE is front-loading, with a full-time cohort of young people, seeking qualifications to obtain stable employment. The opposite is now required as the impacts of the future of work, likely now accelerated by the impact of the pandemic on world economies and societies, require quite a different way to provide for life-long education. Importantly, the book provides some suggestions for a way forward.

The book is relatively short (160 pages plus) with eight chapters. Therefore a quick read over the weekend :) Chapters 1 and 2 lay out the context, the current ways things have proceeded and the rationale for change.

Chapter 3 overviews a series of models possible for university education and chapter 4 sets out the Digital Distance Education (DDE) model. The next 4 chapters than go through the ways to operationalise the model for learners, teachers, learning design and organisational change.

The DDE model is premised on 5 precepts (page 5). These are accessibility, scalability, personalisation of learning, shaped by societal needs, and also driven by learners' interests and motivations. The first chapter rationalises these precepts providing a clear argument for why change is required and how this could be accomplished.

The DDE proposed is characterised by being consistent, data-analytics driven, digitally agile, evidence based, expert taught,(including lead academic, learning activity designer, teacher/tutor/facilitator and learner pastoral support team), flexible, learning activity orientated, part-automated/AI assisted, relational (as in sociocultural supported by teachers and peers), success driven and systematic.

The book summarises and provides details for putting into practice, constructivist and androgogical learning models. The needs of learners are supported with quantifiable evidence including the use of learning analytics and data from 'AI assisted' platforms to assist with providing learners with 'personal learning environments'. What is good about the book is that it provides examples, readily understood especially by the NZ audience due to the use of the NZ qualification frameworks etc., and pragmatically guides the processes of distance learning programmes.

Principles introduced and discussed through the book will require much work, on the part of educational institutes to operationalise. There is a clear need for strategic direction, resourcing and capability building across the sector before DDE fulfils its potentialities. Leadership is key to leveraing off some of the shifts, post-pandemic in NZ - to move forward. Of importance is the need to ensure the learning is 'placed at the heart of learning' but with sufficient support for learners to reap the benefits of personalisation of learning. There is still much work to be done! but hopefully, NZ is travelling along the right trajectory towards ensuring learning is led by the learners' motivations, capabilities and future direction. 

Exploring the use of HOTmaps in SOLO taxonomy.

Second in the series from augmented learning on the topic –Exploring the use of HOTmaps in SOLO taxonomy. Run using BigMarker webinar platform 

Presented by Matt Lambert with Carl Condliffe from Augmented Learning.

Matt reviewed SOLO, then introduced the concept of SOLO HOTmaps and discussed how to apply these to e-learning.

Uses SOLO not only for teachers, but also with students (primary) to help them find out ‘where are they at’. Uses ‘hand signal’ for student to indicate their ‘level’ and follows up with questioning to ensure learners self-evaluation is accurate. His teaching creates ‘buy in’ from students by making things visual, getting their input and providing tools to self-evaluate (e.g. co-created rubrics with students are on whiteboard and having them self-assess as they work through learning activities).

SOLO provides common language for students to use and increases learners’ confidence in self-assessing their learning progress.

Went through advantages of using HOTmaps. Introduces students to academic language, helps learners, parents and teachers understand the process steps of SOLO and useful when drafting writing templates (i.e. structure and content). Important to use familiar content and context when introducing HOTmaps. Repeat many sessions on using the maps – individually, pairs, in groups, also full class and individual groups.

Refer to Pam Hook's site for examples of maps and their levels – HOTmaps are conceptual maps to help learners work through each SOLO level, or for them to access where they are at, and helpful to help them scaffold from one SOLO level to another.

Provided examples from practice on using 3 of the maps.

For ‘define’ helps to identify idea to define, identify precise meaning/s of the idea to be defined and work on their own definition of the concept.

Compare and contrast useful to help identify similarities and differences and define why. Used a online shared ‘map’ with participants to illustrate how this map may work. A template set up in Google docs and linked to the webinar – but separate, so did not show up in the webinar until shared by admin.

Cause and effect allows for events to be defined, identification of causes and effects and to form generalisations on what occurred and why. Each cause may then be also used in a ‘explain effects’ activity.

Important to work towards students being able to select the correct hotmap for specific purpose/learning activity.

Good to have examples and clear explanations of the pros and cons of the process. Using hotmaps for e-learning helps shift learning to the ‘modification’ classification in the SAMR model and extending participation beyond the walls of a classroom by connecting with others (NZ or beyond) to work on concepts, help to shift the application of HOTmaps into the Tranformational stage of SAMR.

Applying SOLO to learning design of elearning #1

Attended a webinar this morning, offered by augmented learning on the John Bigg's SOLO taxonomy to inform effective e-learning practice. This was the first of 3 sessions on the topic. The next webinar is scheduled for Thursday 9/7. 

Webinar was presented by Stephen McConachie with Carl Condliffe. Recording is available here.

Notes taken below.

Began with overview of SOLO. Structured Observed Learning Outcome. 

What it is and how can it align to elearning. 

Ran through the advantages of ensuring learning outcomes are visible to both teacher and student. 

The Observed part is to be able to see if learning outcomes are met. And the structure refers to taxonomy (alternative to Blooms) which includes pre-structural (of the observed learning outcomes – where the learner does not have much understanding or skill), unistructural (able to complete parts of skills), multistructural (starting to get the connections), relational (able to make the more complex connections) and extended abstract (able to apply critical thinking/problem solving etc.). 

Check NCEA for links to how SOLO is applied in the NZ context. 

Connected SOLO to Depth of knowledge – e.g. surface/deep. Surface similar to pre-structural and unistructural. Deep implying multistructural etc. Procedural vs Conceptual knowledge – procedural implies able to do the skill and conceptual relates to ability to apply skill across wider contexts. 

Contention of ‘we measure what we value, and we value what we measure’. 

Important to understand SOLO is a continuum and students will move through different stages in different learning contexts. Using it as a scaffolding ‘tool’ is most important. Developing activities to address each SOLO provides for a framework for differential / personal learning environments. 

Check Pam Hook’s work – HookED on SOLO.

Uses of SOLO include planning of learning activity, frame discussions with learners about their own depth of thinking, to frame discussions on how skills and competencies relate across the topic with teachers, to evaluate the depth of learners’ thinking, and to evaluate our own practice as educators. 

Using SOLO to inform rubrics, check paper by Braband and Dahl

Proposed the use of SAMR as one way to connect SOLO to elearning design using types of coffee metaphor  - which may not be as good as the 'diving deeper' model.

Explained the SAMR model as a way to think differently about how to integrate technology and ensure technology is contributing towards being able to transform learning.  

Proposes placing SOLO on the horizontal axis and SAMR on a vertical axis to help organise learning design. Not sure how well this will work but look forward to the next webinar.  

Also identified limitations 

Other dimensions to consider include collaboration, creativity, student agency, authentic audience etc. 

SAMR + SOLO = elearning programme too simple.