Developing VET with AI - OECD report

The OECD has published their report on VET and AI - Developing VET with AI.

It is good to see a VET focused report on AI. This is especially given the role of VET in preparing people for the workforce, where occupations are incorporating AI into work tasks.

The main principles underpinning the report are: Human-centred use; ensuring diversity and inclusiveness; maintaining accountability; being transparent in understanding how, when, and for what AI is used and its limitations; and the importance of data quality, security and protection.

Policy considerations following on the principles are introduced, and discussed. These include: establishing strategy with clear purpose and support; managing risks through human-centred approaches; balancing diverse perspectives while ensuring equal access to AI; co-creating guidelines and building capacity for AI use and VET development; and strengthening data infrastructures and governance. 

The second chapter details the potential of AI in VET. In particular, to address the unique context of VET; the complexities of VET with multiple stakeholders; and to use AI to support VET development. A comparative study is undertaken across mainly EU countries with Australia data being also included.

The third chapter provides current and emerging use case studies. Policies and curriculum revision are compared across mainly EU countries. Chapter 4 then discusses the barriers and risk of leveraging AI for VET. The last chapter spells out policy considerations.

Overall, a macro/meso approach, especially comparing policy approaches across many countries. There is always much to learn from how countries handle the challenges of rapid changes as they impact on important social provisions, of which education is one of the main sectors. 

Assuring quality learning in a Gen AI integrated future

This is the third in a series on AI from the Tertiary Education Quality and Standard Agency (TESQA) in Australia. 

Assuring quality learning in a gen AI-integrated future: The role of adaptive capabilities follows on from two other reports - Assessment reform from the age of AI and Enacting assessment reform in a time of AI (summary on this blog).

In this report, adaptive capabilities in the age of AI are defined as drawn from the report authors' understandings of digital literacy tools to be used ethically and safely; distributed cognition as tasks shared between people, tools, artefacts and gen AI systems; hybrid cognition as thinking and learning within cognitive systems; and life long learning to sustain motivation, capability and adaptability. Agency and regulation from individuals, draw the four aspects of adaptive capabilities towards deeper disciplinary knowledge. 

The report argues well for the attaining of the above capabilities before moving on to how learning environments need to be reshaped to help learners. Propositions for policy and practice are presented:

- establish adaptive capabilities as  core graduate attributes.

- build institutional infrastructure for learning process evidence

- design learning environments that promote adaptive capabilities through evidence-informed practices

- transform pedagogical practice toward process-focused assessment

All in, a short but insightful and pragmatic report providing some ways forward into the age of AI. 

ATAIN - Navigating AI and assessment design

 ATAIN presentation on Riding the rapids, finding the pools: how AUT is navigating the turbulent waters of AI and assessment design with Dr John Davies and Dr Nell Mann from the Office of Learning, Teaching and Educational Design at Auckland University of Technology.

Irna Elgort facilitated. John and Nell introduced themselves and started with karakia. The presentation is a collaborative effort including the whole LTED team, Felicity Reid and Heather Merrick and Andrea Grant. 

Outlined AUT's approach to assessments - has principles (Mātāpono), Assessment Policies and Procedures (Aromatawai). 

Shared the main assessment principles, assessment policies (using Channel 1 and Channel 2). Naming the channels in the policy is the easy part (assurance of learning, learning is values, measured and rewarded, codesigned with staff, support for students, academic integrity, programme level design).

Covered through the presentation - a reframing assurance of learning; evidencing learning in non-invigilated settings, supporting redesign of assessments; and tclarity of assessments for students. 

Introduced the need to included manaaki into learning and assessments. Nell outlined the principles and philosophies underlying learning, teaching and assessment. What learning are we measuring? What learning are we valuing? Therefore need to reframe assurance of learning - what does it mean to assure? Should we broaden out the accepted norm of assurance of learning? 

The AUT assessment policy 'the ongoing systematic process of gathering evidence of what a students knows, and can do. Assurance is about how the process can take place and must be present in both channel 1 and channel 2. Assessments in the quicksand require redesign to move into one of the channels.

Channel 1 is assured by invigilation, channel 2 assured by points of observation of learning (POOL). 

In Channel 1, no AI is permitted. Channel 2 may include the use of AI. Channel 2 requires careful learning design of the assessment. Important to understand what happens through the assessment. POOLs take place across a range of settings in which the use of AI tools is permitted. Assessments are designed to provide insight into students' learning process beyond the final submission, ensuring that learning can be assured. POOLs can be evidence (in many forms) included in final submission. included in the rubric, encourage engagement and provide opportunities to students to demonstrate learning  - notes, screen shots, etc. Quantity of POOLs contextualised to course outcomes.

Shared an examples of POOL from a software development practice/project management - evidence from GitHub logs and project management through a Trello board. In the past, this was just an 'end-product' assessment.

Neil continued with supporting the redesign of assessments. Staff are encouraged to evaluate an existing assessment and work out how it can work in an AI world. Can POOLs be created; can POOLs be applied to the assessment and what needs to be done to re-design the assessment tasks. Creation of POOLs help to anchor the re-design. in general, POOLs weighted higher (60%) than the final product.

Clarity of assessments for students is important so that are are aware of the importance of collecting and collating relevant evidence of learning. Challenges include ensuring the things we want to measure, the need to 'look around corners' i.e. establishing an evidence base to make progress when the future is hazy. There is also a need to change long-held beliefs with students and staff. There needs to be a programme level approach. There is a shift of quality assurance from being central to local. 

Shared the impact of wearable technologies, especially its impact on Channel 1. 

Q & A followed. 

Questions revolved around the POOLs process, workload (which may increase), examples and how the process of learning can be followed through as it progresses.

Beyond skills: A capability conception of vocational education -overview

Leesa Wheelahan and Gavin Moodie have published a comprehensive collation of their work on vocational education's purposes and alternatives to competency-based education. The book 'Beyond Skills: A capability conception of Vocational Education' is published by Brill and part of the book series on 'The knowledge economy and education". It is open access and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. 

The book has 10 chapters. Many draw on journal articles published over the last decade or so. Wheelahan and Moodie's scholarly work have critique the mechanistic, competency-driven assessment (and it turn the curriculum) for VET. They have always pushed back at the marketisation of education and sought to provide alternatives for a more humanistic and socially-responsible approach towards the provision of VET.

The introductory chapter sets out the context and the main argument for the book. That is for a shift from alignment of education to human capital theory, towards a more 'social settlement' form of VET.

Chapter 2 then presents, summarised and discusses the evolution of human capital theory. The third chapter continues on with the various approaches towards 'skill' and critique of these. In Chapter 4, micro-credentials are used as an example of how curriculum is transformed and subordinate to objectives of employability. The work of Berstein is used to unpack and better understand these concepts.

Chapter 5 undertakes to better understand the role of qualifications. Why they matter, the key theories of education and qualifications and reminds us of the true value and purpose of qualifications. 

In chapter 6, human capabilities are proposed as an alternative to the instrumentalist approaches currently standard across VET and education. The capabilities approach is introduced, discussed and critiqued. Then Chapter 7 brings a synthesis of the previous chapters to discuss the educational purposes of VET. Each of the purposes is then further expanded on and discussed in the next two chapters. Occupational purposes in Chapter 8 and social purposes in Chapter 9. The final chapter reviews the current foundations of VET and proposed a new foundation for VET.

Given the rise of AI and its impact on work, there are many concepts in the book that have relevance as the world of work shifts. At the moment, recent graduates are facing difficulties in entering the workforce. Caused by large organisations decreasing their 'graduate programmes' and lowering the number of entry level recruits.

There is advise for people to seek work in the trades - famously Geoffrey Hinton (godfather of AI) proposing plumbing as a good career path in the age of AI.

What then happens if this comes about? There will be greater competition for apprenticeships. Employers will  be supportive as they will be able to attract higher calibre people. Where does this leave school leavers who have gravitated to the trades? What sorts of jobs will be left? The restrictive nature of trades education does not (at the moment) provide a wide education, encouraging critical thinkers and provide for social cohesion. This is noticeable when I work with developing programmes of study documentation. For degree level programmes, we need to weave in academic literacies (including critical thinking) and cultural competencies. For our programmes below degree level, the emphasis is placed solely on skills and knowledge. There is no room in the curriculum for any content/topic that is not related to being able to 'do a job'. So what happens when large portions of VET graduates are 'work-ready' but not necessarily 'critically thinking citizens'? 

It is therefore important to look at alternative, like those proposed and supported through the 'beyond skills' book. We face rapid changes in how work is constituted as occupations and work tasks shift.  There is a pressing need for VET to be cognisant of these and be transformtive to meet the challenges. Without VET systems (qualification frameworks, pedagogy, strategic direction etc etc) moving towards better ways to provision VET, the populace is left to find their own way, in a difficult economic, social and political environment (sigh). 

Shaping the future of learning - World Economic Forum report

The latest report from the World Economic Forum on AI - Shaping the future of learning: Education readiness for the age of AI. Published 4th June 2026.

The report is short - 40 plus pages covering the 'new' context of education. Then a good overview of the risks of unstructured AI adoption, including the challenges AI pose on cognitive atropy; the long standing hallucinations and misinformation created by AI; AI's contribution to the breakdown in academic integrity; and the continued erosion of human connection through digitisation of modern life.

The report argues for the importance on building education readiness for the age of AI. It proposes an AI readiness framework, provides the background principles on the framework's design and how the framework can be applied.

The last section provides 'signals of readiness' for AI in education including the signs for enabling the foundations of AI readiness, along with the requirements of institutional foundations, pedagogical practices and human learning experiences.

Overall, a good introduction to the challenges with pragmatic suggestions for ways forward. 

Illuminate forum: Building capability and capacity within the VET sector using AI

 The VET Development Centre (VDC) in Melbourne hosts a day of presentations and workshops on AI. There is the option of viewing the presentations on zoom and I pop in and out as my schedule allows. Presenters would have just recently (or in the process) of completing an International Specialised Skills Institute (ISS) Institute fellowship.

The day begins with a welcome to the day, acknowledgement to country and housekeeping for the attendees at the VDC itself, from Martin Powell (CEO or the VDC) and Dr. Katrina Jojkity (CEO of the ISS Institute). Thanked everyone at the VDC for hosting the session. Provided a brief background  (and video) of the ISS fellowships which have been going since 2000 and their have been over 200 fellowships across a wide range of craft/trade skills and VET pedagogy/systems/innovations.

Craig Robertson (CEO of Victoria Skills Authority (VSA) begins with a short welcome address. Began with the quote 'we hold these truths to be self-evidenct, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable Rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' How does VET contribute to the pursuit of happiness? In times past, happiness was quite a different concept than its more 'frivolous' present version. In VET education, the similar attribute would be self-actualisation. Digitisation represents a major challenge to all. Task/units of competency have been the main outcomes of VET, but what happens now with AI? Education needs to now change to keeps up. We can tweak the current system but this may not be enough. There is a need to move away from task based competencies towards empower people to pursue happiness - which for everyone is always 'work in progress'. As always, Craig's summarises the challenges in a way that will be understood by the audience :) 

Notes taken from sessions:

- AI in Action: developing curriculum resources with AI with Leigh Dwyer (William Angliss) - notes on 3/4 of the session. Began with a Slido - most were 'getting there' along with their organisations ' getting there' or 'just starting'. His report had a framework of teams, tools, design, VET, Docs, ethics as the parts that inform curriculum development with Gen AI. Used this to also present on each of these with examples.

(teams) Shared a case study where a team created a game, using AI. Roles were defined, testing and feedback led to revisions. AI accelerated the workflow. Another example using Chat GPT and Grok to craft lyrics, iLovesong to make music, Leonardo to create artwork, ChatGPT and Grok for worksheets, DistroKid to publish music and Vidmuse to create music videos (for resources for English teacher training - TESOL). Album published to T-soul.  (Tools) Another example a video to help learn OSASCOMP  and discussed how to create resources which engage learners but also help them remember key concepts. Shared the work of Eric Tsui - on using ChatGPT to enhance student's personal learning.

(Design) (VET) Shared how to undertake Industry Aligned Design (IAD) - listing scenario and examples - company, role, job duties, way of working (SOP) reason to do the work. which can be used to build resources that are authentic - for instance - a day in the life of ---.

(Docs) Moved on the document management with mail merge. Workflow shared. 

- Teaching the future: Integrating cybersecurity into education. Faraz Khan (Victoria University). Report yet to be published. Began with a background on his work and the objectives of his fellowship. He visited US of A (decentralised system, high variation, education-driven approach - starting from school). Canada / Ontario has strong industry education collaboration. workforce and industry driven approach. Estonia has an integrated, system-wide digital competence. Embedded into education.

Themes include - coordination through frameworks (reduce fragmentation, shared skills and role structures, curriculum guidance, and coordination through policy and standards); Teacher capability as a constrain (requires structured learning, industry engagement and system support required); practice-based learning (using simulations/labs, work-integrated learning, and scaling these through cloud platforms and industry partnerships); cybersecurity across disciplines (across all industries, but requires sector-specific application, still largely IT-focused in practice and cross-disciplinary integration emergent). Provided examples of cross-disciplinary models in practice; and Pathways and workforce alignments (connecting education to workforce teaching - structured pathways, industry aligned learning, expand pathways, and non-formal pathways). 

Shared the various system challenges and tensions - fragmentation, sustainability, access and equity and the experience gap. Implications for VET are many - need to embed cybersecurity across disciplines, build teacher capability, expand practice-based learning and strengthen pathways and partnerships. Q & A ensued.

- AI integration for student engagement with Thuy Cao Reynolds (AMES Australia). Report yet to be published. There are challenges in the Australian workforce and VET - low completion rates in VET (50%) along with low participation rates when VET is Australia's largest workforce pipelines. Improving engagement can be useful. Engagement has cognitive, emotional, behavioural and social dimensions. These then add as forces to influence student engagement. Cognitive forces can be supported through hybrid human AI shared regulation in learning models, personalised learning and learning activity that promote critical thinking; emotion can be tapped into with game based learning to increaser fun, curiosity etc. AI can also be a team member, tutor, mentor and simulator. These influence wellbeing and change /transformation through learning. 

To test the framework above visited Singapore (SMU - chatbot to understand people and culture), Germany (VR for German language practice and ChatGPT as a language learning assistant) to see and experience AI integration. Wellbeing (through teachers acting as mediators between students and AI tools, and change management - instructor led-training, were also observed.

Shared considerations for organisations - alignment to strategic vision, invest in teaching and learning and embark on and support change management. Teachers also must be considered. Competencies and support required on how to select the appropriate AI tools as matched to learning activities - pedagogical alignment, usability, accessibility, ethics and data privacy and well-being. Shared a guide for the selection process. Thanks for presenting on two references from my work - Identity, pedagogy and technology enhanced and Ai in VET. 

Stressed importance for considerations for teachers - model enthusiasm and build trust around AI use and integrate tools to boost learning and performance. Considerations for students include the need to learn how to learn before using AI and be prepared with purpose and independence. Include learning goals, independent thinking, focused prompting, Ai literacy and learning how to learn. Proposed considerations for Department of Education and Training - quality teaching / learning and lifelong learning, future workforce and career readiness and sustainable and innovative education system development. 

Closed the presentation with UNESCO ' education transforms lives; but education must also be transformed to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow'. 

Two applied workshops of 45 minutes each follow. One with Faraz Khan - 'think like a hacker: practical cybersecurity skills for everyday protection' and Leigh Dwyer on 'building capability and capacity within the VET sector using AI'. I will need to get back to these through the recordings (along with the missed presentation earlier on).  

Magnifica humanitas - On safeguarding the human person on the time of AI

 Worth a read. Pope Leo XIV's statement/encyclical letter on AI - Magnifica Humanitas.

The argument for the primacy of human endeavours and the need to ensure that any form of technology is given deeper thought before wholesale adoption by humanity.

A brief google search will reveal many reviews, both from within the Catholic / Christian community and without.

The essence of the statement is of importance as it is a call to reevaluate where humanity is going with technology along with the free-market capitalism which funds it. There are reminders of the  many ethical issues surrounding technology. It effect, its a wake up call for many, to be vigilant and to monitor technological advances, to ensure that their adoption does not lead to detriment to the human race.