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. 

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).  

Generative AI in education: Theories, applications and ethical frontiers - overview

 This book collates 21 chapters on how Gen AI is shifting education and the role of educators in understanding and utilising AI to support teaching and learning.

The book is edited by G. Durak, S. Cankaya and M. Sharples with chapter authors from Europe and Asia. It is not open access and the short pdf available provides a  preface, and list of chapters and authors.

A good selection of topics is collated through the book including:

- sustainable education - chapter 2

- classroom orchestration - chapter 4

- lesson planning - chapter 5

- deep fakes to voice cloning - chapter 7

- learning analytics - chapter 8

- smart learning environments - chapter 9

- VR and AR - chapter 10

- AI literacy - chapter 11

- Prompt design - chapter 12 & 13

- dialogic feedback - chapter 14

- creative learning - chapter 19

- ethical considerations - chapter 20

- teacher training and PD - chapter 21

Will recommend the book to the library and add chapter summaries after I have looked through them. 

Teachers using AI

A couple of reflections from the observations made recently.

Last week, I presented at a teachers' professional development day. The group taught in secondary schools. My session reiterated the importance of AI literacies and the focus on using AI to support, rather than replace learning. It seems that AI literacies, both of teachers and their students, is very much up to each school. In general, it has been ad hoc, with early adopter teachers testing the technology and others avoiding it in their teaching. However, they all agreed that all of their students were using AI!! 

Therefore, important to rethink the role of tertiary education in introducing AI to students. It looks that it is still a requirement to introduce AI to all students entering tertiary education, given the hit and miss nature of it's use at school. That way, we help our learners all have a formal introduction to AI, in the context of their programmes. 

The teachers I presented to used AI for their work. As per this Singapore Straits Times article time is not saved but re-allocated, it does not reduce workload but redefines it. Therefore, as with students, it is important to work out how AI can help with the administrative and planning aspects of teaching (of which there are many). As always, there is a balance between using AI to support, rather than replace teaching. This Guardian article  details student complains when they perceive that AI is being used to replace teachers. After all, students pay not only for the content of learning, but also the socio-constructivist aspects that support and enhance learning.

So in all endeavours with AI, it is important to sift out the salient objectives, listen to the perspectives of users, be open to trying new ways of doing things, and to always be 'in-charge' as humans need to be the ones who not only make decision to adopt AI but also the ones who evaluate and judge the degree with which AI is deployed. 

Horizon Report - 2025

The 2025 Horizon report on Teaching and Learning was published earlier this year. 

As with previous reports, the horizon scan included summarisations of the social, technological, economic, enviromental and political trends which impinge on the the future of education.

The topics covered included :

AI tools for T & L; 'faculty' development for Gen AI; AI governance; cybersecurity; evolving teaching practice; and critical digital literacy. Therefore, this report is 'AI' dominated with the call for 'critical digital literacy' as a requirement for all, to ensure that AI utilisation and integration is grounded in ethical principles.

The case studies provided are mostly North American but there are a few case studies from Oz as well.

The report closed with discussion on the scenarios for growth (AI and VR shift education into the virtual but equitable access is still a challenge), constraint (caused by government regulation to draw on learning analytics for decision making but limits access to many), collapse (unregulated AI leads to collapse of truth) and transformation ( emphasis on workforce readiness at the expense of liberal arts education), although a mostly positive/optimistic stance is maintained. 

Australian Government report - Our Gen AI transition: implications for work and skills

 Job Skills Australia have published a report on the implications of Gen AI on work and skills. 

The report collates data on the adoption of Gen AI across industries. Importantly, it recommends several important ways forward for the country, including the need to ensure that tertiary educators are provided with professional development to integrate Gen AI into their curriculum as they are the vanguard for the preparation of the workforce to work ethically and critically with Gen AI. 

There is no comprehensive Aotearoa equivalent although the government has set up some of its intentions in a ministerial document from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise.

Of note that New Zealand performs poorly on AI-preparedness indices relative to small economy comparators and is the only OECD country without an AI Strategy, negatively impacting global perceptions of New Zealand as a location for digital innovation and AI investment;

An opinion piece from RNZ indicates that perhaps New Zealand's advantage lies not in chasing abstract, easily automated work, but in deepening its strengths in sectors AI cannot yet touch - food production, care and infrastructure.

All in, AI and the implications on work and in turn skills development and vocational education curriculum, requires careful consideration. However, there is a need for some urgency, given how quickly the technology is developing, to ensure all citizens are prepared for and able to work critically with AI, in whatever form its evolves to. Without doing so, we are ill-equipped to push back, when AI is imposed on occupations, whereby the management may only think about the bottom line. 

AI literacy book

 This open source book - Towards AI literacy 101+ - creative and critical practices, perspectives and purposes contains a range of short stories on AI. Examples are provided as to the challenges and ways to define AI literacy and the many interpretations of AI literacy across various educational levels and disciplines. The range of articles show how diverse education actually is and that there is never a 'one size fits all' model. Education, by the grounding of its purpose, must be of relevance to learners and the communities it serves. Therefore, how each context needs to use and apply AI, provides how AI literacy could be introduced and integrated. 

The 'generic' skill or competency to come to grips with AI would be critical thinking. Again, to be able to think critically in various contexts, is variable. The discipline or subject is but a platform from which the development and application of critical thinking is grounded. Care there needs to be taken when designing learning, to ensure that there is a balance between discipline/subject-based 'situated learning' and to ensure that learners are provided with models and skills to 'cross the boundary' when they make shifts across  disciplinary fields.

Monash University - 10 minute chats on AI

Monash University's (Melbourne, Australia) Teach HQ which supports teaching and learning, has a series of on-line chats on Gen AI.  The presenters include learning specialists, researchers and thought leaders (from the UK, US 0f A  and Australia) in teaching and learning, technology-enhanced learning and on assessments..

The first video in with Mike Sharples from the Open University in the UK recorded in May. The videos are labelled by presenter name but the drop-down menu, indicates the topic presented. Worth dipping in and out of as the talks range across many aspects of AI including ethics, impact from the sustainability point of view, the many dimensions of AI literacy, and tensions / power relationships through the use of Gen AI. 

Worth the time to listen to relevant recordings as they drill down dipper into the hype of Gen AI, the press to integrate AI into education (there are pluses, minuses and consequences), and the broader social issues that cannot be solved through utilising Gen AI.