Blog on capabilities approach by Professors Leesa Wheelahan and Gavin Moody

The Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE) in the UK are hosting a blog by Emerita Professor Leesa Wheelahan and Gavin Moodie on the capabilities approach.

The first blog introduces the approach. Following on is the blog on capability for higher education and then one on special, adult and future education. 

An important aspect of the capabilities approach is the broader range of skills. knowledge and attributes attained as outcomes of learning - whether through formalised training/education or at work and through life activities. it is especially important at this point in time to move away from tightly defined and narrow prescriptions (i.e. through competency or skills-first approaches) given the challenges brought in by AI. as educators, we need to consider the wider issues and aspects that will provide continual development to everyone. In doing, we help individuals maintain currency and develop skills to cope with the onslaught of occupational shifts. 

World Economic Forum - Four futures for jobs in the new economy: AI and Talent in 2030

The World Economic Forum published a white paper in January 2025 on 'Four futures for jobs in the new economy: AI and Talent in 2030.

It is a short report - just 20 plus pages. 

The report is based on their annual survey of 10,000 executives (globally).

The scenarios are:

- Supercharged progress

- The age of displacement

- Co-pilot economy

- stalled progress

Each is presented and discussed and as usual, there is no right/correct way through, but perhaps a combination. National and social imperatives - including workforce readiness, actual progress of digital and AI technologies, political environment etc. will dictate national, regional and global effects.

For education, it will still be a time of rapid change. Whether education can keep up is dependent on many variables including capability, capacity, resourcing and future vision. Best to keep moving along with building capability as all innovations will be founded on human interactions and reactions.

AI and the future of education - UNESCO report

This UNESCO report on AI and the future of education consists of a collection of short articles from a range of academics. The report has 8 sections, following a introductory chapter on ' reclaiming education's public purpose through dialogue'. This chapter sets the scene and focus of the report, bringing in the humanistic emphasis required to meet the challenges and disruptions caused by the rapid arrival and uptake of AI. Chapter summaries are also presented. The full text is available on the website with hard copies available on request from UNESCO.

Following on, the sections are:

- AI futures in education - Philosophical provocations - has 3 chapters. As the section title implies, these discuss the implications of AI on education.

The first chapter by B. Akomolafe stressed the need to go beyond using AI as a tool but as something that will shift both the ontological and the epistemological foundations of education. 

- Debating the powers and perils of AI - with 3 chapters.

Both chapters - the first by A. Horn and the second by E.M. Bender, focus on the importance of teachers work and the need to ensure that there is investment in teacher education / professional development and to support their work with adequate and clear policies to guide their practice. 

- AI pedagogies, assessment and emerging educational futures - 5 relevant chapters.

All the chapter in this section, are useful for reading for all educators. A. Birhane begins with laying out the limits and and inherent dangers underlying the integration of AI into education. 

C.Aerts and followed on by P. Prinsloo write on AI's promise for adaptive and personalised education. There are many advantages but also inherent challenges which all educators need to be wary of.

Then M. Perkins and J. Roe  and the following chapter by B. Cope, M. Kalantzis and A. K. Saini address the issues of Gen AI and assessments. 

- Revaluing and recentring human teachers - with 2 chapters. 

In this section, the discussions from the previous sections are reinforced. There is great importance in ensuring teachers attain AI literacies to guide their work in an informed approach. 

- Ethics and governance imperatives for AI futures in education - 2 chapters.

As always with AI ethics must be front and centre to inform evaluation, implementation and practice.

- Confronting coded inequalities in education has 5 chapters discussing this issue.

The chapters in this section, argue for the need to be wary and to ensure that AI does not need to furthering the divide between the haves and haves not. The role of education in ameliorating the current private/capitalists AI push is presented. AI can assist with increasing inclusivity but it needs to be used in a planned and informed manner.

- Reimagining AI in educational policy: Evidence and geopolitical realities with 2 chapters.

Two think pieces, one from G. Siemens and the other from I. Toumi, both respected researchers and leaders in the educational technology field. Both warn of the moves by nations to harness AI for political and economic power and the importance of educators, education policy makers etc. in ensuring that AI is equitably availed and used for the common good of humanity. Some sobering thoughts in these two chapters :( 

The report closes with a brief conclusion. 

The report provides a 'state of the play' and collates the perspectives and thoughts of many of the thinkers in education, especially those who research in the educational technology space. Some of the chapters are speculative but the discussions are required for educators to dwell deeply into the consequences of engaging or not engaging with AI. In all, a worthwhile read.

As a accompaniment, here is a blog post by Carlo Iacono, on 'Inside the University 2030? a 'design fiction' piece describing how AI, as a partner for learners, makes many far-reaching changes to how teaching and learning occurs in the universities of very near future.

How things play out, remains to be seen but the pace of change is rapid, and keeping up with potential and possibilities for AI to support learning (rather than to replace it) remains a pragmatic way forward. 

The future of jobs report for 2025

 The annual 'future of jobs report', published by the World Economic Forum at the beginning of the year, provides good updates on how various economic, geopolitical and social factors, affect the nature of work and the global labour market.

The survey undertakes to extrapolate the data across five years - 2025 to 2030. 

Despite the rise in digitisation, many jobs with the highest growth, require manual labour. These include farmworkers, delivery drivers (what has happened to driverless cars??), construction workers, salespersons, and food processing workers. As for many other predictions, care roles and education (both tertiary and secondary) will grow along with technology-related jobs.

The major decline is in clerical and secretarial roles. 

Tellingly, workers can expect to have 40% of their existing skills sets to be changed, with the need to upskill in digital/technology related job tasks. 

Therefore, no real surprises, but the need to be cognisant of the need to ensure humans maintain and enhance their contributions through creative thinking, resilience, flexibility and agility and continued curiosity across their life span. 

Future orientated learning and skills development for employability - book overview

 This book ' Future-oriented learning and skills development for employability: Insights from Singapore and some Asia-Pacific contexts', is edited by A.N. Lee and Y. Nie. The book is open access (via UTS) and published by Springer in 2024.

Most of the chapters report on work undertaken in Singapore, to enact the government's support of continuing skills development to ensure the populace is kept current in the face of rapid change.

The book has 21 chapters, organised into three sections -

- Future oriented learning and the development of graduates' work competencies

- enhancing adult workers' employability through ocntinuing education and training

- supporting workplace learning and skills development for individual and organisational growth

with an opening and closing chapter by the editors.

Some chapters of relevance to my own work:

- Innovative curriculum and instructional approaches for work and learning: Practical pathways and research perspectives by S. Chue, S. Billette, R. Tan, W. Goh, A. Leow and A. S-H. Chen. Postulates, through gathering on the work of the authors, the need to integrate the curriculum which prepares people for work, with career guidance to help them envisage their goals, post higher education. There is also importance in ensuring that the connections between the world of education/school and the world of work are kept current, accessible and effective.

-  Developing adaptibility for workplace preformance by S. Billett and A H. Le discusses the need to ensure that adaptive practices remain central to individual's future employability. Draws on the PIAAC data to argue that all workers need to maintain opportunities and skills to problem solve. In doing, individual workers' are able to maintain agency and continually hone, adapt, and innovate. Cultural and social factors create or limit affordances.

- Knowing in practice in situational sensemaking by R. Mazlan. Argues that sensemaking arises from experiences encountered within context.

All in, a good collection of contemporary chapters on the state of the play, mainly in Singapore, but also across to Australia. 

Future of work report 2025 - World Economic Forum

 This year's future of work report from the World Economic Forum, provides some good information as the world of work moves into the AI age. Summaries are provided for many countries by Aotearoa New Zealand is not included.

The forces contributing to the shifts are summarised as:

- increased digital access and advances across technologies (AI, information processing, robotics and automation, energy generation, storage and distribution), all influence the ways work is carried out and how work is structured.

- cost of living and other economic impacts of inflation, economic slowdown etc. will affect job creation.

- climate change mitigation leads to the need for new skills and generates new types of work and occupations.

- demographic shifts including worldwide aging of the workforce and increasing numbers of older people, living longer puts strain on economies.

-geoeconomics and geopolitical tensions make for an unpredictable future.

Jobs predicted to grow in volume include farmworkers, delivery drivers, construction workers, sales people and food processing workers, Care economy jobs in nursing, social work, counselling etc. also to grow significantly. Technology related roles including one related to data management and green energy transition roles also set to grow.

In contrast, clerical and secretarial work is set to decline along with jobs in the postal service, banks and data entry roles.

There is a great need to ensure that analytical thinking as a core skill is attained. Other skills include workers being resilient, flexible and agile. Understanding AI and big data are also important to leverage off the potential of these technologies. 

All in, a good overview  and reference source on the current state of work and what may come in the near future.

AI index report

Came across this series of reports produced by Stanford University.

It is an AI index, tracking the reach and implications of AI. The reports go back to 2017. 

In the 2024 report, ten 'takeaways' are distilled as to the status of AI adoption, utilisation and recommendations.

The takeaways temper the hype revolving around AI currently, reminding us that AI still has a way to go but has started to make accelerate scientific work.

The takeaways are:

- AI is able to do and beat humans at some tasks. Tasks include image classification, visual reasoning and English understanding. However AI still lacking in 'common sense' and not able to undertake complex tasks exampled by competition-level mathematics.

- Industry continues to dominate AI research, instead of academia.

- Training costs for AI models are expensive. ChatGPT-4 costs $78million and Gemini Ultra $191 million.

- The US leads as the leading source of AI. China, EU and UK also active.

- Robust and standardised evaluations of LLM responsibility lacking.

- investment in Gen AI skyrockets.

- AI helps make workers more productive and can lead to higher quality work. 

- scientific progress accelerates, facilitated by AI.

- AI regulations in the US of A increases sharply.

- Greater awareness internationally of AI's potential impact, and more people report becoming more concern rather than excitement.

Will keep an eye on these reports as they help provide a holistic picture of AI's rise, adoption, and challenges. 

AI forum NZ report on impact of AI in NZ

The AI Forum in New Zealand has published the results of a survey conducted earlier in 2024.

The report published in the first week of September, is an initial snapshot of AI adoption and use across NZ industries. The survey was completed by 155 organisations with 232 valide responses. 67% reported using AI, with Gen AI the most common type of AI being used. 50% of the respondents reported financial benefits with 96% citing increased efficiency. There was minimal replacement (8%) of employees by AI. 

The most prevalent use of AI was in administration and marketing. Over half of the respondents agreed that AI would create new career opportunities. Although a small survey, some indication of adoption and utilisation is collated, providing an overview of the industries presently using AI in New Zealand. 

The coming wave - book overview

Ebook from the local library - The coming wave by Mustafa Suleyman, published 2023. The book has had a host of good reviews from the technology industry and as such, provides a perspective into how the people who develop AI and other future technologies, understand the world. Its a percursor to the up coming book by Yuval Noah Harari - Nexus - which, from the marketing blurb, has a similar argument. See Nexus book chapter sample on Guardian.com - which warns on not summoning a power that we are not able to control. 

As with many offerings from the tech industry, there are youtube videos summarising the book's premises.

The main argument is that AI and biological synthesis, will rapidly change the world that we currently know. Many are not ready for the consequences and many do not understand the fundamental science, underpinning these technologies. 

Of importance is the need for 'containment' through better knowing how these technologies work. We are not able to hold things back, but need to ensure that there are sufficient guardrails and national/international policies, to not so much control, but to rein in the rapid developments currently happening. 

A good book to evaluate what is now happening and the background for the development of AI and biological synthesis. The book is written in approachable language and draws on current developments and examples. 

Handbook of the fundamentals of modern vocational education - book overview

This is a large -over 1000 pages - (and expensive) book, Handbook of the Fundamentals of Modern Vocational Education: Shaping the World of Work, consolidating the life work of Professor Felix Rauner who was the head of the German Vocational Training Research Group based at the University of Bremen for many years. 

The book was written in German and translated into English, using AI. It has over 50 chapters, organised into 6 sections and a last 'outlook' section with a chapter on the future of vocational education.

The sections provide background/overviews of the German vocational education system followed by several chapters, drawing from extensive work undertaken over several decades, on the pedagogy and curriculum design principles as applied to the German VET context.

The German 'dual system' of vocational education, with learners spending time in the workplace and school/college has many chapters detailing its past, present and future iterations, along with suggestions for a way forward into the future. 

VET research including the study of 'work process knowledge' is covered in several chapters in section six. 

The book is required reading for VET researchers interested in the VET systems across German-speaking European countries. However, as prefaced the the last chapter, there is a need for reform of the system to meet the needs of the future of work. Thus, all countries face the challenge of ensuring there is investment and support for skills-based training but one in which there is flexibility for shifting occupations agilely, given the rapid changes being foisted on all societies, as technology 'progresses' and challenges the way work is being defined. 

Creating the university of the future - book overview

 This 2024 open access book, Creating the university of the future is published by Springer and edited by U-D Ehlers and L. Eigbrecht. It is part of the book series on Future Higher Education. 

There are 30 chapters, organised into five sections.

The editors 'Set the scene' with 3 chapters in the first section - Creating the university of the future: A global panorama on future skills; towards a future skills framework for higher education; and the practice of future skills learning: an assessment of approaches, conditions and sucesss factors.

The next section focuses on 'future skills- foundations and shapes of a new emerging concept in a global view. There are six chapters in this section. 

Then 11 chapters in the section on future skills in practice - teaching and learning. The chapters provide case studies or examples of contemporary pedagogy from across the world.

The fourth section is on 'future skills in practice - assessment'. with 4 chapters. Emphasis is placed on formative assessments across the chapters.

The last section has a series of chapters from various countries which have worked towards achieving 'future skills'. Chapters are on the 'skills future movement in Singapore'; 'continuing education at the National University of Singapore'; Educational digital transformation of university education in Japan; future IT skills; and further higher education in New Zealand.

Overall, a good collection of chapters, some philosophical/theoretical but many reporting on current approaches. 

ILO reports - Towards lifelong learning and skills for the future of work: global lessons from innovative apprenticeships AND promoting apprenticeships to meet the needs of the digital and knowledge economy

 Two recent reports from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of relevance to future skills, digital skills and the role of apprenticeships.

Firstly, A report titled 'Towards lifelong learning and skills for the future of work: Global lessons from innovative apprenticeships"published in 2022 and authored/edited by McCoshan, A, and Markowitsch, J. with several chapters based on a collection of reports written by other authors. Most of the discussions centre around 'formal' apprenticeships. The first 4 chapters cover future skills needs including digital and green economy. There are two chapters on increasing apprenticeship participation. Then two chapters on emerging approaches to increase work-based learning including strengthening work-based learning in VET institutions and adapting apprenticeships to support the reskilling and upskilling of adults. a couple of chapters discuss how to make apprenticeship systems more flexible, inclusive and digital. The report closes with policy messages for the future of apprenticeships.

Secondly, with relevance to digital skills is the report on "Promoting apprenticeships to meet the skills needs of the digital and knowledge economy" authored by Perryman, S. and published in 2022. The report is part of the ILO Apprenticeship Development for Lifelong Learning and Training (ADULT) project.

The report overviews the effects of the digital and knowledge economy on jobs - including aspects of labour market polarisation and types of future work (platform-based, hybridisation of work and skills, pandemic effects, importance of targeted education and training); summarises the skills needs of digital and knowledge economies; discusses how apprenticeships may meet some of the challenges; provides some recommendations to meet strategic and policy, curriculum, accreditation, inclusion and funding/delivery challenges; and closes with a case study. 

Overall, both reports summarise some of the key future skills needs and postulates how apprenticeships may be modified to meet the oncoming and rapid changes in work. Mostly macro discussion with some ideas for implementation at the micro level. 

Work and Learning in Difficult Times

Open access book published by Sense Publishers (now Brill) in 2015 titled 'Work and Learning in Difficult times. 

The book is volume 4 in a series on research on the education and learning of adults, in turn affiliated to The European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA)

The book is edited by S. Bohlinger, U. Haake, C. H. Jorgensen and H. Toiviainen.

The introductory chapter by the editors is followed by 15 chapters and a closing concluding chapter by the editors.

Chapters are organised into 3 sections covering the micro, meso and macro levels of working and learning.

The Micro level has 5 chapters beginning with H. Toiviainen on 'Configurations of learning in global work'. The chapter reports on a study of how a multinational engineering company, embarked and changing the ways its many global units worked. The study focused on how new networked ways of work practices development and evolved. CHAT (cultural historical activity theory) is used to unpack the complicated relationships, tasks and objectives of the diverse and distributed workforce. Learning for work was found to be undertaken 'under control', through meaningful work and through participation. 

Chapter 3 by S. Kondrup covers 'worker and learner identity: developing an analytical framework'. Uses Archer's critical realist approach and ideas on personal identity with the influences of natural, practical and social concepts, to understand how worker and learning identities develop. Proposes learner identity as being made up of life (historical) experiences, immediate experiences from specific work situations, and objectified (cultural) knowledge.

Then M. Gessler and A-C Hinrichs with a chapter on 'key predictors of learning transfer in continuing vocational training'. Undertakes a thorough examination of the origins, pros and cons of 'transfer of learning'. Proposes a model based on synthesis of the current understandings in the field.

The next chapter is ' Knowledge development in internships: a case study of students' access to tacit and explicit knowledge in blended learning' by S. Dau. Unpacks the foundational understanding of tacit and explicit knowledge and proposes how blended learning provisions opportunities for attaining both.

The last chapter in the section is by G. Sparrhoff  on 'leaderships in times of globalisation and uncertainty'. Summarises understandings of leadership and proposes principles required to lead in a global world.

The next section has 5 chapters.

T. Back covers 'police students values of competence related to professional career' based in Sweden.

Another one in a similar context to the previous chapter with 'police leadership practice in times of uncertainty and organisational turmoil' by O. Linberg, O. Rantatalo and U. Haake.

Then a chapter by K. Kallio on 'Dilemmas in automation engineers' daily work and changing form of learning'. Studies the changing nature of work and learning for automation engineers using CHAT. Outlines the many challenges and requirements to change and adapt across all aspects of engineering including administrative (i.e. accounting) services. 

R. Ronnqvist, A. Wallo, P. Nilsson and B. Davidson contribute to the chapter 'employee resourcing in elderly care: attracting, recruiting and retaining the right competence'

Followed by another chapter by A. Fejes and P. Andersson in a similar context ' recognition of prior learning within elderly care work'

The last section also has 5 chapters.

Beginning with C. H. Jorgensen on 'challenges for work-based learning in VET in the Nordic Countries'

Then 'Vocational education and school to work transitions in Norway by T. Nyen, A. Skaholt and A.H. Tonder

C. Quesada-Pallares, A. Ciraso-Cali, P.Pineda-Herero and A Janer-Hildalgo write on 'training for innovation in Spain: Analysis of its effectiveness from the perspective of transfer of training'.

Another Spanish context chapter with R. M Hernanxes Carrera and E. Lucio-Villegas with 'VET from the perspective of employer associations in Spain.

The last chapter is by S. Bohlinger on 'governing VET in Europe'. Bases discussion on Germany but the chapter undertakes an outline of European VET policy to find out how these impact on VET. 

The conclusion 'contested field of working and learning' by the editors, closes the book.

All in, a good book to consult for key principles in a range of workplace learning concepts. Most of the chapters, utilise authentic studies to build a contemporary evidence base, albeit within a mainly European context, to inform our continued understanding of work and learning. 

AI and education

Ai is still the flavour of the month. There is a plethora of sites on the topic. For example, this one, summarising 6 ways to leverage Gen AI in education which although written in April, is already dated in the tools/platforms presented. Another, written in July, lists 43 examples of AI in education and provides several good resources with examples.

 A working paper, published in August, by Hamilton, William and Hattie (2023), discusses the future of AI in education. The paper posits several future scenarios based on a premise that AI will be ascendant and be able to replace humans in many cognitive activities. They postulate 4 scenarios whereby we ban AI now, work side by side with AI, upgrade our brains using brain-computer interfaces, or provide universal basic income to a populace, largely 'retired'. Each has implications for education with the authors suggesting that accept for the first option, all the other three lead to a reduction in humankind's motivation to be educated! 

An insights report from the US of A provides a less intimidating prediction, taking the perspective of AI as business as usual and making recommendations around trust, equity, fairness and the adoption of guidelines and guardrails. 

My Scholar Alerts for 'artificial intelligence in education' generates around a dozen articles every 2-3 days. So this topic is still very much up front for many. The project we have started in the second semester (June) to study the planning, development and implementation of AI supported learning activities across 6 programmes is starting to reveal the baseline literacies required to be able to work with AI tools. AI literacy is an important foundation before learners are able to embark on using AI in a fruitful manner to inform their learning. As AI tools require good academic literacies as well, we are working with programmes from level 4 (Certificates) to level 7 (degree). It has been interesting observing learners get to grips with the technology, with some quite hesitant and others keen to get stuck in. We start collating data from observations and initial surveys next month, followed by summative focus groups in November. The project has been good learning for everyone involved, including the ethics behind how AI is introduced to learners and the important ethical issues with regards to using AI that have to discussed with learners. 

New digital work: Digital sovereignty in the workplace - book overview

New Digital work: Digital sovereignty at the workplace- Open access book published 2023 by Springer and edited by A. Shajek and E. A. Hartmann

There are 15 chapters in the book along with introductory and closing chapters by the editors.

The book covers some of the perceived impacts of AI and robotics on work along with other implications. There are case studies from Europe, South Africa, Australia, East Asia, China and Mexico.

Topics range across not only AI and robotics, but also ‘smart’ production systems, human-machine interactions, designing and capability building for digital work and neural networks.

Of note the following chapter:

-          AI and assistance system for TVET – opportunities and risks https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-26490-0_12

By L. Windelband, which is the entry into the book as the chapter came up on my Scholar Alerts a few weeks back.

Discusses the man-machine-interface (M-M-I) and how these could be – tools /assistance scenario; automation scenario (with limited input from workers and devaluation of qualifications), and the hybrid scenario where by there are new forms of monitoring and control of tasks, leading to new requirements for skilled workers.

The challenges these 3 scenarios represent for TVET are discussed. Figure 1 summarises a framework to think how technologies, impact, use of digital and the process related actions, interfaces with the digital networked world of work. Presents the challenges and how AI for example may be used as information assistants, assistant systems or for learning assistance. Then the opportunities and risks are presented. 

A book providing up-to-date discussions on the impact of the digital revolution on work, and in turn education. The importance of understanding and working with 'intelligent' agents cannot be under-estimated. Digital literacy/ AI literacy needs to recognise the complexities and issues as more intimate interfaces are required between humans and machines.

New digital work - book link and first impressions

 A new open access book - New Digital work: Digital sovereignty at the workplace, edited by Alexandra Shajek and Ernst Andreas Hartmann, published by Springer 2023 with international authors across 15 chapters.

Worth browsing and picking up relevant chapters. Topics include AI, neural networks, immersive environments, digital equity, robotics etc.

Future of jobs report 2023 - World Economic forum

 The World Economic Forum released their annual Future of Jobs report. 

The key findings make for interesting reading with no great surprises. The impact on technologies is high. Large corporates involved in the survey, predict 23% of jobs will be caught up in the 'churn' as some jobs become obsolete. However, the effect is for a net positive, i.e. that technologies will create more jobs than those which are lost. However, it is still up to the individual to re-train, move horizontally etc. to ride out the turbulence.

Greatest job growth is driven by technology, digitalisation and sustainability. Declining jobs are also affected by the same drivers and include clerks in data entry, ticketing, postal services, cashiers etc.

There is predicted large-scale growth in education, agriculture, digital commerce in trade. Analytical and creative thinking are now core skills. Also included are the self-efficacy skills - resilience, flexibility, agility, motivation and self-awareness, curiosity and lifelong learning. Dependability and attention to detail have risen into the top 10. Perhaps these reflect the post-pandemic era as people adjust to a new normal of physical engagement with workplaces after several years of 'work from home' arrangements and disruptions caused by illness. 

Given the above, an estimated 44% of work skills will be disrupted in the next five years as increased need for cognitive skills grow. However, core corporate upskilling strategies are not aligned to these needs. Investment in learning and on-the-job training seen to be essential. With almost 1/2 of companies surveyed indicating the need to invest in skills training for their workers.

All in, the effect of AI's prominence and capability, signal the rapid change facing the current workforce. Companies with the means, and capability to advance, reap the immediate and future benefits. 

OECD report - Is education losing the race with technology?

 This OECD report makes for interesting and challenging reading. The report surmises that in a few years, AI would be able to surpass most humans if it was to take the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIACC). By 2026, AI would be able to solve the literacy and numeracy tests and its results would exceed that of 90% of adults in literacy (gulp) and 57-88% in numeracy. 

At present, literacy and numeracy skills are used daily by large sectors of the workforce. What are the implications, when AI is able to perform these tasks? The usual recommendations are for education systems to strengthen foundations skills for students and to also ensure 'AI' literacy becomes part of the curriculum.

The report is a warning for all educators, to not ignore the increasing capabilities of AI. Instead of avoiding the technology, educators need to become AI savvy, to understand the strengths and limitations of the technology and to be able to help guide their learners, towards using the essential human skills of communication, critical thinking and problem solving to be able to work synergistically with AI.

GAN (Global Apprenticeship Network) - Presentations from the future of apprenticeships conference in Melbourne/Auckland

 The presentations made at the GAN conference which ran from Melbourne and then Auckland in February, are now available online.

The three keynotes from the Honounourable Brendan O'Connor, Minister of Skills and Training in Australia, Laurent Friexe, CEO of Nestle and Nazrene Mannie, Executive Director of GAN Global, are recordings/videos.

Powerpoint presentations are available for a range of topics including VET research, VET collaboration, digital higher apprenticeships, the Swiss dual system, importance of VET, and quality apprenticeship framework.

NCVER 'no-frills' - DAY THREE

 Day Three continues around the theme of 'digital learning' and  begins with a plenary session on 'evaluating and enhancing digital readiness of Australia's vocational education and training products' with Erin Knudsen (Australian Industry Standards), Dr. Claire Mason (Data61 - CSIRO) and Michael Wyndham (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations). Began with the project background and rationale. The project is one response to the 2019 Australian Industry and Skills Committee to establish the Digital Transformation Expert panel. The report from this - the learning country - has recommendations for the development of a VET specific digital capability farmework, strategic review of training packages given digital transformation and to support VET practitioners' knowledge of digital technologies. Structure of the project was described including how the framework was reviewed as consultation etc. progressed. The accompanying review and modification of the existing digital capability frameworks in the existing training package now completed. Various complementarity of existing frameworks and taxonomies was undertaken. Five focus groups identified - info and data literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, protection and safety. Each has digital focus area definitions and digital capabilities included. Proficiency levels of foundation, intermediate, advanced and specialised were adopted and explained. Alignment of this framework into other frameworks was also undertaken. 

Advantages of having a framework creates a common language, collaborate to implement digital skills into VET reform, and affords cross-sector, cross-region and cross-country comparisons. Shared the digital occupation profile (DOP) covers the mapping of digital framework to the tasks, responsibilities etc. of the job. 

Digital capabilities review of training packages carried using 'natural language processing' methods. Digital capability and unit of competencies/ performance indicators commonalities are identified and matched. 700,000 performance indicators covered AI and human input deployed across the process. Able to sieve through and find out the digital capabilities that are well covered and those that are not. Managing info and data is high but re-using digital content was low. Qualifications that cover all the 21 capabilities include graphic design, business, info tech etc. but some had zero or none (baking for example!)

Described the process of prototyping a dynamic online companion volume to support the application of the digital capabilities framework. Used a visualisation of demand and supply of digital capabilities by comparing the qualifications and digital skills mentioned in job ads. to identify capabilities not included in a training package. Potential for a crowdsourcing DOP to be used to continually up-to-date skill needs.  Next steps were shared to progress the ideas presented.

Then Professors Sarojni Choy, Stephen Billett and Leah Le on 'bridging life transitions: role of VET in supporting lifelong learning'. Began with a summary of the historical evolution of vocational education across working life. Then looked at why lifelong VET is important, the transitions across working lives and implications. The reasons for lifelong VET has become even more important given the rapid change and shifts caused by technology, changing job markets etc. Forms of purposes of VET include initial VET which is the main focus. However, continuing VET is now just as important to help people transition into new occupations or careers. This needs to include workplace based learning where people attain much learning but still neglected for accreditation.

Summarised the project - Practices and policies for sustaining employability through work-life learning (Billett, Salling-Olesen and Filliattez)

The work life history of 59 (older workers above 30) in Australia reported in this presentation. Identified 6 transitions. Maturation / life development, change of employment status, change in occupation (change in focus, change in skills or capacities, change through restructuring etc.), change in location, physical and psychological health challenges (personal or family), change in personal lifestyle choices.

The profiles of the participants summarised. Access to VET included entry into employment (the majority of the participants), upskilling and reskilling. Shared examples for VET providing entry to further education, change of occupation, for work life as work opportunities change. Ways that VET support lifelong education include accessible affordable and flexible (online/blended) course, retraining when occupations have to shift, courses aligned to different life stages, job preparation for working age people, guidance and counselling, processed to engage learners in development of courses and programmes, and employability support during transitions. 

Featured speakers include:

Hugh Guthrie on 'delivering on quality VET delivery' from his recent NCVER project completed with Melinda Waters. Summarised the project aims - defininitions and measure of quality, describe high-quality delivery, use of quality measures, perceived barriers to quality and how they could be supported to do better.

What does good delivery look for? to prepare students for work and life and sometimes preparing for life is important; develop occupational identities, meets needs and expectations of employers, results in employment or other outcomes, support personal growth and continually adapts to changing circumstances. The main messages - a definition of delivery quality was context specific; - their purpose, goals, student profile, courses programmes etc. type of training organisation, size, cultures breadth of profile, persons role in quality and the difficulties of sustaining high quality deliver in the current circumstances. 

Enablers of the quality of delivery include quality policies, frameworks and strategies, quality leadership and administration, quality teaching of learning experiences, and quality programmes and resources. Provided details of each of these enablers. Barriers include funding, compliance-driven regulation - leads to ticking boxes and not actual improvement, quality of training packages and the effort and cost of their updates. difficulty recruiting, retaining and development teachers, and limitations of quality metrics. Improvements suggested include a national VET to promote and support quality delivery (e.g. Centres of VET excellence (CoVEs) in Aotearoa), funding models to support and incentivise, trust and investment in professional judgement of teachers. 

Dr. Damian Oliver and Nicky Wonder from the National Skills Commission on 'pathways from VET courses: insights from the VET National data asset'. Outlined the mapping of VET pathways as there is not a neat match between qualifications and occupations - but this does not mean an unsuitable labour market outcome. VET equips for more than the outcomes of a qualification. Summarised the data sources - intended occupations data from training.gov.au; occupational post-training from NCVER student outcome survey; and occupational and education mix from the census. The VET national data asset (VNDA) helps to bring these data streams together for analysis. Detailed the methodology for pathways analysis. 

The results for the 2017-2018 data for the 2019 survey was then presented. Used a case studies  to provide show how the data sources were integrated and then analysed. Includes Certificate in Plumbing (high alignment); Cert 111 in Individual support (mid level alignment) and Certificate III in Business (with low alignment and is dispersed and less matched). Shared reflections on the process thus far and future plans.

I then present an update on Aotearoa NZ VET with 'Aoteaora NZ reform of VET: Te Pukenga's progress on meeting its aspirations'. This updates from the previous presentation in October 2021 at the AVETRA OctoberVET. There has been much progress but also much to be done. The operational model / structure is due to be open for consultation in a couple of weeks will provide greater clarity. Transitional industry trainining organisations (ITOs) and polytechnics (ITPs) are all transitioned into Te Pūkenga by January 2023. The Work Development Councils (WDCs) are forming and settling into developing their operational structures and plans. The Regional Skills Leadership Groups (RSLG) are in place and reporting to and working in collaborations with stakeholders and the WDCs and Te Pūkenga. The outcomes of the reform of VET (RoVE) are almost in place. So things are all starting up and forming but not quite all ready to go yet. 

Then a presentation from Kelly Milner, Yvette Vos from North Metropolitan TAFE and Dr. Charn Nang from Edith Cowan University on 'building bridges between allied health assistant and the allied health professional to meet workforce shortages: a university and TAFE partnership in WA'. Introduced the team and set the scene with how the project started - through work with allied health assistants in speech-language pathology. There was very little realisation of the role of health assistants in this discipline. 

Followed on with a definition for Allied health professionals (AHP - speech, occupational therapist, nutritional specialists etc. ) and Allied health assistants (AHA). There is high demand for both AHP and AHAs. AHA training is usually 6 months long and their role includes working with clients to work through the interventions developed by the AHP. 

Key areas of concern include the AHA role not being well-defined and not widely recognised. Work needs to be undertaken to formalise the role through training and recruitment, collaboration with relevant communities and industry to improve standards of training and employment outcomes. Interprofessional collaboration may be one avenue to help students understand the range of possibilities. Students in speech pathology and AHA students could then see how the work could be undertaken. Survey of students indicated the usefulness of the session. Then shared plans for the future in particular to expand to other AHP programmes. 

Closing keynote is with Simon Walker from the NCVER on 'data's role in transforming the future'. Covers what big data is in the context of VET; big data and NCVER, applications in VET and the future of big data. Big data is now important to help understand the complex challenges and to respond and adapt to meet these challenges. Big data includes large amounts of complex data from multiple sources that can be assessed, stored, analysed, and reported - volume, veracity, value, velocity and variety.

Summarised the benefits is to provide an accurate and complete picture of a situation. Able to gain insights more readily, especially using AI. May be useful to predict future needs, target rapid interventions, assist businesses to understand their markets and clients and has potential efficiencies in time and cost. An example is how OECD uses to emphasise the important role of well-being and health.

In Australia, there is data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Skills Commision, VET National Data Asset, Australian Skills Classification etc. Strict protocols cover the ethical use of this data. Shared examples from NCVER current projects as to how big data is used. New data directions include predictive analytics, longitudinal data, data linkages and data-driven user interface to access secure data products. Current projects on completion rates, pre-apprenticeship behaviours, indigenous learners, longitudinal TVA dataset and datahub to provide access to NCVER data. Detailed the VET data streamlining project seeks to update and enable real-time VET activity data. 

Future of big data to work towards include real-time data, cloud platforms and storage, predictive analytics, data sharing and context-rich analysis. 

Overall, another good range of presentations. The platform used is rather didactic. Videos are recorded and played back for each session. This means that reference to and connection to the keynotes or other presentations is not possible. Slides in standard mode often difficult to see and expanding the video causes the live chat to disappear. It is difficult to participate in the chat, when watching the presentation and taking notes. Having to move to the next presentation without a break means little interaction actually occurs in the chat. The advantage is that the recordings are not live which minimises technology issues and other glitches. The recordings are archived for 3 months for viewing and later follow up.