Skills Institute

Tuesday, 28 February 2012 - 11:56am

Apprenticeship training in the workplace is set to be revolutionised by mobile training opportunities delivered via the National Broadband Network (NBN).

The NBN Speed on Wheels project, conducted by the Skills Institute in Tasmania, will see groups of the state’s apprentices training in a media-rich and dynamic e-learning environment, where the classroom comes to the student and the teacher could be anywhere. This mobile training model aims to engage apprentices by creating a learning environment that promotes innovation and capability for self-directed, lifelong learning.

In pursuing this goal, the Skills Institute expects to strengthen its training system in terms of emerging technologies and increase its capacity for NBN readiness, by demonstrating how apprentices’ learning experiences via NBN internet technology engages them more effectively, improving learning outcomes and creatively addressing the workforce development gap.

This new model of training delivery offers remote e-tutoring between individual apprentices and a teacher, as well as live group classes in a workplace delivered from a campus-based teacher through desktop virtual classroom programs or live video streaming.

While formal training is essential for apprentices to have equal work opportunities and be well rounded in their trade knowledge, apprentices are often limited in their training options due to remote locations. The need to be released from the workplace for on-campus training often also requires extensive travelling and periods away from home.

The availability of NBN allows apprentices to improve their learning outcomes with video-streaming, workplace simulations and live synchronous classes that cater for different learning styles. Significantly, this flexibility also extends to the actual qualifications that can be studied remotely, with the trial including horticulture, hospitality, human services and agriculture (dairy).

The project has been made possible through funding from the National VET E-learning Strategy, whose NBN E-learning Programs provide opportunities to create innovative approaches to demonstrate the power of broadband to enhance outcomes for learners, and promote growth in broadband-based training as the NBN rollout proceeds.

The National VET E-learning Strategy is the responsibility of the Flexible Learning Advisory Group (FLAG), a key policy advisory group on national directions and priorities for information and communication technologies in the VET sector.