Skills Australia
E-learning provides Foundations for the Future
A paradigm shift is needed to ensure the nation continues to build its skills base for a productive, inclusive and sustainable future in the face of rapidly changing economies and communities, suggests Skills Australia’s recently released position papers, Workforce Futures and Foundations for the Future.
Presenting his views at the Voc Ed Learning Group (VELG) national conference, Skills Australia Chair Philip Bullock said dramatic global changes, such as climate change and technology, are influencing the way we work and learn and as a result we must ask the following questions:
Are we providing the right skills at the right time in the right place?
Do we have a system that delivers what’s required for today and tomorrow?
How do we lessen the impact of the economic downturn on disadvantaged groups?
How do we ensure quality training provision for both Australia and the international market?
According to Mr Bullock, the unique and distinctive nature of the vocational education and training (VET) sector positions it perfectly to respond to the challenges and opportunities resulting from this global change.He said a training system needed two fundamental attributes – being industry focused and learner focused – in order to embrace the above challenges and bring about the change that is required.According to Mr Bullock, skills demand and its impact on the economy is volatile and, as a result, industry must be in a position to influence the direction of investment in skills priorities and contribute to strategic direction.
He said that a coordinated network of strategic industry advice from training agencies, Industry Skills Councils and peak industry groups is vital to ensuring VET graduates meet industry needs and are equipped with the right skills, in the right place, and at the right time. In terms of being learner focused, Mr Bullock pointed out at VELG that consumers want from training providers the tailored, easily accessible and flexible service they have come to expect in many other contemporary service industries.
He said innovation and creativity will be at the very core of the training and learning future, which he feels will be characterised by:
a focus on employability
greater mobility
technology bridging distances
global skills
lifelong learning
workplace learning.
The Flexible Learning Advisory Group’s (FLAG) South Australian representative Adrian Marron believes that e-learning, where learning is enabled by technology, is a vital link in assisting training to keep pace with changing technology and industry demands.
He also said that the application of e-learning methods and tools provide a valid, effective and reliable education experience for learners. “E-learning, by its flexible nature, can create and strengthen partnerships between training providers and industry,” he said at the recent E-learning for Business event, held in Brisbane. “It can do this by increasing the capacity of businesses to respond to changing skill demands by providing cost and time effective options to develop the skills of its workforce, and by increasing the responsiveness of training providers to industry demands. “But at the end of the day, e-learning is more than an end in itself – it is a way to provide the overall flexibility that the system requires to respond to changing needs.”
FLAG plays a central role in framing advice on national policy areas relevant to VET and is responsible for leading and managing the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, the national training system’s e-learning strategy.
A paradigm shift is needed to ensure the nation continues to build its skills base for a productive, inclusive and sustainable future in the face of rapidly changing economies and communities, suggests Skills Australia’s recently released position papers, Workforce Futures and Foundations for the Future.
Presenting his views at the Voc Ed Learning Group (VELG) national conference, Skills Australia Chair Philip Bullock said dramatic global changes, such as climate change and technology, are influencing the way we work and learn and as a result we must ask the following questions:
Are we providing the right skills at the right time in the right place?
Do we have a system that delivers what’s required for today and tomorrow?
How do we lessen the impact of the economic downturn on disadvantaged groups?
How do we ensure quality training provision for both Australia and the international market?
According to Mr Bullock, the unique and distinctive nature of the vocational education and training (VET) sector positions it perfectly to respond to the challenges and opportunities resulting from this global change.He said a training system needed two fundamental attributes – being industry focused and learner focused – in order to embrace the above challenges and bring about the change that is required.According to Mr Bullock, skills demand and its impact on the economy is volatile and, as a result, industry must be in a position to influence the direction of investment in skills priorities and contribute to strategic direction.
He said that a coordinated network of strategic industry advice from training agencies, Industry Skills Councils and peak industry groups is vital to ensuring VET graduates meet industry needs and are equipped with the right skills, in the right place, and at the right time. In terms of being learner focused, Mr Bullock pointed out at VELG that consumers want from training providers the tailored, easily accessible and flexible service they have come to expect in many other contemporary service industries.
He said innovation and creativity will be at the very core of the training and learning future, which he feels will be characterised by:
a focus on employability
greater mobility
technology bridging distances
global skills
lifelong learning
workplace learning.
The Flexible Learning Advisory Group’s (FLAG) South Australian representative Adrian Marron believes that e-learning, where learning is enabled by technology, is a vital link in assisting training to keep pace with changing technology and industry demands.
He also said that the application of e-learning methods and tools provide a valid, effective and reliable education experience for learners. “E-learning, by its flexible nature, can create and strengthen partnerships between training providers and industry,” he said at the recent E-learning for Business event, held in Brisbane. “It can do this by increasing the capacity of businesses to respond to changing skill demands by providing cost and time effective options to develop the skills of its workforce, and by increasing the responsiveness of training providers to industry demands. “But at the end of the day, e-learning is more than an end in itself – it is a way to provide the overall flexibility that the system requires to respond to changing needs.”
FLAG plays a central role in framing advice on national policy areas relevant to VET and is responsible for leading and managing the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, the national training system’s e-learning strategy.
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