Small group for reflection from a vocational education stance

[Alicia McConnell]

As the FE group is already looking big…..does this appeal?

Loving those four questions and looking forward to reading introductions and finding out some answers. Would love a fellow Octelite or two to share insights with

anyone there?

 

[ScottJohnson]

Hi Alicia,
I’m Scott Johnson and interested in vocational education and survival tricks for students who struggle in the academic environment. My career in education started 5 years ago while recovering from an illness that ended my 40 year career in the building trades. As an assistant instructional designer helping build courses to accompany certificate programs in petroleum industry power engineering and heavy equipment technician (HET) upgrading I’m currently up to my ears in vocational training.

Of particular interest is creating learning experiences that include critical and diagnostic systems thinking that single out committed tradespeople. Our office is just starting to build first year HET courses through a commercial sponsor who seems committed to cover a whole program. In addition, they have been fairly specific about our training techs who have thinking skills as well as mechanical aptitudes.

For some reason even though we are technically a polytechnic school there is resistance to the notion of thinking tradespeople and sadly that extends to the trades instructors themselves. So be it, that can change.

As for myself, I’m a big fan of MOOCs from some of the first Connectivist versions. They seem to suit my nature as a construction worker with little expectation of predictability in crew make-up or job-site conditions or classroom chaos. Also interested in vocational as it has fed me most of my life and living with being underestimated by academics who couldn’t visualize the structure of an out-house I’m tired of grand theories that don’t work.

Let me know if you are interested in starting a discussion group? Can I suggest “Shop Class as Soulcraft: an inquiry into the value of work” by Matthew Crawford? Like most motorcycle mechanics Matthew is a bit of a philosopher but worth reading anyway.

Scott

[RebeccaOGM]

Hi there,

My name is Rebecca Ogrady-Marshall and i’m definitely interested in a smaller group focusing on vocational education.  This post grabbed me because Scott replied *hi Scott* we’ve been chatting online for awhile.

I have more of an academic background and have been teaching in international schools for a few years.  i am a firm believer in making good education accessible and making it easy and simple to learn.  This especially applies to vocational training.  I’m also a big fan of OERs.

Currently I’m also working in the wine industry (living in Sydney, Australia) which is sales driven and I’ve found there is a constant need for skills ‘refreshers’ and ongoing learning.

Looking forward to chatting,

Rebecca

 

[ScottJohnson]

Hi Rebecca, wine industry sounds interesting and I bet becoming more technical all the time. Our heavy duty technician courses are driven by the need for an interesting mix of people capable going into remote areas to fix hugely expensive machines while delivering precise and accurate diagnosis. These aren’t just wrench monkeys but real professionals and capable thinkers. Prediction for our area in northern Canada is we are already 2,500 mechanics short and at least 10% of them need be true experts. Going to be interesting to how this works out over the next few years.
Another thing is remote sensing for this type of work. Send in a sensing crew to broadcast data back to home base so the right parts go out first time. My cardiologist is talking about this as a way to avoid 10 hour drives in to see her and keep me alive too.

As a boost to the notion that online communities can be useful I’ve been terminated at work as of June 30 as our department “restructures.” But it turns out our brand new director of teaching, unknown to both of us, was lead developer on an experimental online course studying the idea of teaching people hopefulness. I volunteered for the pilot  course and follow-up study while in recovery and it looks like this might help me keep my job possibly moving to research.

I find it interesting that a person can reinvent themselves by being present in such an ethereal world as the internet and have it realize into something in the “real” world. Still snowing here, how are things in Oz?

Scott

[RebeccaOGM]

Hi Scott,  That could be a really interesting change moving into research, especially if you’re able to directly apply the research to real world practices.  Australia is all well and good.  We just have a holiday in Thailand, where we were living before moving here and we (husband and I) are exploring the possibilities of moving back there.  The ideal situation would be that we are able to get enough work online for us to easily live in Bangkok.  I’ve had a few online course design and writing projects but it’s still early days.  Sydney is very very expensive.  No snow here but winter is just around the corner.  If you’re doing more research does it mean you can work by distance? – take your cardiologists advice!!!!!

[ScottJohnson]

Hi Alicia,
Still interested in vocational and work based education. (You’ll find sometimes us long-term MOOC’ers break off into conversations anywhere we land so please tell us to shut-up if we are intruding in your discussion space).
My interest in vocational comes from years in the trades before starting work at a college, and for a while yet I have a connection to a project that I find exciting. We are running a test course directed at existing journeymen auto mechanics to upgrade their skills to heavy duty equipment technicians. Our college has a contract with a large sponsor to finance the project which sets it aside from the struggle to maintain any kind of coherent work under public education direction which turns almost daily with the wind.
The focus of the courses (there will be 4 years worth eventually) is to not only train HD techs but to develop diagnostic abilities in order for our eventual graduates to be considered masters of the trade. This goes beyond pulling-a-wrench training into thinking skills to be found in (sometimes) in the liberal arts.
We are in the early days of the program development and this could be a good time and place to set up a conversation around vocational training that extends beyond just one college’s project.

[Trilia]

Hi Scott and Rebecca.  Great to see a VE stream getting up and at it.   I believe that VET teachers are the most talented and resilient in the business!   I’ve been surfing through five different MOOCs on open and digital learning, while waiting for the axe to fall at work! and loved every minute of them.  Unfortunately I’ve had richer and more foused discussions with global colleagues on line than I’ve had in my own organisation.  Looking forward to ongoing discussion

 

[ScottJohnson]

Hi Trilia, agree with the lack of conversational activity in the group where I work. Our programs resist change more activly than most on the notion that hand-on skills are not subject to virtual presentation. Aside from that not being true the biggest barrier is fear of change. The regulators don’t want it, the trainers don’t want it and tradesmen who don’t think about it don’t want it. All of which is no reason to not keep pushing it at them:-)

My current interest is the relationship of dance and other physical skills that include all the trades. Gets me out of pointless conversations with those stuck in the mud. Have to go now but will be back.

Scott

[Alicia McConnell]

Hope either of you are still around – I had to go abroad just as it was all getting interesting. If you have moved – do me a sport and let me know where…..

I work at an FE college in Norwich and am very keen to build up online use for studetns not coming into college

[ScottJohnson]

Hi Alicia,
Glad you are back! Not sure where Rebecca has gotten off to? As it’s in my character to wander I’m over with the Mongrels and a bit with the distance education group and some folk educators though my first interest is in vocational. Part of the joy of MOOCs is jumping from conversation to conversation until you wear out and settle except that sounds like a rule, so forget I said it:-)

Our college department builds vocational courses and having worked in the trades most of my life this is a good fit for me. What I find most compelling is the potential at some point for vocational training to include elements of critical thinking, a kind of “studio thinking” (I can explain this later), diagnostics as in medical training, and an appreciation for quality workmanship found in furniture builders and jewelers. Our current project building heavy duty mechanical courses is hoping to reach out to a few of these qualities provided the whole crew doesn’t quit after finishing the first period of courses.

So, I’m still interested in forming a group around this topic–are you still in? By the way, I live in Canada so our conversations will be mostly asynchronous and I hope you are OK with that.

[manda1066]

Hi would like to get in with your discussion.

I work at an FE college in North Wales and deliver on a number of HE  courses including foundation degrees and professional courses (CIPD, AAT  ).  I have also worked in work based provision delivering apprenticeship programmes.

I am keen to look at ways of using technolgy to engage learners who are in work, and combining work,,study life etc. Looking at ways of developing courses to meet employer needs as well with possibly introducing Higher Apprenticeships in Management and Project Management.

This is my first mooc and just catching up with everything.. (a busy positive note is that I took some of my level 2 accounting students to  a world skills competition which  they won!)

Looking forward to some discussion around this topic

 

Amanda

[RebeccaOGM]

Hello there, yes, I’m still here!  Apologies, I have been swamped by things that are going on here in Sydney.  change of season colds, yes winter is coming and it rains all the time.  So, I haven’t yet committed much time to OCTEL although I do read through the newsletters.

Yes, I’m a lurker!!!  I’ve got to catch up on everything and participate with something useful rather than just chat.  Although chatting is fun.

Yes, vocational skills – it will be a challenge to put together a great course that engages people to learn mechanical skills, but there’s nothing like a good challenge.

Welcome to the group Amanda.

[ScottJohnson]

Critical thinking skills are of particular interest in the trades. Not by the instructional staff who think of themselves as defenders of dying arts but for students who will be working on ever more complex machinery and equipment. The old method of hoping the occasional trades person will rise above the pointless learning by rote are over but we need to tell the teachers that first.

[RebeccaOGM]

Hi everyone,  I might be a little bit slow onto this but still enjoying going through the provided materials.

I have just been reviewing the ‘online readiness’ surveys and it bought me back to a similar exercise I did at a school I was working at in Bangkok.  The school was upgrading its classroom technology and like most things change came slowly to some and quickly to others.

I went through the classroom and did a small ‘tech readiness’ survey.  We had projectors in each classroom, as well as computers and were introducing electronic whiteboards.  It’s such a good wake up to (once again) realise that not everyone is the same as you and that content/materials are addressing people’s needs.

I found that some teachers still used pen and ink to write down all their teaching information and were quite intimidated by using a projector.  Some teachers were completely into using the technology and had online student-centered projects that could use all the technologies available and also use students own tools.  Then other teachers were somewhere in the middle.

Maybe this is coming into the idea of ‘change’ but finding out people’s starting point is absolutely crucial to the success of anything, especially when using online or tech tools.

 

Any thoughts?

 

[Author]

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