This report is based on a survey of vocational education and training students who were studying online, as well as discussions with teachers. It describes what makes for a quality online learning experience and provides suggestions for organisations delivering training online.
This study of training and learning services for small business gives an impressionistic snapshot of the current system, its products and strategies, also the results of recent initiatives and the promotion of training and learning for small business in Australia.
This report investigates the ways that the various education sectors in Australia (schools, vocational education and training, adult and community education, and higher education) are funded. The paper acknowledges it is difficult to get comparable data for all sectors and discusses the implications of changing some aspects of funding arrangements so that a cross-sectoral funding model could be developed.
This report builds on and extends earlier work examining the key drivers that affect the quantity and nature of training undertaken by Australian enterprises. It focuses on enterprises in the entertainment related and process manufacturing industries and explores how they view training and its importance within their overall operating structure.
An exploration of possible reasons why some students who enrol in VET do not complete their courses. Using interviews with past students and statistical evidence of course enrolments, author Peter Grant provokes an in-depth discussion of the factors that complicate any analysis of course completion. His report makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the issue of course completion in the VET sector as well as the methodological issues that need to be considered in any such study. The pattern that emerges shows a complex interaction of personal and practical factors why students leave vocational courses before they have completed their qualification.
This report provides an outline and discussion of the support needs and services required for students to achieve successful outcomes while studying online. The findings of the report are based on a literature review, surveys and follow-up interviews with students studying online and with teachers/co-ordinators delivering online. The focus of the surveys and interviews is on students' expectations of the services either currently provided or required to be provided to ensure their success.
Ten industry training packages are investigated to assess how much focus they give to the attainment of generic skills. Author Susan Dawe draws on recent case studies of ten Australian industries where generic skills are taught in companies and TAFE institutes using training packages. This in-depth study also examines approaches that can enhance the delivery of generic skills so that students are better prepared for the new demands of the workplace.
This report describes the support that informal and formal learners need in order to help them successfully complete VET. It includes two types of indicators deemed necessary to provide effective learning support: those relating to organisational features and learning culture, and those that relate specifically to teaching and learning practices.
The study compares the relative costs and effectiveness of online learning with traditional face to face teaching methods through six case studies. These case studies provide rich detail about the operating conditions under which different types of online delivery are likely to be cost effective.
This resource contains practical material to help assessors maintain the quality of their assessment systems. It includes an overview of how registered training organisations can develop a validation or moderation process, and a range of checklists that assessors can use as part of the assessment review process. Also included is a sample of a code of practice for assessors, guidelines for set-up simulated assessment and gathering evidence, and guidelines for training organisations on documenting partners and collaborative assessment arrangements. The resource is designed as a series of strategies with case study examples and scenarios of how particular RTOs have dealt with assessment issues.
This project reports the approaches used by six Australian organisations to build and maintain a learning culture. The research study identifies pressures which have contributed to the participating organisations' commitment to learning as well as the similar and dissimilar characteristics which allow these organisations to consider themselves as learning organisations.
This is a report of research undertaken to investigate the current linkages between schools and small enterprises. In particular it examines the literature on structured workplace learning (SWL), identifies the issues and concerns common to the schools and enterprises that took part in the study and develops a model framework for SWL.
The long-term benefits of a VET qualification are compared with the long-term employment outcomes for university graduates and for individuals whose education ceased at Year 12. Also looked at are the long-term effects for VET graduates with disabilities and from non-English speaking backgrounds and what differences exist for males and females over time. Author Chris Ryan uses data from two major surveys to assess the value of various VET qualifications for lifelong learning and longer term employment opportunities.
This study builds on earlier work by one of the authors that identified strategies for effective flexible delivery in workplaces. Training managers and focus groups with supervisors/trainers in 12 enterprises in Victoria were interviewed and their opinions examined on the feasibility of these strategies.
The focus of this report is on the nature of the uptake of web-based technologies and the quality of teaching and learning that is emerging. The report provides an overview of selected online vocational education and training delivery sites and explores a model for evaluating web-based flexible learning practices.
A discussion of the vocational education and training system in Sweden, which has developed from being primarily industry-based in the 1960s to a structurally uniform system that is integrated with general education in the present day.