Need for More Information Technology in TVET

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Industry 4.0 introduces technologies like Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and IoT. These technologies are the future building blocks of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Digital knowledge is essential for teachers.

Changing in the Knowledge

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is an educational program that focuses on learning through formal and informal training. The purpose is to produce a skilled workforce required for industries. The economy and world of skills are dynamic factors in the current era, as many jobs that existed a couple of years ago are no longer available today. 

The changing needs of the knowledge economy and the influence of technology have changed the demand for higher-level skills in the industry. The industrial 4.0 revolution has enabled enterprises to adopt smart manufacturing and digitally transform themselves. 65% of children currently enrolled in primary school today will ultimately work on jobs that don’t exist today [1].

ICT in TVET

Many skilled workforce roles don’t exist today, which have been changed due to obsolete products and manufacturing upgrades using information and communications technology (ICT). All these challenges demand the evaluation of existing skilled TVET infrastructure to meet the upcoming challenges. ICT includes all communication technologies, software, video conferencing, social media, and other digital media to use, store, transmit, and manipulate information digitally. The role of ICT in TVET needs to be increased as it is effectively being used in higher education and school education. The Sustainable Development Goals 4.3 and 4.4 emphasise poverty alleviation. TVET plays a vital role in sustainable development and poverty alleviation

We can imagine that ICT integration in TVET is a cycle of seven components (figure 1) [2]. We can start the process at the curriculum.

The curriculum can include:

• TVET qualification frameworks development.
• Courses skills inventory.
• Training hours (theoretical & practical).
• Training manuals for trainees.
• Training lesson plans for instructional staff.

The assessment can include:

• TVET qualification awarding body details.
• Trainee certification.
• Competency-based training.
• Internal and external evaluations. 

Career guidance can include: 

• TVET employment opportunities.
• Industry details.
• Employers profiles.
• Guidelines for TVET trainees.
• Overview of the jobs in the industry.

TVET pedagogy component can include:

• TVET general training practices.
• General pedagogy. 

The teaching/learning environment can include:

• TVET course delivery for theory and practical labs.
• Classroom environment.
• Learning gadgets.
• Learning tools.
• Equipment. 

The teacher’s training component can include:

• The teacher’s skills
• Pedagogy 
• Training

Monitoring and evaluation can include the overall TVET programs efficiency, effectiveness, and management:

• Evaluation
• Monitoring
• Controls
• Key Performance Indicators

All the components in this TVET cycle include ICT and, in many ways, are dependant on ICT. Industry 4.0 is the digital transformation of production and manufacturing. The development using ICT continues towards a closer integration of human work and tasks solved by robots and intelligent machines. The digital revolutions pressingly demand we update the TVET curriculum and labs. The education should also include AI-supported technologies. TVET teachers should train on these technologies to be able to deliver practical training. 

Industry-specific Skills

Industry-specific workforce skills are fundamental to match industry tools, equipment, machinery, and process requirements. Most industries use modern machines, robotics, and technologies to improve their process and reduce production costs. But this challenge is not being focused on skilled workforce training. We need to expand technology induction programs into the TVET training curriculum, labs, and training institutes so that industry products and services are well supported by consumers and customers.

A study from 2021 concludes that teachers do not always use the correct technical terms [3]. That is an indicator that TVET educators need to upgrade their digital skills. TVET institutions should provide relevant instructional support for their teachers. In addition, they should encourage the academicians to work closely with the industry experts to determine the current needs and practices that will enable them to design and develop a reliable module. Academicians should develop modules that emphasise the correct use of technical terms to keep the words in the automotive original. This will improve their competency and increase their employability skills. 

Many uses digitalised training, monitoring and evaluation in school and higher education. In many TVET, we may find a lack of this. This gap needs to be addressed to build an effective TVET training system and programs. 

A desk study including several hundred articles about ICT in TVET concludes that overall ICT enablement in TVET education is very low. We can see technological advancements in our daily life products, services, and in the industry. However, the TVET is not following at the same speed [2]. 

Conclusion

Industry 4.0 introduces technologies like Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Data Science, Recommender Systems, Nano Technology, Cloud Computing, IoT. These technologies are the future building blocks of the TVET curriculum, labs, training delivery, and teacher training. Therefore, this gap must be filled by TVET training providers, policymakers, industry, academia, and researchers.

References

[1] Solving Future Skills Challenges. Accessed: Apr. 8, 2020. https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/solving-future-skills-challenges.aspx

[2] RANA HAMMAD HASSAN et al.: ICT Enabled TVET Education: A Systematic Literature Review. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2021

[3] Viji Ramamuruthy: THE NEED FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION PEDAGOGICAL MODULE FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNING IN TVET INSTITUTIONS: LECTURERS’ TYPICAL INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES. MALAYSIAN ONLINE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES. JULY 2021

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Lucubrate Magazine November 2021

The photo on the top of the article: Teacher and student with machine controller, working on laptop computer and talk on radio communication to tell worker working in the industry, by khwanchai, Adobe Stock

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