CIT Timber High-rise Campus Going Up

Greetings from the Woden Town Centre in Canberra, where the timber frame of the new Canberra Institute of Technology is going up.

Making Videos Takes Skill and Effort

When encouraging staff, or students, to make videos, please consider the effort involved. While they may have years of instruction on how to write, how much training and practice have they had in making videos?

I was reminded of the work needed to make a video recently when I came across a VHS tape of "Bicycles". This was a student exercise for the course "Audio-Visual Video" (for training) at the ACT TAFE in 1989.

After spending one evening a week for several weeks leaning the basics of video, I spent a day recording video of cyclists around Lake Burley Griffin. It then took several hours to edit this into a 90 second video. Someone looking at this might think "I could do that!" and they could, but it takes hours of work, after learning the basics.

Note that this video used paper caption cards and analogue tape editing. The mechanical part of the process is now much quicker and easier with a digital editor. However, working out how to tell a story and assembling  the material still takes a considerable amount of time and skill. Staff and student needed to be provided assistance with how to do this and given a realistic idea of the work involved.

The ACT TAFE, where, I learned to make analog videos, is now know as the Canberra Institute of Technology. My instruction from 1989, Brian Oakes, is now running Video for Youtube courses.

ps: One thing which has not charged in the transition from analogue to video is worrying about use of copyright material.  My video was edited in time with the song "Bicycle Race" by Freddie Mercury, performed by Queen (1978). When I uploaded it to YouTube this music was automatically identified and advertising revenue assigned to the copyright holder.

Canberra Innovation Competition

The 2013 "Innovation ACT" completion is being launched 6pm, 28 August, at the Australian National University in Canberra. 
Over nine weeks, teams of higher education students and staff from the Canberra region compete for $55,000 in prizes, for the best new business ideas.

The teams are given help with preparation of business plans and to prepare a pitch to investors. Institutions include the Australian National University (ANU), University of Canberra (UC), Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), Australian Defence Force Academy (UNSW ADFA), Australian Catholic University (ACU) and Charles Sturt University (CSU).

In past years I have helped with presenting to the teams on sustainability for business ideas and as a team member. The competition is challenging but fun. Some student take part in the competition as part of their formal studies in business and innovation disciplines, but this is not required.

Certificate IV in Training and Assessment

Today I received my Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110) from Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) in the mail. This does not have quite the gravitas of being handed a certificate by the ANU Chancellor a few weeks ago, but is a lot more useful.

Recognition of Prior Learning

Of the ten courses I was required to undertake for the Certificate IV, I was able to obtain eight by Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). This was made a little easier by having just completed the equivalent university qualification, a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education.

Having prepared open on-line course material also made it much easier to provide the evidence needed for RPL. This still was not an easy process, requiring me to find people to attest to my teaching experience along with evidence.

On-line Courses

Two courses I could not obtain RPL for and I had to complete on-line assessment (Workplace Coaching  and Learning in the Workplace). CIT use the same Moodle Learning Management System I am used to at ACS, ANU and USQ, which simplified the process.

CIT has very standardized, carefully designed and consistent on-line documentation, as is common in the vocational sector. However, this was not without problems. The very modular nature of vocational courses meant there was a lot of repetition and the emphasis on standardization meant for some very long winded materials.

One glitch with on-line access is that CIT does not permit students to change their password remotely.  I was required to travel to a CIT campus to change the password. As a result I suspect that many student never change their password from the default. This is a serious security law in the CIT system.

Lack of e-Portfolio System

One surprise was that CIT does not use an e-Portfolio system for the student to collect their RPL evidence in.

ACS and USQ both use the Mahara e-portfolio software. This allows the student to collect materials and then submit them for assessment on-line.

CIT uses Moodle's submission system for on-line assessment tests, but not for RPL evidence, which is tracked using a paper form, with photocopies attached. This made the process cumbersome and error prone (added to the fact that I could not read the hand-written notations from the RPL assessor).

Vocational Standardized and Work  Relevant

The CIT certificate arrived about two weeks after I completed the program, whereas the ANU certificate took four months to arrive. The Cert IV T&A is recognized nationally and required for teaching in government TAFEs and private Registered Training Organizations (RTOs). Many universities run graduate certificates in higher education, but these are not mandatory for  university teaching staff and no standard syllabus. Presumably an ANU certificate will be well regarded nationally, but there is no guarantee it covers what is needed at another university.

Need for Mutual Recognition of Vocational and University Teaching Qualifications

While the RPL process allowed me to gain the qualification for teaching in the vocation sector largely from my university qualifications, this should not be necessary. Apart from the terminology used, there is no real difference in teaching between the vocational and university sectors. This is particularly the case with universities catching up with TAFEs in the use of on-line technology and practical work-orientated assesment.

There is no reason why vocational and university teachers could not undertake the same training. Currently postgraduate university students may receive some ad-hoc training to help them tutor, but in general will graduate and go into university teaching with no formal teaching qualifications.  It would make sense for higher degree students to obtain at least a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Previously when I suggested university postgraduates should have vocational qualifications my university colleagues were shocked and suggested I did not know what I was talking about. But I am now more qualified than most of them to express an opinion. ;-)