WIL Based Industry Pograms?

University of Canberra staff are talking about how they are Reimagining Plancent Project for health students at the Will Australia's "Creative, Modern and Celebrating WIL" workshop. This got me thinking, companies which require large numbers of staff might move the WIL in house, structuring a Vocation Degree around it.Companies which already offer to arrange WIL for universities could likewise now offer their own degrees. One field mentioned which could be a large market for this is NDIS services. While some of the services funded by the NDIS are provided by heavily regulated health professionals, many are not. These other areas could benefit from better education standards for staff, which could be provided via WIL.

Study Australia Industry Experience Program (SAIEP)

The Australian Government sponsors a Study Australia Industry Experience Program (SAIEP), delivered by industry partners. This is for international students studying in Australia. Practera offer businesses teams of 5 to 6 students working on a project. This is the same format commonly used by universities internally on student group projects, except that the emphasis is on completing the tasks online and students receive a certificate of completion, rather than a grade. 

Work Integrated Learning in the Age of AI

Next week I have been asked to help run some sessions at a symposium on Work Integrated Learning (WIL) for students of computing and related fields. It is a good time for this, as I just spent a semester tutoring four teams of students working on projects for clients. Also I mentored two groups of interns, one group working for private enterprise on AI projects, and the other working for government agencies. 

While I had mentored interns previously, and also mentor now entrants to the computing profession for the Australian Computer Society), I had not tutored the project students for some years. The group computer project course at the Australian National University ("Techlauncher"), was revamped this year, so I decided to tuor, to help bed in the new format & learn more about the new approach being used.

At the same time the concern over AI use at universities, and the debate over practical skills for students have not died down. To add to this, vocational degrees were added to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) in February. This allows non-university educational institutions to offer degree level qualifications with more work integrated learning, or even entirely by WIL. Such a format is not new, and I learned computing only partly at a university, the Australian Bureau of Statistics hired trainers who came in and ran courses on site. I was paid to work downstairs part of the day, then go upstairs for training (on full pay).

As it happens I registered for an Eportfolios Australia "PARE" (Plan, act, reflect & eportfolio) session. I had assumed this was the usual webinar, but when it started, I discovered it was "Shut up and write" format. So I am writing. 

I am assisting with two sessions at the symposium: "Learning Systems: Canvas for WIL, Virtuous Loop", and "Accreditation requirements & Ungrading WIL". The "Virtuous Loop" is something some of my colleagues tell me they know about, so I will leave that to them.

Learning Systems: Canvas for WIL 

A few weeks ago I did the introductory training for the Canvas Learning Management System being introduced to ANU. Canvas seems very similar to Moodle, so should be suitable. My approach is to use the LMS as a place to provide the student with their instructions as to what to do, then collect the results. The actual learning happens elsewhere, outside the LMS. This approach works well with WIL, which clearly can't happen within the confines of the tools an LMS provides.

ePortfolios

This then raises the question of what other tools we can use to help the student with WIL. Given I am writing this during an ePortfolios Australia session, the most obvious is an ePortfolio. Canvas has an ePortfolio tool called "Folio". However, this is unlikely to have adequate versioning features to be usable. To be of use, we need to know when the student added what to their portfolio, including every edit,  for "show your work". Also we need to track the contributions of individual students in group projects, where they are assembling a jointly developed document. It is likely we will need to use tools like GitHub for this purpose. That will require training for non-computing students, unused to the concepts inherent in such tools.

Accreditation requirements & Ungrading WIL

Bodies such as the Australian Computer Society and Engineers Australia, accredit university courses. Common requirements of accreditation is for the student to have some group, work and project experience. I mentor interns who work individually at a real workplace and tutor group project students who work on a real project for a real client. In both cases there is scaffolding of the experience, to make it into a course. There are a few lectures, but the emphasis is on meeting with a mentor/tutor regularly. There are also assessed tasks to complete. These tasks are designed to be relevant to real world experience. Typically the students start by negotiating what they are going to do and submit a statement of work document, agreed with the client, for assessment. Also they typically end with a reflective work on what they did and learned from the experience. In between there are progress reports. In the case of internships, the assessor relies on reports from the client, as it is not feasible for them to assess the actual work the student does. In the case of group projects, the assessor may have more access to the work product, but even ... oops time is up ...

At this point, as per the PARE process, we stopped writing and had a few minutes discussion. I shared this document, up to this point. We discussed how to collect notes on what we had been doing for future use. This is very relevant to a discussion of how students document and provide evidence of, what they did in WIL. For assessment purposes we need that evidence, but it can't be too burdensome, for the student, their client, or the assessors. Ideally the evidence is captured as a byproduct of the WIL. This happens reasonably naturally for computer project students, who use online tools common in industry for software development. These tools timestamp every contribution by every team member, and provide statistics on their overall contribution. 

Grading WIL

Some WIL is not integrated. The student is required to undertake a set amount of work experience. A supervisor attests the student did the work. There is no detailed analysis of what they did, or how well. At the other extreme, a program like Techlauncher has assessors examining what each student does every week, and in more detail at checkpoints through the year. 

Typically in vocational education, students are assessed on a pass/fail (Competent/Not yet competent) basis. Even if there is a numerical grading, this is reduced to pass/fail at the end of the unit of study. The logic behind this is that the student is being assessed as being able to do a job. In some industries this is a legal requirement: no ticket, no job.  In contrast a university student is typically graded numerically on a 100 point scale, which is then reduced to a 4 to 7 level grade. The student's grades are aggregated to give a Grade Point Average  on a 4 or 7 point scale.

The course results and GPAs may be used internally as a requirement for students to progress in their program, or to apply for advanced study, but are of little or no value to outside employers. Given that WIL doesn't involve they type of learning of a typical academic course, they use of 100 point or even 7 point scale for assessment seem very artificial. The purpose of the exercise is not for the student to be excellent at working in a workplace, they can't be expected to achieve that ... opps time is up again. 

Conclusion

Having written about the topic stream of consciousness style, it is time to try to make some short, hopefully helpful, comments on WIL:

Learning Systems: Canvas for WIL 

LMS for Scaffolding

A learning management system is useful for providing structure for WIL. The unfamiliar and fragmented nature of WIL can be confusing for both students and staff. The LMS can provide a step by step checklist of who needs to do what, when, & a catalog of the tools and guides they need.  

Not Too Integrated

An LMS is not designed for WIL. A useful approach is to use the LMS to tell the student what they need to do, then have them go off and do it with specialised tools, but bring the evidence of what they did back to the LMS for assessment, and feedback. 

Most of the evidence of learning outcomes can achieved work products, rather than specially created academic artifacts. As an example, the client or supervisor can be asked to rate the student's performance. The work plans and output can be directly assessed. The tools used to record the student's work can be used to verify they were actually doing the work. As an example, tools such as GitHub record each time each team member contributed to the repository, timestamped. 

Accreditation requirements & Ungrading WIL

Accreditation authorities want to be assured the student achieved all skills and knowledge requirements at the set level. This can be difficult with WIL, as what the student does varies based on the client/supervisors' requirements. One way to meet the requirement is by adopting the approach of vocational education. Rather than assess how well the students achieved various tasks, and check they met an overall requirement, check they performed on each to the required level of competency. Numerical measures and scales can still be used, but what is important is the student achieved every requirement.

Canvas for WIL and Accreditation

This week I have been on training to use the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). I have been using Moodle for 17 years, but Canvas doesn't look that different. At the same time I have been asked to contribute to a local event at ANU College of ANU College of Systems & Society on how to improve Work Integrated Learning (WIL). As I happened to be learning Canvas I have volunteered to lead a session on how it can be used for WIL. As I have been involved with accreditation for the Australian Computer Society (ACS) I also volunteer to contribute to a session on that. Here I am collecting my thoughts on the topic.  

There are specialised systems to help with experiential learning. Some of these are very specialised. As an example, I provided some advice on the development of the Student Practice Evaluation Form – Revised (SPEF-R) at The University of Queensland. This is used for occupational therapy students on placements. It has been used across Australia and is very useful for that purpose, but not applicable to other professional training. 

A LMS can't help with the difficult task of finding places for students to get experience. But they can help provide students with the familiar structure of a "course" with deliverables. Also underappreciated is to give staff some structure. These can be the workplace clients or supervisors of the students, but also the academic staff mentoring and assessment them. 

One idea which came up with Canvas training about quizzes was to use such simple tests to help orientate the students. I asked Microsoft Copilot to create a set of multiple choice questions, based on the ANU Techlauncher public description. Here is one of the questions:

Q: What is the primary goal of the TechLauncher program?

  A To develop advanced coding skills
  B To foster teamwork and project management skills
  C To learn about the latest technology trends
  D To prepare students for academic research

This may seems trivial, but it can be difficult to get students (and staff) out of the habit of seeing learning as about attending lectures.  

Assessment

The LMS can be used to lay out the milestones for the WIL, each with an assessed task. Rubrics can be used to clarify and simplify, the assessment. The student can see what they have to do, the assessor then indicates by ticking boxes on the rubric, how well they have done it. 

One challenge for universities is the form of assessment to be used. Vocational education would normally only use pass/fail grading (or "Competent/Not Yet Competent"). Universities tend to use a scale (and some accretion processes require this). However, perhaps on all of the tasks for WIL need to be graded finely. Small tasks can be pass/fail, with a few to grade more finely. 

Collaboration

I am most familiar with the ANU School of Computing's Techlauncher and Internships. Techlauncher has groups of students working for a client, whereas internships are individual. This semester I have been assigned a group of interns all at the same company and another all with the Australian Public Service. This provides mutual support for the students, and something which might be formalised, in a similar way to group projects. 

Accreditation

Accreditation bodies, such as ACS and Engineers Australia, need to be assured that every student achieves every learning outcome required from WIL. The risk is the university will simply send the student off to work and they will have AI write them a report. The LMS can help with assurance by showing there is a structure to the process. The evidence for each learning outcome can be recorded in the LMS, timestamped. This can be accompanied by a report from the workplace supervisor to say the student was there and performed, to the required standard. 

ANU Techlauncher Project Wins IT Industry Award for Education

iAward to ANU Techlauncher

The Australian National University's Techlauncher Project received a merit award in the ACT round of the Australian Information Industry (AIIA) 2024 iAwards. I am honored to be part of the team, which provides work integrated learning for computer students, through projects with real clients. We are now in the running for the national award in Adelaide in August.

Supporting students during placements

Dr. Romany Martin, University of Tasmania, talked just now on "Supporting allied health students during rural placements" in the regular ACEN Research Conversations webinar. It struck me how much there was in common with computer students on placements at small organisations. 

One issue not discussed was the problem of scale. Dr Martin mentioned a supervisor who personally delivered groceries to a student isolated at home with COVID-19, but you can't do that if you have many hundreds of students. One way to overcome that is with software. If provided some advice for development of the Student Practice Evaluation Form- Revised Package, produced by University of Queensland. But that is for keeping track of, and assessing, occupational therapy students on placements. Is there anything more general?

ACEN NSW/ACT WIL Summit in Sydney

Greetings from the ACEN NSW/ACT WIL Summit at University of Wollongong's Sydney campus. This is near Circular Quay, with a terrace view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The summit had people from NSW and ACT universities working in Work Integrated Learning (WIL). Formal presentations were eschewed for guided discussion. I won the prize for longest distance, having just come from ASCILITE 2023 in Christchurch. 

It was good to discuss common problems of finding enough places in industry for students, and how to keep them learning.

What do Computer Group Project Students Need to Know?

For the last eight years I have been helping out with the Australian National University's Techlauncher program. Computer students undertake a group project for a real client, over two semesters, towards the end end of their degree. One of the features of the program is that students from different backgrounds, at different stages of their study, work together. There are undergraduate and postgraduate, domestic and international students, some have extensive industry experience, some have very little.

You will not find Techlauncher in the university handbook. Instead the program is listed as three course codes: Software Engineering Project (COMP3500), Software Engineering Practice (COMP4500), and Computing Project (COMP8715). Occasionally there are some students from other disciplines. But however the students enroll they end up in the same class together, to go through team formation.

What the different courses which make up Techlauncher have in common are learning outcomes of learning, reflection, communication, teamwork, and project management. It is assumed the student has completed studies in Professional Practice, Software Construction, Software Design, Software Engineering. This is in addition, and distinct from courses in Structured Programming, and other forms of programming. The elements the student needs to be able to integrate to work as a computer professional here are:

1. communication both within a team and to external stakeholders, 
2. programming small pieces of code, or other tools such as interface design, 
3. designing larger structures from the components, testing and maintaining them,
4. working as a member of a team,
5. deciding what new skills are needed both as an individual professional, and for the team.

As Techlauncher is attempting to emulate real world working conditions, and using real if limited) projects, each will demand different skills of the team, and its members. It is not possible to specify a comprehensive curriculum for every student to undertake. Instead students will need a smörgåsbord of learning resources to choose from.

Some resources:

Software Design Methodologies Notes, slides and some videos.

Projects & internships for student employability

I will be speaking on "Projects & internships for student employability" at 9:40am 25 August 2023 of EduTECH, in Melbourne. In this I will highlight my experience teaching in the Australian National University's Techlauncher program of student projects for real clients, and mentoring ANU interns at major companies, and government agencies. Comments and suggestions would be welcome. Also I am happy to give a preview webinar to practice, if someone has a venue.

"Universities are under pressure to turn out job ready graduates. But there is only one way to ensure a student is really ready for a job: put them in a real workplace. In this presentation hear how Australia's leading university runs group projects, and internships for computer students with major companies, government agencies. Tom will share insights from 20 years designing and delivering work integrated learning.

To will help you:

1. Understand where to start with projects and internships 
2. Understand how to effectively support work integrated learning 
3. Critically review whether WIL is for your institution"

Should students be trained in cheaper and better higher education options

In "Studying can be a costly choice", Tracey West (Griffith University, May 12, 2023) argues that students should be educated about ways to reduce their study loan cost. I suggest this could go further, educating students about cheaper and quicker non-university study options, and ways to accelerate their studies.

As an example, students can do part of their studies in the vocational education and training (VET) sector, which has lower fees, & shorter programs. These programs have been shown to lead to higher incomes than university courses. Students could be shown how to plan their studies strategically, to receive a VET qualification and credit for university studies.

Students can also be trained in how to get credit for prior work, & learning. Work Integrated Learning is another option studnts could be encouraged in, so they earn while learning. These options are more common in the VET sector than universities. The federal government might put in place programs to encourage them in university, and train staff to run them.

While universities might have a moral obligation to educate students about these options, it would be contrary to their financial interests. Given that Australian universities have occasionally stolen wages from staff, and carried out other illegal acts, they can't be relied on to act morally. So some form of incentive from government, or legal penalty, would be needed for them to give them an incentive. The exception would be the dual system institutions, which already combine VET and university education. 

Call for ANU Techlauncher Projects

 

Dr Charles Gretton

Dr Charles Gretton has invited project proposals for ANU Techlauncher, Semester 1 2023 (I help student with their reflective portfolios):

"We invite members of the community to participate in the Australian National University TechLauncher Program, as a project proposer/client, mentor, tutor and/or guest speaker. 

ANU TechLauncher is the initiative than enables mature students to work in teams with business, government, and academic experts to address real-world problems, or with experienced mentors to create start-up enterprises as part of their degree studies. It builds on over two decades of real-world group project work at ANU.

How simple is it to get involved? 

1. (Re-)activate your account (https://redmine.cecs.anu.edu.au/redmine/), 
2.  Pitch the cohort a project brief, or otherwise let them know how you are interested in engaging with them, and then
3.  A program facilitator from the Australian National University will be in touch in due course to discuss the program, this model of engagement, and your project in more detail. 

Or.. just email us, or PM on the socials!

The deadline for project proposals is February 10th 2023. If we are oversubscribed, we shall allocate accepted places on a first-come-first-served basis. In case you have unsuccessfully pitched a project to students in the past, we very strongly encourage you to give it another go!

Thank you for your continued interest in the program. We are all looking forward to another ambitious and productive cohort next semester. You are strongly encouraged to forward this call on to others who may be interested in ANU TechLauncher, add this call to your circulars, socialise with your portfolio businesses and innovation ecosystem partners.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email myself and/or Priscilla Kan John."

Using a Job Application as the Capstone Exercise for Work Integrated Learning

On the Yogyakarta Train,
after TALE 2019 

On a visit to Singapore for EduTech Asia 2022, I will stopping off at a university to talk about using a job application as the capstone for work integrated learning. I would be happy to talk at other institutions, while in Singapore, or elsewhere. This is an update to a paper I gave at the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE). That was a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, and I had no idea that my idea of designing a blended learning module which could be quickly converted for full online delivery in an emergency would be needed so soon. I will discuss how it went and what universities should do next post-pandemic.

Original paper:

Worthington, T. (2019, December). Blend and Flip for Teaching Communication Skills to Final Year International Computer Science Students. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE) (pp. 1-5). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225921

Hackerthon Format Has Potential for Education

This weekend teams across Australian and New Zealand have been participating in Govhack 2022, looking at how free open access data provided by government, might be used. Here are some of the videos submitted today. There will be judging and award of prizes from the sponsors. However, I suggest this form of rapid fire development process could be used as part of an educational program. ANU Techlauncher, and similar group programs, take six months or a year, whereas a hackerthon can take 72 hours. This provides a useful simulation of the type of high pressure graduates are likely to find themselves in. 

Learning to Reflect Module Version 5.0: Hybrid Edition

 

"Learning to Reflect" is a module for the ANU TechLauncher program, where students reflect on what they have learned, by writing an application for a real job, as their last assessed task before graduating. This was developed in late 2018 and first run in semester 1, February 2019. It was designed for blended delivery, with the option of easy conversion to full online delivery. That option was needed for Semesters 1 & 2 in 2020, and Semester 1 2021 due to COVID-19. This version 5 is designed for hybrid delivery, with students in a physical classroom linked to those online, using the MidFlex Minimal Hybrid Format. Unfortunately COVID-19 again required a return to pure online delivery, but without any changes required to the material.

Two additional workshops were added from Version 4, at student request, bringing the total to four. The first three have exercises for a 2% mark each (not for the last when a major assignment is due). The optional student logbook has been dropped due to lack of use. The middle two workshops are half the length of the others with the first hour used for the new ANU Computing Showcase, featuring prominent ANU alumni, speaking about their careers.

Please note that the course notes only supply the structure for the module and the assessment. The detailed content for the workshops is provided by Tempe Archer, Careers Consultant at ANU Careers, and the students undertake exercises using the ANU Careers Toolkit.

A paper on the design and blended delivery of the module is available:

• Worthington, T. (2019, December). Blend and Flip for Teaching Communication Skills to Final Year International Computer Science Students. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE) (pp. 1-5). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225921

ANU Has Computing Students Available as Interns

Dr Penny Kyburz, ANU Computing Internship Convenor, asked me to let organisations know that they can now apply to host interns for  2022.  As the internship is part of the student’s academic course, no payment is required.

Round 1

• Host applications open – 13 August 2021
• Host project proposals due - 10 September 2021
• Host organisations assess/interview and advise preferred candidate - 4-22 October 2021
• Placements and agreements finalised

Round 2

• Host applications open – 13 September 2021
• Host project proposals due - 15 October 2021
• Host organisations assess/interview and advise preferred candidate - 8 - 26 November 2021
• Placements and agreements finalised

Placements begin – week beginning 21 February 2022

Australian Government Acknowledges ANU TechLauncher Developing Professionals

 The Australian Public Service Commission has acknowledged the role of the Australian National University's TechLauncher program in "developing the next generation of tech professionals". This is a form of Work Integrated Learning where a team of students undertake a real project for a real client. But is not as easy as it sounds (I help out teaching the students soft skills).

The APSC also have a case study of GovHack on the same page. Hackerthons successfully transitioned to the online environment last year. I helped with some for ANU, ACS, CSIRO, and DoD. There is scope for hackerthons, in both technical and non-technical disciplines, to be used more. Hackerthons could be used as part of the curriculum to give students a short sharp experience of teamwork for course credit, as well as for their usual role of  learning as well as outreach (as with the ANU Singapore Health Hack 2019)?

Reference

Delivering for Tomorrow: APS Workforce Strategy 2025, Australian Public Service Commission, March 2021. URL https://www.apsc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-03/APS_Workforce_strategy.pdf

Learning to Reflect Module Version 4.0 the 2021 Blended Edition

"Learning to Reflect" is a module for the ANU TechLauncher program, where students reflect on what they have learned, by writing an application for a real job, as their last assessed task before graduating. This was developed in late 2018 and first run in semester 1, from February 2019. This was designed for blended delivery, with the option of easy conversion to full online delivery. That option was needed for Semesters 1 and 2 in 2020 due to COVID-19. The 2021 version is intended to be run online, with a blended delivery option ready for a return to the classroom and is available under a CC-BY licence.

Two small workshop exercises have been added for a 2% mark each, in place of the quizzes and forums used previously. The first assignment has been dropped, to make the assessment less complex. An optional student logbook has been added, to aid student reflection and deter plagiarism. 

A paper on the design and blended delivery of the module is available:

• Worthington, T. (2019, December). Blend and Flip for Teaching Communication Skills to Final Year International Computer Science Students. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE) (pp. 1-5). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225921

Learning to Reflect Module Version 3.0 the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic Edition

"Learning to Reflect" is a module for the ANU TechLauncher program developed in late 2018 and first run in semester 1, from February 2019. This was designed for blended delivery, with the option of easy conversion to full online delivery. That option was needed for Semester 1, February 2020 due to COVID-19,. The two face to face workshops were replaced with Zoom video conferences. The online content and activities were unchanged.

The assessment was removed from two online quizzes and forums, leaving just two assignments to provide 20% of Techlauncher assessment. This was done in an attempt to reduce the burden on students, and staff, who were suddenly required to change from face-to-face to online learning. The students still had their tutors at Zoom video-conferences, to help them keep up with their studies.

About 90% of students still completed the quizzes, despite them not counting towards assessment. In contrast, about 90% of students did not post regularly to the online forums. The difference may be because the quizzes were quick and easy to complete, being multiple choice, whereas the forum posts required composing text. Also the quizzes returned instant feedback in the form of connect/incorrect and a numeric score, whereas there was no automated feedback in the forums. When the forums are assessed, there is feedback from students (which is also assessed). However, some form of tutor-bot might be useful to give instant feedback.

A paper on the design and blended delivery of the module is available:

Worthington, T. (2019, December). Blend and Flip for Teaching Communication Skills to Final Year International Computer Science Students. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Education (TALE) (pp. 1-5). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/TALE48000.2019.9225921

Tuning Zoom Videoconferencing for a Slow computer and Low Speed Broadband

Greetings from the 2020 UQ Work Integrated Learning Symposium, currently on Zoom from Queensland University. This is free and on for four hours, so there may be time for you to join. The students are running the event, which shows commendable dogfooding by UQ.

To improve the performance of Zoom on my slow laptop, and low speed wireless broadband connection, I am trying a router with UDP shaping. 

Previously I noticed that with Zoom in full screen mode the sounds would break up and image freeze. If I reduced the window size it worked better, but this was fiddly. Also when a presenter shares their screen, Zoom tends to force the display back to full screen, after which I have to shrink it again.

An approach I tried in the past was to slow my Internet connection, which Zoom responded to by using lower resolution video, making everything more stable. However, this also slowed down all my other network use. There are software utilities which will slow just one application, but I found these did not work with Zoom.

The Internet uses two sorts of data transmission: TCP and UDP. Most applications, such as email and web browsing use TCP, as this provides a reliable connection. Video conferencing programs typically use UDP for the audio and video, as this has less overheads. The utilities I tried to slow an Internet connection only act on TCP, not UDP, so did not slow Zoom.

Not being able to find a software solution I turned to hardware. Many routers allow for slowing, or "shaping" of the speed of the connection. A few allow this to be targeted at TCP or UDP specifically. I tried a TP-Link TL-MR3020 V3 router (around $50 AU), and switched on the UDP shaping. So far it is working well.

Currently I have the data rates for UDP set to: 800 kbps transmitting and 512 kbps receiving. I want to provide a good quality standard definition image of myself when speaking, but a lower quality for the video I receive, so have sent the sending rate higher than receiving.

Zoom is currently providing an image of the speaker at 320 x 180 pixels, 12 frames per second and screen-sharing at 1440 x 900 pixels, 1 frame per second. The screen share looks very clear and readable, with a clear thumbnail of the speaker next to it. If a video is played in the screen sharing it looks jerky, but fortunately most presenters don't play videos.

A bigger test will come this evening, when I am speaking on "The Virtual University" (6pm, all welcome).

ps: One small glitch: after a short break when my computer went to standby mode the router was no longer connected: I had to reboot it.

pps: The video from some speakers was not appearing in Zoom gallery mode. So I increased the down speed from 512 kbps to 1024 kbps. The increased speed also allowed for screen sharing at 1920 x 1080 pixels at 8 frames per second, which is enough to follow a mouse around the screen and simple animation. In speaker's view the video is now at 640 x 360 pixels 26 frames per second. However, this is using too much of the limited CPU in my computer, so I will try setting up and down speeds to 800 kbps.

ppps: Had problems with the  TP-Link TL-MR3020 router, so changed it for the desktop version, a TL-MR3420, which is working well.

More Flexibility from Accreditation Bodies During Pandemic

Five organizations with members who train medical and other professionals have called on accreditation bodies to be more flexible during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian Council of Professions (ACoP), Universities Australia (UA), the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) and the Independent Higher Education Australia (IHEA) are concerned that accreditation procedures may slow the supply of trained staff when they are needed most.

The problem is that front line professionals need hands-on training, supervision and testing, but this is difficult to provide due to lock-downs and stringent processes at places of employment. With the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA), they are supporting creation of principles for professional accreditation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim is to maintain quality while there are fewer reduced availability of Professional Placements available, and with measures such as online assessments required.

However, the first of the proposed principles I don't agree with: 

a. Professional accreditation bodies recognise that during the current pandemic higher education providers must attend to educational delivery and student needs first.

In a pandemic, the need of the community for intimidate support comes first, with education of students a lower priority. All professional codes of ethics state that the needs of the community override those of the individual professionals and their organizations. Trained staff are needed now to save lives, so training programs may be shortened, and students asked to volunteer for font-line duty, sooner than they otherwise would. As future professionals, this is a valuable lesson for students: my needs do not come first.

One way I suggest accreditation bodies can help, without compromising standards, is though online working and allowing online training and assessment. The need to physically visit and meet with educators should be replaced with an online option, and not hours of tedious Zoom meetings: a genuine online, efficient process.

The use of online forms of reporting by and of students in placement should be encouraged. Much of the tedious paperwork which takes up everyone's time can be put online, streamlined, and in some cases eliminated all together. Some years ago I helped the University of Queensland develop a system for online reporting of occupational therapy students in professional practice placements. This took several attempts and revisions, to get something practical for use in a clinical environment. This proved a lot harder than it first looked.

To a large extent, the need for reporting can be replaced with monitoring of the online logs already kept routinely in the workplace. The Australian National University provides an example of this with its TechLauncher program. Students undertake team projects for real clients, as part of the requirements for Australian Computer Society professional accreditation. Students use online tools to collaborate. A byproduct of this is that the tools keep a log of what every student did, stamped with the time and date they did it. Examiners have access to all the logs, so they do not have to rely on what students, and their clients, say they did. Students, clients and instructors, can also report on the quality of student work, as it is happening, rather than waiting until long after the event.